Incorporating seasonal style into your home doesn’t have to be an expensive or exhausting undertaking. Just a few changes can dramatically change the feel of your home, says west elm Creative Director Vanessa Holden. And just in time for summer, here are four ways to brighten your home’s look.

Bring the outside in

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“Summer is all about being outside,” said Holden, “but you can easily bring the outdoors in with natural materials, textures and light airy fabrics.”

A few of Holden’s favorite summery accents are natural wood pieces, woven baskets, sheer fabrics or nature-inspired accents in prints or pillows.

Literally bringing the outdoors in can be another way to freshen your home for summer. Try terrariums, air plants or indoor herb gardens.

Coral crush

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The hot hue for summer? Coral, says Holden.

It’s a bright shade, so start small, suggests Holden. Coral is great on a throw pillow, duvet cover or bright rug.

Worried about what to pair the color with?

“Coral looks especially great mixed with reflective finishes like lacquered wood or mirror,” Holden said.

Small accents, big impact

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Switching your design scheme for summer doesn’t mean all-new furniture or even a new coat of paint on the walls.

Try bringing summer style into your house with affordable accents like pillows, throws or art.

“A single saturated dose of color can be as powerful as a floor-to-ceiling hue,” explained Holden.

Do what you like

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If you prefer muted colors or even brighter shades, your home can reflect that all year; there’s no reason to drastically change your decor based on season. Go with your gut, and do what you like, Holden said.

“Season trends will come and go, but our favorite homes are the ones that truly reflect their inhabitants,” she said. “If you’re inspired by nature or the beach, there is no reason that your home shouldn’t reflect that year-round.”

As prospective homebuyers look for deals, they’re becoming increasingly interested in foreclosed homes.  In fact, 20 percent of all sales in April were foreclosure re-sales.

Interested in buying a foreclosed home? Here’s what you bargain hunters need to know:

Where to buy

Even though the national foreclosure rate appears to have peaked (In April, the number of foreclosures was down almost 3 percent from a year ago), a tide of new foreclosures continues to plague the beleaguered housing market. Naturally, the regions with the most foreclosures – to date – are the ones worst affected by the housing crisis: places like Atlanta, Sacramento, Miami, Las Vegas (The “poster child” of the housing crisis — prices dropped over 60% from the peak in 2006), and Riverside, California areas, where 14.75 out of 10,000 homes were foreclosed in April.

How to buy

While you can buy directly from the owner before they’re officially foreclosed on, or dare to try your hand among the seasoned, fast-moving, competitive investors at an auction, it’s safer – and easier — to find homes that are owned by the bank (or “REO,” which is industry lingo for real-estate owned). You can inspect the home before you purchase it (This is important, as foreclosed homes are generally sold “as is” and may need significant repairs — something you’re going to need to budget for), and you can mortgage your purchase (be sure to secure your financing in advance as it’s a competitive, and fast-moving market).  Furthermore, former homeowners are out of the picture at this point so you won’t have to evict them. And you can be reasonably sure that the property’s title is free of liens, because the bank will typically perform an extensive title search before listing the home for sale. If you still need assistance then contact professionals from Auction.com.

What to expect

Working with a real estate agent who specializes in foreclosures can be a huge time-saver, but you should pack your patience anyway as there may be unexpected challenges and road bumps along the way.  Also – while you can expect significant savings (in some markets, upwards of 40%, compared to non-distressed/non-foreclosed properties), remember that a bargain price – with virtually no room for negotiation, by the way, so don’t bother with a lowball offer — doesn’t make up for a $30,000 roof repair, active termites or other high cost issues.   Pay for a complete home inspection and back out of the deal if the problems are too significant.

Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? According to Zillow’s Chief Economist Stan Humphries, there may be.

Humphries and other economists have predicted a bottoming out of U.S. home values in 2013. Some areas that have already hit bottom are now seeing gains in home values.

The current home value hovers around $148,000, but for the first time in awhile, that number is seeing some modest gains: a 0.5 percent increase month over month and 1.8 percent increase quarter over quarter.

Despite market growth, homes still remain remarkably affordable in many parts of the country, and a price point of $200,000 can offer a home buyer quite a lot.

Here’s a sampling of homes listed for $200,000 around the country.

Richmond, VA

705 W 26th St, Richmond VA
For sale: $199,000

This darling Richmond house was completely renovated before hitting the market. The 3-bed, 2-bath home features custom cherry cabinets, granite countertops and new stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, as well as new updates to the master suite.

Plano, TX

1500 Kesser Dr, Plano TX
For sale: $195,000

This Plano charmer is a one-story layout with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. The brick home was built in 1985 and has a newly renovated kitchen, which includes new countertops and cabinets.

Leavenworth, KS

817 Highland Dr, Leavenworth KS
For sale: $203,000

Boasting 2,054 square feet of living space, 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, this Leavenworth property gives a buyer quite a bit of bang for the buck. Built in 2005, the home sits on a fenced corner lot and includes a 3-car garage.

South Ogden, UT

1334 E 5200 S, South Ogden UT
For sale: $204,900

The price of this South Ogden home was just reduced $10,000 to bring it down to the $200,000 price bracket. The 3-bed, 1-bath home was built in 1993 and is all one level.

Bernalillo, NM

367 N Camino Del Pueblo, Bernalillo NM
For sale: $200,000

There’s Southwestern character to spare in this historic Pueblo-style home. The 1908 Bernalillo residence features cured Douglas fir floors, Mexican tiles, as well as an updated kitchen and bathrooms.

Garrett Thelander, an executive at Massey Knakal who leads the company’s capital services group, was fielding offers for a financing deal he was recently arranging when he noticed many of the banks lining up to compete weren’t ones he was used to working with.

“There were a lot of players from out of town that you usually don’t see here that were competing and they were competing hard,” he said, describing it as a roughly $8 million deal for a commercial building that was owned by the building’s occupant.

People’s United, a Connecticut-based bank, wound up making the loan.

Smaller banks are moving in on the NYC market.

Because it was a low-leverage deal, Mr. Thelander said the bank differentiated itself by pushing hard to lower its rates. Regional and local banks have the flexibility to undercut competitors on interest rates because of a roughly 200 basis point spread between what banks themselves can borrow at and what they charge customers for loans.

“They were competing against the bigger banks and they got very aggressive and they stood out because of that and also because they were willing to close very quickly,” Mr. Thelander said. “I think you can tell from that their interest in pushing into this market in a bigger way.”

Given the strength the Manhattan real estate market, lenders have long vied with one another to place debt, especially in transactions that would appear to have solid fundamentals or conservative leverage levels. But with many real estate markets still sputtering or flat around the rest of the country, more banks, especially regional players who in the past may have done only a sprinkling of deals, are seeking to lend in the city.

“I do think that more regional lenders are trying to do deals here,” said Howard Applebaum, an executive vice president and chief lending officer at Sterling National Bank, a longtime local bank in the city.

“It’s the strongest market in the country and it was barely wounded over the last three years. The vacancy rate in residential buildings is less than 1 percent. It’s a very strong market and you’re going to get a lot of players coming here,” he said.

Kevin Santacroce, an executive vice president and chief lending officer for the Long Island local bank Bridgehampton National Bank, has himself been trying to position his bank’s entry into the city.

“We’re really focused on the East End of Long Island but we have been growing in the city, primarily through the relationships we have with clients,” Mr. Santacroce said. “There is such a strong tie with the Hamptons and Manhattan that we’ve been able to do a few deals there. It’s just a market that we, like a lot of lenders, want to be in.”

When hundreds of thousands of condominium and co-op unit owners open their tax bills July 1, the amounts they see may not accurately reflect what they owe.

That’s because the city erroneously included a 17.5% tax break that is set to expire on June 30. Gov. Andrew Cuomo declined the Bloomberg administration’s request for a last-minute “message of necessity” that would have allowed the state Legislature to extend the abatement, and lawmakers left Albany without taking action.

The city’s response, so far, is to maintain the status quo.

The city Department of Finance planned to mail tens of thousands of letters to condo and co-op owners explaining why the expiring tax break was wrongly included in their bills. The letter—which insiders said was being edited by Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson—would have explained to property owners that their taxes will increase based on a percentage of their condo or co-op’s “assessed value,” which could reach up to 30%.

Without the tax break, an estimated 365,000 condo and co-op owners would pay up to $430 million in additional taxes.

But now the city seems content to do nothing.

“We are assured that this will be taken up [in Albany] before the end of the year, and therefore are not sending a letter,” mayoral spokeswoman Lauren Passalacqua told Crain’s.

Mr. Cuomo told the New York Times last week that he would like the mayor to restore the tax break “administratively.” And informing property owners of a tax increase may be viewed by Cuomo as “an unnecessary act of aggression,” an insider said, explaining one reason the letter will not be sent.

There were several proposals in Albany to extend the abatement, none of which passed. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver proposed a straight extension of the abatement. The Bloomberg administration sought to reduce both the number of people eligible for the abatement and the amount of money paid out, first by limiting the abatement to just three residences, one of which a primary residence, and then by capping the tax value at $100,000.

The failure to extend the tax break is being chalked up to several factors. Elizabeth Botwin, the Finance Department’s deputy commissioner for administration and planning, traveled to Albany in May to lobby for the changes to the abatement program, but an insider said she was unable to find an Assembly member to sponsor the bill.

Joseph Strasburg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association, said the expired tax break presented the city and property owners with a “real dilemma.”

“If you don’t pay your full amount in the first quarter, you have to pay an interest on it,” he said. “That to me is the biggest problem. How do you forgive somebody paying less then they’re supposed to and not wave the interest payment?”

Fairway Market made it official: It is coming to midtown. The 10-unit chain recently signed on for 42,000 square feet at Kips Bay Plaza, a shopping center located on Second Avenue and East 30th Street. The store, where construction is already underway, will open in November, around Thanksgiving.

Crain’s New York Business first reported that the company was in discussions for the site in April.

This will be the first midtown location for Fairway, a grocer founded in the 1930s as a fruit and vegetable store. Since private equity firm Sterling Investment Partners acquired a majority stake in the company five years ago, Fairway has been expanding rapidly, recently opening outposts on the Upper East Side and in Douglaston, Queens. The company employs about 3,900 people.

“There are no good food stores [in the neighborhood],” said Howie Glickberg, vice chairman of development at Fairway, noting that the chain has done well on the Upper East and Upper West sides. “We think we’ll do very well [in Kips Bay].”

In Kips Bay, Fairway replaces an Office Depot and a Crunch Gym. Rite Aid and Loew’s Multiplex Cinema are already at the complex. The grocer, which was represented in negotiations by Robert Futterman and Gary Alterman of Robert K. Futterman & Associates, has leased about 2,000 square feet of ground-floor space, while the remaining 40,000 square feet will be in the basement. Whole Foods had reportedly been looking at the space as well.

Kips Bay will be Fairway’s third Manhattan location, and will follow an August opening of a site in Westbury, N.Y. A lease was just signed for Rockland County as well, and Mr. Glickberg noted that the chain is still scouting Manhattan for additional outposts.

The Kips Bay complex also houses a former 21,300-square-foot Borders bookstore at its northern end. Staples has reportedly signed on for the space.

Miami house prices climbed in May for the sixth month in a row, according to the Miami Association of Realtors.

The median sales price of condos in Miami-Dade Country jumped by 22 per cent compared to 2011, the MAR report revealed this week. The average price of single-family homes also rose by 6 per cent to $190,000. On a monthly scale, the average price for condos was 23 percent higher than April, while single-family homes increased by 9 per cent.

“Miami home prices have experienced double-digit appreciation consistently over the last six months,”  Martha Pomares, 2012 Chairman of the Board of the MIAMI Association of REALTORS, commented.  “Strong demand for Miami properties continues to fuel this dramatic market strengthening that has yielded limited supply and will result in home prices increasing further.”

Sales were up too. The number of completed transactions for existing condominiums in Miami-Dade increased 10 percent in May, from 1,420 to 1,564, compared to record sales levels in May 2011.  Sales of single-family homes rose 14 percent, from 875 to 993, compared to May 2011.  

In Miami-Dade County, 64 percent of total closed sales in May were all-cash sales, compared to 60 percent in May 2011 and 63 percent the previous month.  Cash sales accounted for 43 percent of single-family and 78 percent of condominium closings.  Nearly 90 percent of international buyers in Florida purchase properties all cash.  Nationally, all-cash sales fell to 28 percent in May – from 29 percent in April and 30 percent in May 2011 – reflecting the stronger presence of international buyers in the Miami real estate market.

“While international buyers continue to play a major role in boosting the Miami real estate market, there is also great demand from local and migrating U.S. buyers,” said 2012 MIAMI Association of REALTORS Residential President Patricia Delinois.  “Population drives real estate, and Florida, one of the fastest growing states, is set to surpass NY in population by 2020 to become the third most populous state in the nation.”

Over the last year, the inventory of residential listings in Miami-Dade County has dropped 33 percent from 16,943 to 11,403. Compared to the previous month, the total inventory of homes decreased three percent.   Currently, there are 4.2 months of supply in Miami-Dade.  Total housing inventory nationally decreased 0.4 percent at the end of May and was 20.4 percent below year-ago levels, which represents a 6.6-month supply at the current sales pace.

House prices in Denmark sank to a seven-year low in the first quarter of 2012, according to the Association of Danish Mortgage Banks and the Mortgage Bankers Federation.

The average price per square metre for Danish property fell by 7.4 per cent in the first three months of the year compared to 2011, down to 10,897 kroner. As prices drop, sales are slowing too, the figures reveal, with the average time a property spends on the market before selling up to 230 days – the highest since ADMB began recording data eight years ago.

The stalled market follows a burst housing bubble as Denmark’s economy entered recession last year.

Businessweek reports that Christian Heinig, chief economist at Realkredit Danmark emailed the following note to investors: “There’s an increasing risk that potential buyers will continue to hold back and postpone a decision to buy a home.”

House prices in Canada rose by 5.2 per cent in May compared to last year.

Prices jumped in all five markets followed by the Canadian Real Estate Association’s Home Price Index. Greater Toronto led the way, with prices up by 7.9 per cent. Calgary and Greater Vancouver followed with rises of 4.8 per cent and 3.3 per cent respectively.

Year-over-year gains had been slowing through the end of last year, adds the report, and have stabilized at close to five per cent so far this year.

Year-over-year price gains again picked up speed in Calgary, with May marking the largest year-over-year gain there in nearly two years. The increase lifted the MLS® HPI for Calgary to its highest level since August 2008.

By contrast, year-over-year gains continued to shrink in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Price gains in Greater Toronto and Montreal held their ground in May compared to April. Greater Toronto also remains the hottest market tracked by the index, with single family homes in its urban core continuing to sell briskly.

“While price gains overall are running steady, diverging trends among local markets show clearly that all real estate is truly local,” said Wayne Moen, CREA President. “Because price trends are different between markets and within them, anyone buying or selling a home should consult with their REALTOR® to best understand how the housing market is shaping up locally.”

Among the Benchmark housing types tracked by the index, two-storey single family homes continued posting the strongest year-over-year growth in May (6.7%). Gains for one-storey single family homes (5.8%) also surpassed the rise in the overall index, while townhouses and apartments saw more modest gains (3.3% and 2.95 respectively).

“Home price gains in Greater Toronto continue to eclipse those in other markets. Gains are also starting to pick up speed in Calgary after months of stability,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “As always, prospects for home price trends depend on buyers’ willingness to pay and sellers’ expectations and motivations, both of which are tied to economic, labour market, and interest rate prospects. With European sovereign debt and banking issues likely to cloud the global economic outlook, Canadian interest rates will remain at or very near current levels. The continuation of low interest rates will continue to support Canadian housing activity and prices for some time to come.”

A single-family townhouse once home to American composer and conductor John Philip Sousa has hit the market for $31.5 million, according to Streeteasy.com.

William Rainero, owner of the property at 80 Washington Place and head of Metropolitan Realty & Development Group, listed the property with Lisa Simonsen and Laura Mondrick of Prudential Douglas Elliman. The listing follows the restoration and conversion of the property by Rainero, who grew up in the home and whose family has owned the property since the 1970s.

The home is the most expensive single-family townhouse currently on the market in Greenwich Village, Streeteasy.com’s data shows. The second and third most expensive are homes at 23 Washington Square North and 196 West Houston Street, asking $19.5 million and $14.95 million respectively.

Neither Reinero nor his brokers were immediately available for comment.

Built in 1839 in classical Georgian style, the 8,700-square-foot house is 22.5-feet wide. It features a glass and white oak stairwell, a Zen garden and a water feature that runs down the property’s former coal chute, according to the listing. It also has a billiard room, wine cellar and media room.

Sousa was a composer of the late Romantic era, known particularly for his American military and patriotic marches such as “Semper Fidelis,” the official march of the United States Marine Corps, and “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” which is the national march of the United States of America. Sousa bought the home in 1919.

Rainero’s family acquired the building in 1970, according to public records. His grandfather, a restaurateur who owned the property previously, died in Florida in 1990.