Monthly Archives: August 2013

Colombia Inflation Remained Low in July As Housing Prices Fell | Pound Ridge Homes

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Colombia’s consumer price index rose less than expected last month as housing prices fell and food inflation was low.

The consumer price index rose 0.04% in July from a month earlier, the government’s statistics agency, known as DANE, said Monday. That was lower than the 0.11% rise in price economists were expecting, and it puts 12-month trailing inflation at 2.22%, well within the central bank’s 2% to 4% target range.

Colombia has seen persistently low price increases amid a slowing economy that’s crimped consumer demand for goods and services. With little pressure on prices, the central bank could reduce its benchmark interest rate further this year in a bid to spur economic activity, although analysts say the current, key lending rate of 3.25% is already low enough to foster higher growth.

Most economists expect the bank to keep rates unchanged until 2014, when rate increases begin assuming the economy picks up.

Housing prices fell 0.38% last month, while food prices, the sector carrying the most weight in the CPI, rose 0.21%. Entertainment prices saw the highest increases, rising 1.3%.

The moderate inflation last month suggests consumer price increases could end this year similar to last year, when inflation ended at 2.44%.

Colombia’s oil- and coal-driven economy expanded at a 4% clip in 2012, down from 6.6% growth in 2011 as global prices fell for many of the commodities that Colombia produces. During the first quarter of this year, the economy slowed further, to a 2.8% on-year rise.

 

 

Colombia Inflation Remained Low in July As Housing Prices Fell – WSJ.com.

Local Housing Prices hit 31-Month High | Cross River Real Estate

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A significant jump in July home prices and leap in housing inventory are the latest statistics confirming that the Rockford real estate market is realizing the return of home sellers. 
The three-month rolling average price hit $113,178 in July, the highest monthly average since $117,520 in January 2011. 
The July 2013 price was up slightly from $112,679 in July 2011. However, this marked seven out of the last eight months of year-over-
year price increases.
Housing sales were up 2.7 percent in Winnebago, Boone and Ogle Counties from 364 home sales in July 2012 to 374 home sales this July. 
Year-over-year monthly sales have been up 10 out of the last 12 months.
“This extended run of year-over-year sales gains shows the drive to own a home is powering the Rockford housing market,” said Steve Bois, CEO of Rockford Area Realtors.
“Rising home prices fuel the selling market because existing home owners feel more secure about selling their current homes at a profit and moving up to bigger houses.”
Rockford area housing inventory reached 2,093 homes in July, the highest all year and marking the first time properties hit the 2,000 level this year.
“Enthusiasm on the part of buyers shows no signs of flagging,” Bois commented, “and add to that the addition of more than 100 sellers to the market. This indicates that both buyers and sellers believe the time is right to get into the market.”
Driving sales are the return of two key home buyer groups: millennials and move-up buyers.
Almost a quarter of now-married millennials purchased a home with their current spouse before their wedding, according to Coldwell Banker’s new Mortgage and Homebuying study. 
By comparison, just 14 percent of those 45 and older purchased a
home with their current spouse before marriage.
Rising Rockford housing inventory levels indicate the return of sellers to the market.
“Existing home owners looking to purchase a better or larger home are coming back in the housing market,” Bois remarked. 
“Move-up buyers coming back into the market is a true sign of housing recovery and economic growth.”
Bois said inventory should continue to expand as existing homeowners put their homes on the market, giving first-time buyers more opportunities to find a suitable home.
New national research confirms this move. Nearly half of Americans (47 percent) say they feel morecomfortable purchasing a home today than at any other time in the past five years, say results of a survey by Mayflower Research.
“The data reflects an easing of the wariness Americans have felt in recent years following the housing bubble.” Bois said. 
“The top two reasons for a delay—economic instability and declining real estate market—are now falling by the wayside. Americans
have rising faith in the housing market.”

 

 

Local Housing Prices hit 31-Month High.

Australian House Prices Jump Most in 3 Years on Rate Cuts | Bedford Corners Homes

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Australian house prices rose by the most in more than three years in the second quarter as home buyers responded to a series of interest rate cuts by the central bank since November 2011.

Home prices across Australia’s eight major cities jumped 2.4 percent in the three months to June 30 after a revised 0.8 percent gain in the first three months of the year, according to an index of established homes released by the statistics bureau. The rise was the biggest since the first quarter of 2010, beating the median estimate of 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News of a 1 percent increase, and sent the index to the highest level since it was established in March 2002.

 

The Reserve Bank of Australia, which today continued its easing cycle with a 25 basis-point cut of its benchmark interest rate to a record-low 2.5 percent, is rebalancing the economy toward industries including residential construction as the mining investment boom fades. The cuts have boosted housing demand, with the number of homes available for sale in the biggest cities falling 2.5 percent in July from a year ago, according to real estate data provider SQM Research Pty.

“This is further confirmation that the housing market is starting to stir,” said Matthew Hassan, senior economist at Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC) “Lower interest rates have been the key catalyst, with the improvement in June, July and August coming after the last interest rate cut in May.”

Mortgage Rates

National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB) said it will reduce its variable mortgage rate by 25 basis points to 5.88 percent from Aug. 12, following the central bank’s decision today. Westpac Banking Corp. and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) are reviewing their rates, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. will consider its loan rate on Aug. 9, according to the respective spokesmen at the banks. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

 

Australian House Prices Jump Most in 3 Years on Rate Cuts – Bloomberg.

Housing prices drop in real terms in Israel for first time in year | Armonk Real Estate

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The real estate industry does not believe that housing prices are dropping, despite the slight decline recorded in the second quarter of 2013. The Government Assessors Office reported on Sunday that housing prices dropped 0.3% in the second quarter, the first decline in real terms in a year-and-a-half.

“The market is still rising, but the rate of increase is falling,” said Adina Hacham, the CEO of Anglo-Saxon real estate compay. “I believe it will moderate further, but there won’t be dramatic changes.”

Hacham said property investors are still active in the residential real estate market, despite the introduction of new taxes and other restrictions, which, she said, do not offset the continuing shorfall between demand and supply. “Unless something dramatic happens economacally, there’ll be no drama in home prices,” she added.

That opinion was seconded by Ohad Dannus, head of the Israel Real Estate Appraisers Association, who said the govenrment had failed to act on promises to restrain prices. “Until all the promises are translated into action, the market is going to remain strong,” he said. “Buyers who listened to promises by decision-makers and didn’t buy a home paid a penalty of NIS 50,000 to NIS 70,000 in higher prices.”

Moreover, the downtick detected by the assessors office is based on a survey that is so small that the results could be due to statistical error. In any event, in nominal terms, apartment prices rose nationwide in the second quarter, albeit by a slight 1%. The consumer price index rose 1.3% in the same period, meaning that in real terms prices appeared to have fallen. Home prices rose 4.6% in nominal terms from the second quarter of 2012.

The assessor’s survey tracks the prices of three-bedroom homes in 16 cities across Israel. The sharpest rise in the second quarter was in Modi’in, which saw a 5% increase over the previous quarter. Behind Modi’in, there were 3% increases in Ashkelon, Be’er Sheva and Rishon Letzion. Prices in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Petah Tikva, Netanya and Eilat didn’t move, while they actually dropped in nominal terms in Ashdod (2%) and Ramle (1%).

Since the second quarter of last year, home prices have held more or less steady, according to Government Assessor Tal Alderoti. “Its a stagnant trend, with a creeping nominal rise,” he wrote in the second-quarter report. “The big boom hasn’t come. It seems we’ve reached the upper limit, where every home is expensive and price rises have stopped. On the other hand, prices aren’t falling, because the govenment hasn’t succeeded in creating enough supply.”

 

 

Housing prices drop in real terms in Israel for first time in year and a half – Real Estate – Israel News | Haaretz.

HUD Report Questions Westchester Zoning Laws | Mt. Kisco Real Estate

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Seven Westchester municipalities have been accused in a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report of having zoning laws that keep out and segregate low-income families.

Croton-on-Hudson, Harrison, Lewisboro, the Town of Mamaroneck, the Town of Ossining, Pelham Manor and Pound Ridge were the seven municipalities named in the report recently released from Housing Monitor James Johnson. Johnson is trying to ensure that Westchester County meets the terms of a 2009 anti-discrimination housing settlement that requires the county to build 750 units of affordable housing by 2016, according to a news release.

Johnson said the towns lack zoning laws that provide incentives for or mandate affordable housing.

“Our work made clear (that) seven municipalities did not meet the first standard. I believe more data is required before one can conclude on the second,” Johnson said.

The county settled the anti-discrimination suit with HUD in 2009, but the two sides have butted heads since County Executive Robert Astorino took office in 2010. HUD is threatening to withhold $20 million in federal grants for nonprofits if the county does not meet HUD’s terms.

Ned McCormack, communications director and senior adviser to Astorino rejected the HUD report.

“The county’s comprehensive analysis in eight submissions to HUD – running to thousands of pages of documentation – found no evidence of any exclusionary zoning,” McCormack said in a statement.  “The county executive once again demands that HUD release the $17 million it is arbitrarily withholding from our local communities. There is no reason for HUD to continue to hold this money hostage, which is designed to help our neediest residents.”

 

 

HUD Report Questions Westchester Zoning Laws | The Mt. Kisco Daily Voice.

How to Use Facebook Power Editor, a Detailed Guide | Bedford Realtor

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Are you looking for a better way to manage your Facebook ads?

Do you want access to new Facebook advertising features as soon as they’re available?

Facebook offers a powerful and often overlooked way for marketers to do amazing things with ads.

In this article I’ll show you what Power Editor is, explore its benefits and show you how you can create campaigns using Power Editor.

What Is Power Editor?

The most powerful way to target your ideal audience on Facebook is with Facebook ads.

But clicking the “Boost Post” button and using the self-serve ad tool only scratches the surface. If you want to thrive and direct profits with your Facebook ads, you need to use Power Editor.

facebook power editor

Use Power Editor to have full control over your Facebook advertising.

Power Editor is a free browser plugin created by Facebook that lets you bulk-edit your ads. It was initially created as a Chrome plugin. Although it does sporadically work in other browsers, you’ll likely want to use the Chrome browser when working with Power Editor.

Go to Facebook.com/powereditor to test your browser or install the plugin.

But Power Editor is much more than just a bulk ad editor. It has many advantages over Facebook’s self-serve ad tool used by the vast majority of Facebook advertisers.

Here are the benefits of using Power Editor for your Facebook ads.

#1: Get Access to Latest Features

partner categories

Partner Categories is a feature available within Power Editor.

When Facebook rolls out new advanced features, they’re sent first to the Facebook ads API (which goes to third-party tools) and Power Editor. As a result, marketers using Power Editor tend to get these features well before those who use the self-serve ad tool exclusively.

Here are some examples of features you can currently find in Power Editor, but not in the self-serve ad tool:

Partner Categories: Facebook has partnered with three data-mining companies (Axciom, Datalogix and Epsilon) that collect mounds of data on users related to purchase history and lifestyle. Facebook uses this data to let advertisers do some powerful ad targeting with more than 500 categories.

 

 

How to Use Facebook Power Editor, a Detailed Guide | Social Media Examiner.

1 in 3 buyers would bid above asking price | South Salem Real Estate

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One in 3 buyers are willing to bid higher than a home’s asking price, according to a survey conducted by Trulia in partnership with Harris Interactive.

That was just one of several other findings of the survey that appear to show that homebuyers are feeling the squeeze of market conditions that are significantly altered from those of a year ago. At the same time, they capture improved sentiment towards the housing market.

Today’s tight home inventory appears to be pushing some buyers to use aggressive tactics to beat out competing buyers, the survey found. In addition to a third of buyers being willing to make above-market offers, 1 in 4 said that they would offer to pay a seller’s closing costs.

“Tight inventory means slim pickings for buyers. Even though inventory is starting to expand, and rising home prices should bring more for-sale homes onto the market, people who actually want to buy within the next year are feeling the pressure of competing buyers and limited inventory,” wrote Trulia Chief Economist Jed Kolko in blog post about the survey.

Also seemingly a symptom of today’s limited housing stock, homebuyers who plan to buy within the next year said that finding a home that they like is their biggest worry.

And highlighting two other defining characteristics of today’s market, consumers who said they might buy someday indicated that their two greatest fears were that mortgage rates and home prices would rise further.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/07/25/one-in-three-buyers-would-bid-above-asking-price/#sthash.rgSe8GhB.dpuf

 

 

1 in 3 buyers would bid above asking price | Inman News.

Local Housing Prices hit 31-Month High | Cross River Real Estate

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A significant jump in July home prices and leap in housing inventory are the latest statistics confirming that the Rockford real estate market is realizing the return of home sellers.
The three-month rolling average price hit $113,178 in July, the highest monthly average since $117,520 in January 2011.
The July 2013 price was up slightly from $112,679 in July 2011. However, this marked seven out of the last eight months of year-over-
year price increases.
Housing sales were up 2.7 percent in Winnebago, Boone and Ogle Counties from 364 home sales in July 2012 to 374 home sales this July.
Year-over-year monthly sales have been up 10 out of the last 12 months.
“This extended run of year-over-year sales gains shows the drive to own a home is powering the Rockford housing market,” said Steve Bois, CEO of Rockford Area Realtors.
“Rising home prices fuel the selling market because existing home owners feel more secure about selling their current homes at a profit and moving up to bigger houses.”
Rockford area housing inventory reached 2,093 homes in July, the highest all year and marking the first time properties hit the 2,000 level this year.
“Enthusiasm on the part of buyers shows no signs of flagging,” Bois commented, “and add to that the addition of more than 100 sellers to the market. This indicates that both buyers and sellers believe the time is right to get into the market.”
Driving sales are the return of two key home buyer groups: millennials and move-up buyers.
Almost a quarter of now-married millennials purchased a home with their current spouse before their wedding, according to Coldwell Banker’s new Mortgage and Homebuying study.
By comparison, just 14 percent of those 45 and older purchased a
home with their current spouse before marriage.
Rising Rockford housing inventory levels indicate the return of sellers to the market.
“Existing home owners looking to purchase a better or larger home are coming back in the housing market,” Bois remarked.
“Move-up buyers coming back into the market is a true sign of housing recovery and economic growth.”
Bois said inventory should continue to expand as existing homeowners put their homes on the market, giving first-time buyers more opportunities to find a suitable home.
New national research confirms this move. Nearly half of Americans (47 percent) say they feel more comfortable purchasing a home today than at any other time in the past five years, say results of a survey by Mayflower Research.
“The data reflects an easing of the wariness Americans have felt in recent years following the housing bubble.” Bois said.
“The top two reasons for a delay—economic instability and declining real estate market—are now falling by the wayside. Americans
have rising faith in the housing market.”

 

Local Housing Prices hit 31-Month High.

Home Sales Cool Down as Summer Heats Up | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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Sales in the nation’s fastest markets are slowing down as inventories rebound. In June fewer homes went under contract within one or two weeks of being listed, continuing a slowing pattern that began in April.

In June, 30.5 percent of homes went under contract within two weeks of being listed, down from 31.9 percent in May. The 1.4 percentage point drop was the largest seen in the US housing market since December 2012. Nineteen percent of homes went under contract within one week in June, down from 19.9 percent in May

The June slowdown follows three months of gains in the number of homes for sale and the subsequent easing of competition among homebuyers. Additionally, the interest rate hikes that began in May led some active homebuyers to take a step back from the market and reassess what they could afford while others were deterred from entering the market. As a result, homebuyers who were committed to continuing their home searches felt a reduced sense of urgency to submit an offer within hours of a home being listed for sale.

“Even though Bay Area listings are now receiving a fraction of the number of offers they did just a couple of months ago–five to eight instead of 30 to 40–homebuyers are still acting quickly when they see a home they like,” said Redfin San Francisco area manager Charmaine Frank. “Offer deadlines are becoming less common, but buyers are still anxious to get their offers in early to find out if they have a chance, or move on.”

Silicon Valley (San Jose), CA was the fastest-moving market, with 52 percent of new listings under contract within two weeks, a slowdown from 58 percent in May.

Las Vegas and Philadelphia were the slowest-moving markets in June, with 11 percent and 9 percent of homes under contract within 14 days of their debut.

 

Home Sales Cool Down as Summer Heats Up | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com.

Housing helps jobs with increased construction employment | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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What’s happening in housing is often an indicator of what’s happening in the economy. According to a report released today by the Department of Labor, the economy created 162,000 jobs in July, missing forecasted estimates. In other words, housing is helping jobs more than jobs are helping housing.

Trulia (TRLA) Chief Economist Jed Kolko noted that, despite a slow quarter for construction activity, residential construction employment continues to outpace employment overall. Year-over-year, residential construction is up 4.5% — ahead of overall national employment growth of 1.7% — an indicator that housing is putting more jobs on the market.

From its previous peak, construction employment is down 38%, while construction activity has dropped 56% from its previous peak.

However, job growth remains slugging for young adults, who are key to household formation, and job growth remains behind normal numbers in the metros that were hit hardest in the housing bust, aka the job market isn’t improving enough to give a strong boost to housing demand.

 

 

Housing helps jobs with increased construction employment | 2013-08-02 | HousingWire.