US housing market: Distressed homes still drive sales | Armonk Real Estate
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Category Archives: Bedford Corners NY
Distressed Sales Down | Bedford Corners Homes
Seller Shortage Plagues Many Markets | Bedford NY Homes
The low inventory of for-sale homes is creating a seller’s market throughout the country.
“Buyers and agents are literally waiting for the next house,” says Rick Turley, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage for the San Francisco Bay Area.
The supply of existing homes for sale reached nearly an eight-year low in January, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Nationwide, there is a 4.2-month supply of existing homes for sale.
A more balanced market with a six-month supply will occur when home prices rise another 20 percent, says John Burns, CEO of John Burns Real Estate Consulting. Such an increase would then lure sellers to match demand coming in from renters and investors, and the rise in prices will also lead to more home building, Burns says.
Still, a return to healthy inventory levels could be years off, some say. “Many home owners can’t afford to sell because they don’t have enough equity to put into buying another house — or would have to write a check to sell,” USA Today reports. “The supply of distressed houses for sale is thinning as the foreclosure crisis recedes, especially in some states. Home building, while improving, is still at low levels. And, after years of holding on, few home owners want to sell when prices are just coming off the bottom, REALTORS® say.”
Source: “Home sellers are scarce as spring buyers stir,” USA Today (Feb. 26, 2013)
New-Home Sales Gain Steam | Bedford Corners Homes
Sales of new single-family homes in January rose to its fastest pace since 2008, leading to more confirmation that the recovery in the new-home sector is charging forward.
New-home sales rose 15.6 percent in January to reach a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 437,000 units, HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau reports.
“The surge in demand for new homes this January is an excellent sign that the housing recovery is gaining steam and helping put more people back to work,” says Rick Judson, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders. “While we can’t expect to see double-digit sales growth every month, consumers are definitely coming off the fence as prices start to rise, and builders in some cases are having a tough time keeping up. Challenges related to credit availability, poor appraisals, dwindling lot supplies, spot shortages of skilled labor and rising materials costs are all weighing on the recovery process.”
Regionally, new-home sales increased the most in the West by 45.3 percent, followed by the Northeast with a 27.6 percent gain, an 11.1 percent increase in the Midwest, and a 3.2 percent increase in the South.
Meanwhile, inventories remain low. The months’ supply of new homes for sale dropped to the lowest level in nearly eight years.
“Today’s report shows a strong revival in new-home sales across all regions of the country and bodes well for the upcoming spring buying season,” says NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “That said, the razor-thin supply of new homes for sale is very concerning at a time when we are only about halfway back to what could be considered a ‘normal’ level of activity. Builders need to be able to refresh their inventories to keep the momentum going.”
Damaged Foreclosures Beckon Bargain-hunters | Bedford Corners Real Estate
While prices of normal foreclosures and short sales have been rising, damaged distressed properties are actually becoming less expensive, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey.
Prices for REO properties in need of repair – the type banks look to unload after a foreclosure – have not been rising along with prices for non-distressed properties. They have been moving in the opposite direction.
According to HousingPulse results, the average price for a damaged REO property sold in January was just $88,100. That was not only 17.1 percent below the average damaged REO price recorded a year ago – $106,300 – but also the lowest level ever recorded by HousingPulse in its four-year history.
One reason for the decline in damaged REO prices is the fact that owner occupant buyers have become less interested in foreclosure fixer-uppers over the better part of a year. HousingPulse results for January show current homeowners had a record low 15.0 percent share of the damaged REO purchase market, while first-time homebuyers had a near-record low share of 19.6 percent.
Meanwhile, investors, lured by low prices and the growing opportunities for flipping, have significantly increased the purchase share of damaged REO properties in recent months. During January, investors accounted for 65.4 percent of damaged REO home purchases, according to HousingPulse numbers. That was up from 58.1 percent a year earlier and the highest level recorded in the survey’s four-year history.
Strong homebuyer traffic and limited housing inventory continued to push overall home prices upward in January. HousingPulse data show that home prices overall, based on a three-month moving average, are at the highest level – $236,100 – seen in nearly three years and have been climbing since last spring. Prices for non-distressed properties accounted for 65.0 percent of total home purchase transactions tracked by HousingPulse in January. Average home prices for non-distressed properties were up a healthy 5.1 percent on a year-over-year basis – rising from $264,700 in January of 2012 to $278,200 in January of 2013.
8 Strategies to Get Multiple First Page Rankings on Google | Bedford Corners Realtor
Rising housing prices are driving down affordability in California | Bedford Corners Realtor
via latimes.com
Fannie Mae: Housing is ‘on a sustained growth path’ | Bedford Corners Real Estate
via inman.com
Tips for Avoiding Rental Property Disasters | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate
via zillowblog.com
3 lessons in branding your real estate business | Bedford Corners Homes
The Girl Scouts have a special place in my heart.
After being a loyal Brownie and then Girl Scout for many years in elementary school, I am a sucker for any scout who comes knocking at my door — especially when it is a cookie sale season. After my recent three-box purchase, I thought about why the Girl Scout Cookie Program works and what we in the real estate industry can learn from it – especially from a branding perspective.
1. Longevity and consistency in brand. The Girl Scouts have time on their side. With a 100+ year old brand – according to their site, their mission is this: “Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.”
You may not have a 100 year old brand, but you can be consistent in your messaging and in your brand. Don’t be all things to all people. Don’t change your brand messaging every other month with a new font or the next shiny new app. Be consistent in action, in your website, in how you interact with people, in your marketing, and in everything you do.
Consistency breeds trust – and as we all know, we do business with those people that we know, like and trust.
2. Adapt and change. A 100-year old brand is bound to get stale. The Girl Scouts just introduced an app for iPhone and Android which will allow you to find out about scouts and the cookies.
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Are you adapting and changing your brand as needed? Do you have an updated website? Or is it stale and dated? Do you have a presence on social media and a strategy to build relationships, or are you simply “just there?”
When you think about adapting and changing – you need to think about being flexible and open to new ideas. Most people don’t embrace change because of fear. Don’t be afraid; adopt new technologies, try them out and see if they are a fit for your brand – if not, don’t be afraid to let it go and keep what works for you!
3. Traditional marketing still works. Door to door. Face to face. The Girl Scouts have made millions of sales by sticking with what works – good old fashioned face to face selling. The lesson here – don’t throw out traditional marketing that still works for you. Now more than ever – we have options.
If newspaper ads, direct mail and door knocking are still getting business for you – don’t eliminate them from your marketing plan! The key here is to pick and choose and don’t just do something because “it’s what you’ve always done” – but look and see how it is helping your brand and bringing in new business.
Would love your feedback and thoughts about this. Leave me a comment below!
via next.inman.com