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Home prices close in on housing bubble peak | Bedford Corners Homes

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Nationwide, home prices are now just 14 percent off of their bubble era peak, according to real estate data and technology firm Lender Processing Services.

LPS’ U.S. Home Price Index came in at $231,000 in August, up 9 percent year over year and a slight 0.4 percent from July. The index peaked at $270,000 in June 2006.

Texas, in particular, is booming. The state’s HPI hit a new peak of $185,000 in August, as did Texas metros Austin ($240,000), Dallas ($184,000), Houston ($185,000) and San Antonio ($172,000).

 

 

Source: LPS

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/home-prices-close-in-on-housing-bubble-peak/#sthash.3AZ7TiWq.dpuf

6 Ways to Use Embedded Tweets to Help Your Business | Bedford Corners Realtor

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Are you looking for creative ways to embed tweets on your website?

Do you want to show off your customer’s kind words about your business?

Since Twitter allows the ability to embed tweets on websites, people have discovered lots of creative ways to use them.

In this post, I’ll show you six ways to use embedded tweets to enhance your content, drive engagement and establish social proof.

How to Embed a Tweet

From sharing spontaneous customer testimonials to increasing traffic and promoting events, embedded tweets can capitalize on or support engagement with your brand in a number of ways.

Before we get started, let’s quickly review how to embed a tweet on your website.

When you find a tweet you want to embed on your website, hover over that tweet and click on the More link. Then you should see an Embed Tweet option.

embed tweet option

Finding the Embed Tweet option on Twitter.

 

When you click on Embed Tweet, you are prompted to copy the sharing code for the tweet.

Copying the embed code for a tweet.

Then you paste the embed code in your website. If your site is on WordPress, use the HTML/Text editor. When you save or publish, you have a live, interactive tweet on your website.

Yes, it’s that simple! Now, let’s look at some ways to use embedded tweets.

Here are some creative applications of embedded tweets.

 

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/embedded-twitter-posts/

 

Facebook Contests, How to Get Your Fans Excited | Bedford Corners Realtor

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Have you ever run a Facebook contest?

Are you wondering if you should use them for your business?

To learn about Facebook contests, I interview Andrea Vahl for this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast.

More About This Show

Social Media Marketing Podcast w/ Michael Stelzner

 

The Social Media Marketing podcast is a show from Social Media Examiner.

It’s designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing.

The show format is on-demand talk radio (also known as podcasting).

In this episode, I interview Andrea Vahl, co-author of Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies.She regularly writes about Facebook for Social Media Examiner (in fact she was our community manager for 2 years), and has an alter-ego known online as Grandma Mary.

Andrea shares how a Facebook contest can work for your page and your business.

You’ll learn about the different contests available and what contest apps to use.

Share your feedback, read the show notes and get the links mentioned in this episode below!

Listen Now

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

You can also subscribe via iTunes, RSS, Stitcher or Blackberry.

 Here are some of the things you’ll discover in this show:

Facebook Contests

Why should businesses run contests on Facebook?

When it comes to what contests can do for your Facebook page and your business, Andrea is a contest fan girl.

There are many benefits of running a contest and Andrea’s top three follow. You’ll hear the benefits of each and the best types of prizes to give away.

  1. Help grow the likes on your page and your Facebook presence
  2. Grow your email list
  3. Help promote a product you’re selling

Listen to the show to find out how we did a photo contest called Help Me Launch.

Examples of successful contests

Andrea shares a few success stories with Facebook contests and what range of prizes can develop good success.

Andrea helped set up a contest for a client on Facebook called Chocolate for Breakfast. It was a contest where the giveaway was a small box of premium chocolate truffles.

The contest was run for one week. From this, the client got 700 new fans and 400 email addresses. At the time, the page was at the early stages with around 1200 fans. So for the cost of the premium box of chocolates, the client got a huge response.

chocolate for breakfast truffles

The Chocolates for Breakfast prize was very well branded with the page.

The contest was on the client’s Facebook tab (like you’re supposed to do), and it required people to like the page to enter.

Discover how a contest on a tab works and what information people need to enter to participate.

It was a sweepstakes contest where you didn’t have to enter any photos, essay or video. It was a random-draw winner with anyone eligible to win.

You’ll hear how it was promoted and the frequency of the posts.

Another client of Andrea’s, Camp Bow Wow, did a contest called Bad to the Bone. They’re a doggy daycare facility and also have home buddies dog training courses that they give away.

 

 

Facebook Contests, How to Get Your Fans Excited | Social Media Examiner.

Existing Home Sales Crush Expectations, Surge 6.5% | Bedford Corners Homes

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Existing home sales crushed expectations climbing 6.5% in July to an annualized pace of 5.39 million units. This was up 17.2% year-over-year. 

June’s numbers were revised lower to show a 1.6% fall to 5.06 million units.

Meanwhile, total housing inventory was up 5.6% at the end of July to 2.28 million. This represents a 5.1-month supply at the current sales pace. The median time that most homes spend on the market was 42 days in July, this is up from 37 the previous month

The national median price for existing homes was 13.7% higher than a year ago at $213,500. This is the seventeenth straight monthly rise. A key finding was that first time buyers were down from 34% of all purchases a year ago, to 29% this time around.

Distressed homes, which include foreclosures and short sales accounted for 15% of July sales, the same as June.

Economists have been watching for the impact of the run up in mortgage rates on existing and new home sales. The 30-year mortgage rate stands at 4.4% according to Freddie Mac’s primary mortgage market survey (PMMS).

“Mortgage interest rates are at the highest level in two years, pushing some buyers off the sidelines,” said Lawrence Yun chief economist at NAR in a press release.

“The initial rise in interest rates provided strong incentive for closing deals.  However, further rate increases will diminish the pool of eligible buyers.”

Economists at Credit Suisse expect existing home sales to fall to the lowest level in three months and post the first consecutive decline in over two years.

“One percent increases in mortgage rates over a two-month span are rare,” they write. “When they have happened in the past, home sales — both existing and new — usually register a monthly decline in the second month of the two-month back-up (in our case, that’s July).”

But their July monthly survey of real estate agents showed that most buyers don’t expect mortgage rates to go much higher and they’re waiting to see if there’s a pullback in rates that could create a buying opportunity.

“There is still not a lot to choose from for homebuyers, and this tight inventory continues to limit sales gains.  Other headwinds include tight underwriting standards, protracted bank approval processes, and a delayed selling process.”

Existing home sales account for a larger share of the market than new homes.

 

 

Existing Home Sales Crush Expectations, Surge 6.5% – Yahoo! Finance.

Realtor.com Reports Price Increases are Moderating | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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The inventory drought that has driven price increases this spring is ending as new listings restore supplies.  Larger inventories, especially in the hotter markets that experienced rapid price increases in the spring, are providing buyers more choices and moderating price increases.

Realtor.com’s year over year inventory declined 5.24 percent for the second month in a row.  However inventories were up 1.41 percent over June.  National median list prices increased 5.27 percent year-over-year while median age of inventory fell 16.67 percent.

The very hot California markets that were a concern two months ago have cooled.  In fact, inventories have recovered so much in Sacramento and Stockton-Lodi that their supplies of listings for sale on Realtor.com are larger than they were a year ago.  The recovery’s new phase is characterized by smaller price swings, larger inventories that reflect higher home values, a moderate decline in the median age of inventory and a general return to stability.  The balance of the year will see markets consolidate the price gains they achieved during the buying season.

Dramatic national year-over-year inventory declines have evaporated. Nationally inventories in July are only 5.24 percent below the level of a year ago compared to being down 16.47 percent year-over-year in January.

Inventory declines decreased in local markets.  In July 2013, the number of markets with decreases in year-over-year inventory declined from 125 markets in June to 118 markets in July.  This suggests that this fall inventories in some markets may return to levels of a year ago and may continue to slow price increases in some markets.

Markets are still moving fast. All but five markets are continuing to experience year-over-year declines in age of inventory and on a month-over-month basis. On a national level, housing inventory is approximately 17 percent below last year, but the national age of inventory increased 6.25 percent month-over-month.

 

 

read more…

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/08/realtorcom-reports-price-increases-are-moderating/

 

Mortgage rates hold steady | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Mortgage rates remained largely unchanged from last week after bouncing around from July to August on market uncertainty as to whether the Federal Reserve will taper its bond-buying program.

Mortgage rates for the week ending Aug. 14, changed very little from the previous week, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage came in at 4.40%, unchanged from last week, and up from 3.62% last year.

In addition, the 15-year, FRM averaged 3.44%, up from 3.43% last week and also up from 2.88% a year earlier.

The 5-year, Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage came in at 3.23%, a slight jump from 3.19% last week and a substantial increase from 2.76% last year.

The one-year Treasury-indexed ARM reached 2.67%, up from 2.62% a week earlier and not far from the 2.69% rate reported a year earlier.

“Fixed mortgage rates have been bouncing around over the past few weeks on market speculation that the Fed will taper some of its monetary stimulus,” said Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft. “In fact, 65 percent of economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the Fed to reduce the amount of bond purchases at its September 17th and 18th monetary policy committee meetings.”

He added, “Currently, mortgage rates on 30-year fixed mortgages are 1.1 percentage points above their all-time low set on November 21, 2012, which translates into $125 more per month in mortgage payments on a $200,000 loan.”

Bankrate also noted that fixed mortgage rates were little changed.

In its weekly national survey, Bankrate reported that the 30-year, FRM rose to 4.57%, while the 15-year, FRM declined to 3.61%. In addition, the 5/1 ARM increased to 3.61%.

 

 

Mortgage rates hold steady | 2013-08-15 | HousingWire.

Canada’s housing market still running hot | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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The surprising resilience of the country’s housing market is renewing concerns that it could be overshooting.

 

Housing starts, sales and prices are once again defying expectations, one year after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty shocked the market with tighter mortgage insurance rules. The sector is showing such strength this summer that some economists are wondering whether Mr. Flaherty will go further in a bid to stem rising house prices and consumer debt levels.

 

A for sale sign is seen on the lawn of a Toronto home. The Canadian Real Estate Association says home sales were down in June from year-earlier levels, but higher compared with the previous month.

 

“There may be some dusting off of potential measures to cool housing,” Bank of Montreal economist Douglas Porter wrote in a research note. He thinks the market could be on the verge of running away again.

 

Both Mr. Flaherty and economists will have a better sense of where things stand on Thursday, when the Canadian Real Estate Association releases July’s sales figures. Mr. Porter thinks the data will show that the number of existing homes changing hands is 10 per cent higher than this time last year, which would mean that they are “within striking distance of the record highs hit in 2007.”

 

July data from some local real estate boards appear to back that assumption. Vancouver, for instance, saw a whopping 40.4-per-cent year-over-year increase in sales of existing homes over the Multiple Listing Service, while Toronto posted a still-impressive 16-per-cent gain. Calgary’s sales were up 17 per cent from last year. (Not all markets are showing gains. Ottawa and Montreal each saw sales fall by about 2 per cent year over year).

 

Toronto-Dominion Bank economist Diana Petramala says sales have now recovered from the changes that Mr. Flaherty made to the mortgage insurance rules. “In Vancouver, sales have recovered to their highest level since 2010,” she notes.

 

In addition to the changes that Ottawa made to the rules for consumers, such as cutting the maximum length of an insured mortgage to 25 years and doing away with mortgage insurance for homes worth more than $1-million, Mr. Flaherty has been taking steps to curtail the degree to which Canada Housing and Mortgage Corp., and therefore taxpayers, backstop the banks’ activities. He has been worried that ultralow mortgage rates are adding too much fuel to the housing fire.

 

 

Canada’s housing market still running hot – The Globe and Mail.

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 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.

3 Unique Ways to Use Pinterest for Business | Bedford Corners Realtor

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Does your business have a clear Pinterest strategy?

Have you been struggling to figure out howPinterest could help market your business?

Pinterest represents a massive opportunity for both consumer-focused and business-to-business companies.

In this article, I’ll show you three ways to build a successful Pinterest presence for your business.

tips for a winning strategy

Strategy plays a vital role in success on Pinterest.

#1: Increase Your Brand Authority

Do you want to establish authority in your field? This is a common goal for many businesses on Pinterest.

Middle Sister Wines positions itself on Pinterest as an authority in the wine industry by creating several Pinterest boards that provide useful and educational informationto their followers while promoting their products in fun ways.

middle sister wines on pinterest

Middle Sister Wines.

You don’t have to create all the content that you pin on Pinterest. To help position yourself as an authority in your field, share from a carefully vetted combination of sources to ensure your boards contain the most accurate and useful information available.

Middle Sister’s Wine Tips and Tricks board contains videos from their YouTube account, alongside resources from other industry experts. The board addresses topics such as how to pair wine with food and what type of glass should be used to serve different kinds of wine.

Follow Middle Sister Wines’ lead and pin relevant and helpful resources. Your followers will come to think of your account as the go-to place for reliable information about your subject. And as you increase your authority, you’ll continue to build trust, which could lead to increased customer loyalty and referrals from brand advocates.

 

3 Unique Ways to Use Pinterest for Business | Social Media Examiner.