The CEO of Toll Brothers, the nation’s largest luxury homebuilder, believes there is still room for real estate growth as long as mortgage rates remain comparable to their historic lows. These rates have trended between 5 and 7% since 2001, with the current average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage setting at 6.37%. Toll also [...]
Chief economist Seiders for the National Association of Homebuilders believes that the California, Las Vegas, Florida and the Washington, D.C., areas “have the largest potential for a price slowdown.” Speculators in those markets are said to have fed the rising prices with their intent to “flip” properties for a quick profit. The biggest fear Seiders [...]
There’s a new trend in real estate selling and its meeting mixed reviews. A growing number of homeowners and builders who are having difficulty selling their homes the traditional way are turning to auctions to sell their properties. As the housing market softens in cities across the nation, the trend to auction off one’s home [...]
For the third year in a row, New Hampshire was named the nation’s “Most Livable State-2006″ by Morgan Quitno. New Hampshire maintained the high spot because of their low unemployment, low crime rates, high levels of household income and high levels of education. Minnesota, Iowa, Vermont and New Jersey round off the top five livable [...]
Each week, Bankrate.com surveys mortgage experts to gauge the state of mortgage rates over the next 30 to 45 days: Will rates rise, fall or remain relatively unchanged? For the week of 3/9 thru 3/15/06, the consensus was to lock in because rates were rising. EXPERT’S COMMENTS: “Rates may continue to drift sideways at these [...]
USA Today – The fastest-growing commodity in Florida farm country last year? Land values, which jumped 50% to 88%, depending on the area. While not quite as dramatic, a similar story has been playing out across the country. Rural real estate prices soared 11% to an average of $1,510 per acre from Jan. 1, 2004, [...]
Time Online Edition – Is all the talk about a real estate bubble just a lot of hot air? For all the dire warnings that a pop may well be on its way, 2005 proved to be another record year for the housing market. Home prices rose 13% last year, according to a report released [...]
King County, Washington has yet to feel the cooling trend in the national real estate market. In fact, the overall scenario in King County is much brighter than in other markets nationwide. Homes are not sitting on the market as long as the national average, and housing inventories are not creeping up. Pending sales of [...]
The Commerce Department reported that sales of new homes in the United States fell 5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.233 million in January, the lowest in a year. The number of new homes on the market increased 2.5% to a record 528,000, representing a 5.2-months supply at the January sales pace. The [...]
On Wednesday, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight reported that the value of the average U.S. home increased 13% in the 12 months ending in December. The typical home’s value increased 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2005 from the third quarter, an annualized rate of 11.4%. There was no evidence of a slowdown [...]