April 26, 2012: REALTOR® Nationwide Open House Weekend. This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, April 28-29, REALTORS® across the state will participatein 2012 REALTOR® Nationwide Open House Weekend. For one weekend in April, REALTORS® will hold open houses in neighborhoods from coast to coast, bringing value to both buyers and sellers. The event provides a tremendous opportunity to learn more about the benefits of homeownership and talk to REALTORS® about the housing issues that matter most to you. Contact a local REALTOR® today to learn more about the event, or plan to stop by a few open houses April 28–29.
April 26, 2012: CNN Money: It is safe to sell your home again. While analysts debate when the housing market will hit bottom, for a surprising number of cities the turnaround has already begun. In December, prices rose in 109 of the 384 metro areas tracked by data firm CoreLogic. Making sense of the story There are certain signs to help determine if a particular neighborhood is on the verge ofa rebound. For instance, is local employment on the upswing? That is a critical factor for a region to get itself on the path to recovery. Improving jobs picture has led to shrinking housing stock across the country, as investors and bargain hunters have started buyingup foreclosures that have been preventing a recovery. For years, buyers were scared of overpaying for a home, but less so now. Many buyers have grown accustomed to thinking they will score deals, so they tend to act slowly, and typically start bidding around 10 per cent to 15 per cent below list price. However, a growing number of buyers are beginning to realize that if they wait too long in this market, they may miss out. Sellers can hold firm on price if they are patient. The days of having to deal with low-ball offers are coming to an end. The higher the price, the more patient the seller must be. Cheaper homes are affordable to more buyers and appealing to investors, so recoveries usually start there. Sellers should keep in mind that while they don’t have to placate low-ball offers anymore, they also cannot shoot for the moon either. Working with a REALTOR® and setting a realistic price from the get-go is key. Sellers should know what they are competing against. Homeowners should let their home’s value dictate the price. While this may seem self-evident, some owners may have lost sight of it during the bust. On the one hand, some sellers clung to the false hope of a return to boom prices, so they set prices unrealistically high. Others may have gone too far the other way, and set their price too low. It is also important that sellers understand they are no longer competing with gutted foreclosures. Buyers are tired of looking at worn-down, neglected, distressed properties and often do not have much extra money to do a lot of fixing up. REALTORS® often report their clients are willing to pay a little more for a home that is ready to move into.
In other news …The Wall Street Journal: Don’t blame homeowners or government for housing bust. Former Fannie Mae CEO, speaking on a panel at a conference, says that an influx of investors into the housing market – rather than government policy – was the main cause of the housingmarket’s collapse.
CNNMoney: New rules will speed up short sales. The Federal Housing Finance Agency laid out new rules aimed at speeding up the short saleprocess, a move that could keep many homes from falling into foreclosure. Aid for troubled mortgages has been revamped. Nearly five years after the housing bust began, government programs to help those who are underwater on their mortgages, unemployed, or unable to make their payments are kicking into gear.
Los Angeles Times: New home sales rise year-over-year in March. The pace of new home sales in March was up 7.5 per cent from a year earlier, the Census Bureau and the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development reported this week.
Bloomberg Consumer: Confidence in U.S. little changed. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index was at 69.2 in April compared with a revised 69.5 in the prior month.
Washington Post: Housing downturn spurs a boom in foreclosure-to-rental conversions. With home prices at historic lows and rental rates on the rise, a growing number of investors with cash to spare are seeking lucrative returns by gobbling up foreclosures in distressed markets across the country and turning them into rentals.
Los Angeles Times: Low-ball offers decline in some housing markets. A year ago, 1 out of 10 REALTORS® surveyed said houses were receiving low-ball offers. In the latest survey, there were hardly any. Instead, the focus has shifted to declining inventory levels.
What you should know about the market Once a primary tool for real estate agents looking to sell a home, experts say the traditional open house has lost its influence in the Internet age. Most buyers today conduct their preliminary research at home – reviewing online photos, virtual tours, and a home’s layout – and arranging for private showings of the properties they’re interested in. Many REALTORS® report that open houses rarely attract interested, qualified buyers. During the boom times, it was more common for buyers to make offers at an open house because they were worried that another buyer would beat them to it. With real estate sales slow in most markets, the urgency is no longer there.
