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By admin, April 23, 2010 8:46 pm

The Ashland real estate market, a subset of the larger Oregon real estate market, is facing a slow and challenging road towards recovery. According to an April 9, 2010 article in the Oregonian, “The housing markets around the Portland area and Central Oregon will not rise back to their peak-era pricing levels until after 2015, according to research firm Fiserv.” The piece, composed by Ryan Frank, continued to state that “The Northwest forecasts are far better than the Sand States – California, Arizona, Florida, Nevada – where a return to boomtime prices isn’t expected until after 2025. The forecast is based on data from Fiserv, the Case-Shiller Index, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Moody’s Economy.com. (via HousingWire) David Stiff, Fiserv’s chief economist, said in a statement that the index points to another 7 percent decline in home prices through 2010, with a prolonged recovery starting in 2011.”

The situation confronting Ashland real estate and the rest of the state of Oregon has become severe enough that the state has received almost one hundred million dollars to help relieve the foreclosure crisis. According to a March 29, 2010 article in The Oregionian, “The good news and bad news are one and the same: Oregon is one of five states that will share in a $600 million federal program aimed at helping regions hardest hit by unemployment, home foreclosures and upside-down mortgages.” The piece, composed by Eric Mortenson, continued to state that “The agency will distribute the $88 million awarded to Oregon under an aid program expansion announced Monday by the Obama administration to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.”

The volume of Ashville and Oregon homes for sale, however, has most likely increased, according to an April 7, 2010 article in the Oregon Business Report. According to this article, “The University of Oregon Lane County Business Index (LCBI) rose 2.5 percent to 88.2 (1999=100) in the fourth quarter of 2009, the first increase since the first quarter of 2007. The increase is consistent with evidence that the national and state economies exited recession in the second half of 2009.” The article, composed by Tim Duy, continued to say that “Housing markets improved during the quarter, with home sales rising to a monthly rate of nearly 300 units, a 46 percent increase from the second quarter low. Moreover, the average days on market declined as homes sold more quickly.”

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By admin, April 22, 2010 8:39 pm

The Savannah real estate market remains in a dismal state, with home sales and foreclosures both suggesting continued troubles for the state of Georgia and the city of Savannah. According to an April 8, 2010 article in the Times-Herald, “Foreclosure advertisements in the Times-Herald are up 18.6 percent over the same month last year, with 216 scheduled for listing in this Thursday’s legal advertisement section.” New York Times columnist Paul Krugman confronted the financial crisis facing Georgia in an April 11, 2010 article, stating that “To appreciate Georgia’ specialness, you need to realize that the housing bubble was a geographically uneven affair. Basically, prices rose sharply only where zoning restrictions and other factors limited the construction of new houses.”

One central problem confronting Savannah real estate, foreclosures, was reported in an April 7, 2010 article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. This piece found that “Foreclosure rates and mortgage delinquency rates continued to grow in February in metro Atlanta and Georgia, according to data Wednesday from FirstAmerican CoreLogic. The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta region had a foreclosure rate of 2.79 percent in February, compared with 1.61 percent in February 2009. The 90-plus day delinquency rate for the area was 11.12 percent, compared with 6.79 percent in February 2009.” The piece continued to note that “Georgia’s foreclosure rate in February was 2.45 percent, compared with 1.41 percent in February 2009. The state’s 90-plus day delinquency rate was 9.73 percent, versus 5.99 percent in February 2009.”

Savannah homes for sale have also been facing extremely low rates of new home sales, according to a March 24, 2010 article in WSAV News. This piece found that “As the housing market struggles to recover from the recession, the government released a report Wednesday showing sales of new homes fell to record low levels last month.” The article, written by Tuquyen Mach, continued to state that “The report on February home sales was not what most folks wanted to hear but what many expected. Sales of new homes last month fell to the lowest level since record-keeping started about 50 years ago.”

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By admin, April 7, 2010 8:05 pm

A notable suburb of the Phoenix area, Chandler, Arizona, lies in Maricopa County and is home to a population nearly a quarter of a million. The fast-growing city experienced start rises in real estate prices in recent years, but many of those gains were brought to an abrupt halt at the onset of the U.S. credit crisis, when housing markets across the country collapsed.

According to local realtors John Hall Associates, most recent months have shown some slight signs for optimism in the Chandler real estate market, as sales activity rises. In March, there were 408 homes sold in Chandler, a sizable increase from February’s 275 sales and January’s 234. The figure was the highest monthly figure since October 2009. It is an improvement on figures from one year ago, when there were just 296 sales.

The number of listings has steadily risen as well, tracing an upward-leaning path since September 2009, when it reached a trough. In April, there were 1,671 active listings of Chandler homes for sale, up from 1,613 in March and 1,519 in February. The figure is a drop from one year ago, however, when there were 1,752 listings.

Prices per square foot of homes sold in Chandler are beginning to form a steady line, remaining basically constant over the past year. In March, the figure was $105, the exact same figure as it was one year ago. March also showed a troubling sign however: a spike in foreclosures. There were 391 foreclosure notices in March and 249 trustee sales, both sizable increase from the previous month. Foreclosure notices have fallen since last year though, when there were 438 in March. Trustee sales, however, have risen; there were just 106 last March.

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By admin, April 7, 2010 7:59 pm

Burlingame, a city in San Mateo County in Northern California, has a resilient real estate market. Despite falls and drops in prices brought about because of the U.S. financial and credit crisis, the Burlingame real estate market has fought on. Though prices still remain below where they were during the pre-recession highs, they are still high compared with other regions in the country.

According to statistics compiled by local realtor Vicki Moore, at the end of 2009, December saw 43 active listings of Burlingame homes for sale, with nine new listings. This was an improvement on November’s market, when there were 70 active listings and 20 new listings. There 26 homes sold in Burlingame in December, an improvement upon November’s 17 sales.

The prices of homes in Burlingame in December were on the rise as well. The median sales price in the month was $1.25 million, up from $1.05 million in November and the highest median since September. This figure is just slightly less than the median sales price during the boom years: In 2007, the median sales price in the city was $1.35 million.  December’s average price was $1.4 million, also up from November’s $1.05 million and nearly meeting September’s average.

Burlingame sellers are getting a good proportion of the asking prices on their homes for sale. In December, the sale price-to-list price ratio was 96.9%. In November, it was 96.7% and in October it was 98%. The average number of days homes in Burlingame spent on the market in December rose from November, when it was just 47, to 60, back to constant with levels in October, when the average was 61 days.

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By admin, February 11, 2010 3:55 am

You might be one of those people that have long dreamed about investing in Hawaii real estate but don’t have enough funds to finance the property.  Well it’s not a futile case if you think about it.  Yes, real estate properties here in Hawaii carry an extravagant price tag, but did you know that you can still invest in these properties even with your average salary range?  Since a lot of the real estate properties here in Hawaii are very costly, you might as well consider seeking the help of a good realtor, as well as a reliable banker, and then weigh your options very carefully afterwards.

Your banker

A competent and trustworthy banker will be able to assist you in the assessment of the properties that will fit your budget.  In determining a suitable monthly payment option, your discussion with your banker must include other financial liabilities such as credit card bills, monthly car amortization and your children’s tuition fees.  You must also take into consideration your other smaller responsibilities like your monthly bills – be it utility bills, telephone and internet.  Besides these monthly payments, you must also make allowances for emergency situations and establish a budget that you must set aside should these situations occur.  You might want to ask questions such as how much you are willing to give up in order to pay bigger monthly instalments, the risk you are willing to take in setting aside less for savings in order to allocate more for your real estate investment, and whether you like to spend most of your savings in the down payment or pay less and just pay the higher interest rates.  Your banker can help you decide the best course of action on all these questions and more.

Your realtor

A realtor is someone who can guide you into looking at properties which are determined by the preferences or standards that you have discussed with him/her previously.  Preferences such as your budget threshold, parking space, floor area and other related matters will help your realtor find the most suitable piece of property for you.  Since the Oahu real estate is quite limited when it comes to space, making a decision on how much area you want can be quite a hard task.  You might want to ask yourself a few questions like whether you want to focus on location or on the space of your property, and how much you are willing to give up in acquiring a residence in Hawaii.

While you are looking at your choices for real estate property, it is not unusual that your preference might change.  Sometimes, it may well be worth getting out of your price threshold in order to get a better home that truly suits your needs.  Most sellers will have an asking price, but more often than not, these asking prices are pretty much negotiable.   This is especially true for properties that have been in the market for quite some time or if the seller fails to make a deal with his previous price offerings.  It is in this negotiation process that your realtor can provide you with great help.

Take advantage of the economy

A slow economy translates as a buyer’s market, although not every seller is willing to lower down their prices.  There are a lot of people in Hawaii who are patient enough to wait for favourable market conditions before making negotiations with the property they are shooting for.  If you are lucky, you might encounter sellers who need to sell their property in a rush – this usually means that the seller is willing to accept offers below the asking price.  This is one way of acquiring a decently priced property in Hawaii, an offer you wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise.

Heads up!  Should an offer for a real estate property seem very expensive for your price range, then consider it that – expensive!  So try to maintain a good distance from these properties.

Acquiring a residence in Hawaii is quite expensive, although it is really not far from being achievable.  If this is really one of your dreams in life, then you might want to do some research on some available properties and who knows, you might get a good deal!

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By admin, January 21, 2010 3:25 am

The market for real estate in Marin County, California, is typical of the larger U.S. housing market. Though prices have fallen steeply from their peaks around 2006 and 2007, the market seems to be stabilizing and it has been helped by the government’s stimulus program offering up to $8,000 in tax credits to qualified home buyers, which has spurred activity in the area in recent months especially.

In November, sales of single-family homes in Marin County surged, up by nearly 77% when compared with sales activity at the same time last year. Despite a strong showing this month, however, year-to-date, sales of homes for sale in Marin County is off by 0.2%. December statistics will determine whether 2009 was a better or worse year for the market than 2008.

Marin County real estate saw a decently sized increase in its home prices during October 2009. According to the California Association of Realtors‘ data, in October, the median price for homes sold was $648,000, up 8% from October 2008, when it was just at $599,750.  In November, however, the median price was down 7.1% from October’s figures, down 5.7%. The November figures were 14.8% lower than November 2008 figures.

According to The Real Estate Report, a licensed California broker run by CPA Ron Parks, the median price for a single-family home in November in Marin County was just $702,000, compared with $755,880 in October of this year and $824,000 in November of last year. The market saw 161 sales in November, down from 171 in October but up decidedly from last November’s 91 sales. Days on the market were down in November, to 92 from 96 in October, but those figures are up from November 2008, when the average number of days on the market was 88.