MRED Blog
REinventing MLS
Category Archives: Agent “Doing Business” Discussions
Should Your Buyers Increase Their Offer?
Limited inventory and a very strong demand for housing has created an environment where bidding wars are commonplace in today’s real estate market. Homes priced properly are getting multiple offers within a short time of coming to market. This brings about a dilemma for the agent: How should they advise their client who is about to make an offer when other offers will also be presented?
Over the last several years, there wasn’t any pressure on the buyer to adjust their offer for three reasons:
- There were plenty of homes for sale
- Prices were falling
- Mortgage interest rates were falling
They buyer could find another home easily for probably less money and a lower mortgage rate. There was no downside to not ‘upping the ante’. However, in today’s market, things have dramatically changed.
Take a minute to read the full KCM Blog post for some great information on making an offer.
4 of the 30 under 30 Finalists are part of MRED!
MRED would like to congratulate the following agents on being finalists in the 30 under 30 contest for REALTOR® Magazine:
- Casselyn L. Feinstein of ERA Team Feinstein LLC in Clarendon Hills
- Rebecca Thomson of Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty in Chicago
- Matt J. Laricy of Americorp Real Estate in Chicago
- Leo Solarte of First Western Properties, Inc. in Chicago
Out of hundreds of applicants for this contest, only 30 are chose to be recognized as rising stars in the industry. We wish you all the best of luck!
3 Financial Reasons to Buy a Home NOW! (Part III)
Part III – Rents Are Skyrocketing
Whether you own or rent, you will have a monthly housing expense. The question is how that expense will change in the future. When you purchase a home, for the most part, you lock-in that monthly housing expense for the length of the mortgage you take (15 or 30 years for example). When you rent a home, your housing expense is impacted by movements in the supply and demand for rental properties.
Historically, residential rental rates increase by 3.2% on an annual basis. However, in the current housing environment, there is an increasing demand for residential rental properties. This increase in demand has dramatically impacted rates. Zillow, in their most recent report, revealed that rental rates in the U.S. increased by 4.5% over the last twelve months. Other studies have projected rental rate increases of 4-5% over the next few years.
The only way to have control of your housing expense is to buy.
Take a minute and read the full KCM blog post about where the market is headed.
S&P Case-Shiller home prices jump most since 2006
The same indices edged up 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively, month-over-month.
The recovering market of Phoenix alone saw price gains of 23.2% for the 12-month period, while 19 U.S. cities experienced significant acceleration in home price growth.
“Economic data continues to support the housing recovery,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Single-family home building permits and housing starts posted double-digit year-over-year increases in February 2013. Despite a slight uptick in foreclosure filings, numbers are still down 25% year-over-year. Steady employment and low borrowing rates pushed inventories down to their lowest post-recession levels.”
Detroit, one of the hardest hit markets, continued to see price deceleration, while New York finally experienced price appreciation after 28 months in negative annual price growth.
The latest update to the indices follow the upward trend set in 2012. In January, home prices rose in 19 of the 20 U.S. cities, falling only in New York, for the 12-month period ending in November.
Home prices during the 12-month period ending January 2013 jumped closer to 10%, recording the largest annual leaps in both S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices in the past seven years.
S&P’s 10-city composite index shows home prices increasing 7.3% year-over-year during the 12-month period, while the 20-city composite index soared 8.1%.
The same indices edged up 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively, month-over-month.
The recovering market of Phoenix alone saw price gains of 23.2% for the 12-month period, while 19 U.S. cities experienced significant acceleration in home price growth.
“Economic data continues to support the housing recovery,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Single-family home building permits and housing starts posted double-digit year-over-year increases in February 2013. Despite a slight uptick in foreclosure filings, numbers are still down 25% year-over-year. Steady employment and low borrowing rates pushed inventories down to their lowest post-recession levels.”
Detroit, one of the hardest hit markets, continued to see price deceleration, while New York finally experienced price appreciation after 28 months in negative annual price growth.
The latest update to the indices follow the upward trend set in 2012. In January, home prices rose in 19 of the 20 U.S. cities, falling only in New York, for the 12-month period ending in November.
Article via Housingwire
Shadow inventory falls 28% from its peak
The nation’s shadow inventory of distressed properties is down substantially from peak levels reached in January 2010, Irvine, Calif.-based CoreLogic said Tuesday.
From its peak three years ago, the nation’s shadow inventory has fallen 28%, with 2.2 million units left sitting in the pipeline during the month of January.
That figure is down 18% from year ago levels when 2.6 million housing units still remained in the pipeline.
CoreLogic ($25.22 0%) develops its shadow inventory figure by calculating the number of seriously delinquent homes, properties in foreclosure and homes held as REOs by mortgage servicers, but not yet listed on multiple listing services.
“The shadow inventory continued to drop at double the rate in January from prior-year levels. At this point in the recovery, we are seeing healthy reductions across much of the nation,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “As we move forward in 2013, we need to see more progress in Florida, New York, California, Illinois and New Jersey which now account for almost half of the country’s remaining shadow inventory.”
States such as Arizona, California and Colorado are already seeing significant drops in mortgage delinquencies, which suggests a declining pipeline of properties in the shadow inventory in the months to come.
Of those properties currently in the shadow inventory, one million are seriously delinquent, 798,000 are in some stage of foreclosure and 342,000 are listed as REOs.
In January, five states – Florida, California, New York, Illinois and New Jersey – held 44% of all distressed properties in the U.S.
Florida alone houses 16% of the shadow inventory.
Article via Housingwire.com
3 Financial Reasons to Buy a Home NOW! (Part II)
Part II – Interest Rates Are Increasing
A big component in the cost of a home is the mortgage interest rate a purchaser pays. Understanding where rates are headed will help in making a decision whether to buy now or wait.
To find out where interest rates are headed, read the full blog post from the KCM Blog
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