Greenspan: Housing Boom is Over. No less an authority than former Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan has declared that the housing boom is over. "Home sales are off, applications are off, everything is going in the same direction," Greenspan said in remarks before the Bond Market Association. Greenspan claimed that while regional housing markets might experience more severe price fluctuations than others, the national housing market itself would remain stable. Greenspan also warned that as interest rates continue to rise, homeowners would be less able to tap the equity in their homes' value for loans in order to spend. Home equity loans and lines of credit had "an important effect" on the continued strength of the economy, he said. Click here to read more.
Baby Boomers Scooping Up Big Bear, California Real Estate. Second home purchases of vacation and investment properties are becoming an ever-increasing part of total home sales. In 2005 Americans bought a record number of second homes, amounting to nearly 40% of total home sales, a real estate trade association reported recently. Click here to read more.
How much home $1 million buys. A cool million sounds like it should afford you an impressive estate or at least a starter mansion. But in some areas of the U.S., you'd be lucky to score a second bedroom. Click here to read more.
Home sellers beware: Buyers are in control as number of houses for sale soars in Las Vegas Valley. Home sellers better prepare for whiplash. Buyers are in the driver's seat these days, steering for bargains that haven't been offered in years. Gone are the waiting lists and overnight campouts as anxious buyers competed among one another for new houses. Gone too are the bidding wars for resale houses and above listing price offers.
With buyers having more homes to choose from - sellers are being challenged to more effectively market their homes. Real estate agents offer these tips to sellers:
1. Offer incentives. Contribute to closing costs, toss in the washer, dryer and refrigerator, provide an allowance for floor and wall coverings.
2. Move out, so buyers know you are serious and your home is immediately available.
3. Can't move out? Remove clutter, repaint those artsy red walls with neutral colors.
4. Price your house according to the market - and don't be the most expensive in the neighborhood.
Click here to read more.
Home sales losing steam in San Luis Obispo. Changes in the local housing market are hitting home for many sellers and agents who are used to dealing with fewer listings and residences that sell in a week. There are also fewer sales, and some houses that have sold had reduced prices. Agents are not the only people noticing the slowdown. Builders are also adapting to a return to a normal market. One builder said that up until six months ago, their homes were sold before they broke ground. Now, they have had standing inventory for the past two to three weeks. In response, some builders are offering incentives. They include knocking off about $100,000 during a weekend, buying down the interest rate for buyers, allowing people to trade up to a newer property and offering upgrades such as nicer cabinets or kitchen counters. Click here to read more.
Old loan, new interest: Driven by capital-gains rules and soaring home appreciation, the appeal is growing for 'owner- carry' mortgages. Seller financing, once used to attract buyers forced out of the market by high interest rates on conventional loans, may be making a comeback thanks to California's handsomely appreciated market and the ceiling on tax-free home-sale profits. "Owner-carry loans" or "take-back loans" — in which the seller holds the mortgage for an agreed-upon interest rate and period of time — gained popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s when rates were in the double digits. Nowadays, less than 4% of the nation's residential sales rely on the seller to finance the deal, according to the Realtors group. Low interest rates allow most buyers to qualify for institutional loans. But there is renewed appeal, brought on by soaring real estate appreciation and an Internal Revenue Service rule that limits tax-free home-sale profits to $250,000 for an individual or $500,000 per couple filing joint returns. Anything beyond that is subject to up to 15% in federal taxes. Click here to read more.
REAL ESTATE WEEKLY: This week's Real Estate stories By MarketWatch. Learn how to ride out the housing downturn. Find out why U.S. housing starts fall for third straight month. Click here to read more.
Scraping by on mortgages: California has the top 11 least-affordable markets for homebuyers. A new analysis of housing and financial data portrays the state's homeowners as the nation's most financially stressed. Click here to read more.
~Tina Jan~
Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters
1655 E. Sixth St.
Beaumont, CA 92223
Work: 951-845-5520 Ext. 105
Fax: 951-845-4916
Cell: 909-446-2666
Toll-Free: 1-877-TINAJAN
tina.jan@coldwellbanker.com
www.tinajan.com
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