Buyer (And Seller) Beware. Is housing set to blow, or are there more gains ahead? Here's how to navigate an anxious market. Confused about the direction of the housing market? It's no wonder. You hear stories about sellers slashing listing prices to attract buyers, but home prices nationally have risen more than 10% over the past year. Inventories of unsold homes are on the rise, yet homebuilder Lennar Corp. just reported a 34% jump in earnings. And the much feared rise in 30-year mortgage rates seems to have stalled. Click here to read more.
For Sale Signs Rise, Home Sellers Cut Prices as Fed Tightens. Sales of new homes fell 10.5 percent in February, the biggest drop since 1995, and sales of existing homes slipped in five of the last six months, leaving a record 3 million unsold houses on the market. Sales will fall further this year and price gains will slow, predicts the Washington-based National Association of Realtors. High-end properties and markets that had the biggest increases during the boom are cooling the most. Entry-level buyers are still strong, while buyers looking to step up to bigger houses are becoming more cautious. Click here to read more.
Boom-market casualties. Cost skyrockets for moving people out of a life on the streets. Sky-high real estate prices are making things hard for more than just first-time home buyers -- they're hampering efforts by groups seeking to house the long-term homeless. Social service officials throughout the Inland area and California are trying to comply with federal and state mandates to provide subsidized apartments or houses for the chronically homeless -- those who have been on the streets for a year or more or suffer from disabling conditions such as mental illness and substance abuse. But record-high property prices and competition from commercial developers are making that difficult even for nonprofit organizations that have millions in government funding to spend. Inland land costs average $125,000 per acre, according to Steve Johnson, director of Metro Study in Riverside, a consulting firm. New home prices are rising at an annual rate of 28 percent in San Bernardino County and 10 percent in Riverside County, according to DataQuick Information Systems, a company that tracks housing trends. Apartment rents are expected to rise another 5 percent this year. 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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