National News

What Will Tomorrow’s Case-Shiller Say About Housing Prices? w/ Tom Huckabee on ‘Gangbusters’ Houston Market

Standard & Poor’s will release its latest Case-Shiller Home Price Indices tomorrow, and analysts and journalists alike are eagerly awaiting its findings – and what they will suggest for housing prices across the country. So far, the narrative has

Is ‘Prius Effect’ the Defining Green Home Solution?

By Peter Ricci In the real estate community, there is a fire burning – are green homes all that they’re cracked up to be? And more importantly, do they add anything to a home’s value? Such questions have been

Second Quarter Home Orders for Largest U.S. Builders Extremely Promising

By Peter Ricci The National Association of Home Builders’ Builder Confidence Index hit its highest mark in five years in July, and based on second quarter home order stats from the nation’s largest builders, the source of such confidence

Refinance Activity Increases; Even Zuckerberg is In On It

By Stephanie Sims HousingWire reported today that refinance activity has hit a three-year high, and mortgage applications increased 2 percent from last week, the highest levels since April of 2009. When Facebook founder and one of the world’s wealthiest

Pending Home Sales Rise Year-Over-Year For 14th Consecutive Month

By Peter Ricci Pending home sales rose year-over-year for the 14th consecutive month in June, according to the latest Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors. A forward-looking index based on contract signings, the Pending Home Sales

New Residential Sales in June Rise 15.1 Percent, Show Healthy Inventory Levels

By Peter Ricci New residential single-family home sales were up 15.1 percent in June year-over-year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The increase comes a week after existing-home sales rose 7.9 percent from the year

Zillow Calls the Housing Bottom in latest Real Estate Market Report

By Peter Ricci Zillow joined the fray of optimism that has swept over real estate analysis the past few weeks with its latest Real Estate Market Report, stating that not only did housing values bottom in February of this year,

Baby Boomers and Students Represent New Real Estate Opportunities for Agents

By Peter Ricci Every week, it seems new analysts and business firms jump on the housing recovery bandwagon, calling the bottom for the embattled industry and looking forward to a brighter future. As housing moves forward, though, there are

Fading U.S. Housing Inventory Constrains Existing-Home Sales

By Peter Ricci As everyone has probably heard by now, existing-home sales were a bit tepid in June, falling 5.4 percent from May according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors. The reason for the decline

4 Ways to Market Your Properties to International Buyers

By Peter Ricci It’s no mystery to anyone that follows the U.S. real estate market that foreign buyers are a major force. In the last year alone, international residential sales were $82.5 billion, a 24 percent increase from the

What Would Batman’s Batcave Sell For?

By Stephanie Sims Since The Dark Knight Rises opened Friday at theaters, we thought this infographic from Movoto about how much Batman’s home would be worth in today’s market was

Wells Fargo to Cut Realtor Joint Ventures

By Stephanie Sims With its recent announcement that it would stop wholesale lending, Wells Fargo has yet another announcement: the company will also start cutting its Realtor joint ventures that engage in mortgage banking activities due to regulation changes.

Existing-Home Sale Price Rises 7.9 Percent in June, Linda Marshall of Linda Marshall, Realtors Inc. Comments

By Peter Ricci Existing-home sale price for all housing types rose 7.9 percent year-over-year in June in the National Association of Realtors’ latest housing report. It’s the fourth straight month of yearly price increases, a streak that has not

59 Percent of Agents Report Higher Buyer Interest in 2012

By Peter Ricci Nearly six in 10 respondents to the latest Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council (REBAC) survey reported higher buyer interest in 2012, a 34 percent increase from 2011 and one of the strongest signifiers yet of greater

Why the Obamacare House Tax Email is False

By Peter Ricci The presidential campaign season is one rife with rumors and myths, and during 2008, President Obama was the center of quite a few of them – that he was a Muslim, that he was sworn in

NAHB Builder Confidence in July At Highest Level Since 2007; J. Patrick Homes Comments

By Peter Ricci The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) posted notable gains in July, rising six points to its highest level since March of 2007. The six-point increase is the largest one-month gain for

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