News / Features

HAR Chair Reaffirms Houston’s Strength

Houston home prices and inventory were up in April, but the city still faces significant hurdles from oil price drops The Houston Association of Realtors released its newest home sales report today, May 13, outlining the city’s continued growth

Real Estrange; Vanilla Ice, iPhone 6 Home Trade, Uber-Good Incentive

STOP: GET OUT OF THE FORECLOSURE AND LISTEN Robert Van Winkle, formerly the rapper known as “Vanilla Ice,” who now renovates homes for “The Vanilla Ice Project” on DIY Network, faces charges of burglary and grand theft of a

CoreLogic: Houston Nearing Pre-Crisis Cash Average

Despite an influx of investors to the market, cash sales continue to dwindle throughout the nation. It is a new market for traditional buyers, despite a recent report of surging investor activity, as once again cash sales fell in

CoreLogic: Houston Stands Out as a National Foreclosure Leader

A new report from CoreLogic shows foreclosures are falling across the nation, mostly The nation’s foreclosure inventory is in decline, falling 25.7 percent year-over-year in March, which represents a continued effort to regain the market normalcy enjoyed in pre-crisis

Chief of State, Not Chief of Housing

A new study uses homeownership rate to rank the best and worst presidents for housing…but it’s a bit more complicated than that. In early May, economist Roger Thomas of ValueWalk.com released an analysis (of sorts) on homeownership rates from

Real Estrange; Sleeping with Your Realtor, Sex Sells, Homemade Explosive Device

Home Buying 101: Don’t Sleep with Your Realtor We’ve all been advised not to “mix business and pleasure,” and Houston-born rapper Slim Thug can attest to the value in that advice. In a New York Times article the rapper

Investor Interest Surges in First Quarter Flipping Report

A new report from RealtyTrac confirms investors are gaining traction in the flipping market. But is there enough inventory to go around? Single-family home flips were up in 2015’s first quarter, according to a RealtyTrac U.S. Home Flipping Report.

Groupon Director of Editorial Content Joins Agent Publishing as Editor-in-Chief/Vice President of Content Strategy

Agent Publishing, the country’s dominant hyper-local B2B real estate media company, has announced John Thomas, 50, has joined the firm as editor-in-chief and vice president of content strategy. Most recently, Thomas was director of editorial content for Chicago-based Groupon

April’s Jobs Report: Unemployment, Construction and Wages

While unemployment continued declining in the new jobs report, slow wage growth points to an overall tighter labor market. The Labor Department released its April jobs report today and the response has been somewhat neutral, as limited gains tell

The 4 Reasons Why Housing Inventory is So Low

We keep hearing how low inventory is in today’s housing market, but why is that the case? The National Association of Realtors’ existing-home sales report for March was an altogether positive take on housing, with sales rising 6.1 percent

3 Shocking Ways That Inequality is Harming Housing

A new Zillow analysis shows in stark terms just how damaging inequality is for housing’s future. Call it “The Great Housing Divide.” Although homeownership – on the strength of record-low mortgage rates – remains incredibly affordable, rising levels of

CoreLogic: Houston Tops Nation to Reach Premier Status

March represents another month of home price appreciation, according to CoreLogic. CoreLogic released its March Home Price Index (HPI) today, and the findings reflected a continued strengthening of prices nationwide. Including distressed sales, national home prices rose 5.9 percent in

Real Estrange; Tweeting for Buyers, Overcrowded Open Houses, American Horror Story

Tweeting For Buyers Social media has certainly become a focal point in our lives, but who thought you could successfully sell a house on Twitter? Rich Burghgraef, an account executive with Randolph Sterling, created a Twitter account, Bob the

Builder Confidence: Optimism or Ignorance?

Houston is a hot market, but it’s struggling with persistently low inventory and the damaging effects of oil price drops. So why are builders so confident? There is a schism happening in Houston real estate, and oil is the

Non-Homeowners Show No Signs of Jumping on Buying Bandwagon

We keep hearing that many consumers are ready to enter the homebuying fray, but new analysis casts doubt on that sentiment. Fewer and fewer Americans are planning on purchasing a home, according to a new survey from Gallup. Gallup’s

Houston New Construction Strong as Ever in 2015

This year is shaping up to be another strong one for new construction in Houston. After several years of prominence, it seems that Houston’s new construction marketplace is poised for another strong year in 2015. According to the latest analysis from Dodge

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