News / Features

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

Average Days on Market Decreasing?

By Stephanie Sims   How fast agents sell homes depends on a number of things – location, condition of the property, foreclosure/short sale status and the state of the market. But a hugely important indicator is how many days

Why the Libor Scandal Matters for Residential Real Estate

By Peter Ricci Libor, or the London interbank offered rate, has been a constant fixture in the news cycles the last couple of weeks, with each story weighing more importance on the oddly-named term. Very little has been said,

3 Huge Factors on Housing’s Future

By Peter Ricci You know the message is good when even the Wall Street Journal reports it – real estate in the U.S. has been doing pretty good in 2012. Recent government reports were notable for their optimistic tone, home values

Houston Poised For Yet Another Strong Month of Real Estate

By Peter Ricci The Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) has yet to release its official data on June home sales, but if early reports are to be believed, it seems we’re poised for yet another strong performance from the

What DO Today’s Homebuyers Want?

By Peter Ricci It’s the ever-present question on everyone’s mind, right up there with the meaning of life and the purpose of the Higgs Boson – what DO homebuyers want, in today’s real estate market? All kidding aside, it’s

Clients Concerned About Zombie Attacks? Show Them These Homes

By Stephanie Sims With zombies trending lately, in pop culture and several times in the news scarily enough, perhaps your clients have wondered aloud whether or not they should buy a property that would defend against any future apocalyptic

Wells Fargo Shutting Down Wholesale Lending

Wells Fargo is shutting down its wholesale lending business as part of a broad settlement with the Justice Department for a discriminatory lending lawsuit. The San Francisco-based bank will also pay borrowers $125 million to settle claims and commit $50 million

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