Social Networking Becomes More Entrenched In Our Lives
October 9, 2010 Leave a Comment
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Home Prices Continue to Strengthen Nationwide
September 29, 2009 Leave a Comment
Another month – another positive sign! The Standard & Poor‘s/Case-Shiller home price index rose 1.2 percent from June to August which reflects a positive trend for the third month in a row.
Before we all go off the deep end and declare “happy days are here again”, we should probably temper our enthusiasm just a bit. David M. Blitzer, the committee chairman for the Case-Shiller index said, “We do need to be cautious in coming months to assess whether the housing market will weather the expiration of the federal first-time buyer’s tax credit in November, anticipated higher unemployment rates and a possible increase in foreclosures.”
Stay tuned – - -
Related articles of interest:
- A Look at Case-Shiller, by Metro Area (September Update) (blogs.wsj.com)
- Home prices gain for 3rd straight month (money.cnn.com)
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What Baby Boomers Really Want in a Home
September 23, 2009 Leave a Comment
The term ‘Baby Boomer‘ gets thrown around a lot in the world of advertising. It seems like everyone is trying to sell to this segment of the population; including the real estate industry. Economic statistics show that baby boomers account for 28% of the population, but over 77% of all financial assets in the United States. This generation also accounts for more than 50% of all discretionary authority in private organizations as well as in government. But do REALTORS® and builders really know what baby boomers want in a home? Do they know what features they want? What locations are preferential? How much money they’re willing to spend? A new survey conducted by the MetLife Mature Market Institute and the National Association of Home Builders entitled 55+ Housing: Builders, Buyers and Beyond was just released that sheds some light on these very questions.
Peering Through the Fog
September 10, 2009 Leave a Comment
There are more and more positive signs that the fog is starting to clear in the residential real estate market. Gone are the dense, pea-soup like conditions from a couple of months ago that caused buyers and sellers to try and drive through it at 5 mph. It appears that they’ve put their collective feet on the accelerator and are now driving more confidently, albeit still with the headlights on.
Point2 Technologies, Inc., the largest independent provider of website and listing syndication solutions for the real estate industry, with users in over 100 countries on its platform, released its Real Estate Confidence Index (RECI) for August 2009 this past week. Over 3,000 real estate professionals covering every U.S. State, Puerto Rico and Guam contributed to this month’s report. Charts of their findings are shown below:
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Central Pennsylvania Construction and Real Estate But Were Afraid to Ask
September 4, 2009 1 Comment
The Central Penn Business Journal (CPBJ) just published its Fall “Construction & Real Estate” report. CPBJ claims it’s the beginning of the end after more than a year in recession for Central Pennsylvania. CPBJ focuses on why the construction and real estate industries are key economic indicators and what effect the federal government’s stimulus package has had on the mid-state. You’ll read about companies that got creative to weather the recession and the state of our region’s commercial, residential and rental real estate markets.
Lots of good ‘stuff.’
Related articles of interest:
- Letter Re: Some Economic Indicators to Watch(survivalblog.com)
- Answer Desk: Housing’s long climb back(msnbc.msn.com)
- Robert Allen Calls The Bottom Of The Real Estate Market(prweb.com)
- Leading economic indicators rise again in July, point to slow recovery(dailyfinance.com)
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Opportunity Knocks When Communicating Bad News
August 9, 2009 Leave a Comment
Image courtesy of Flickr
Any good real estate agent will tell you that our jobs are fraught with times when we have to communicate bad news to clients and consumers. Unfortunately, in these trying economic times that we find ourselves in, the frequency of this type of communication has expanded exponentially. A small sampling of some scenarios that we have to deal with include:
- telling a seller that the amount that they owe on their home is more than its value
- looking that first-time home buyer in the eye and informing them that the lender won’t give them a mortgage because of more stringent guidelines imposed by the government
- informing a buyer of new construction that the builder is going to miss their projected completion date by thirty days and that interim housing needs to be secured
This small list could go on and on. Communicating these examples to the effected party is never easy; you could even say they’re stressful. But it has to be done. Unfortunately, many people and companies take this opportunity to glaze over the truth or fabricate the reasons why something unfortuante happened.
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