Posts Tagged ‘Statistics’
Posted by tblefko on May 6, 2010
A national business website, Forbes.com, just named the Harrisburg/Carlisle metropolitan area as one of its ten most livable cities in America. The following is the entire news article that appeared on the front page of The Patriot News on May 4, 2010:
Guess Who Lives in America’s Fifth Most Livable City? You Do.
Forget the Big Apple, Boston and Seattle.
Harrisburg ranks fith in a Forbes.com list of America’s most livable cities. Pittsburgh is first.
“By and large, the cities on the list aren’t big tourist destinations, but they are places where costs are relatively low and quality of life is high,” said Francesca Levy at Forbes.com.
Levy said the list doesn’t intend to suggest one metro area is better than another.
“Rather, we developed a measure to judge one aspect of cities: livability.” And she siad Forbes.com defines that as “one where you can get through the day-to-day business of life witht he fewest obstacles.”
“That means, on average, having a good balance of job security and opportunity, safety, and a decent amount of stuff to do, and everyday costs aren’t out of control,” Levy said.
The ranking comes as good news for those who serve as the region’s cheerleaders.
“I think it speaks very well about our region, particularly when we’re in competition with metro areas of all sizes,” said David Black, president of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber.
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Posted in Buyers, Consumers, Harrisburg, Market Conditions, Sellers | Tagged: Bureau of Labor and Statistics, Buyers, Harrisburg, Harrisburg Regional Chamber, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Media, Moody's Economy.com, Newspapers, PennLive.com, Sellers, Sperling's Best Places, Statistics, Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on April 25, 2010
The average sized home in America is starting to shrink. No longer are homeowners demanding square footage and soaring open vaults in their living spaces. McMansions are OUT – - – efficiency and versatility are IN. MarketWatch’s Amy Hoak recently reported on this fast-evolving building trend.
Posted in Buyers, Construction, Consumers, Harrisburg, Market Conditions, Sellers | Tagged: Amy Hoak, Builder's Show, Buyers, MarketWatch, National Association of Home Builders, Real estate, Sellers, Statistics, U.S. Housing Market, Video | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on September 29, 2009
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 – - -
Posted in Agents, Buyers, Consumers, Market Conditions, Sellers | Tagged: Business, Buyers, Case-Shiller index, David M. Blitzer, Media, Property Values, Real estate, Reports, S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, Sellers, Standard & Poor, Statistics, Tax credit, U.S. Housing Market, Unemployment, Video | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on September 23, 2009
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.
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Posted in Agents, Buyers, Construction, Consumers, Motivation, Technology | Tagged: 55+ Housing: Builders, Agents, Baby Boomers, Builders, Buyers and Beyond, Downsizing, Green Building, High-Speed Internet, Media, MetLife Mature Market Institute, National Association of Home Builders, Property Values, Real estate, Reports, Statistics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on September 10, 2009
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:
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Posted in Agents, Buyers, Consumers, Market Conditions, Sellers | Tagged: Buyers, Sellers, Statistics, Reports, Web Sites, Charts, Agents, U.S. Housing Market, Real estate, Saul Klein, Point2 Technologies, Real Estate Confidence Index (RECI) | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on September 4, 2009
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.’
Posted in Construction, Consumers, Development, Lancaster, Market Conditions | Tagged: Agents, Buyers, Predictions, Property Values, Reports, Statistics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on August 15, 2009
Image courtesy of Flickr
I remember a couple of years ago when Zillow first hit the real estate scene. Consumers embraced the web site almost immediately because of the web site’s cool, on-line tools. One tool in particular caught their fancy: the Zestimate. This single, funny-sounding word would grow to strike fear in the heart’s of REALTORS® everywhere.
But what is a Zestimate? A Zestimate is an estimated market value of a home based on Zillow’s proprietary, mathematical formula. The home data they compile to generate a Zestimate home valuation varies by location. Some geographic areas provide all the data Zillow could hope for, but others are lacking such key things as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, or, in some cases, the square footage of the home. The theory says that the more data Zillow has, the more accurate the Zestimate. They even made it easy for users of the site to help them improve accuracy by incorporating edited home facts into their Zestimate calculations. In some areas, Zillow can’t produce a Zestimate at all, but they do have some basic information on the homes.
Why did REALTORS® dispise Zillow? Because they claimed that the tool that produced Zestimates oversimplified the valuation process and gave inaccurate results. Regardless, Zillow shot up the popularity charts and in no time at all it was firmly entrenched as one of the top ten real estate web sites in the world. REALTORS® looked at the new kid on the block as a threat to their own personal fiefdom as experts on property valuation. They exclaimed, “How dare they hand out FREE property estimates! They’re misleading consumers. Why can’t consumers see that the accuracy of Zestimates is atrocious?”
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Posted in Agents, Lancaster, Market Conditions, Sellers | Tagged: Agents, Charts, Lancaster County, National Association of REALTORS, Property Values, Sellers, Statistics, Video, Zestimates, Zillow.com | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on August 15, 2009
more about “Social Media Revolution“, posted with vodpod
A couple of weeks ago I posted a video to this blog which showed the impact that social media is having on our society, and in particular, on the real estate business. Still aren’t buying into this phenomenon? Wake up and smell the coffee!
Posted in Agents, Technology | Tagged: Advertising, Flat World Knowledge, Google, Media, Newspapers, Real estate, Social media, Social Networks, Society and Culture, Statistics, Twitter, Video | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on July 28, 2009
Image courtesy of Flickr
Like it or not, one of the most pessimistic (some would argue realistic) housing economists of our generation, Robert Shiller, will probably always be associated with the worst housing downturn since the Great Depression. He was one of the first outspoken people to warn us of an impending ’housing bubble’ as far back as 2003. At that time, most economists scoffed at his assertions and at his newly created S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index. He was like that single, stray cloud that blocked your personal sun on the beach on an otherwise beautiful day. Annoying, but if you waited long enough, it would pass and the sun would return. One small problem - Shiller’s cloud grew into a full-fledged thunderstorm that very few people saw coming.
His S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index has been quoted far and wide as the definitive read on the housing market. For months, it hasn’t been a rosy picture, but today that sun returned to the beach. For the first time in three years, his index showed an increase in nationwide housing prices of .5% for the month of May.
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Posted in Market Conditions | Tagged: Great Depression, Karl Case, National Association of REALTORS, Property Values, Reports, Robert Shiller, S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, Statistics, U.S. Housing Market, United States Department of Commerce | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on July 27, 2009
Everyone and their brother has an opinion or theory on how the country got into this economic situation. Some people blame Wall Street, the financial institutions and banks; other people take direct aim at REALTORS®, builders and mortgage companies; still others impugn the American consumer and their fixation with obtaining easy money with no strings attached.
I found this short video enlightening, insightful and explains the economic predicament about as well as any that I have read, heard or seen.
Posted in Financing, Legislation, Market Conditions | Tagged: Bailout, Financial institution, Foreclosures, Media, Obama, Property Values, Regulators, Statistics, Stimulus Package, Stocks, U.S. Housing Market, Video, Wall Street | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on July 26, 2009
Image via Wikipedia
The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) reported on Thursday of this past week that existing home sales for the month of June increased for the third month in a row fueling speculation that the housing downturn is starting to reverse direction. Excerpts of NAR’s press release¹ follow:
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – increased 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million units in June from a downwardly revised pace of 4.72 million in May, but are 0.2 percent lower than the 4.90 million-unit level in June 2008.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, is hopeful about the gain. “The increase in existing-home sales occurred in all major regions of the country,” he said. “We expect a gradual uptrend in sales to continue due to tax credit incentives and historically high affordability conditions . . . “
Much of the fuel for the fire of homes sales has occurred in the first-time homebuyer market which has accounted for 29 percent of transactions according to an NAR survey of its practitioners. With the $8,000 tax credit deadline of December 1, 2009 (4½ months away) fast approaching, it will be interesting to see if this segment continues to stoke sales numbers.
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Posted in Lancaster, Market Conditions | Tagged: Lancaster County, Lawrence Yun, National Association of REALTORS, Reports, Statistics, U.S. Housing Market | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on July 15, 2009
In a story that appeared in the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era today, the Lancaster City Council Finance Committee touted the city’s recent positive trends in real estate activity and growth:
Despite a significant decline in the real estate market nationally, the city saw only a 0.5 percent drop in real estate transfer taxes last year. That shows a strong interest in living in the city.
And, the transfer tax decrease comes from comparing 2008 to the previous three-year average. Those three comparison years, 2005-2007, happened to be the city’s best three years ever.
And the city experienced a 10-year high in the number of building permits issued, with $115 million in new construction activity in 2008. That level of investment is the third highest in city history, behind only 2006 and 2007.
New businesses are opening downtown, redevelopment is continuing in the northwestern quadrant of the city and the new Lancaster County Convention Center and Marriott Lancaster at Penn Square Hotel recently opened. ¹
This is great news and should be shared with all Lancastrians - – - so why did it appear on page B4 buried at the bottom of the page? The front page of the newspaper ran the following four stories:
- Jurors Hear 911 Call – Story about a local murder trial (negative slant).
- Good Man Who Got Greedy is Jailed – Story about a banker who swindled friends and customers (negative slant).
- Fumo Gets 55 Months in Prison – Story about sentencing of Pennsylvania lawmaker for corruption (negative slant).
- Welcome Back , Potter – Frivolous piece about the latest installment of J.K. Rowlings’s newest movie (fluffy slant).
Surely the powers that control which stories that are run on page one of the Intell/NE could have found a small corner of the front page to trumpet the accomplishments of its own city? I guess that’s the reason why I’m not working at LNP as a newspaper editor.
—————-
¹ Harris, Bernard. “City Audit Shows Positives and Negatives.” Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era [Lancaster, PA] 15 July 2009, Metro Edition, Local Section : B4.
Posted in Lancaster, Market Conditions | Tagged: Media, Newspapers, Property Values, Reports, Statistics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on July 13, 2009
Finding it hard to keep up in today’s fast-paced world? Are you waiting for this inconvenient ‘Recession’ thingy to pass so you can get back to normal? Think again.
(WARNING: This video will make you rethink everything.)
Now go out there and make things happen. Happy Monday!
Posted in Technology | Tagged: Google, Media, Predictions, Social media, Statistics, Technology, Video | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on July 12, 2009
Image courtesy of Flickr
The real estate industry has been operating under the new HVCC guidelines for a couple of weeks now and we are beginning to see the ugly results of this misguided set of government regulations. In a preliminary report issued this past week by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), it finds that the HVCC is having an adverse impact on housing markets.
Before I get into the actual results, let me spend a minute and tell you about what this new set of guidelines was supposed to do.
The HVCC was intended to promote independence in the appraisal process and, thus, help ensure that appraisers and the appraisal process may be relied upon as part of sound underwriting for financial institutions. What that actually means is that the loan officer who is working on your loan no longer orders the appraisal on your home. It is done through the lender who either has an in-house process for appraisal management issues or, more often, it is done through something called an Appraisal Management Company (AMC).
While this may not seem like a big change to you if you are buying a home, it can possibly be a much bigger change than you might think. Prior to May 1, loan officers, REALTORS® and appraisers all communicated as needed regarding your home and home financing and it wasn’t uncommon for everyone to be on the same conference call if needed. But now that the HVCC rules are in place, the only way the loan officer or REALTOR® will know who the appraiser is is if by chance the appraiser calls them. In other words, no one talks to anyone to clarify anything!
Now, on to the findings of NAR’s analysis:
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Posted in Agents, Buyers, Financing, Legislation, Sellers | Tagged: Agents, Appraisal, Appraiser, Buyers, Financing, HVCC, National Association of REALTORS, Property Values, Reports, Sellers, Statistics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on July 10, 2009
The gap between the 2008 and 2009 real estate markets in Lancaster County is down to a razor’s edge. On Wednesday of this week, the front page of the Intelligencer Journal ran the following story:
Market Here For Housing Gets Better ¹
Numbers for pending home sales improve
The housing market in Lancaster County continued to rebound in May, creeping ever closer to 2008′s level, local Realtors reported Tuesday.
The number of pending home sales here was down only 2.5 percent from the May 2008 figure, the smallest gap so far this year, according to the Lancaster County Association of Realtors.
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Posted in Lancaster, Market Conditions | Tagged: Agents, Buyers, Financing, Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster County, Lancaster County Association of REALTORS, Mortgage, National Association of REALTORS, Newspapers, Property Values, Statistics, U.S. Housing Market | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on July 6, 2009
Photo courtesy of Flickr
Picture if you will a typical business in Pennsylvania – it’s owner employs good people and sells a product or provides a quality service that people want. There are thousands of these types of businesses across our state; and for that matter, across our great country. These owners are constantly overseeing their revenue streams and expenses to make sure that at the end of the year they’re in the black. It’s a tough, day-to-day struggle which requires diligent oversight. In addition, in order to continue to make a profit (or at least break even), the owner needs to plan for the future. I won’t continue to bore you with my basic outline of Business 101 because I think, like most people, you get it. So if you can get it, why can’t our legislators and Governor Ed Rendell get it!
For some reason they seem to think that state government shouldn’t be run like a business. Their retort, “That’s because it isn’t.” My response, “Why not? Why shouldn’t our state government operate under the same basic rules of business that I operate under?”
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Posted in Buyers, Legislation, Market Conditions | Tagged: Business, Income tax, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Reports, Republican Party, Senate Republicans, Statistics, Taxes | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on June 5, 2009
Image courtesy of Flickr
I read two surveys within the last week that reconfirm my belief that newspaper advertising for real estate is now officially a thing of the past. No more will I listen to those pundits that extol the benefits of this flimsy periodical from a bygone era. If you’re a homeowner who needs to sell their property and is considering what forms of advertising to utilize – - – listen up. If you’re an agent who is looking for ammunition to try and convince a potential listing that newspaper advertising is not worth it – - – you’re about to hit the jackpot.
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Posted in Agents, Buyers, Sellers | Tagged: Advertising, Agents, Buyers, Charts, National Association of REALTORS, Newspapers, Sellers, Statistics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on May 23, 2009
Over the last decade, the role of a REALTOR® has changed drastically. REALTORS® are no longer the gate-keepers of information because of the proliferation of real estate related web sites on the internet. Consumers today can compare mortgage rates of various lenders, read about ways to improve the marketability of their home and obtain comparable home data from the comfort of their home without any interaction from a real estate professional.
While a REALTORS® role may have changed, it doesn’t mean our importance as a trusted advisor has waned. In fact, our function today is more valuable than ever.
I read an article on REALTOR.org by Steve Harney that drives this point home. Steve specializes in negotiation and leadership training and has been in the industry for more than twenty years, first in sales and then as broker-owner of a 500-associate real estate company. He explains that the REALTOR® of today needs to be able to take all that information that is readily available to the consumer and interpret it for them. Here are four questions that Steve lists in his article that today’s real estate practitioner needs to be able to address. Notice that none of them has anything to do with providing a printout or a body of statistics but rather furnishes a valuable interpretation and opinion of why things are the way they are today.
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Posted in Agents, Buyers, Market Conditions | Tagged: Agents, Buyers, FAQ, Lancaster County, National Association of REALTORS, Statistics, Web Sites | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on May 3, 2009
Image courtesy of Flickr
If you take a moment and peer up into the sky you will actually see that we are at the crossroads of a real estate buying opportunity like we haven’t seen in my lifetime. All the factors that go into making a real estate buying decision are perfectly configured. But like most perfect planetary alignments, clouds and precipitation sometime make it difficult to see this truly amazing sight and before you know it, the moment has passed. The four planets that I see aligning are as follows:
1. Mortgage Financing - If you’re like most people, you will need a mortgage to assist you in purchasing a home. Interest rates right now are the lowest that they have been in decades (see ‘Mortgage Info’ tab). When I first got into the real estate business over twenty-five years ago, the 30 year fixed rate was about 17% (this is not a misprint). To put that in easier terms to understand, a principal and interest payment on a $150,000 mortgage then was $2,138 – - – now $805. Hopefully, President Obama’s programs and endeavors will start to have some positive effects on the economic growth in this country. When that happens and consumer spending starts to pick up, what do you think will happen to interest rates? I was not an Economics major in college, but even I can figure out that rates will tick up because of inflationary fears. So if you have good credit, money to work with and an income that can be verified, there has never been a better time to get a mortgage.
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Posted in Buyers, Financing, Lancaster, Market Conditions, Sellers | Tagged: Buyers, FICO Score, Financing, Lancaster County, National Association of REALTORS, Obama, Property Values, Sellers, Statistics | Leave a Comment »
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