Thinking of a Vacation or Retirement Home? Buy It Now

 

 When the economy was exploding in the early 2000s, many of us began to dream about purchasing that vacation home on the lake or securing a home in a more appropriate location for our retirement years. However, with the booming economy came skyrocketing house prices. Many of the homes we fell in love with quickly became out of reach financially. Perhaps we should take a second look at these same homes today.

With prices dropping by over 30% in some markets and with interest rates at historic lows, this may be the perfect time to do what we and our families have always dreamt of doing – buying that second home. Click on this link, Thinking of a Vacation or Retirement Home? buy It Now and let’s look at the numbers.

Housing Market At A Glance

3 Infographics With Interesting Information

 

1. How to Sink or Swim in the Housing Market

(infographic from Allmand Law)

 

2. Housing Market Year-Over-Year

(Infographic from Keeping Current Matters)

 

3. The Economic Impact of the Housing Market

(infographic from BipartisanPolicy.org)

5 Reasons to Buy a Home Now

Based on prices, mortgage rates and soaring rents, there may have never been a better time in real estate history to purchase a home than right now.

In this article, you will read about the 5 major reasons purchasers should consider buying now!

5 Reasons to Buy a Home Now

Chipping Away At Mortgage Debt

Total National Mortgage Debt Drops

 

According to a news release from the Federal Reserve, the national outstanding mortgage debt has dropped nearly $1 trillion dollars since 2008 — the total debt on one-to-four family residences now stands at $10.178 trillion, down from $11.075 trillion in 2008.

 

Peter Miller, editor of the HSH blog, considers dropping home prices, record low mortgage rates, refinancing and loan modifications to significant contributing factors.

• Lower home prices mean smaller mortgages. As home prices fall, new loans are simply smaller for the same property than they would have been when the housing market was booming — the Fed estimates that from 2005 to the first quarter of this year, the housing market has lost more than $5.5 trillion, or about 25% of its total value.
• Lower mortgage rates mean less debt.Low mortgage rates mean less debt for a loan and smaller monthly payments.
• Refinanced mortgages mean less debt. Refinancing has lowered homeowners’ current debt and monthly payments — Wells Fargo recently announced that between March and June of this year, it had helped more than 8,500 customers refinance their loans, saving the borrowers an average of $4,560 annually in interest payments.
• Modified loans mean less debt. Loan modifications have also lowered the debt for borrowers struggling with their loan — according to the Fed, more than one million borrowers have been helped by the Making Home Affordable Program, reducing their monthly mortgage payments by an average of $536.

 

Miller summed up the positive ramifications of national debt reduction quite simply:

1. Homeowners spending less on their home loan will spend more in the marketplace
2. As debt decreases, so does risk — meaning lenders may ease their credit constraints

How the Serenity Prayer Applies to Real Estate

 You may be wary of either buying or selling a home in today’s market. You may feel powerless to the process. How could YOU possibly know whether the current good news about housing will continue? There is no doubt that today’s real estate market is extremely difficult to navigate. However, we want you to know that thousands of homes sold yesterday, thousands will sell today and thousands will sell each and every day from now until the end of the year.

It is totally within your power to decide whether it is the right time for you and your family to move. Even in the current market. 

“How?” Let’s look at the simplicity of the famous Serenity Prayer and apply it to selling a home in today’s real estate market.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”

 The two main concerns many talk about when discussing the housing market are:

1. the current economy
2. the election later this year

Continue reading at How The Serenity Prayer Applies to Real Estate

Foreclosure Sales Drop, Average Price Rises

 

Distressed Property Inventory Shrinks and Drives Prices Up

22% drop in total foreclosure sales with 7% rise in price

The average price for foreclosures rose year-over-year by 7 percent in Q2 of this year, while the total number of foreclosures sold dropped 22 percent year-over-year in the same period. The average price of a foreclosure property in Q2 was just over $170,000, which reflects a 32% discount on the average price of non-foreclosures, a slight increase compared to the 30% discount foreclosures offered in the first six months of 2012. (via RealtyTrac)

Foreclosures available for purchase are limited

According to Darren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac:

“The second quarter sales numbers provide solid statistical evidence of what we've been hearing anecdotally from real estate agents, buyers and investors over the past few months: there is a limited supply of available foreclosure inventory to choose from in many markets. “Given this shortage of supply and the seasonally strong buyer demand in the second quarter, it's no surprise that the average foreclosure-related sales price increased both on a quarterly and annual basis."

(via RealtyTrac)

Short sales on the rise

At the same time, short sales rose year-over-year (for the period between January and May) 18% from 2011 to 2012. Banks are clearly more and more interested in avoiding foreclosures and foreclosure processing when possible, clearing the way for a steep increase in short sales in the distressed property market. (via CNBC)

Baby Boomers About to Bust Out of Homes

“As the Baby Boom generation has passed through age groups and life stages, they have had profound effects on housing demand and supply.”   

- The Urban Land Institute

There is little doubt that the baby boomer generation has had a major impact on the housing market as they proceed through the different stages of their lives. And they are about to go through the next stage – retirement. The opportunity that this next transition will create will be enormous. Let’s take a look at the link posted. Baby Boomers about to Bust Out of Homes 

Biggest Surge in Home Prices Since 2006

Average home price up nearly 10%

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced last week that the national median prices for existing homes rose 9.4 percent from July 2011 to July of this year. The average price for an existing home on the market reached 187,300 in July.

5 consecutive months of gains

In addition to the increase in the average price on an annual basis, July also marked the fifth month in a row that the national median price improved over the prior month — the first time that has happened since May of 2006.

400,000 homes no longer underwater

Zillow reported last week that the increase in the average home price translated into about 400,000 homeowners no longer owing more on their homes than what they are worth — negative equity levels in the country dropped from 31.4 percent last quarter to 30.9 percent in the second quarter.

Via: Zillow, AOL Real Estate and Inman News.