Survey Reveals Top Regrets Among Buyers, Renters 

 Slightly more than half of Americans harbor at least one regret about their current home, according to Trulia’s Real Estate Regrets survey. In today’s seller’s market, Trulia says buyers are especially vulnerable to making decisions they may regret in the future. 

“Faced with limited inventory, many buyers will feel pressure to act fast—but snap decisions often end in regrets,” said Jed Kolko, chief economist at Trulia.

One of the common missteps of new homeowners, according to Kolko, is buying before reaching financial stability. “Many buyers would have fewer regrets if they waited until they were in strong enough financial shape to afford a house that really meets their needs,” he said.

The top regret listed among homeowners is not choosing a larger home. Thirty-four percent of homeowners cited this regret in Trulia’s survey.

The second most common regret among homeowners is not remodeling more when they purchased their current homes.

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Survey Reveals Top Regrets Among Buyers, Renter

Are Young Adults Buying Homes Again?

 Hi friends,  

I came across this article and thought it had some useful information. I wanted to share it with you and hear your thoughts.

  Sales of residential properties are back to the highs experienced at the expiration of the Home Buyers Tax Credit in April 2010. One of the reasons for this surge in purchasing is that young adults may again be entering the market.

Over the last few years, many young adults stayed on the sidelines (some in their parents’ homes) while waiting for the overall economy and the housing market to stabilize. This group represents a pent-up purchasing demand which is now coming to market.

Please continue reading this article at the link posted, Are Young Adults Buying Homes Again?

3 Financial Reasons to Buy a Home NOW! (Part I)

 

 

This week, we are going to look at the three financial reasons to buy a home now instead of waiting: prices are rising at an accelerated rate, interest rates are increasing and rents are skyrocketing. – The KCM Crew

 Part I – Prices Are Rising at an Accelerated Rate

The price of a home is the major consideration when deciding whether or not it makes financial sense to purchase a house. Experts are not only projecting that house values will increase in 2013. They are also more optomistic in the level of appreciation they are projecting as the market begins to heat up. Here are some examples:

The Home Price Expectation Survey

The latest survey of a nationwide panel of 118 economists, real estate experts and investment and market strategists reveals they project home values to end 2013 up an average of 4.6% according to the first quarter. This is after they had projected a 3.1% increase just three months ago.

Bank of America

In a report titled, Someone Say House Party?, Bank of America analysts revised their projections upward:

“Home prices continue to show momentum amid shrinking inventory and record high affordability, prompting us to revise up our original forecast of 4.7% for home prices this year. We now expect national home prices, as defined by the S&P Case Shiller home price index, to increase 8% this year.”

Capital Economics

According to a report in DSNews, Capital Economics also upgraded their prediction:

“Strong demand and tight inventory have brought existing home sales back to ‘normal’ levels, and further gains are possible, according to the latest market report from Capital Economics. Additionally, market conditions may prompt lenders to “loosen the purse strings slightly” and lend a little more freely.
These conditions, combined with broader economic indicators, lead Capital Economics to revise its previous forecast of a 5% price gain this year up to 8%.”

Morgan Stanley

In an article from HousingWire, Morgan Stanley joined the party:

“Strong momentum in home prices as well as housing activity gave Morgan Stanley analysts enough confidence to upgrade their home price appreciation projections to roughly 7% (from 5%) for 2013, according to its latest global securitized credit report…
“The momentum in most metrics of housing activity is running well ahead of the pace we had expected,” said James Egan, Jose Cambronero and Vishwanath Tirupattur, analysts for Morgan Stanley.”

Not only are prices projected to appreciate. Experts are actually revising their projections upward as demand maintains its momentum.

  

The 5 Reasons You Should Sell Now!

 Hi friends,

 You don't want to miss the opportunity you have available in selling your house sooner than later. You can see 5 quick reasons to do so by visiting http://www.keepingcurrentmatters.com/sellertips. I would love to talk with you more about it and answer any questions you might have. 

Let me know your thoughts when you get a chance.

 

Real Estate: When She Speaks, We Should Listen

  Hi friends. I came across this article and wanted to  share the information with you.

 

Ivy Zelman is an industry expert consistently recognized by Institutional Investor, Greenwich Associates, StarMine and The Wall Street Journal as an industry-leading analyst. What separates her from many other analysts is the fact that she has accurately called the real estate market continuously over the last decade.

Her Position in 2006

She was one of the first to call the burst of the housing bubble. She was nicknamed ‘Poison Ivy’ for the harsh positions she took in combating the overly optimistic views of many in the industry at the time.
What happened next?
Existing home sales plummeted, new construction starts feel to historic lows and prices dropped by 50% in some areas of the country.

Her Position in 2012

Ivy Zelman, in a Wall Street Journal article in March Stunned Home Buyers Find the Bidding Wars Are Back, projected that the real estate market was about to rebound and that home prices would begin to appreciate. She emphatically claimed:

“We very much believe we’ve hit bottom.”

What happened next?
Pending sales (homes going into contract) surged in May and have remained above what is recognized as a healthy market level ever since. Starting in June, home prices began to appreciate on a year-over-year basis. This continued through the rest of the year with yearend appreciation coming in at 6.8%.

Please click on the link posted to continue reading this article. Real Estate: When She Speaks, We Should Listen

Single Family Rentals: The New Favorite Option

 Yesterday, we posted on the surge of new household formations that have occurred in the last twelve months and that are projected to reach boom numbers over the next twelve months. Will these new households be renting or buying? A recent study, The National Survey of Renters, from The Opinion Research Corporation reveals that many will be taking an option few had access to in the past – renting a single family home.

Are There Many Single Family Rentals Available?

The study reports that the number of single family house rentals has skyrocketed over the last several years:

“Single -family rental homes are the fastest growing housing option in America. Some 52 percent of all rental buildings in the U.S. are single-family homes, housing 27 percent of all renters. Most, 3.6 million, were originally built for owner occupancy but passed into the ranks of rentals when their owners lost them through foreclosure.”

With approximately one million homes still in some form of foreclosure, these numbers will probably continue to increase.

How Do Single-Family Tenants Differ from Multi-Family Tenants?

There are distinct differences between the two different types of tenants. The report reveals:

• Single-family renters make more money as apartment dwellers. Median income for a single-family renter is $75,000-$100,000 versus $50,000-$75000 for a multi-family tenant.
• Single-family renters are nearly twice as likely to have children as apartment dwellers. 63 percent of single-family households include children; only 34 percent of apartment renters have children living with them.
• Single-family households are larger; some 65 percent have three or more members compared to 32 percent of apartment households.
• Most single-family tenants are older, aged 35-44 (53%) compared to 14-34 (46%) and 65+ (61%) for apartment dwellers.
• Compared to apartment dwellers, single-family renters value neighborhood features important to children, such as parks and playgrounds (65% to 71%), good schools (72% to 82%) and safe neighborhoods (97% to 98%).

Click on the link posted to to continue reading this article. Single Family Rentals: The New Favorite Option