Real Estate News

Rookie Home Buyer Mistakes
Rushing to grab the tax credit and caught up in a bidding war over a distressed property, a first-time home buyer omits the basics.
By JUNE FLETCHER
Wall Street Jounral
August 3, 2009

Like many first-time buyers who want to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit before it expires on November 30, Brendt Montgomery was in a rush to buy a home. And what better than a seemingly bargain-priced distressed property?

Housing could take another turn downward: Greenspan - By David Lawder
August 2, 2009

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Sunday that signs of stabilization and increased confidence in the economy could be dashed if home prices were to take another turn downward.

Greenspan told ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" that he didn't believe that a steep drop was in store, but home prices had stabilized only temporarily.

British Real Estate Market Seems to Be Thawing a Bit By JULIA WERDIGIER
New York Times
August 5, 2009

LONDON — Eager to buy a larger house a year after the birth of their daughter, Jo and James Howe braced themselves for months of stress and disappointment when they put their two-bedroom cottage near London up for sale earlier this year.

But the couple sold at their asking price within weeks. “The market was a very different place to what we thought it would be,” Mrs. Howe, a director at a media and marketing agency, said. “It was a positive surprise.”

Another sign of a housing thaw
June pending homes sales increased for the fifth straight month, adding to the list of positive reports recently released.
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer
August 4, 2009

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- More Americans signed sales contracts to buy homes in June than in May, the fifth consecutive month of increases, according to a report released Tuesday.

Pending home sales up for 5th straight month
Realtors survey came in much better than expected
The Associated Press
Tues., Aug 4, 2009

WASHINGTON - Pending U.S. home sales rose in June for the fifth straight month, another encouraging sign of life for the embattled U.S. housing market, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.

For June, the Realtors group said its pending home sales index rose 3.6 percent to 94.6, from an upwardly revised reading of 91.3 in May. The last time there were five consecutive monthly gains was July 2003.

Where To Cash In On Real Estate
by Matthew Woolsey
Monday, August 3, 2009
Forbes

From coast to coast, unsold condos sit empty. In these spots, deals are likely aplenty.

Across America, tall towers of unsold condos stand like monuments of another age. In many markets, sales activity has virtually stalled, with sellers enduring a sales drought that's lasted longer than a year. That means lots of opportunity for buyers.

America's Abandoned Cities
By Zack O'Malley Greenburg, Forbes
Jul 23rd, 2009

The big news in Kansas City is the Chiefs' off-season acquisition of quarterback Matt Cassel. Filling in for injured superstar Tom Brady in New England last season, Cassel became a starter for the first time since his senior year of high school.

When trading for a backup quarterback is cause for citywide celebration, it's a sign of a metropolis starving for good news--and perhaps an indicator that other troubles are afoot.

Existing-home sales rose for the third consecutive month with inventory easing and home prices declining less sharply in June, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – increased 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 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.

June new home sales rise 11 percent
ALAN ZIBEL - AP Real Estate Writer
Tuesday, July 28, 2009

WASHINGTON | New home sales jumped in June by the largest amount in more than eight years as buyers took advantage of bargain prices, low interest rates and a federal tax credit for first-time homeowners.

While home prices are still falling, the figures released Monday were another sign the housing market is finally bouncing back. Data out last week showed home resales rose 3.6 percent in June, the third straight monthly increase.

Buying and Selling 2009: What It's Really Like
by Dana Dratch
Monday, June 1, 2009

For buyers and sellers, the past few months have been schizophrenic.

In 2009, sellers are battling shrinking home values and a constricting pool of available buyers. Buyers are sensing opportunities on home prices and home mortgages -- if they have the credit, job security and ready cash to qualify.

Those in the best shape are homeowners who don't have to sell and homebuyers with good credit, a stash of cash and working knowledge of their mortgage options.