Peter

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that in the first quarter of 2012, the median existing single-family home price, or final sales price, rose in 74 of the 146 metro areas (51 percent) that the association monitors.

Housing inventory levels have been shrinking across the U.S., leading to bidding wars and modest upward pressure on prices in some areas. The data reinforces a notion already asserted by many economists, real estate agents, and investors that 2012 is the year of the bottom.

This spring the More...

gretchen

Average U.S. Home Prices, down by a third since 2006, will rise almost four percent a year for the next five years, according to market watcher Fiserv, which sees prices stabilizing by summer’s end and then climbing…quickly in some places before tapering off.

The forecast is based on an analysis of leading home price indexes. Investors will drive much of the momentum, as they are now in cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix. First-time and trade-up buyers will eventually follow.

In other housing news, signed More...

Dee

Mirroring the uneven economic recovery, the housing market is expected to move in a slow, gradual upward path in 2012, while encountering its share of speed bumps along the way, according to economists participating in a recent National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) construction forecast webinar on the housing and economic outlook.

While the latest monthly housing data have shown signs of a slight softening, NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe said this is more reflective of typical month-to-month volatility in the numbers and More...

gretchen

International buyers now account for more than 20 percent of the United States real estate market, with a significant proportion from China, according to a recent survey by the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA).

Among all deals closed during the past 12 months, 30 percent were for premium homes valued at more than $1 million, the survey showed. Strong demand from China and other international buyers has boosted an otherwise challenging market.

Figures from the National Association of Realtors show that More...

Peter

History Colorado, a new state-of-the-art museum that mixes high tech, interactive exhibits with treasures from Colorado’s early days, will hold its grand opening on April 28, 2012.

The Society of Colorado Pioneers, formed in 1866, wanted future generations to remember and celebrate their achievements. The state created the State Historical and Natural History Society in 1879 and gifted it $500 to collect and publicize Colorado’s heritage. The society eventually found office and exhibit space in the basement of Colorado’s More...

Dee

Mortgage applications increased 6.9 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 13, 2012.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 6.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 6.5 percent compared with the previous week. The refinance index increased 13.5 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted More...

Kentwood Co.

Sales of investment and vacation homes rose in 2011, with the combined market share rising to the highest level since 2005, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

NAR’s 2012 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey, which covers existing and new-home transactions in 2011, shows investment home sales surged an extraordinary 64.5 percent to 1.23 million last year from 749,000 in 2010. Vacation home sales rose 7.0 percent to 502,000 in 2011 from 469,000 in 2010. Owner-occupied purchases fell 15.5 percent to More...

Kentwood Co.

We always see people talking on their cell phones and texting while driving, and it’s the majority of people on the road. In restaurants, we see people answering their phones or sending messages during business lunches or during dinner with family and friends. Some people never turn off their phone, while others get up in the middle of the night to check messages.

Are people addicted to their cell phones, and are you among them? Do you control your phone or does your phone control you?

This question was posed recently More...

Dee

Bank of America and Merrill Lynch has changed its forecast from November when it expected home prices to fall 3.5 percent in 2012. Now, it expects a modest gain of 0.5 percent, which is a good sign for the real estate business.

The firm is still forecasting a slow recovery, projecting home prices to gain 2.8 percent in 2014, which is below its prior estimate of 8.1 percent. The prediction for 2020 remains much the same, with prices recovering by 42 percent.

Inventory dropped sharply in the second half of last year, More...