Real Estate Blog

nbcnews.com - U.S. home resales rose in April to the highest level in nearly 3-1/2 years as surging prices lured sellers back into market, which should support the housing sector and the overall economic recovery.

The National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday existing home sales advanced 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 4.97 million units, the highest level since November 2009.

To read more of this article, click the link below:

Home sales continued to climb in April, according to the latest reading on the housing recovery from an industry trade group.

The National Association of Realtors reported home sales edged up 0.6% to an annual pace of just under 5 million homes. Compared to a year ago, the pace of sales was up nearly 10%.

The pace of sales would have exceeded that level were it not for tight credit and insufficient houses for sale to meet rising demand, the group said.

To read more of this article, click the link below:

Moving can be a costly ordeal. Fortunately, the Internal Revenue Service allows you to deduct certain expenses from your taxes, so long as certain criteria are met.

1) Do You Qualify? you can only deduct if the move is job related.  2) 39 Weeks: you must be employed full time for 39 weeks.  3) 50 Miles Rule: your commute must be 50 miles longer to qualify.  4) Employer Assistance: you can only write off what your employer isn't paying. 5) Self Employment:  you can still qualify if you are self-employed, but you must meet all the requirements.  6) Married Couples:  only one of you have to meet the criteria.  7) Deductible Moving Expenses.

To read more of this article, click the link below:

Consider this one more sign that the housing market is heating up: Appraisers are putting higher values on homes again, allowing for more deals to go through.

During the housing bust, sales were often derailed by low-ball appraisals that fell far shy of a home's selling price.

For example, if a home cost $500,000 and required a 20% down payment of $100,000, the buyer would need to finance $400,000. But if the appraiser valued the home at $450,000, the buyer would only be eligible for a $360,000 loan -- making the home too costly for some buyers.

To read more of this article, click the ink below:

The home buying season shifted into high gear last month as inventory and home list prices on realtor.com® increased by 4.12 percent and 2.63 percent, month over month, respectively. As of April, homes are on the market nationwide approximately 81 days—a decrease of nearly 11 percent since April 2012—highlighting that while new homes are entering the market they are not available for long.

Despite the increase in inventory month over month, nationwide inventory declined year over year in all but 11 of the 146 markets realtor.com® monitors. Approximately 36 markets registered a decrease of listings by 20 percent or more, still highlighting near records lows of available homes.

To read more of this article, click the link below:

U.S. mortgage rates rose, pushing borrowing costs for a 30-year loan to the highest in six weeks.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage climbed to 3.51 percent in the week ended today, up from 3.42 percent and the highest since early April, McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac (FMCC) said in a statement. The average 15-year rate increased to 2.69 percent from 2.61 percent.

To read more of this article, click the link below:

nbcnews.com - U.S. home-builder confidence in the market for single family homes rose in May amid rising home prices despite increasing building materials costs, an index showed on Wednesday.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market index edged up three points to 44, from a downwardly revised 41 in April. Economists in a Reuters survey were expecting a reading of 43. Any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

To read more of this article, click the link below:

After nearing historic or near-historic lows over the past month, key fixed-rate and adjustable-rate loans rose across the board this week.

The average rate of a 30-year fixed mortgage ticked slightly upward to 3.42% up from 3.35% last week according to the latest survey by mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. Previously, the average rate on a 30-year fixed loan had come within 0.04% of the historic low, 3.31%, achieved in November.

To read more of this article, click the link below:

The first thing Niamh Cahill did after she signed a contract to buy her new home in New Jersey was to map out a moving checklist.

"I had to break it down, to think small at first," she said. "If I thought about the whole move, I would have been completely overwhelmed." So she called the movers, set a date, and then started planning.

There is no one-size-fits-all strategy for counting down to moving day. The important thing is to make a plan, says Audrey Dickson, quotation analyst with U-Pack, a national moving company based in Fort Smith, Ark.

To read more of this article, and get the checklist, click th link below:

It’s a seller’s market in many parts of the country right now. That’s a big change from the past six or seven years. With buyers competing for the same property, home prices are going up. It’s a good thing mortgage interest rates are at historic lows.

“If you want to get the home of your dreams, you need to be really serious,” advises real estate expert Ilyce Glink,author of the book Buy, Close, Move In. “You've got to get pre-approved, not pre-qualified for your purchase. You have to know what you want and how much you feel comfortable spending (it may be less than what the bank suggests). If you know what you want and how much you want to spend, and you've spent a lot of time in your neighborhood of choice, when the right property…