All Blog Entries by Bonnie Martin Designated Broker

If recent trends are any indication, it’s going to be a big summer for the mortgage and real estate industries. The U.S. housing market continues to improve in many areas. Demand is rising while inventories are shrinking. Low mortgage rates are hovering at or near record lows, enticing home buyers into the market.

Here’s a rundown of the recent trends we are following: More Homes Being Built, Mortgage Rates Near Historic Lows, Home Sale Returning To Normal, and Home Prices Are Rising.

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 Rising home prices are helping pull more distressed borrowers from out of the water, according to the March Mortgage Monitor Report from Lender Processing Services(LPS).

The number of underwater borrowers -- those who owed more than their homes were worth -- fell 41% from a year earlier. In total, 9 million borrowers or 18% of active mortgages were underwater at the end of March.

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The housing market is snapping back – prices of single-family homes rose 9.3 percent over the past 12 months, according to the S&P Case-Shiller index.

But that doesn’t mean boomers hoping to sell their houses have it made.

Homeowners who are in their 40s, 50s and 60s face both short-term and long-term challenges if they want to hook Millennial buyers in their 20s and 30s (who are also known as members of Generation Y and echo boomers).

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In hot markets full of multiple offers buyers are often tempted to do anything to get a home. One thing they should not do is forgo the home inspection. For buyers, waiving the option to have a professional inspection contingent on their offer to purchase a home can have major repercussions in the long run. Sellers tend to like these offers because it essentially means they are selling the home ‘as is’ and are not responsible for any thing that is not immediately visible. Without a licensed inspector viewing the property, the buyer can only comment on the things that they see that are potentially wrong with the home. The buyer essentially loses the right to make any requests for additional repairs that aren’t agreed to at the time of signing the…

Every city in the S&P Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Indexhas now posted annual increases for at least two consecutive months.  The February 2013 indices released this morning showed year-over-year prices in the 10-City Composite gained 8.6 percent and the 20-City Composite rose 9.3 percent.   In 16 of the 20 cities the annual growth rate rose in February compared to January and ten are now posting double digit positive changes.  

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1.  Basic Market Trends - Have you ever heard the saying that the three most important criteria in setting the value of a home are "location, location, location." Well, that remains true today, but they might want to add: "timing, timing, timing."

2. Your Financial Picture - One of the main considerations you have to make is this: does your current financial picture putyou in a strong position for home ownership? If not, then buying a house will not be a good idea no matter what the market trends indicate.

3. How Much Do You Have Saved Up? - Assuming that you're not worried about debt paydown or losing your job, then the most important factor to consider is how much savings you have. Many home purchases require 10 or 20 percent as a down…

Seller confidence is surging: The number of home sellers who say now is a good time to sell doubled in the second quarter, according to a new survey of nearly 2,000 owners conducted by real estate brokerage Redfin. In the first quarter of 2013, 22 percent surveyed said it was a good time to sell compared to 45 percent in the second quarter. 

The percentage of respondents who say now is a good time to buy dropped by 10 percent in that time frame. Forty-four percent of home owners say it's a good time to buy, compared to 54 percent in the first quarter. 

The spring season tends to flood the housing market with buyers, and in markets with low inventory levels, the competition is stiff.

As home prices continue to recover and interest rates remain at near-record lows, some houses are receiving multiple offers and to win the bid, buyers need to stand out from the crowd. According to the National Association of Realtors, houses sold in 71 days in January, down from 99 days a year ago.

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Jody was our realtor for a land exchange/purchase that my husband and I  recently bought.  She was excellent in every way possible.  We were under the gun for this exchange and live about 100 miles from the area we were interested in.  Jody went out of her way in almost every aspect to make our  purchase possible- she was always in contact and available any day, or time to us; When two of the lots we were interested in were sold, she quickly was right on top of helping us find other similar lots to  make our deadline. She went door to door in one of the neighborhoods to find out answers to our questions; She made sure every detail was taken care of, and if she didn't know the answer to something, she found out quickly.  She was great!  I would…

money.cnn.com - Home prices continued their recovery, rising 8.1% in January, although a separate report showed a slight slowdown in new-home sales.

The S&P Case-Shiller index, which tracks the 20 largest markets in the nation, showed the biggest year-over-year gain in prices since June 2006.

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