Monday, November 6, 2006, 05:51 PM
Research - What's New— REALTOR® Magazine Online
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Monday, November 6, 2006, 05:44 PM
Pending Home Sales Down Slightly in SeptemberDaily Real Estate News | November 1, 2006
— REALTOR® Magazine Online
Home sales are expected to hold fairly steady in the months ahead, according to the latest reading on pending home sales published by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.
The Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in September, slipped 1.1 percent to a level of 109.1, following a 4.7 percent gain in August. The index remains 13.6 percent below September 2005.
The index shows home sales will not be moving much in one direction or another, says David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist. “The present level of home sales is relatively high in historic terms, and we can expect generally minor movements around this level,” he says. “We don’t expect to see any changes of note until early next year when we’re likely to see a modest lift.”
The market currently is a little lower than expected as buyers try to time their entry, Lereah adds. “In the meantime, there’s some build-up in demand that will move when consumers realize that conditions are optimal for them.”
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Tuesday, October 17, 2006, 05:27 PM
Economists Say Housing Downturn Isn't So BadBy Kenneth R. Harney, Washington Post Writers Group
Daily Real Estate News | October 16, 2006
New mortgage applications are up. Pending home sales are up. The economy is expanding. Unemployment is at 4.6 percent. And mortgage rates are still historically low.
What kind of housing bust is this anyway?
All the dismal reports about the real estate market overlook the realities in the market place, some housing experts say.
The housing correction — expressed through new home starts— "may be closer to [its] trough than to [its] peak," says Federal Reserve vice chairman Donald L. Kohn.
Today's "unusually low" long-term mortgage-rate environment "stands in sharp contrast to some past downturns in the housing market that followed actions by the Federal Reserve to tighten credit conditions significantly," Kohn adds.
James Glassman of JP Morgan Chase is equally optimistic. He says 30-year fixed-rate mortgages at 5.75 percent are a distinct possibility if long-term rates in the global bond market keep easing. The current cyclical downturn in housing "is not your classic interest-rate story" he says.
Perhaps the most blunt appraisal comes from Mike Moran, chief economist of Wall Street’s Daiwa Securities America. Moran says the financial press is taking a normal and long-predicted cyclical rebalancing and “portraying it as a catastrophe.”
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Wednesday, October 11, 2006, 12:55 PM
The Importance Of Socializing Your Buyersby Blanche Evans
RealtyTimes | October 11, 2006
One of the advantages of specializing in a neighborhood niche is that such an agent knows everything that's going on and most everyone who lives there. She's an active participant in the community, its events, and its goals. She impacts her community by helping to develop new construction or preserve historical homes. She serves on commerce and community boards to help attract jobs and economic development. She's intimately familiar with the homes that have sold and scrutinizes the homes that are currently on the market. She knows the history of the neighborhood's homes and its residents. In many cases, she has sold the same home more than once. She is the local expert.
If making new friends is part of the fun of moving to a new neighborhood, few are in a better position than the local real estate expert -- you -- to make introductions. The quicker your home buyers "feel at home" in their new neighborhood, the quicker they'll be passing along referrals to you. Here are some quick ways to get started:
. Ask questions
. Get organized
. Be committed
. Be visible
. Remember conversation starters
. Ask permission
. Entertain
What makes socializing work best is thinking of others before you consider what you want to accomplish. As their wants and needs pop into your head, you'll soon find making social and business connections is easy, and new business will take care of itself. Not only will you be the neighborhood expert, you'll also be the binding agent that keeps the neighborhood together.
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Tuesday, October 3, 2006, 03:57 AM
Pending Home Sales Index Rises 4.3%Daily Real Estate News | October 2, 2006
— REALTOR® Magazine Online
Pending home sales have increased, showing that the housing market continues to stabilize, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.
NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in August, rose 4.3 percent to a level of 110.1 from a reading of 105.6 in July, but is 14.1 percent lower than August 2005.
David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, says the higher index reading is a hopeful sign for the real estate market.
“Our sense is that home sales may have reached a low in August,” he says. “The Pending Home Sales Index shows home sales should be fairly stable over the next two months, although a minor decline is possible.
BIGGEST INCREASE IS IN THE WEST:
. Regionally, the index reading for the West rose 9.2 percent in August to 112.7 but was 16.9 percent below August 2005.
. The index in the South increased 4 percent to 126.8 in August but was 9.4 percent below a year ago.
. In the Northeast, the index rose 3.6 percent in August to 95.4 but was 12.4 percent below August 2005.
. The index in the Midwest was unchanged at 93.8 in August and was 20.4 percent lower than a year ago.
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