If you are not into giving a neck tie or gift cards this year, think about these two nifty presents. First up- what $50 investment can you make that can possibly pay you back in one month? Investigate a programmable thermostat! For home owners it’s hard to save money on energy costs if you don’t […]
S.1944 A bill to create jobs
Washington Watch- Going Down To The Wire Update: Last week it looked like the extension of the payroll tax cut from 2011 was sure to pass Congress. It’s worth about $1000-$1500 to the average taxpayer. Now there are competing bills and the usual beltway bickering back and forth as to who is on the side […]
Foreclosures Dip But Remain High
Daily Real Estate News | March 13, 2008 Foreclosures in February were down 4 percent from January, but the rate of foreclosures remain high year-over-year. The February rate was up 57 percent from February 2007. “The year-over-year increase this February was significantly higher than the 19 percent year-over-year increase in February 2007, indicating we have […]
Not All Markets Are Equal
by Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist Copyright National Association of REALTORS®, Reprinted from REALTOR.org with permission Though the national headlines have been pounding out the news of a housing market meltdown, implosion, and collapse, all markets are not equal. In NAR’s latest metro price survey, roughly half of the country experienced a price increase. Upstate […]
Home Prices up in Half of Markets
Roughly half of metropolitan areas continued to show rising home prices in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the latest quarterly survey by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. In the fourth quarter, 73 out of 150 metropolitan statistical areas show increases in median existing single-family home prices from a year earlier, including 11 areas […]
The truth about whether a home is a good investment.
From Blanche Evans Realty Times 2008. It’s high time we told buyers (and sellers, for that matter) the truth about whether a home is a good investment. Despite what Wall Street wants you to believe, owning a home isn’t the same kind of investment as stocks or bonds. What you get is a USE asset […]
Housing Stocks Become Hot Item
Investors who bought housing stocks at the beginning of the year after two and a half years of steep declines are being rewarded for their prescience. As the Federal Reserve started cutting interest rates, the stocks of home builders Toll Brothers, Lennar, and Hovnanian rose 40 percent, 52 percent, and 96 percent respectively. Some analysts […]
States, Insurers at Odds Over Rising Rates
Florida’s persistent battle with insurers over rates and coverage is spreading to other states and could have an affect on insurance customers nationwide. New York, which prevented insurers from forcing residents to buy car and homeowners insurance from the same company in order to avoid cancellation, now wants to order insurers to set aside their […]
House Committee Passes Mortgage Reform Bill
The U.S. House Financial Services Committee approved legislation on Tuesday creating new consumer protection standards in the mortgage industry. The bill drafted by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) would: Ban lenders from making loans that borrowers don’t have the ability to repay. Prohibit lenders from steering home owners into refinanced mortgages that don’t provide any benefit. […]
Weekly Residential Activity Report for St. Louis Metro Real Estate
Newly listed properties and properties back on the market…..1,911* Expired listings, price adjustments, and removed listings…..3,985* Closed sales, under contract firm and contingent…..1,821* Current properties for sale…..30,159* *Numbers obtained through the Mid America Regional Information Systems MLS and represent activity for the past 7 days.
