Top 10 Best and Worst Housing Markets
Why is Miami Ranked Among Weakest Markets? Rates BHA hot summer of home buying helped boost market conditions across many parts of the country, but in August, large amounts of REO inventory still hinder bottom ranked markets from realizing further recovery. Pro Teck Valuation Services Home Value Forecast for August reports that 76 percent of […]
Zombie Properties Returning to Life
A report released Thursday from real estate data firm ATTOM Data Solutions offers another sign that the vacant property glut from the housing crisis is shrinking. The number of vacant properties in foreclosure limbo has fallen as banks have taken over tens of thousands of these houses. That means happier neighbors and local governments awaiting […]
Metal Theft on the Rise for Vacant Properties
Despite attempts to control scrap metal sales, international demand has driven the theft of metals, especially copper. Metal thefts primarily occur at vacant properties and can leave building owners with substantial replacement and restoration costs. Oldham said the replacement costs associated with stolen exterior air conditioner units and anterior piping and wiring could reach up […]
Top 5 Markets for House Flipping
Flipping isn’t for the faint of heart. Witness the dramas faced by Jeff Lewis on “Flipping Out,” where high-ticket fixes and luxury-market dynamics make for nail-biting deal closings in LA. Or consider novice investors’ reality checks as they peel back plaster and learn just how much time or money their flip will really require before […]
Housing Market Heats Up Along With Summer
In the middle of the summer when housing activity normally reaches its peak time, both home sales and prices are heading up, according to the July 2016 RE/MAX National Housing Report. Strong homebuyer demand resulted in a 9.4 percent increase in home sales from May to June as well as a 0.7 percent increase from […]
When Will Distressed Sales ‘Normalize’?
With much of the talk surrounding the housing market centered on “normalization” or returning to its pre-crisis state, one metric which the market is watching is the distressed sales share—the share of REO and short sales that comprise total residential home sales. For February 2016, the distressed sales share declined by 2.9 percentage points over-the-year […]
Federal Reserve: Mortgage debt rises to 4-year high
The amount of money that Americans owe to mortgage lenders rose to the highest level in more than four years during the first quarter, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The New York Fed’s Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, released Tuesday, showed that the nationwide total […]
Distressed Home Sales Still Declining
There is nothing distressing about the latest data regarding distressed home sales. According to statistics released by CoreLogic, distressed sales accounted for 9.9 percent of total U.S. home sales in March, down 2.7 percent year-over-year drop and a 1.7 percent dip from February. In breaking down the category, real estate-owned (REO) sales accounted for 6.8 […]
New York Takes Aim at Zombie Properties
New York legislation requires banks or mortgagees to maintain vacant and abandoned properties pre-foreclosure, as opposed to the previous requirement of maintaining the properties only after the foreclosure judgment. Banks face a penalty of up to $500 per day per property for failing to maintain these properties. In order to fight the long-standing problem of […]
