« September 2006 | Main | November 2006 »
Owning Vs. Renting - It Makes Dollars and Sense
Over the last ten years, the cost of rental housing in the U.S. has increased an average of 3% per year.
The apartment or home that you rent for $750 a month will cost you more than $978 a month 10 years from now.
The Federal Reserve Board estimates that homeowners have a net worth almost 36 times more than that of renters.
Source: Why rent when you can buy, #186-90. 
Daily Real Estate News | October 12, 2006
Lower Home Prices Entice Potential Buyers
Lower home prices are turning potential buyers into active lookers, and sellers are showing more willingness to negotiate, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® reports. The trend is expected to inject life into slowing markets.
“Given a positive economic backdrop of lower interest rates and job creation, we expect sales activity to pick up early next year,” says David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist.
Existing-home sales are forecast to be fairly stable in the fourth quarter and sales for all of 2006 are expected to drop 8.9 percent to 6.45 million — the third strongest year after consecutive records in 2004 and 2005. New-home sales are expected to fall 17.3 percent this year to 1.06 million, the fourth highest year on record. Housing starts should be down 10.9 percent to 1.84 million in 2006.
2006 Prices to Increase Slightly
With a recent correction in the market, the national median existing-home price is likely to rise 1.6 percent to $223,000 for all of 2006; it’s anticipated prices will remain slightly below year-ago levels before gaining positive traction in the first quarter of 2007. The median new-home price is projected to decline 0.2 percent to $240,500 — largely the result of builder price cuts to move unsold inventory.
This presents a unique opportunity for buyers. “The supply of homes on the market is the highest we’ve seen in over 13 years, and mortgage interest rates are experiencing an unexpected decline,” says NAR President Thomas M. Stevens from Vienna, Va. “The 30-year fixed rate is hovering around 6.3 percent, and sellers in most of the country are now showing a willingness to negotiate.”
He says that the changing market makes it increasingly important for parties on both sides of the real estate transaction process to have professional representation.
Nice Oceanfront Property for Sale ... in Arizona?
Land scams are alive and well on the Internet.
Just as scam artists sold thousands of lots in phantom subdivisions decades ago, online wheeler-dealers are snookering a new generation of people who are looking for an inexpensive deal on a retirement home in a warm place.
Many of the lots being sold have never been developed because they're on swampland in Florida or isolated desert ranchland in Texas and Arizona. There is no road access, water, or power. The land might be developed someday, but county officials who are busy processing a surge in deed transfers are skeptical.
"If someone does buy one of these parcels thinking they're going to build their dream home on it now, that's really a problem," says Bart Medley, attorney for Texas' Jeff Davis County.
Texas officials say many of the lots have been sold two or three times to unsuspecting buyers who stop paying property taxes once they realize they own a worthless patch of dirt. The county takes possession, resells the lots in one chunk, then the new owner starts the process all over.
Web sites say they can’t take responsibility for buyer stupidity. They just provide the vehicle to list properties. "The actual transaction happens directly between the buyer and seller," says Catherine England, spokeswoman for eBay, which lists and auctions properties in its real estate section.
Source: USA Today, Haya El Nasser (09/27/2006)
Recent Comments