Hope to Sell Your Home Next Year

5 Holiday Splurges to Avoid

If you are looking to sell in the next year, you may want to watch it with the festive cheer. Some holiday traditions could end up making your home tougher to sell. Realtor.com®highlighted a few, including:
Decorations: Some decor could actually damage a home, leaving behind holes in the wall, marks on the floor, or screws along a home’s exterior. Also, realtor.com® warns those with live Christmas trees to make sure water doesn’t spill on their hardwood or laminate flooring. It can warp or stain the surface.

Holiday debt: It's tempting to splurge on gifts, but those who plan to buy a home need to be cautious over how much debt they accumulate. Opening up new credit cards or taking on a car loan could hamper one's chances of getting approved for a mortgage. “Speak with your lender if making a real estate purchase after the sale on how much you can spend on big-ticket items,” advises.

New pets: Tell your clients to try to resist the adoption drives this holiday season if they plan to sell soon. House training a puppy or teaching a new cat not to scratch may not be ideal right before putting a property on the market. House showings with a pet can be a challenge, and even more so with a new pet.




Source: “5 Holiday Splurges to Avoid if You Hope to Sell Your Home Next Year,” realtor.com® (Nov. 22, 2017)

Home Sales Up 2% in October

Existing-home sales increased in October to their strongest pace since earlier this summer,

but continual supply shortages led to fewer closings on an annual basis for the second straight month, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
The Existing-Home Sales data measures sales and prices of existing single-family homes for the nation overall, and gives breakdowns for the West, Midwest, South, and Northeast regions of the country. These figures include condos and co-ops, in addition to single-family homes.

Days on the market estimated 34 days one year ago was 41 days, inventory still low only 3.9 month supply.

Next release: Existing-Home Sales data release for November 2017 is scheduled for Wednesday, December 20, 2017.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sending you warm wishes from home to home and from 

heart to heart to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

May this day be a beautiful reminder of

the wonderful things in life.

Home Prices Are Continuing to Fall

By How Much
Home buyers pinching their pennies should rejoice: Existing-home prices are continuing to . Sorry, sellers!

The median price of an existing home (i.e. one that has previously been lived in) fell 0.24% from September to hit $247,000 in October, according to the most recent National Association of Realtors® report. And as cash-strapped would-be buyers are well aware, every little bit helps.

In fact, prices have been falling each month since hitting a high of $263,300 in June. That seasonal adjustment is fairly typical, as prices usually soar in summer as the market is flooded with buyers hoping to close on homes before the school year begins.

'We usually see prices go down as we move into the fall. Buyers who are in the market now are usually looking for smaller properties that tend to cost less,' says Chief Economist Danielle Hale of realtor.com®. '[But] in spite of the month-to-month price decline, it's still a pretty tough market for buyers. There aren't very many options of homes available for sale.'

Existing homes are also considerably easier on the wallet than newly constructed abodes, which cost a median $319,700 in September, according to the latest available government data. That's about a third, or 29.4%, less.

However, median prices were still up 5.5% year-over-year. Single-family homes were a median $248,300, while condos and co-ops sold for a little less at $236,800.
The number of October home sales nudged up 2% over September, but were down about 0.9% from a year earlier, according to the seasonally adjusted numbers in the report. (That means the numbers have been smoothed out over 12 months to account for seasonal fluctuations in the market.)

Monthly closings were up across the nation, but they dipped annually in the U.S. particularly in the South, by 1.8%, and the Midwest, at 1.5%. The slight  in the South may be due to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which hammered the Houston area and much of Florida and paused many sales temporarily.

'Job growth ... is starting to slowly push up wages, which is in turn giving households added assurance that now is a good time to buy a home,' Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said in a statement. 'While the housing market gained a little more momentum last month, sales are still below year ago levels because low inventory is limiting choices for prospective buyers and keeping price growth elevated.'


Source: Realtor.com

Housing Market Still Not Meeting Potential

The housing market still wasn’t living up to its potential in October 2017, with new

data from First American ^[1] highlighting a market performance gap that is the largest since November 2016.

According to First American’s Potential Home Sales model ^[2] for the month of October, potential existing-home sales got a 0.4 percent month-over-month bump, reaching a 5.89 million seasonally adjusted, annualized rate (SAAR).

However, First American says the market for existing-home sales is under performing its potential by 455,000 (SAAR) sales (7.7 percent).

Market potential was on the upswing, increasing by an estimated 26,000 (SAAR) sales between September 2017 and October 2017.

The October 2017 potential existing-home sales were down by 4.3 percent compared to the same month last year, however, although the October numbers were still 95.7 percent higher than the market potential low point from December 2008. As of October 2017, potential existing-home sales are 8.2 percent below the pre-recession peak of July 2005.

First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming’s monthly analysis explained that continuing supply problems are going head-to-head with strong demand to shape the current state of the market. The number of homes for sale has declined on a year-over-year basis for the past 38 months in a row. Moreover, according to Realtor.com ^[3],active inventory is down by 7.6 percent and homes are selling 7.6 percent faster than a year ago. Per the First American Real House Price Index ^[4], affordability was down 9.6 percent in August 2017, as compared to August 2016.

In Fleming’s October market analysis, he said:

Tight supply and strong first-time home buyer demand continue to be the dominant factors driving the current state of the housing market. Existing homeowners remain reluctant to list their homes for sale for fear of not being able to find a home to buy, keeping supply levels low. At the same time, a healthy number of potential home buyers continue to enter the market, so house prices are increasing and affordability is declining. Historically low rates offer some relief in the form of strong borrowing power, however rates are expected to rise in the months to come, so if you are renting and thinking of buying, now is the time.

Source: DSNew

Mortgage Rates Bounce Up

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reached its highest average since July this week.

“The 10-year Treasury yield ticked up 6 basis points, while the 30-year mortgage rate jumped 5 basis points to 3.95 percent,” says Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Today’s survey rate is the highest rate in nearly four months.” 
Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Nov. 16:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.95 percent, with an average 0.5 point, rising from last week’s 3.90 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.94 percent.
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.31 percent, with an average 0.5 point, rising from last week’s 3.24 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 3.14 percent.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.21 percent this week, with an average 0.4 point, falling slightly from last week’s 3.22 percent average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.07 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac

Smart Reasons to Buy a Home During the Holidays

Turkeys and tinsel, dreidels and pumpkin pie. Yes friends, the holidays are here again, and it's the perfect time for ... house hunting? 

OK, we know you're busy enough planning family feasts and much-needed vacations while dealing with blustery weather, but hear us out. While it might seem counterintuitive to put a big-ticket item like a home on your holiday shopping list, it really does make sense.

Don't believe us? Check out these surprisingly smart reasons to let everyone else hit the mall to buy half-off sweaters while you make the purchase of a lifetime: a new house to ring in the New Year.

1. Less competition from home buyers
Most buyers take the month off to celebrate the holidays, attend parties, host out-of-town guests and, quite frankly, avoid trudging around in inclement weather to look at houses. Or, maybe they’ve heard that this is a lousy time to buy a house. Whatever the reason, shopping for real estate at a time when fewer buyers are in the market can pay off big. That’s because competing with multiple offers is one of the most stressful parts of the home-buying process.

2. Motivated (OK, desperate) home sellers

The December seller is likely to be serious and motivated—and therefore more open to negotiation. So what you might lack in choice of available homes could be balanced out by dealing with a more flexible seller. Most sellers have a compelling reason for putting their house on the market during the holidays. (Let’s face it: It’s no holiday party for them to have strangers wandering through their house.) They might be facing a relocation and want to get their kids settled before the new term. Or they might just be feeling some stress if they listed their home in the fall and it’s still languishing post–Turkey Day, making them just a little more desperate and anxious to deal.

3. Tax advantages

In case you weren't aware, the tax benefits go both ways. Buying now can help you save in April and beyond. Homeownership brings numerous tax perks, from deducting mortgage interest to property taxes. Also, many closing fees are tax-deductible if you itemize—although you should always double-check with your accountant about any tax questions.

4. A realistic picture of the house

What house doesn’t look amazing in the typical spring buying season, with newly planted flowers and plenty of sunlight streaming through the windows? Checking it out during the miserable winter season, on the other hand, might give you a more accurate idea of what you might be living with the rest of the year.

5. Greater accessibility to professionals

“Since December is usually a slower month all around, you will have easier access to movers, inspectors, and mortgage brokers, In addition, motivated real estate agents will bend over backward to provide service with fewer client demands and will share your desire to get it done and in the books before the new year rolls around.  Ditto on your mortgage broker, who is bound to speed your closing through.

source: Realtor.com