Real Estate News
Builders broke ground on more homes last month as housing starts jumped 2.6 percent nationwide in April over March, the Commerce Department reported this week. The single-family sector saw a 3 percent increase in housing starts in April, while multifamily construction projects saw a 3.2 percent rise. “April’s increase in housing production comes on top of strong upward revisions to the previous month’s data, and is an encouraging sign that we are returning to a gradual, upward trend that should continue in the year ahead as builders respond to improving demand for new homes in certain markets,” Barry Rutenberg, chairman …
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Real estate professionals who want a role with employer-assisted housing programs should not view these opportunities as quick lead generation systems for their business. Rather, “they’re about building communities and helping to make changes in neighborhoods,” said Tammy Murphy, a trainer with the Employer Assisted Housing class run by the National Association of REALTORS®. Murphy spoke during the Housing Opportunities Forum Thursday at NAR’s Midyear Legislative Meetings. Real estate pros can have important roles in developing public-private partnerships with local employers who can provide educational services or financial assistance to employees related to home ownership. “We can provide education about …
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In his remarks yesterday at the Commercial Business Trends Forum during the Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C., NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun sounded a cautiously optimistic note regarding the state of the commercial real estate market. That’s because the commercial sector is so closely tied to the overall economy, which has been looking up over the past year in many respects. Specifically, the stock market has regained nearly all the losses it took in late 2008 and early 2009, Yun said. Also, corporations are sitting on large cash reserves, and are now looking for ways to …
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Steps to nowhere are scattered throughout the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans — steps that once led to homes. But since the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina, little rebuilding has been accomplished, says James Perry, director of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Center, which he greatly attributes to both systemic and individual cases of housing discrimination. In his Equal Opportunity-Cultural Diversity Forum presentation Tuesday at the NAR Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C., Perry discussed examples of actions and policies that disenfranchised African-American citizens who lived in the most devastated areas of New Orleans. In one …
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The National Association of REALTORS®’ Professional Standards Committee will be asking the NAR Board of Directors to consider a change to Standard of Practice 12-10 — one focused squarely on the increasing number of copyright complaints being lodged against members by content and image owners. Article 12 of the Code of Ethics requires REALTORS® to present a “true picture” in their advertising and representations to the public. According to Standard of Practice 12-10, NAR members must present a “true picture” in URLs and domain names; the committee’s addition would add the requirement to present a true picture of the source …
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When clients must move before their house is sold and they ask you to take care of their property in their absence, it’s tempting to say yes. After all, you want to remain on good terms with them and get the future sale. But saying yes to such a request comes with a slew of pitfalls that attorneys Glen Kimball and Thomas Gregory of the Philadelphia law firm O’Connor and Kimball discussed at Wednesday’s Risk Management and License Law Forum at NAR’s Midyear Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo. The three broad categories of risk to agents include: • potential property damage …
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Mortgage applications soared 9.2 percent last week, as more Americans sought to take advantage of record low mortgage rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly report. The surge in mortgage applications last week was attributed to a jump in refinance applications, which rose 13 percent for the week. Refinance applications make up nearly 75 percent of all mortgage applications. Meanwhile, mortgage applications for home purchases dropped 2.4 percent last week. “Low rates have convinced many home owners to refinance their mortgages, though tougher lending requirements still keep many prospective home buyers from taking out new debt,” The Wall Street …
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For the third consecutive month, foreclosure filings dropped, sinking to their lowest level since July 2007, according to RealtyTrac’s April report on nationwide foreclosure activity. Foreclosure activity, which includes default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions, fell 5 percent from March to April and were down 14 percent year-over-year. “More distressed loans are being diverted into short sales rather than becoming completed foreclosures,” says Brandon Moore, CEO of RealtyTrac. The drop in foreclosure activity was mixed, however. “Rising foreclosure activity in many state and local markets in April was masked at the national level by sizable decreases in hard-hit foreclosure …
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More than 13,000 REALTORS® attended the Rally to Protect the American Dream this morning in the shadow of the Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Additionally, thousands more participated in the virtual counterpart to the rally in order to send a clear message to legislators and policymakers: Home ownership is critical to the United States economy and needs to be fostered and protected. Speaker after speaker affirmed that sentiment in brief remarks to the crowd. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun forcefully declared that the mortgage interest deduction, often brought up as a possible target for cutting to bolster …
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The first quarter of 2012 was the best first quarter for real estate in five years, and pending contracts suggest that the second quarter of 2012 will be the best second quarter in five years, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said this morning at the Residential Economic Update during the NAR Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo. Moreover, he said the second half of this year could be even better than the first, in part because of continued increases in rental costs and record affordability of homes. “Renters are getting squeezed, and they don’t want to rent anymore,” Yun explained. …
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