REALTOR® Ray Minyard blogs about some of the reasons why it hasn’t succeeded to date.

 

“With unemployment at around 10 percent, analysts say the home buyers tax credit aimed at stimulating home demand is doing little.

The Obama administration’s initiatives to modify loans facing foreclosure have not met with any great success so far.

Analysts fear that a huge supply of discounted homes will hit the market in 2010 and the additional supply of homes will only worsen the market situation. As the deadline for expiry of tax credit approaches, we are not seeing an increase in home demand.

‘No one is saying that they need to buy before the tax credit expires,’ said Tim Surratt, a real estate agent.

According to a survey conducted by Campbell Communications and Inside Mortgage Finance, the percentage of homeowners looking to buy a home was flat from January to February.

Some analysts say the size of tax credit at $6,500 is too small to influence buyer decision. The savings on account of the tax credit will not offset down payments and other transaction costs.

The agent’s commission for a home at the national average price of $164,000 is likely to be 6 percent or $9,840. This is much higher than the tax credit of $6,500.

‘You’ve got a really big problem that requires big guns, and the tax credit is just not big enough,’ said Roberton Williams, senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.”

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Deeded beach rights to Sandy Cove accompany the purchase of this home so you can whale watch from the shore as well.

The average home price in Cohasset, MA is $849,000 and the median household income is $143,845.

Most residents are married, have professional specialty occupations and 88 percent of residents are homeowners. The crime index is very low and the schools rank 9 out of 10 on greatschools.net.

The home was also recently featured as one of the homes with a turret or two in the Wall Street Journal.

Anthony Gonzalez blogs about the latest program from the Obama administration which sees it as a way to help speed up the process and prevent foreclosures.

 

“The government is trying everything they can to end the mortgage crisis and there is another new program they have devised in hopes of helping the 5 million plus homeowners behind on their mortgages coming in April.

This latest program, which will allow owners to sell for less than they owe and will give them a little cash to speed them on their way, is one of the administration’s most aggressive attempts to grapple with a problem that has defied solutions.

So far, President Obama’s $75 billion loan modification program has only helped a small amount of those 5 million plus homeowners.

The government acknowledges that more needs to be done and the efforts need to be aggressive. They do not want to see all these people lose their homes.

As of April 5th, homeowners will be encouraged to sell their homes by way of the short sale process. Lenders will be compelled to accept that arrangement, forgiving the difference between the market price of the property and what they are owed.

The government wants to streamline and standardize the short sale process to make it much easier on the borrower and much easier on the lender.”

There are high hopes that this program will help end the logjam of homeowners currently trapped in loan modification limbo.

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REALTOR.com® took the top spot again as the most visited real estate website during the month of February according to the February 2010 comScore Media Matrix report.

Last Month, Realtor.com attracted more than 6 million unique visitors, followed by its closest competitor Yahoo! Real Estate with 4.6 million unique visitors.

Other sites in the top 10 included MSN Real Estate with 3.6 million unique visitors in February, AOL Real Estate with 3.2 million unique visitors and Rent.com with 2.7 million unique visitors.

Tampa, FL

Built in 2005, this week’s No. 1 (pictured above) is a 5 bedroom, 5 bath Tampa, FL home listed for $250,000. The 5,219 square-foot custom home is located in proximity to the private Tampa Yacht & Country Club located on the Hillsborough Bay. Elegant details include teak hardwood flooring, a wrought iron staircase and gourmet kitchen with granite countertops, natural gas appliances, double ovens, and butler’s pantry. The home also boasts a pool, spa, cabana, and lanai with TV hook-up. The master suite features a covered balcony and an oversized rainfall shower in the bathroom.

New at No. 2, this 3 bedroom, 3 bath Wallingford, CT home listed for $199,900 offers 3,429 square feet of space that is just waiting to undergo a rehab. Sitting on 1.92 acres in a well-established area, the value of this property is in the land. The Ranch-style home boasts an in-law suite on the lower level and a balcony.

This 3 bedroom, 2 bath Denver, CO home listed for $196,500 is up from it’s No. 5 spot last week. The Ranch/ Tudor style home boasts a master bedroom, den and basement with laundry room. Other features include wood and tile flooring, window coverings, newer paint, and a covered patio.

This 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath Orlando, FL home listed for $240,000 is No. 4 this week. With 2,867 square feet, the Traditional style abode includes hardwood floors, a master bedroom, and vaulted ceilings. The home also offers access to a community pool, tennis courts, playground and park.

This week’s No. 5 is a 4 bedroom, 3 bath Miami, FL home listed for $250,000. The 2,269 square-foot home was built in 1984 and features carpet and tile floors, French doors, a master bedroom and formal dining room. The waterfront property has room for a pool and offers lake views.

Rounding out the top 10 are:

6.  5 bedroom, 3 bath Wellington, FL home listed for $229,000.

7. 2 bedroom, 2 bath Redondo Beach, CA home listed for $195,000.

8. 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath Cary, NC home listed for $179,900.

9. 4 bedroom, 3 bath Peoria, AZ home listed for $215,000.

10.3 bedroom, 4 bath Las Vegas, NV home listed for $250,000.

Check out the Realtor.com Facebook page to see weekly updates on the Top 10 Most Searched Homes.

-Jana Schreiber, Move Trends Interim Editor
Email:Jana Schreiber@Move.com

Bob Idakaar blogs about why potential home buyers should jump into the market now.

Why buy now?…and other questions and concerns about Real Estate:

1. Is the Market recovering? Real Estate is local; meaning that each area is unto itself as far as activity, price and sales. There is a big misconception about the housing market over all. Certain parts of the country have had major declines in sales and in prices; Las Vegas, Arizona, and Florida have had major losses in values, higher percentages of short sales and foreclosures. Remember that all real estate is local. You can only judge the areas individually and not make general assumptions.

2. Is this the right time to buy? If not now, when? Home prices are not dropping in double digits and in some areas prices have leveled off and stabilized. There is an abundance of homes on the market in all price ranges, conditions and towns to choose from. If you are handy, this may be the best time to buy a fixer-up type of home. If you are a first time buyer, you may qualify for the $8,000 tax credit if the home that you are considering will be your primary residence. Conventional mortgage rates are holding around the 5 percent range and are at an all time low in over 35 years!

3. Is Real Estate a safe place to invest your money? In the stock market when you purchase $500,000 of stock you pay the $500,000 for that stock. The cost is $500,000. When you are considering buying a $500,000 home, you are putting a percentage down as a deposit and you are paying the rest off in monthly payments. The best part is that you are able to immediately use, occupy and enjoy that home with your family and friends creating years of memories and that will outlast your month to month investment. You have also created an investment that will increase in value over the years, and you did not tie up $500,000 to buy this wonderful $500,000 home!

4. Maybe prices will come down if I wait until next year? Most mortgage experts predict that interest rates will increase over the next coming year. So, now may be the best time to purchase a home with a great interest rate at an affordable price. We all need a place to live, right? Why rent and pay someone else’s mortgage when you can be establishing yourself and your future in your own home?

5. “I am waiting for the Market to bottom.” That reminds me of when my kids were young and every time we went on a trip, even locally, they would chant: “Are we there yet?” If you are waiting on the market to bottom, you will continue to miss out on some great opportunities. The only way to know if the market has truly bottomed is to keep waiting and wondering. Many buyers with this attitude will inevitably miss out on all opportunities that were great buys and great homes. I have already heard some of those fence sitters say shoulda, woulda, coulda…!”

It seems that the best advice is to look before you leap – and then make your move toward home ownership!

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Tom Gross’s blog focuses on his firm belief that real estate will surge again this spring. 

Today our market is seeing drastic signs of recovery and we are finally moving in a positive direction. To build on that momentum, I’ve put together my top reasons why I believe it’s going to be a good spring real estate market. Only time will tell if my theory is correct but until then, let’s take a look at the facts:

• Tax Credits Are Helping Drive the Entry Level Market – Thanks to the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit and the $6,500 existing home buyer tax credit, we are seeing some very strong signs of recovery in these two market niches. With the impending expiration set for April 30, we anticipate that the next two months will bring a surge of buyers looking to get in on a home prior to the credit’s expiration. That results in good news for our market and will help to decrease some of the surplus inventory and bring greater demand for those entry level sellers.
• Interest Rates Remain Low – Even though we have seen interest rates tick up a bit in recent months, rates are still relatively low. When rates are low, it means a buyer has increased purchasing power and ultimately can get more home for less money.
• Affordability Remains High – Due to the market correction we’ve seen over the last few years, affordability remains quite high. What this means is a larger percentage of individuals are able to purchase a home.
• Despite Unemployment Figures, Housing Demand Will Eventually Rise – Yes, unemployment figures are high comparative to the earlier part of the decade. In fact, on a national level, the latest counts were approximately 9 percent, according the United States Bureau of Labor.”

The Luxury Market continues to have high inventory which means home buyers looking to move up can find some significant price reductions. All in all, things are looking up for the American home buyer.

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Ki Gray blogs about the strong connection between jobs and housing that will shape the economic recovery.

“So what is the relationship, if any, between jobs and housing when it comes to the future of the economic recovery? Is it one of those vicious cycles where people can’t get jobs until the housing market recovers, but with a shaky job market no one is buying houses to put an end to the decline in housing? Just reading that sentence is enough to cause a headache.

Recently Mint.com, a personal finance website, had a map showing the future of job growth around the country. Then a couple of days after that there was a map depicting the current state of the housing market. The job growth map was based on information compiled by NPA Services, Inc, a statistics company In Washington, D.C.

The map depicts job growth in the next 20 years in major cities all over the country. It neither indicates what sectors the future jobs will be in, nor does it give information for how NPA Services arrived at these numbers. The housing map was compiled with information from the National Association of Realtors.

The housing news for January is not good. The winter is historically not a great time to sell a house, and this winter has been particularly tough. According to the Commerce Department, housing sales were down 11.2 percent last month. There was a small gain in sales in the Midwest, otherwise this drop was seen in housing markets across the country.”

It’s an interesting idea that the areas where housing is recovering will have jobs soon to follow, but at this point it’s just conjecture. Remember, only 20 years ago the Internet was hardly heard of, there was no blogosphere or Facebook. Instead of trying to predict what the job market might look like in twenty years, its more productive to focus on getting through this year.

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Bill Steers blogs about several important considerations a home buyer should keep in mind:

“Once you’ve settled on a couple of preferred neighborhoods for your home search, it’s time to pick out a few homes to view. Having a house features ‘wish list’ keeps you focused on which features are most important to you.

While house hunting, it’s a good idea to make notes about what you see because viewing several houses at a time can be confusing. Use a home comparison chart to help you keep track of your search, organize your thoughts and record your impressions.

Act Decisively When You Find the Right Home
Before you begin the home buying process, resolve to act promptly when you do find the right house. Every REALTOR® has stories to tell about a couple who looked far and wide for their dream home, finally found it, and then said, ‘We always promised my Dad we’d sleep on it, so we’ll make an offer tomorrow.’ Many times the story had a sad ending – someone else came in that evening with an offer that was accepted.

Resolve that you will act decisively when you find the house that’s clearly right for you. This is particularly important after a long search or if the house is newly listed and/or underpriced.”

Confucius once said “He who hesitates is lost” – a good thought to keep in mind when deciding to make an offer on the perfect house before it belongs to somebody else.

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REALTOR.com® was the most-visited real estate website last month

• With a 6.67 percent market share, Realtor.com dominates the list of the Top 20 real estate websites once again as the No. 1 most visited real estate website based on a sample of 10 million Internet users.

• Yahoo! Real Estate dropped one spot to No.3 with a 3.40 percent market share, while Zillow was No. 2 with a 3.43 percent market share.

• Rent.com and Zip Realty remain in the fourth and fifth spots this month. Rent.com came in with a 2.82 percent market share, down from last month’s 2.95 percent, while Zip Realty received a 2.56 percent market share, down from 2.70 percent in January.

• The remaining top ten websites included Trulia with 2.36 percent, Homes.com with 2.20 percent, MSN Real Estate with 1.96 percent, ServiceMagic with 1.93 percent and My New Place at No. 10 for the second month with 1.36 percent.

• The Hitwise report also indicated that Apartments.com was replaced by RE/MAX Real Estate as No.11, while Rentals.com continues to climb from No. 14 last month to No.13.