Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
Investors, get those check books ready, maybe it’s time to buy again? Adding to the list of recent positive reports on the housing market and home prices is the Housing Market Report that was issued this morning by Radarlogic. According to the report home prices increased in June from the previous month in 23 out of the 25 metropolitan areas tracked by their company.
Overall the composite for all 25 metros showed a 3% gain in price from May to June representing one of the largest monthly gains reported by RadarLogic since June 2000. There has been a trend of price increases reported for the 25 metro areas for the past few months. In fact, the increase in the Radar Logic Composite from February to June outpaced the house price gains over the same period during the previous threes years, and the increase in house prices from April to June was the largest since the beginning of Radar Logic’s date in 2000. 
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Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
Today the National Association of REALTORS(R) published their Commercial Leading Indicator for Brokerage Activity for the second quarter of 2009 showing a decline of 1.3 percent to an index of 101.5, down from an index of 102.8 in the first quarter. At 101.5 the index for the second quarter of 2009 is 13.7 percent below the 2nd quarter of 2008 when the index was at 117.6. The index is currently at the lowest level since the first quarter of 1994.
In reviewing NAR’s report, it doesn’t appear any of the sectors have been able to avoid a slowdown, below is a recap by sector: Read more…
By: Dennis Norman
There just seems to be no end in site for the sickening numbers of foreclosures we are seeing take place in the housing market. While, from an investors standpoint, it seems like a “positive” in that foreclosures often present a good opportunity for an investor to purchase property at below-market prices however it’s really a double-edged sword though as foreclosures drag down property values, which hurts an investor. Read more…
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
I personally have only done a couple of 1031 exchanges and it has been several years since the last one, but I will admit I did not do any due diligence when selecting the qualified intermediary. Like many people, I went with the company that was recommended to me by the title company I was doing business with.
I was in a rush to get the paper work all completed before the sale of my investment property closed so everything was handled via email and fax. I never met the person I was dealing with at the firm nor did I do any due diligence on him or his company. It wasn’t until after the sale closed and the (my) proceeds were given to the intermediary that it finally hit me that I was giving this company a lot of cash to “hold for me” until I found another Read more…
By: James R. MacCrate, MAI, CRE, ASA
In the current unstable real estate market, we hear reports from the National Association of Realtors and many economists that the real estate residential housing market is stabilizing. This is based on several factors including recent price increases in several metropolitan markets, an increase in pending contracts of sale, and increase in overall residential market activity. This may very well be a temporary illusion that has been caused by an increase in incentives, concessions, and the federal tax credit. The Wall Street Journal reported that Toll Brothers, Hovnanian Enterprises and Lennar Corporation have provided below market financing and other incentives to increase the number of sales. If adjustments are made to the transaction prices for these incentives, concessions and federal tax credit, one would clearly see that the market value as defined by the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice has not really increased at all.
The typical definition of market value as defined in appraisal reports for federally regulated institutions is summarized as follows: Read more…
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
The good news about the real estate market keeps coming! Don’t get too excited yet, I don’t know that the worst of it is over yet, not sure if the “fat lady has sang” yet or not, but at least the reports lately on the market have been encouraging.
According to the latest report released today from the National Association of REALTORS(R), existing-home sales in the second quarter showed healthy gains from the first quarter in the vast majority of states.
Existing home sales (including single-family homes and condos) by state rose 3.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.76 million units in the second quarter from a rate of 4.58 million units in the first quarter. While an improvement over first quarter, the second quarter numbers are still 2.9 percent below the 4.90 million-unit pace from the second quarter of last year.
In all, thirty-nine states showed sales increases in the second quarter from first quarter and nine states had higher sales numbers for the quarter than a year ago. Read more…
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
Today SmartZip, Inc. released it’s first release of the SmartZip Top 10 Markets™, a list of top-rated cities most likely to yield above-average investment returns over the next ten years. The markets are hand-picked by SmartZip’s analysts in conjunction with local market experts.
Presently
SmartZip, which just launched its public Beta site in June, 2009, rates over 15 million properties, including listings, foreclosures as well as non-listed homes, across California and Florida only. However, these two states represent some of the most opportunity-rich markets for real estate investment. SmartZip plans to roll out its ratings to all 50 states over the next year which will then give them the ability to highlight the best investment cities across the nation.
Read more…
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
When we speak of discrimination in housing it seems many people think of it only in terms of discrimination based upon race. However, landlords and other property owners need to remember that the Federal Fair Housing Laws that make it illegal to discriminate in housing based upon race also make it illegal to discriminate against people based upon religion, sex, familial status or disability.
Recently I have noticed several cases involving discrimination in housing based upon a persons disability. This area of the Fair Housing laws may be the most difficult for property owners to understand what is necessary on their part in order to comply. The other forms of discrimination are a little more apparent; you cannot refuse to rent to someone based upon their race or color, sex, etc. While this applies to people with disabilities as well, the laws also require that, in the case of persons with disabilities, you make reasonable accommodations to make your property accessible to them. This is where many property owners seem to have problems. Read more…
