Real Estate Latest Trends

Summary of Home Sales Pace by the National Association of Realtors

Sales of existing home sales in September dropped another 1.2%, a whopping 10% overall drop since end of August.

The seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million homes is the lowest seen by the National Association of Realtors since they began tracking the combined sales of single-family units + condos in 1999.

The largest drop in home sales in October (versus sales in September) was seen in the West which fell 4.4%. Sales dropped 1.7% in the Midwest and remained flat in the Northeast and South.

Consistent with last month’s report, an annual comparison is even worse. The West is down over 33%, South almost 20%, Midwest close to 17% and the Northeast down 12.6%. Nationally, the overall annual sales pace is down 20.7% and those figures are seasonally adjusted.

Home sellers were in the driver’s seat and the real estate agents were courting them – most often at bargain commission rates. This was during the housing boom. But now, the bubble has burst–the tables have turned the other way.

In 1991, 6.1% was the average commission rate, according Steve Murray, of Real Trends, a company that tracks the brokerage industry. In 2001, the rate inched down to 5.4%, and by the end of 2005, it stood at 5.02%.

With the competition of discounts and the web-based brokerages, industry insiders projected further decline. In early 2006 a drop into the 4% range was expected within 5 years.But when home sellers found themselves with houses sitting on the market, they became increasingly amenable to paying higher commissions. Real Trends reports the average commission reversed its course and climbed to 5.18 percent in 2006, and it looks like it’s going to end 2007 with another rise.

Take your pick? A house will be best for growing families because of the space availabillity. You are not constrained in how you want to build, remodel, refinish or even expand your house. You can have all the rooms you want, and you have the freedom to fix your landscaping. The disadvantage here, though, is that you might only be able to acquire a home in the suburbs, as places near urban areas tend to be very expensive.

A condo is best for young professionals or starting couples. You don’t usually have to worry about facilities and amenities, since condominium management usually offer these as part of the package. But the disadvantage is that you don’t really own real estate per se, but only a share of the land. Also, you may not have the flexibility to fix your unit as you please.

Yet after the agreement is signed and unforeseen events are met, there are many particular and information that needs to be taken care of prior to calling your house a home. These days, there are agencies that can help you with the details out of your hands and everything will run smoothly as possible. Services such as mortgage financing, home insurance, title insurance, and other services with regard to home buying, can be handled by these agencies. They can also get you a mortgage approval as long as all documents are presented in accordance. On top of this, these agencies can make things easier the moving-in process.

Home inspectors usually operate as a self-supporting contractors. As a result, it’s hard for them to give a history of consumer criticisms to a new client. There are sites like Yellowpages.com that contains ratings. Though some clients don’t bother to rate the inspector’s services. Ratings depend on the are that was covered. An inspector can receive a five star or more especially if his clients like him or are satisfied with his works. There are clients that even recommend his services to his families and friends. And since not all contractors have ratings, this has a big effect on their business.

An estate agent is someone who provides the estate owner with all information and the practical advice about the property needs. His task is to find an advantageous deal for his owner.

Normally, estate agents do all the negotiation involving the property transactions in the behalf of the owner/buyer. This assistance not only saves the owner time and troubles as the estate agent can reduce the risks of being swindled, scammed or bad deals.

Estate agents specialize in the art of transacting residential properties. They have the combined skill, knowledge and experience to assure a faster, smoother flow of the deal.

Image Source : GigaRealty.com

Look for a property appraising company whose service is the right kind for your needs. State what service you require in full detail. They must be knowledgeable in the area and the type of property that you have. It would also help if they are familiar with other details such as information about neighborhood, climate and weather.

Choose a company that provides professional service who charges reasonable appraisal fees and turnaround times. Keep in mind that the more detailed the house appraisal report, the higher the payment.

Nowadays you can find a lot of Online Property Appraising Companies in the internet.

Mainly due to the current economic conditions and the huge exposure banks had to the housing crisis, many are reeling anf trying to shed off their home financing products to prevent a repeat of their losses that have piled up to quite a lot since this current economic crisis began. Foreclosures abound and financing arms are losing money as their acquired properties lie stagnant, often selling for so low prices they barely compensate for their investments. Banks such as AIG that suffered from a huge exposure to the housing market have opted to negotiate with investors and other firms to sell their home financing groups in efforts to lessen losses that are still piling up.

Home prices are slowing their dip but experts say this is still a way off the expected recovery they want. Home prices have been going down since the financial crisis that has so crippled the globe started resulting in almost bargain properties and even luxury homes are being priced lower than their original list prices. Homes listed a few months back that have not yet been sold are ending up with lower price tags but even with that, their lenders opt to sell to turn them back into liquid assets they can use. Abandoned homes are proving to be headaches to their investors for they have yet to recover the initial cost of their acquisitions and at lower than normal prices, they are selling them off at a bargain.

Many minor banks are failing due to massive exposure to the housing market problems that has left them with so many houses to sell that they are having to resort to selling it at discount prices just to get some cash back into their businesses to keep them going. Many local banks are auctioning their several properties to unload some of their liabilities before they fall into disrepair sending their values down more. These and some homes that are actually being sold are the fluctuations being seen as positive movement that belies their true nature. Read the rest of this entry »