Wednesday, January 29, 2014

3 Commitments to Make in 2014

Do your business plans fizzle halfway through the year? Are you struggling to achieve the sales goals you set? Here are three easy commitments you can follow all year to get the business results you want.

Amid all of the business planning confusion that comes with the start of a new year, it is important to pick a few things that we can actually commit to and then implement.

My role as a speaker and trainer gives me a front row seat to witness amazing success stories from agents and brokers from all over the country. But I also witness many people trying to do too much because they want so badly to succeed, which, in the end, turns out to be a waste of time and a poor investment.

With that being said, I want to give real estate professionals three very easy things to incorporate in your business plan in 2014. These commitments are easy to follow and are sure to bring you results. Are you ready? OK, let’s do this.

1. Know Your Ratios – I had the opportunity about a month ago to speak at an event with around 1,500 people in attendance. I asked the audience one very simple question: “How many of you could tell me right now what your ratios are for your business?”

The response was what every speaker dreams of: the sound of crickets. Obviously, I’m being sarcastic, but it made a very unfortunate point that most real estate pros have no idea how many buyers they need to meet with to create a sale. Nor do they know how many sellers they need to provide with a market analysis before they’ll see real results at a closing table.

So do me a favor – or, better put, do yourself a favor and review your calendar from 2013 and tally how many listing appointments you went to. Then look up how many listings you actually sold – not listed, but sold. If you went on 24 listing appointment and sold 12 listings, you know that your closing percentage is 50 percent.

Why is that important? Because now you can justify your 2014 goals.

It’s not enough to tell me that you want to sell 20 listings this year if you can’t explain to me what it is going to take to get there. In the case of my example, you would need 40 listing appointments (with a 50 percent closing ratio) to get to 20 in the next 12 months. This means that over a 50 week period (assuming you take a couple of weeks vacation this year) you would need to generate 0.8 new listing appointments a week to hit your goal (40 new appointments divided by 50 weeks worked = 0.8 per week). It’s always best to round up, so your goal would be one new listing appointment per week in 2014.

This now gives you focus on what you actually want to accomplish each week, so you can direct your energy in that direction and avoid creating what I call “busyness.”

Now do the same math for your buyer appointments and post your appointment goals in a place that you see them every day. This will help you focus on creating real business.

2. Outsource Your Marketing – Make 2014 the year that you stop acting like all other unproductive agents and only market when your business is slow. Have a marketing plan and follow it. I am a big believer that if you’re not doing something to create business for yourself every day, it’s only a matter of time before you will go out of business.

What many top producers have in common is that they have several different marketing channels to bring them business, but they outsource them to virtual assistants and others so that leads are being generated whether they are at the office or on vacation.

This is the key to any great business. Ask yourself this question: “Have I been more interested in creating a job than I have been in building a career?” You are the CEO, not an employee. Act like it.

3. Get Out Of Your Way – There are more than 7 billion people on Earth, and only one of them can truly stop you from getting what you want this year: you. The third commitment I want you to make this year is to get out of your way once and for all.

Technology isn’t what derails your progress (no more than spoons make people fat). And people don’t drive you crazy because nobody can drive you crazy unless you give them the keys.

In 2014, let’s all make a decision to rid ourselves of limiting narratives and learn to defeat the negative voice inside of our heads. This is the year that we stop accepting excuses and commit to achieving results.

Article curated from Realtor Magazine

5 Ways to Prepare For the Spring Market

It is hard to believe it is already 2014, but it is almost harder to believe we have a full year of upswing recovery under our real estate belts.

At this point, I’m sure sellers have caught wind of the recovery and how the ball is now bouncing in their favor; however, buyers are very savvy, and they know when a home is a value and when it is not.

So, let’s get back to the basics and talk about the five most important things you need to do when listing your client’s home:

1. Pricing – I know I sound like a broken record, but do not over-price your client’s home. You’re doing yourself and everyone else a disservice. Yes, I understand inventory is at an all-time low in some areas, but that doesn’t mean you won the lottery. You have to look at the comps. The majority of buyers still need to obtain a mortgage to buy, so you will need to be in line with what’s recently closed in your neighborhood in order for your home to appraise. Otherwise, you will be renegotiating your selling price, unless you can convince your buyers to bring additional money to the closing table.

2. Staging – Staging your listing is just as important now in a seller’s market as it is when it’s a buyer’s market. The better your home shows, the more money in your client’s pocket. Staged homes historically sell faster and for more money. Also, staging isn’t just for vacant properties. In fact, sometimes it’s even more critical when the sellers reside in the home. Everyone has different tastes, and you don’t want to impose your taste on potential buyers – which brings me to my next point.

3. Neutralize – There are many facets of this when it comes to selling your listing. The obvious is to paint the home neutral colors. Get rid of reds, deep jewel tones and the like. How your client lives is NOT how you should sell. It’s fine if they like tons of animal prints, but many buyers are probably not looking for the same thing. Also, people are inherently voyeurs. They are nosy. They want to look at personal pictures and figure out if they know someone. Take any and all personal photos out of their frames. All of them. I don’t care if your client’s baby is the next face for Gerber. I don’t care if they had the wedding of the century. Get rid of them all. And that goes for any and all religious, holiday and political materials. Don’t give anyone any reason to eliminate your home.

4. Going it Alone – Ah yes, the inevitable FSBO (For Sale By Owner). They come out swinging in a sellers market, but there is a reason that more than 70 percent of them end up listing with a full service brokerage – they don’t have the ability to show their homes at all the variable times the buyers want to get in, because they already have full-time jobs. Even if the seller works from home, the buyers do not want the sellers to be present. They want the opportunity to look at the home without having a “watchful eye” over them. They want to absorb the space. The last thing they want to be shown is the new cat door the seller installed, or that they updated the kitchen 15 years ago. Keep all these things in mind when pitching your services to FSBO clients.

5. Marketing – This is where you show your value as a professional. You know how important it is to take great photos, have floor plans drawn up and connect with the brokerage community about how great your home is for their buyers; in other words, we’re not just slapping the client’s home on the MLS.

The goal when selling your client’s home should be a simple one – selling the property for the most amount of money and in the shortest amount of time. The key, though, is to not “buy” your client’s listing, meaning, telling the client what they want to hear in terms of pricing, and in essence buying the listing. Do right by yourself and tell the client what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. Save yourself the time, money and heartache.

Best of luck and happy selling!


Article curated from Chicago Agent Magazine





3 Social Media Trends For Real Estate in 2014

Social media is an ever-evolving organism; how will it develop in the coming year?

social-media-trends-2014-pinterest-vine-youtube-internet-marketing-real-estate 



The numbers on social media are well known: 56 percent of consumers use some kind of social media; more than a billion people use Facebook, and the average user spends more than 15 hours a month on the site; and on YouTube, there are 92 billion page views a month.

Equally well known, though, is the slippery nature of social media. Just when you figure out one platform, a new one has materialized with its own fan base and its own marketing opportunities. With that in mind, here are three social media trends that you should be on the lookout for in 2014:

1. The Priority is Multimedia, Not Copy – We love words here at Chicago Agent, but even we’ll accept the fact that social media is becoming more and more of a visual, multimedia-driven medium, where simple messages and easily discernible images take priority over clusters of text.

For instance, not only does Facebook’s new Graph Search rank image over text, but Twitter now allows images directly in tweets; and of course, Pinterest and Instagram have flourished with exclusively photo-driven models. Expect this to become more and more of a trend on the top social media platforms.

2. Diversity is the Name of the Game – As we alluded to earlier, social media is the antithesis of static. Just when the playing field seems set, a whole new idea rips through the competition. For example, everyone knows about Pinterest, Instagram and Vine – all three are less than three years old! It’s impossible to predict what will come next, but suffice to say, you’ll want to keep a eye out for new, engaging mediums that seem to be catching on.

3. Rise of the Third-Party Review Sites – We’ve noted before the growing importance of agent ratings sites, and as Hari Raghavan recently noted on Business2Community, they’ll only become more important as e-commerce grows. After all, 84 percent of buyers trust their peers over the brand they are purchasing, according to Nielsen.

Therefore, in 2014, you’ll want to be especially mindful of how you’re interacting with people on social media, and how your reputation will stem from those interactions.

Article curated from Chicago Agent Magazine

Social media is an ever-evolving organism; how will it develop in the coming year? - See more at: http://chicagoagentmagazine.com/3-social-media-trends-prep-2014/#sthash.O4jJAgyw.dpuf

Social media is an ever-evolving organism; how will it develop in the coming year? - See more at: http://chicagoagentmagazine.com/3-social-media-trends-prep-2014/#sthash.O4jJAgyw.dpuf

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Home prices rise more than forecast in November


A 'sale' sign is seen outside a house in Alexandria, Virginia in this July 22, 2010 file photo. REUTERS/Molly Riley/Files ( 


(Reuters) - U.S. single-family home prices rose slightly more than expected in November, while their increase from a year ago was the biggest in almost eight years, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday.

The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis. A Reuters poll of economists forecast a rise of 0.8 percent.
The 20-city composite index rose 13.7 percent year-on-year, the largest rise since February 2006.

"Home prices continue to rise despite last May's jump in mortgage interest rates," David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement.
"While housing will make further contributions to the economy in 2014, the pace of price gains is likely to slow during the year."

Despite a 0.1 percent decline on a non-seasonally adjusted basis for the monthly gauge, the 10-city and 20-city measures posted their best November performance since 2005.

Article curated from Reuters

Friday, January 24, 2014

Are You Using Facebook Page Tabs to Their Full Potential?

Have you done your monthly Facebook page tab check-up yet?

What, you don’t check your Facebook page tabs? First, for those thinking, “what is a ‘Facebook tab,’” let me take a step back.

Facebook page tabs are the images to the right of your Facebook timeline cover image on your fan page. By default, you’ll see photos, likes and a map, if you have a location.

These are customizable, so that you can feature things like other social media channels, a blog, events or even custom apps to lead capture for your newsletter.

Here are some things you should know about how Facebook page tabs work:

1. How you customize these tabs – There are various tools available that allow you to link other Web properties into your Facebook Tabs. To name a few: Woobox; Tradable Bits; Short Stack; and Pagemodo.

Make sure that whatever tool you use has a free basic level available, and that the tool allows you to include every item you want to integrate so that you don’t have different apps running different tabs. You already have enough to manage!

2. Note that you can also modify the order of your tabs, and the images within them – Photos will always be first, but you can change the location of the other tabs so that you can feature them by priority. If you hover to the right side of your tabs, you’ll see an arrow down. When you click that arrow it takes you to edit mode, where you’ll see all your tabs. If you hover to the top right of a tab, it gives you the option to swap the location with another tab.

3. Finally, the Facebook tab check-up! – If you set your page up long ago, you may have used an app that no longer exists. I’m always coming across fan pages that have a tab linking to a blog that returns an error. If you used the “YouTube for Pages” app to connect your YouTube channel, that no longer functions, and will lead the user to an error page.

Schedule a quick time in your monthly calendar to click through each of your tabs, and perform these three tasks:

1. Make sure your accounts are synced – Sometimes password changes or software updates may impact this, rendering the tab useless.

2. Make sure the app is still available and functioning correctly – These days, apps may be purchased by another brand (or become obsolete) very quickly.

3. Feature what is current – Have an event coming up? Feature your events tabs as primary. Maybe later you are doing a Pinterest campaign? Feature that tab as primary. Keep your page dynamic!

Facebook and associated applications are always changing, and without notification. So always make sure your page is up to date so your fans can have a seamless experience, and explore your entire online presence from a centralized location.


Article curated from Chicago Agent Magazine
Have you done your monthly Facebook page tab check-up yet?
What, you don’t check your Facebook page tabs? First, for those thinking, “what is a ‘Facebook tab,’” let me take a step back.
Facebook page tabs are the images to the right of your Facebook timeline cover image on your fan page. By default, you’ll see photos, likes and a map, if you have a location.
These are customizable, so that you can feature things like other social media channels, a blog, events or even custom apps to lead capture for your newsletter. The arrow in the photo below points to the page tabs on the Soaring Solutions Facebook page:
soaring-solutions-facebook-sue-koch
Here are some things you should know about how Facebook page tabs work:
1. How you customize these tabs – There are various tools available that allow you to link other Web properties into your Facebook Tabs. To name a few: Woobox; Tradable Bits; Short Stack; and Pagemodo.
Make sure that whatever tool you use has a free basic level available, and that the tool allows you to include every item you want to integrate so that you don’t have different apps running different tabs. You already have enough to manage!
2. Note that you can also modify the order of your tabs, and the images within them – Photos will always be first, but you can change the location of the other tabs so that you can feature them by priority. If you hover to the right side of your tabs, you’ll see an arrow down. When you click that arrow it takes you to edit mode, where you’ll see all your tabs. If you hover to the top right of a tab, it gives you the option to swap the location with another tab.
3. Finally, the Facebook tab check-up! – If you set your page up long ago, you may have used an app that no longer exists. I’m always coming across fan pages that have a tab linking to a blog that returns an error. If you used the “YouTube for Pages” app to connect your YouTube channel, that no longer functions, and will lead the user to an error page.
Schedule a quick time in your monthly calendar to click through each of your tabs, and perform these three tasks:
1. Make sure your accounts are synced – Sometimes password changes or software updates may impact this, rendering the tab useless.
2. Make sure the app is still available and functioning correctly – These days, apps may be purchased by another brand (or become obsolete) very quickly.
3. Feature what is current – Have an event coming up? Feature your events tabs as primary. Maybe later you are doing a Pinterest campaign? Feature that tab as primary. Keep your page dynamic!
Facebook and associated applications are always changing, and without notification. So always make sure your page is up to date so your fans can have a seamless experience, and explore your entire online presence from a centralized location.
- See more at: http://chicagoagentmagazine.com/facebook-page-tabs-full-potential/#sthash.ZwLtcmJ2.dpuf
Have you done your monthly Facebook page tab check-up yet?
What, you don’t check your Facebook page tabs? First, for those thinking, “what is a ‘Facebook tab,’” let me take a step back.
Facebook page tabs are the images to the right of your Facebook timeline cover image on your fan page. By default, you’ll see photos, likes and a map, if you have a location.
These are customizable, so that you can feature things like other social media channels, a blog, events or even custom apps to lead capture for your newsletter. The arrow in the photo below points to the page tabs on the Soaring Solutions Facebook page:
soaring-solutions-facebook-sue-koch
Here are some things you should know about how Facebook page tabs work:
1. How you customize these tabs – There are various tools available that allow you to link other Web properties into your Facebook Tabs. To name a few: Woobox; Tradable Bits; Short Stack; and Pagemodo.
Make sure that whatever tool you use has a free basic level available, and that the tool allows you to include every item you want to integrate so that you don’t have different apps running different tabs. You already have enough to manage!
2. Note that you can also modify the order of your tabs, and the images within them – Photos will always be first, but you can change the location of the other tabs so that you can feature them by priority. If you hover to the right side of your tabs, you’ll see an arrow down. When you click that arrow it takes you to edit mode, where you’ll see all your tabs. If you hover to the top right of a tab, it gives you the option to swap the location with another tab.
3. Finally, the Facebook tab check-up! – If you set your page up long ago, you may have used an app that no longer exists. I’m always coming across fan pages that have a tab linking to a blog that returns an error. If you used the “YouTube for Pages” app to connect your YouTube channel, that no longer functions, and will lead the user to an error page.
Schedule a quick time in your monthly calendar to click through each of your tabs, and perform these three tasks:
1. Make sure your accounts are synced – Sometimes password changes or software updates may impact this, rendering the tab useless.
2. Make sure the app is still available and functioning correctly – These days, apps may be purchased by another brand (or become obsolete) very quickly.
3. Feature what is current – Have an event coming up? Feature your events tabs as primary. Maybe later you are doing a Pinterest campaign? Feature that tab as primary. Keep your page dynamic!
Facebook and associated applications are always changing, and without notification. So always make sure your page is up to date so your fans can have a seamless experience, and explore your entire online presence from a centralized location.
- See more at: http://chicagoagentmagazine.com/facebook-page-tabs-full-potential/#sthash.ZwLtcmJ2.dpuf

December existing-home sales rise 1%

December sales were below sales a year earlier, but 2013's total was the highest since 2006.


Existing-home sales rose slightly in December, but the market lost momentum and inventories of homes for sale tightened.

December existing-home sales rose 1% from November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.87 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

That was below analyst expectations of 4.9 million and marked the second month in a row that sales posted a year-over-year drop. December sales were down 0.6% from a year ago, NAR says.
November's rate was also revised down to 4.82 million.

For all of 2013, sales were 5.09 million, up 9% from 2012, the strongest showing since 2006.

"We lost some momentum toward the end of 2013 from disappointing job growth and limited inventory," says Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. Still, he says the year ended at a pace close to normal given the size of the population.

Housing inventories are still tight at a 4.6-month supply, NAR said, down from a 5.1-month supply in November. Typically, Realtors consider a six-month supply to be a balanced market.
Inventory typically falls in the winter, but December's was the lowest level in seven months, even with seasonal adjustments, says Jed Kolko, Trulia chief economist.

"That's tough news for buyers hoping to have more homes to choose from this spring," Kolko says.

Increasing home prices should bring out more sellers this year, but tight inventory will remain a "headwind" for the spring housing season, he says.

Existing-home sales figures reflect completed sales of single-family homes as well as townhomes, condominiums and co-ops.

Single-family home sales rose 1.9% in December from the month before but were also below last year's level.

The slowdown in momentum has been seen in previously hot markets, local market watchers say.

Fewer investor buyers are part of the reason, says Mike Orr, Phoenix real estate expert at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

In that market, investor buyers are now accounting for about half as many sales as they did a year ago, Orr says. Meanwhile, regular buyers are "not coming to the game as strongly as they used to," he says.

Phoenix single-family home prices were up 15% in November year over year, CoreLogic data show.

Given higher prices and interest rates, Orr expects a more subdued market this year, driven more by employment growth and young buyers vs. investors.

Home buyers are also finding less competition for homes in Southern California's Inland Empire, says Paul Reid, agent with brokerage Redfin.

While well-priced homes typically drew 15 to 20 offers this time last year, two or three are more common now, he says.

"Buyers are feeling a lot more confident negotiating," Reid says. Single-family home prices in that market are up 23% year over year, CoreLogic says.

While currently "lackluster," U.S. home sales should improve in the coming months given a stronger economy and better employment numbers, says Robert Curran, managing director for Fitch Ratings. Fitch expects existing home sales this year to hit 5.16 million.

Article curated from USA Today


Tuesday, January 21, 2014

4 Most Important Features of an Effective Real Estate Website in 2014

real_estate_website_iconThe National Association of REALTORS® says more than 90% of potential homebuyers and sellers will start their search online. That is why your website is the most important tool in converting business from your marketing, both online and offline. It will hopefully be the destination point for all of the weary buyers and sellers traveling along the information superhighway. It is no longer a simple digital business card used to snag drifting internet traffic. Instead, it’s a valuable platform to convey your brand and your value. It can (and should) still act as your personal connection to both clients and potential clients whenever they visit your site. Like many basic websites from the beginning of the dot-com era, yours should show why you are an expert in your market.

Keeping your website current is as important as your content, and can help you move ahead of your competitors. To have a successful website it must be: conversion-friendly, consumer-friendly, search engine-friendly and mobile-friendly:


1. Conversion-friendly
This is #1. Why? Because you only get paid on conversions! It doesn’t matter how many visitors your site gets if you don’t convert them into clients. But more than anything, your website is usually your conversion point. The single most important thing your website can do for you is CONVERT those who visit into sellers, buyers or referrals. Statistically we know most consumers will visit at least three real estate-related websites before contacting an agent. Make sure your website has plenty of powerful calls to action to encourage them to take the next step. You can do this by adding specialized widgets. Many times, a user will have a quick question, or need to know the definition of something. Helpful widgets include a mortgage calculator, home value estimate chart and simple survey questions. By including widgets onto certain pages within your website, users won’t have to leave your site to find the answers they need.

2. Consumer-friendly
Believe it or not, most real estate websites are NOT consumer friendly. That’s because most agents don’t build their own websites. Someone else builds the site and typically builds it for the agent instead of potential clients. Your site should be designed for potential clients, and today’s consumer wants instant gratification (“what’s in it for me?”). If your website gives them something of value, then they will be more likely to return the favor, and the most valuable thing they can give you is their business. Bottom line: design your website for the consumer, not for you.

3. Search engine-friendly
We know busy buyers and sellers will start their search on the web. But with so many choices and distractions, how will they find your website? Make sure your website is filled with descriptive key words and phrases that match what a potential buyer or seller might type into Google. For example, people probably won’t search by “Your Name.” Instead, they search for what they want and where they want it, so your goal is to make sure your website is filled with content describing what you do, and where you do it. With so much content on the web, you will probably have to do even more than that. Unfortunately, the web is often like high school all over again: one big popularity contest. You can use this to your advantage by utilizing social media. Having more links pointing to and from your website help boost the awareness of the site through search engines.

Bonus tip:
Use lots of video. Search engines love video, and so do consumers. Buying and selling real estate is emotional and few things convey emotion better than video. Be sure to include video tours of your listings and more importantly, of neighborhoods. By highlighting your listings through video, a potential client will get more information than a simple description. This method is also more interactive, and lends itself well to other social media involvement, like commenting and sharing.

4. Mobile-friendly

According to the Pew Research Center, more than half of American adults own a smart phone, and 35% of people 16 and older own a tablet. This means your website needs to be accommodating to these devices. If it’s not, they will most likely seek out another company for their information.

If you’re thinking this is a lot of work, you’re not alone. The good news is hiring someone to do these things for you can be an option, and may be less expensive than it was just a few years ago. By using these strategies effectively, you could increase site traffic and sales, making it well worth the initial investment.

Remember: in the business of referrals, a website is often the first impression many potential clients get. If your site hasn’t been updated since 2002, they will probably head somewhere else.


Article curated from RIS Media

To learn more about important features of an effective real estate website, click here to visit the Constellation Web Solutions product page.  We offer real estate website and software solutions for real estate offices, teams and agents.

Friday, January 17, 2014

December housing starts finish strong in 2013

Housing starts fell sharply last month but they remained strong enough to give builders their best year since 2007, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Starts fell 9.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 999,000 in December following a surge in November to the highest level of the year -- 1.1 million. December's rate was the year's third highest.
The government estimated 923,400 homes and apartments were started last year. That's more than 18% above the 2012 figure of 780,600.

In 2007, housing starts totaled nearly 1.4 million.

Applications for building permits, a barometer of future activity, fell 3% in December. Applications for permits to build single-family homes fell 4.8% while applications to build apartments were unchanged.

Friday's numbers follow Thursday's report showing U.S. home builders losing a little confidence this month.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index dipped to 56, down slightly from December, but the index is still higher than where it was a year ago. Readings above 50 indicate more builders view conditions as good than poor while those under 50 point to pessimism.
Rising home prices and pent up demand will drive a gradual recovery in the year ahead, says David Crowe, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders.

NAHB predicts single family construction to hit 820,000 units this year. That's still far off the 1.3-million a year pace in the years leading up to the housing bubble and bust.

Construction of multi-family units will come closer to normal with 326,000 units this year vs. a more historical norm of 340,000, NAHB says.

NAHB doesn't expect the home building sector to fully recover until 2016.

"We are getting there but it's not a fast process," Crowe says.

Overall, housing and economic activity is now back to normal in 56 of 350 metropolitan areas nationwide, shows the latest NAHB/First American Leading Markets Index.

That index tracks housing permits, home prices and employment data. Major metros topping the list include Baton Rouge, La, Honolulu, Austin and Houston, Texas.

Article curated from USA Today

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Home prices rise slightly in November

 



Home prices finished 2013 up 11.5% for the year, marking the best performance since 2005, market researcher CoreLogic predicts.

Its latest data shows prices were 11.8% higher in November year over year and up 0.1% from October.

However, prices will dip slightly in December from November, it says.

With last year's strong gains, home prices are now at new peaks or within 10% of previous peaks in 21 states and Washington D.C., according to CoreLogic.

Many economists predict smaller home price gains for this year, as credit remains tight, interest rates rise and as new mortgage rules take hold.

In November, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were Nevada, up 25.3% year over year; California, up 21.3%; Michigan, 14.4%; Arizona, 13.5% and Georgia, 13.3%.

The only state to show depreciation was Arkansas, down 1.1% year over year.

CoreLogic's figures aren't adjusted for seasonal variations, such as cold winter weather that slows sales.

Article curated from USA Today

Friday, January 3, 2014

92% of Buyers Use the Internet & Other Important Home-Search Facts

News flash! The Internet is as important as ever when it comes to the home search process.

home-search-process-nar-2013-profile-home-buyers-sellers-internet
 

Here’s an eye-popping stat for you: this year, 92 percent of homebuyers have used the Internet at some point in their home search process, up from 90 percent last year.

That’s an awfully big number, but how fully does the Internet define how homebuyers search for homes, nowadays? To find out, we took a look at the 2013 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers from the National Association of Realtors, and found some very interesting trends:

1. Traditional Marketing is Not Dead – True, 92 percent of homebuyers used the Web, and 42 percent used mobile search engines, but 89 percent still used real estate agents. Furthermore, 51 percent still used yard signs, and 45 percent still attended open houses. So the future may be now with Web and mobile technologies, but homebuyers still love them some traditional marketing.

2. Print, though, IS Dead – One percent of homebuyers (yep, just 1 percent) learned about the home they ultimately bought via print or newspaper advertisements. Instead, the Internet (43 percent) and real estate agents (33 percent) are the most common sources, with yard signs/open houses (9 percent), friends/relatives/neighbors (6 percent) and homebuilders (5 percent) far behind.

3. Agents are Going Nowhere – This year is yet another sign that technology will not replace agents, at least in the immediate future. Ninety percent of homebuyers who used the Internet in their home search ultimately purchased through an agent, and 87 percent of all buyers found agents to be a useful source of information.


Article curated from Chicago Agent Magazine

US Housing Market Outlook 2014: Slowdown In Housing Recovery, Home Prices To Rise By 4%

U.S. home prices are on track to end 2013 up an impressive 11 percent, economists say, but that’s probably going to be the fastest rate of home price appreciation for years to come. Home price appreciation is expected to slow “sharply” over the next several years, with gains of just 4 percent penciled in for 2014.

Housing Dallas 

The rapid bounce in house prices, which was driven by strong investment buying and tight supply conditions, will soon start to moderate. The next stage of the recovery will be characterized by strengthening activity among owner-occupiers and mortgage- dependent buyers, a rising number of willing sellers and a much more moderate pace of house price inflation.

Since hitting the trough in the fourth quarter of 2011, the housing market has made substantial progress. So far, national home prices have risen 14 percent, reversing about a quarter of the cumulative decline.

This has generated $2.8 trillion of wealth from real estate, which combined with the sharp gain in the stock market has strengthened household balance sheets. However, housing construction has been slower to recover, still trending notably below the historical pace of 1.5 million.

Nonetheless, residential investment managed to add 0.3 percentage points to growth in 2012 and is on track to add 0.4 percentage point this year.

The U.S. economy has improved markedly over the past year. Monthly job gains have climbed back to the 200,000 mark, which could prompt a tapering of the Federal Reserve’s asset purchases over the next few months. But any further increase in long-term interest rates will be modest, according to Capital Economics’ Paul Diggle.

After all, the Fed has strengthened its forward guidance to emphasize that it does not expect official rates to rise for at least another couple of years. Moreover, the fading fiscal drag will more than offset any impact from a modest rise in long-term interest rates, allowing economic growth to accelerate from around 1.8 percent this year to 2.5 percent in 2014.
“Even if mortgage interest rates edge a little higher, the recovery in housing market activity should also continue,” Diggle said in a note. Sales activity initially dropped when rates spiked, but the latest data suggest that this was a period of adjustment rather than the start of a weaker trend.

In fact, on any long-term comparison, mortgage affordability is, and for some time longer will remain, favorable. Other than the past four years, at no point during the 40-year history of the National Association of Realtors’ affordability index has housing been as affordable as it is now.

Furthermore, by comparing real house prices to their long-run trend level, Diggle found that housing is actually, on average, still 12 percent below fair value. While that’s down from 21 percent two years ago, it still gives prices room to increase before worries about overvaluation become more pressing.

Diggle projects that the 30-year fixed mortgage rates, which currently stand at 4.5 percent, will end 2014 at 5 percent and 2015 at 5.5 percent.

“Experience prior to the credit crunch suggests that 30-year rates need to reach 8 percent to 10 percent to reduce home sales below their current level,” Diggles said. “In other words, a rise in mortgage rates to 5 percent or so is unlikely to do lasting damage to housing market activity.”

For one, mortgage credit conditions continue to ease gradually. Historical precedent suggests that additional increases in rates would be accompanied by a further loosening in mortgage credit conditions. This is because higher rates can raise banks’ return on new lending at the same time as the refinancing collapse removes an alternative source of profits.

Capital Economics’ forecasts are for existing home sales to total 5.1 million this year, 5.2 million in 2014 and 5.3 million in 2015. New home sales will perform better, totaling 0.5 million this year, 0.6 million in 2014 and 0.7 million in 2015.

In terms of regional trends, Capital Economics ranked states according to their short-term housing prospects by analyzing the region’s economic backdrop as well as housing supply and demand. According to the firm, the outlook for the housing market is most promising in North Dakota, South Dakota and Oklahoma, while it is least promising in North Carolina and Delaware.

 Article curated from International Business Times