Acura NSX

Puget Sound Homes APPRECIATING !!!

by Kathleen Cooper, The News Tribune, Sept. 5, 2012

Sale prices of homes and condos in Pierce County had the highest year-over year increase of 2012 last month, data released Wednesday show.

The combined median sale price of homes and condos in August was $199,950, a 7 percent increase over the price at the same time a year ago, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. At the median sale price, half the homes sold for more than that amount, and half sold for less.

The price increase also was only the second time this year Pierce County has seen a monthly bump in the combined figures.

Other good signs: Closed sales in Pierce County increased by 3 percent compared with August 2011, while about 28 percent fewer homes were for sale.

“Inventory levels are incredibly low, but our hope is that many homeowners who were underwater can now afford to sell because of the continued appreciation of home prices,” OB Jacobi, president of Windermere Real Estate Company, said in a news release.

In Thurston County, median combined sale prices fell about 3 percent to $218,000. Closed sales increased by almost 28 percent, and inventory decreased by almost that much.

The Northwest Multiple Listing Service represents 21 counties in Western and Central Washington. An increase in closed sales was the story across the NWMLS area.

Reflecting several months of strong pending sales, closed sales across the 21-county area reached the highest volume so far in 2012. Brokers had 6,612 closings last month, according to the release, continuing a streak of four months of 6,000-plus completed transactions.

“In housing markets, slow and steady recoveries are good,” MLS director Frank Wilson, the branch managing broker at John L. Scott’s Poulsbo office, said in the release. “A market that runs too high or too fast leads to a quick decline in short order,” he said, adding he expects good momentum to continue into the fall.

HOW DO RENTERS THINK??

More up-to-date info from John Burns.....

Single Family Renters are different from other renters because they:
  - Have higher incomes
  - Have lower credit scores
  - Have larger households with more kids
  - Are less likely to believe their rent will increase
  - Are more likely to intend to buy a home someday (70% to 59%)
  - Value safety more, and surprisingly see single-family homes as a safer environment

Single-family and multifamily renters bear some resemblance to each other. They both:
  - Believe homeownership makes more sense than renting
  - Believe obtaining a mortgage is very difficult
  - Believe owning provides a safer environment than renting
  - Do not believe home prices will go up in the next year
  - Are not concerned about losing their job in the next year

The two main differences are:
  - Multifamily renters are more likely to anticipate a rent hike (53% to 44%)
  - Single-family renters find credit to be the biggest hurdle to homeownership (29%) while multifamily renters find income to be the biggest hurdle (25%).

View the chart:

http://www.realestateconsulting.com/images/newsletter/SBMI-201209.jpg

Courtesy of:
 John Burns Real Estate Consulting, LLC
16485 Laguna Canyon Road, Suite 130
Irvine, California 92618

NEW HOME SALES... UP, UP, UP

This graph, from John Burns Consulting shows that

new home sales have increased 25% over 2011's pace.


 

September 6th, 2012

BEAUTIFUL HOME 4 SALE

     PENDING !!!!
This is my friend's home in Graham, Washington.                        

The VIEW !!!!!

See MORE at...www.homeforsaleingraham.com

How Many $$$'s have we loaned to Fannie & Freddie

Have you ever wondered just how much it has cost American Citizens to support AAFannie Mae and Freddie Mac?


HERE's THE ANSWER........


Fannie has received about $116 billion from the Treasury over the last three and a half years and paid back about $23 billion in dividends. 


Its brother institution, Freddie Mac, has received about $72 billion and paid back about $18 billion.

    

Read the full article from the NEW YORK TIMES at.....
  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/business/fannie-mae-profit-signals-a-stabilizing-housing-market.html?_r=1&smid=li-share

The POSITIVE Side of HOUSING...

I've borrowed John Burn's words for my Blog a number of times.   Here's why....


Just take a minute to let the statistics below sink in.


Let’s not forget the overwhelming positives:
•       22% of American households own their home free and clear of
any mortgage
•       34% of American households own their home and have equity in
it
•       34% of American households rent
That totals 90% of American households.

Of the 40.6 million who rent,
•       42% rent in a small apartment building
•       27% rent a single family home
•       20% rent in a large apartment building
•       6% rent a condo
•       5% rent a mobile home, boat, etc.




John Burns Real Estate Consulting
U.S. Building Market Intelligence
"Trusted Analysis for Executive Decisions"
www.realestateconsulting.com
May 3, 2012

  http://web.realestateconsulting.com/us-housing-summary-2012/