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Category Archives: Real Estate News
Shrinking Housing Inventory
Both home prices and home sales in September continued at levels higher than last year, according to the RE/MAX National Housing report, a survey of MLS data in 52 metropolitan areas. For the eighth consecutive month, September’s median home price was higher than the previous year. Median prices rose 7.8% from September 2011. Home sales followed a seasonal pattern and dropped lower than levels seen in August, but maintained a level 0.5% higher than sales last year. Inventory was 29.1% below September 2011 and may have contributed to the drop in sales from August. While low inventories are creating bidding wars in some markets, they also have resulted in prices moving higher.
Where Homes Are Selling the Fastest
According to Realtor.com data, the average number of days homes are spending on the market has dropped by nearly 10% nationwide in the last year. The average U.S. home now spends 84 days on the market.
But in some housing markets, homes are selling even faster, spending an average of 45 days or less on the market before they sell. What’s more, many of these housing markets are having not only some of the speediest home sales but also some of the largest increases in median home prices compared to a year ago.
Homeowners Shun Mortgage Relief Agencies
Homeowners who fall behind on their mortgage payments are more likely to seek help from loved ones than from mortgage relief agencies, according to a recent survey by Money Management International. Half of homeowners surveyed say they would first seek help from family and friends before talking with their lender (26%) or seeking assistance from a housing counseling agency or mortgage relief program (13%). More than half (53%) say they are concerned about possible scams and fraudulent practices by mortgage assistance agencies, that the services they offer would cost more money than they could afford (51%) and that the process would be confusing or they would choose a solution they don’t fully understand (45%).