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0 comments - Posted at 9:00 AM
Categories: Ford's Colony Realty | Real Estate News
0 comments - Posted at 9:25 AM
Categories: Real Estate News
The spring season usually brings an increase in buying and selling to the real estate market, and housing experts are mostly optimistic that this spring will be even better than recent years.
Some signs are already there: Housing inventories are declining, housing affordability is at record highs, mortgage rates are at all-time lows, and the job market is improving.
Existing-home sales have been edging up in recent months, and for-sale housing inventories were at nearly 2.4 million units in December, reaching its lowest point since 2005, according to National Association of REALTORS® data.
NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun says home prices are beginning to stabilize in many markets.
Also, NAR’s Housing Affordability Index is at its highest level since the 1970s, which indicates that for the average family housing is very affordable.
The National Association of Home Builders is also predicting an improvement this spring among the new-home sector. NAHB is predicting that home sales will increase 18 percent this year, that’s after facing their lowest on record in 2011.
However, threats to a housing recovery still loom this spring. Strict mortgage lending is keeping some buyers on the sidelines, and foreclosures continue to put downward pressure on overall home prices in many markets.
"The signals are a little hard to extrapolate, but ultimately by the end of this year we should see the housing market on more solid footing," says Celia Chen, senior housing economist with Moody’s Analytics. "So an improvement but off of very, very weak activity."
0 comments - Posted at 9:00 AM
Categories: Real Estate News
The consensus in the real estate news is optimist for this spring - cautiously optimistic. The recovery seems to be taking hold across the country, but most acknowledge the fragile state of confidence. Prices seem to have found a firm bottom. Supply has been taken down somewhat by buyers taking advantage of foreclosures and short sales. Mortage rates continue to be low. However, while mortage rates are low, lending availablity is still very tight. I recently read that mortgage money is tight because most private mortage funds have yet to re-enter the market leaving the Federal backed mortgages in holding in excess of 80% of the business. This compares with 60% five years ago.
Homes are selling in Ford's Colony - that is those that are priced right for this market and are in excellent, move-in condition. My advice to sellers is to check pricing vs urgency. In all cases, don't expect the buyer to fix things up because they got a great purchase price deal. Buyers want the deal and want the excellent, move-in condition house. It is a buyer's market.
Seller financing is working for some of the more expensive lots.
0 comments - Posted at 5:17 PM
Categories: Ford's Colony Realty | Real Estate News
Mortgage rates once again inched lower this week, lowering the cost of borrowing and increasing housing affordability."Most mortgage rates eased to all-time record lows this week as fourth quarter growth in the economy fell short of market projections,” Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement.
Here’s a closer look at rates for the week ending Feb. 2:
Source: Freddie Mac
0 comments - Posted at 4:21 PM
Categories: Real Estate News
The feedback on our name change is very positive, in fact 100% in support. Ford's Colony Realty is simple, focused and speaks directly to what we do. We sell Ford's Colony real estate. We have always been the Ford's Colony real estate company, So I am excited about the new year and the emphasis on our mission.
1 comments - Posted at 3:30 PM
Categories: Ford's Colony Realty | Real Estate News | Williamsburg Real Estate
Last night, President Barack Obama took to the podium to deliver his annual State of the Union address before a packed house of his Congressional peers, esteemed White House guests, and millions of Americans who tuned in to the live broadcast.
Obama outlined his plan for economic growth, with an overarching theme of creating an America “where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.” While job creation, education, and clean energy initiatives dominated most of Obama’s economic plan of action for his hopeful next term, the issue of the ailing housing market was not side-stepped. “While government can’t fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners should not have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief,” Obama said.
Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries shares a similar view: “Housing presents a bit of a conundrum for Obama,” said Humphries. “People care a lot about it and it will figure prominently in this election year, but there isn’t much the government can do without addressing the main issue of negative equity, which is a $750 billion dollar problem. There aren’t any easy solutions to make it go away.”
What the President did propose to Congress was an expanded refinancing plan “that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage, by refinancing at historically low rates.” Despite an immediate bed of skepticism to the new refinancing plan, the revamped program has the potential to “help a lot of people and represents a decent amount of stimulus for the economy,” said Humphries, who has previously discussed the potential benefit of such a program. But, expectations for this stimulus need to be kept at realistic levels. “It‘s important to note however that it isn’t going to fundamentally change the pace of foreclosures or the trajectory of the housing market,” Humphries continued. “Unfortunately, the plan is going to require Congressional approval, which makes it exceedingly unlikely to happen this election year.”
The second bullet item on Obama’s housing agenda tasked the Attorney General to create a special unit to further investigate abusive mortgage and lending practices that led up to the housing crisis. According to Dr. Humphries this special task force “is an effort to satisfy demands for greater accountability for wrong-doings during the housing boom. That’s fine, but it isn’t necessarily a proactive effort to change things going forward. Foreclosure and short-sales are state issues so there isn’t much the federal government can do.”
What else can be done about housing? What actions can the government realistically take to help turn the market around? A more in-depth analysis from Zillow’s Chief Economist outlines six ideas that could not only push the housing market in the right direction, but are ideas both Democrats and Republicans could support (this seems to be the catch).
There is a consensus that housing and home ownership lie at the base of American values and will play an important role over the next 9 months leading up to the election. Obama showed this in his speech last night and, for now, we’ll continue to absorb what each Presidential hopeful has to say before the big voting day.
0 comments - Posted at 3:04 PM
Categories: Real Estate News
Ford's Colony Realty, One Ford's Colony Drive, Williamsburg, VA 23188, Licensed in VA
