Existing Home Sales and Prices Jump

The National Association of Realtors reported today that May sales of homes that have been previously occupied (the largest segment of homes) jumped 4.9% from April. Existing Home Sales came in at an annualized rate of 4.89 million units which handily beat the market expectations of 4.73 million units. The median price rose to $213,400 which is a 5.1% increase over the past year (May 2013 to May 2014). The reason for the spike in sales? Is it interest rates? Nope, its inventory. Home Sales had been suppressed even while fixed mortgage rates hit their lowest levels for 2014 due to a very tight supply of homes available for sale. Since home prices have been increasing at a moderate pace, many homes that were "under water" are now back into positive equity and these homeowners are now finally able to put their homes on the market.

National Housing Trend Report

The realtor.com National Housing Trend Report for April 2014 shows nationally, the number of single-family homes for sale and their prices continue to rise, revealing a healthier real estate marketplace than a year ago and strong seller confidence.

Data from realtor.com reveals April home inventories are up a robust 14.2 percent compared with April 2013.

 Median list price rose by 6.5 percent to $207,500 compared to last year. Median age of inventory is 86 days which is a 6.2 percent increase compared to a year ago.

The combination of median list price rising above $200,000 and a double-digit home inventory increase is an indication that the marketplace is becoming more balanced.

Is Your Home in the Summer Spirit?

Is Your Home in the Summer Spirit?

This week in the housing and financial markets

quick update on what’s happening this week in the housing and financial markets.

Wholesalers report more inventory and decreased sales for January. The news could be bad for the economy overall but good for rates.

Stocks fluctuated with troubling economic news from China and continued tension in Ukraine. The uncertainty can be good for bond prices and rates.

The price for a barrel of oil closed at a new monthly low on Wednesday. Falling energy prices help keep inflation in check, and that’s good for interest rates.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in the news with the Senate's plan to replace them. Their stock fell, but no other impact is expected until after 2016 elections.

Prices of construction materials are on the rise. Higher costs mean your local builders may be looking to increase their prices too.

The latest releases show more good signs for housing. Foreclosure counts continue to drop, and more owners are finding their values back “above water.”

Albert Einstein was introduced to three people and told their IQs.

The first had an IQ of 180. Mr. Einstein said, “Great! We can discuss mathematics!”

The second person’s IQ was 150. “Wonderful,” said Mr. Einstein, “Let's talk physics!”

The third person had an IQ of 80. Mr. Einstein smiled at him and asked,

“So, where do you think interest rates are headed?”

provided by:

Get Smart And Follow These Tips On Selling Real Estate

 When you decide to sell your property, you get what you put into the process. The sellers who is most informed and educated will often reap the best in real estate arm themselves with information.This article has many tips and methods to ensure you become smarter about real-estate selling.

Make sure all the rooms in your home are well-lit before inviting potential buyers for a viewing. A well-lit home will not only appear larger, and will put buyers at ease about potential problems in a home that is darkly lit.You may see more interested buyers if you turned on the lights.

If you are going to resell your home, you should look at it as a valuable commodity and take better care of it than you would your own home. This allows you break your expectations and negotiations once you the ability to market it to its fullest extent.

Use as many different channels as necessary to find or market your real estate. You will want to exercise every option available in order to achieve the avenues that are open to help you find the success you are seeking.

Try to sell your old house before moving to your new one if possible. It can be extremely difficult to keep up payments on two residences while waiting to obtain a buyer for your previous home.

A newer investor will likely to learn the hard way that there are serious downsides to being new to the game.

Clean up your yard to boost your home for sale. Things like busted fences, like broken fences, overgrown plants, giant compost heaps and dingy garden furniture can quickly turn off potential buyers and lower the overall value of the property.

Select a real estate agent with care before selling your home.You should know that your agent you are working with knows what they are doing. An experienced real estate agent with good credentials will make your transactions run more smoothly and at the best price.

Price your home fairly to save yourself time and trouble.

Get rid of the clutter if you show your home.

Just by making some small updates to your kitchen you can have a big impact on the value of your home. You may want to switch out one appliance to update the look and provide a focal point. It's quite expensive to install new kitchen cabinets, so try repainting them for a new look.

The little efforts involved in keeping up with painting, painting, and other small repairs can be a bother for many homeowners. However, if you don't keep these items up to date, the home will require a great deal of work and expense before it is ready to sell.

New flooring could be an expensive investment in which you won't be able to enjoy it.Instead, just do a thorough cleaning of the existing flooring, so that they do not reflect negatively on the house.

Once the interior is ready, try going outside and walking around to check the exterior of the house. Focus on your home's "curb appeal." The exterior of your house must create a good impression on the home will make or she approaches your house for the buyer's first time. If you see problems that would put potential buyers off, then you want it taken care of as soon as possible.

written b
y: Clark Kasun

Home Prices up in 41 states

• FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency) price data shows that home prices across the United States rose 6.7 percent from the first quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013. In 41 states and the District of Columbia prices were higher than the fourth quarter of 2012, and from one year ago the District and all states except Connecticut and West Virginia showed higher prices. In Connecticut and West Virginia, prices were weaker by less than one percent.
• Price gains were largest in the West. Nevada, Arizona, California, and Idaho each saw gains exceeding 15 percent from one year ago. The map above shows the breakout of annual gains for each state.
• Nationally, prices rose 1.9 percent from the fourth quarter. Note that this is seasonally adjusted, but not annualized, meaning that if prices continue to gain at this pace, it would imply an 8 percent gain for home prices nationally in the course of a year.
• FHFA uses a weighted repeat sales index that compares the prices of properties that involve a conforming conventional mortgage purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Thus, the FHFA index is based on a broad geographical sample of home transactions, though it misses out on transactions involving cash, jumbo or FHA/VA loans. In spite of this limitation, its price trend is usually similar to that of other price measures.

Going Paperless

We are going paperless!!

Lauralei Properties, llc is joining the new age in technology and getting rid of the mounds of paper bringing us down.

We are trying out the real estate transaction management from Cartavi.  The main reason I picked this company is because the were recently bought by DocuSign.

DocuSign is the official e-signature company of the National Association of Realtors and said it has 37 million users in 188 countries.

I tried online transaction management about 4 years ago - but having to print everything to sign and then upload the docs just made more work in the long run.  With the new document signatures being accepted online, the process is a breeze.