Archive for November, 2005

A New Real Estate Blog is Here - Welcome the RealEstater Blog

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Interesting first week of post he has, as Yoda would say.
Seriously, this blogger is in Massachusetts and will be staring right into the eyes of the coming real estate bubble burst, deflation, or conflaguration. So go take […]

30Nov2005 | Tom Royce | 5 comments | Continued

The McMansion - An American Dream or Nightmare

American’s like everything big. Not a surprise to hear that our homes are getting bigger as incomes and appetites rise. Homebuilders are building the homes bigger, and in some communities of 1950’s ranch homes, the original homes are being torn down and larger homes are being put in their place.
CBS’s 60 Minutes take one […]

30Nov2005 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Mortgage Limit Raised to $417,000

For those who are looking to buy a house, the mortgage limit before you have to get a Jumbo Mortgage is now $417,000 lowering the cost for people trying to get a mortgage under that.

U.S. mortgage finance regulators on Tuesday raised the limit for loans that can be bought by government-sponsored mortgage enterprises Fannie Mae […]

29Nov2005 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

New Home Sales Soar in October

With the fear of a bubble waiting in the wings, the October new home sales report was a nice surprise, with sales of single family homes incereasing by 13%. This is not completely surprising as the resale market is more susceptable to a bubble than the new home sales. Still, it makes me wonder what […]

29Nov2005 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Florida Real Estate Boom Due in Part to Foreign Buyers

The State of Florida definately is full of sunshine these days. Low unemployment, property values soaring, and a hedge against real estate depreciation. Inman News has an article today explaining how the influx of foreign home buyers from Latin America and Europe are creating an unprecendented demand in the Miami area.

This isn’t the second […]

28Nov2005 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

How to Sell in a Down Market

Anyone can sell a home in an overheated market, but it takes some skill to move your home when the market slows down and sales skills take a precedence.

Who knows for sure where your local real estate market will be next Thanksgiving? Nobody. But this much seems certain: Sellers and buyers in the coming […]

27Nov2005 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

National Housing Prices Still Rising on a Year Over Year Basis

While the slowdown is coming, and some a predicting the bubble will be bursting, year over year numbers for housing are showing some significant gains on a national level.
The end to some of the most impressive gains in housing appreciation in ages may be near, a growing number of prognosticators say. But the […]

26Nov2005 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Massachusetts Housing Slows Down, Equity Cash Outs provided 14 Percent of Residents Income

With rising interest rates, and housing appreciation of over 70% over the last 4 years, the Massachusetts housing market is slowing down.

Massachusetts’ five-year housing boom, which lifted the average home price by 71 percent and bolstered the local economy, is over, according to homeowners and real estate agents.
Rising mortgage costs, an outgrowth of […]

25Nov2005 | Tom Royce | 6 comments | Continued

Apartment Shortage in Houston

It looks like the refugees from Katrina have been less than proactive in finding housing as the FEMA money is running out for many.

Nadia Williams, who fled New Orleans with her one-month-old daughter the day before Hurricane Katrina flooded the city, came to Houston this month to find an apartment.
Armed with a voucher […]

25Nov2005 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Mortgage ReFi Activity Slows Down

As the real estate market slows down, the mortgage industry is slowing down even faster.
Mortgage refinancing across the United States has tumbled in the past month, another sign that higher interest rates are siphoning some of the froth out of the housing market.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly refinance index, which measures refinancing volume, […]

24Nov2005 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued