As sales of real estate plunge still further, dipping to their lowest in 15 years, economists are speaking in hushed tones about an impending double dip in housing prices. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this will take a stranglehold on the economic recovery and slow it down still further. Home sales contracted by 27.2% in the month of July and this beat expert expectations by a huge margin, being twice the contraction that analysts had predicted. This drop coincides with the withdrawal of the $8000 homebuyer tax credit and it is without a doubt that this has greatly served to change sentiments on the topic of buying a house. That credit was one of the few things that brought buyers to the vacant plots for sale and there was a mad rush to beat the April 30 deadline [...]

Certainly it is. However, if you don't invest your money carefully, you might lose more than you receive over time. There are various costs associated with buying a real estate property. And if you don't consider them before buying the property, your investment could go in vain. What are the costs involved with buying a real estate property? You certainly will have to pay around $1,000 as lawyer fees Closing costs: Lots of things that you don't want to know comprise of closing costs. Land transfer tax: The area you live in determines this cost. However, you cannot avoid to consider this as the cost is high. Maintenance Costs: If you have a house, and if you want to maintain it properly, you would have to pay some amount every month to get things fixed or for decoration. Property [...]

The recent financial crisis was pretty dreadful for consumers, service providers, and the economy as a whole. However, probably a thing to cheer about the situation is the opportunity it provides to real estate investors. Due to insufficiency of funds, millions of homeowners failed to repay their mortgage loans, which left banks with heaps of foreclosed homes. Besides, many constructors, banks, and real estate financers became insolvent. Times are changing now, though not rapidly. This is probably the best time to buy foreclosed homes at cheaper prices. And the best part is, these days they don’t come with a sad story, like those in earlier days. Previously, owning a foreclosed home seemed to be a cruel step, as every such home was a family’s lost dream. However, the recent crisis brought [...]

As per the data revealed by National Association of Realtors (NAR), there a sharp rise in the sales of new homes in July and August 2009. However, the sales in month of August weren’t as high as expected which was quite disappointing. So, I ignored chasing the sales trend and didn’t look at the real estate market for some months. Later, in December 2009, the November data was released which again proved disappointing. There was a 16% fall in the sales of houses than October. This the first time the sales figure dropped since past 9 months. Experts had forecasted a 2% fall. When they were asked about the steep fall in sales, “People took a Breather,” is what David Crowe, chief economist in National Association of Home Builders, concluded. Another chief economist from NAR, Lawrence [...]

Not children, not values, not social obligations and not good emotions are strong enough to keep together a couple who decide to part. But fall in real estate prices seems to be doing what no other reason seems to have done in the present times! It is keeping couples together - at least for the time being! Last year, as reported by the National Marriage Project the rate of divorce fell by 4 % in comparison to the year before when it had risen to 7 % in 2007. This might seem like good news to all those who want families to remain together rather. But just wait, this fall in divorce rates is not indicative of couples wanting to remain united in the true sense of the word. They might be actually waiting for a more favorable time to file their divorce petitions. But, I sincerely wish that the delay [...]

The real estate market has been on rocky waters throughout this year. There were times when it looked as though you had hit upon the most opportune moment for buying your house and there were other times when the idea of buying a house or property did not look a profitable proposition. The government’s tax credits for first time home buyers boosted the morale of some buyers and they hurriedly went and bought some properties. Added to this, the interest rates on mortgage loans for 30 years have lowered remarkably and are significantly lower than the lowest of last year’s interest rates. According to Yahoo, presently the interest rate is 4.78%, which is lower than the 4.83 percent of April 2009, which happens to be the lowest of this year till this new reading. Compared to this year, last [...]

Over the last few months, recession seems to have made Gods out of buyers in the real estate world. Property owners were selling houses at throw away prices. Many of them were compelled to keep the prices low as they had to compete with the sale prices put up by banks for foreclosed properties. But now there seems to be a sign of relief for the home owners as reports of slackening bargaining power of customers are flowing in. According to Zillow, the Seattle-based real estate firm, the negotiating power of the customers seems to have become less intense- though only fractionally. In January this year property purchasers could bag deals at 4.5 % less than the listed price. Now they are able to negotiate only to 2.5 % of the listed price. As the negotiating powers of buyers seem to be plummeting [...]

The post recession economy is not going to be like what you have experienced before. Now the rules and equations of the financial world have changed. Both the investing and spending population have learnt a thing or two from the recession. Their troubles have taught them to be more frugal, and cautious. Also with the change in demand and supply of various goods, there is a shift in the focus of investors. They are coming up with new plans to meet the challenges presented in the aftermath of the economic crisis. They have formulated new ways to cope with the present crisis and make the best of it. Apart from that they are coming up with strategies to make the best of the economy in future. One of the hardest hit areas of the recession is real estate. The housing market in particular has suffered [...]

Owners might dream of selling their properties at good profits by quoting high prices, but now they are selling their properties at lower than the listed prices. Listed prices are being dropped popularly these days to increase sales during these economically lean times. But this does not seem to achieve the intended purpose very well. According to Trulia, property tracking company, every fourth home is being sold at a discounted price for the last one year. The discounted amount is usually 10 % of the original price. This discount has remained constant for quite some years to come now. High end properties are being sold at greater discounts. The common discount percentage for properties belonging to the lavish categories is about 14 % which is much more than the price discount for the normal [...]

The rate of unemployment was 9.8 % last week. Many owners have shut down their offices and now the busy commercial hubs are empty chambers with a few workers here and there. There’s a lot of vacant space and that too at very low rental charges.  This is the time you could think of hiring office space. The rental charges are the lowest in a decade according to New York real estate research firm Reis Inc. The owners are trying their best to attract you and this is the time you could cash on the advantage that you have in the situation. They’ll be more open to negotiations. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the vacancy rate is about 16.5 % which is a high in five years time. Plummeting rents and rising vacancies spells more hard time for the real estate industry. There’s already [...]