There are times in our lives when we have it better than many of our family, our friends and our neighbors. We try to help in any way we can. Yet, to some degree, we are relieved that we are not impacted by their challenges. Many people look at the heartache in the current housing […]
Every house for sale in today’s real estate market must be sold twice. First, you must find a buyer ready, willing and able to purchase the home. Second, you must sell the value of that house to a bank so they will agree to lend money based on the negotiated price. The second sale may […]
Below is the most viewed blog in the last 30 days. We re-posted it in case you missed it.– The KCM Crew We have shown how even the experts are having trouble determining price in the current real estate market. There are so many moving parts and each part is evolving rapidly. Today, we want […]
There is no longer any question that luxury homes are beginning to sell. The high-net-worth client has marked 2010 as the year to again start purchasing real estate and their desire is turning into sales. Financing is beginning to open up in the ‘jumbo’ market and prices are starting to reflect true values as upper […]
There is a buzz in the real estate and mortgage world that says that FHA is moving towards changing how they charge insurance premiums – again! And the proposal I am hearing is going to reduce the number of people who are eligible for the FHA Program, as well as make the program less attractive. […]
The concept of supply and demand is relatively easy to understand. It applies to real estate as it applies to any other industry. We must look forward to determine the upcoming supply of housing inventory just like every other industry does. As an example, let’s assume I own a hardware store in town. I have […]
Supply and Demand. It is a relatively easy concept to understand. Most of us learn it in high school. The price of any item is determined by two variables: the demand for that item and the current supply of that item. If I had one of only seven Spanish gold coins known to exist, the […]
This is a re-post of a Dean Hartman blog from last month which we thought was appropriate this holiday weekend. – The KCM Crew Thank God For Those Who Have Served! We all owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women who have served this country in times of peace and times of […]
Every week we try to help you put an accurate value on housing in today’s real estate market. We give you all the charts, report on all the surveys, and quote every housing expert willing to talk on the subject. And we are still not 100% sure what prices should be. At best, we can […]
For months the alleged experts (including me) espoused the logic that after the Fed exited the Mortgage Backed Securities Purchase Program on March 31, interest rates would move up. But here we sit, 60 days later, and rates are at their lowest point of the year. What’s up with that? Let’s start with some general […]
It is our mission on this blog to give you the factual data behind the current housing headlines. We ask Steve Harney to give his insights in an attempt to bring clarity to what (at times) seems to be conflicting information, and there are moments where we reach out to industry specialists in order to provide […]
There was great news reported yesterday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The Existing Homes Sales Report showed a 7.6% increase in sales over last month and a whopping 22.8% increase over April 2009. This is fantastic news as it proves the tax credit, which expired at the end of April, did increase sales […]
Trying to determine where home prices will be at the end of the year is no easy task. MacroMarkets surveyed 92 economists and other housing analysts as to where they see home values as measured by the S&P/Case-Shiller national index. MacroMarkets, LLC is a company co-founded by Professor Robert Shiller who also founded the well […]
The big question in real estate is what will happen now that the Homebuyers Tax Credit has expired. Did the tax credit kick-start a housing recovery? Would the momentum continue throughout the year? Any market is determined by the supply and demand for the product involved. Today we want to look at those two items as the […]
Movie director Oliver Stone is often tagged as someone who sees conspiracies in everything. I just wonder how he would see the evolving lending environment… For the most part, this blog is intended to inform home buyers and sellers, as well as real estate agents and mortgage professionals, as to market conditions and how they […]
The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) is the administration’s hope for troubled homeowners trying to avoid foreclosure by modifying their current mortgage payments. The original release said the program was: …aimed at helping 3 to 4 million at-risk homeowners – both those who are in default and those who are at imminent risk of default […]
Many of our readers question why I spend as much time as I do on the foreclosure situation in the country. I want everyone to know that it is NOT an obsession with depressing news. I strongly believe that the wave of distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) coming to market will dramatically impact house […]
The goal of this blog is to create clarity from the confusion in today’s real estate market. We try to take complicated issues and break them down into simpler pieces, and then try to explain how the pieces fit together. There is no situation more difficult to dissect than the current foreclosure numbers. Yet, understanding this […]
This week we have discussed how difficult it is to establish the value of a home in today’s market, what factors will impact prices in 2010, the effect distressed properties will have on values, and the challenges faced by appraisers in establishing value. Today, I want to tackle future values… specifically where prices will be […]
The classic definition of what a home was worth has always been “what a reasonable buyer will pay a reasonable seller.” That’s because MOST real estate transactions have historically involved reasonable people– people not under duress. But today, with the enormous number of foreclosures, bank-owned property, strategic defaults, and short sales, all the reasonableness has […]
“We should pay heed to foreclosure activity, which have reached their highest level in at least the last five years. As these homes are put up for sale, we may see some further dampening in home prices.” – S&P Case Shiller Home Price Index 4/27/2010 “We expect the high rates of negative equity and foreclosures […]
Yesterday, we showed how even the experts are having trouble determining price in the current real estate market. There are so many moving parts and each part is evolving rapidly. Today, we want to look at the major determining factors in establishing the current value of a residential property. If you currently have your house […]
We looked at the significance of a house as a home this past Friday. I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend and had the chance to personally feel the intrinsic value of a home. However, it would be unprofessional of us not to acknowledge that each house also has a market value, which is the price […]
I have taken great pride in the fact that over the last three years I have researched the financial aspects of residential real estate better than most. I look at no less than seven different pricing indices each month to help determine present and future values. I have done extensive research on interest rates to […]
That is a question I have heard for all my years in the mortgage business. There is no black-and-white answer to this question; hence, the reason for the discussion today. Let’s begin with a definition of “points.” First the expression “points” is a shortened version of the more technical name “Discount Points.” Discount Points will […]
