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Rising monthly payments -- especially property taxes and energy costs -- are creating a formidable barrier to homeownership for one out of three Americans. Most believe that high monthly payments rather than high down payments are the greatest obstacle to buying a home, according to the fourth annual National Housing Opportunity Pulse Survey. The fourth annual telephone survey of 1,000 adults also revealed that more than 42 percent of Americans rank the lack of affordable housing in their community among their top concerns. Read more.>
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Okay, so NAR's "official numbers" show that 13 percent of home sellers last year decided to "go it alone." That is, they were FSBOs -- "For-Sale-By-Owners" -- and handled their home sale without the services of a real estate professional. However, a closer look at statistics from NAR's 2005 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers reveals that many FSBOs actually were transactions between family members and acquaintances. The number of open-market FSBOs was considerably less than 13 percent. Read more.>
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Are your clients still on the fence about buying a home? Then tell them what they need to know with NAR's revised "Why Rent When You Can Buy" brochure! Sold in packs of 100 and available in English and Spanish this informative brochure will show "fence-sitters" that homeownership is actually easier and less expensive than renting. They'll find information on mortgage interest deductions, mortgage principal accumulation, property tax deductions, and home appreciation all in an easy-to-read format. Read more.>
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This latest study from the National Center for Real Estate Research (NCRER) looks at how office building development is sprawling into suburban areas of the 13 largest U.S. office markets -- Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington DC. Known as "edgeless cities" scattered clusters of office buildings outside of the city center create opportunities as well as stress. Read more>
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This new study from the National Center for Real Estate Research (NCRER) looks at how state and local governments spend their infrastructure dollars for highways, air transportation and transit. Read more>
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The Pending Home Sales Index rose a scant 1.3 percent to 113.4 in May, but was 10.1 percent lower than a year earlier, indicating that the market is stabilizing. David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said the index movement is consistent with our forecast, which is showing a soft landing for the housing sector. "We are entering the second phase of the transition period from the housing boom, in which sellers are becoming more realistic about their expectations – sales are stabilizing and annual home price appreciation is returning to historic norms,” he said. Read more>
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Sales of existing homes experienced a minor decline in May with home prices rising near normal rates. Total existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – eased 1.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.67 million units in May, and were 6.6 percent below the May 2005 level. David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said conditions are mixed around the country. “There’s now a clear pattern of slower home-sales activity in many higher cost markets, which are more sensitive to rises in interest rates, and higher home sales in moderately priced areas which have experienced job growth,” he said. Read more>
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Report compiled by NAR's Research Division.
Questions about this report? Contact Research at ljohnson@realtors.org. |
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