Real Estate Is Local

Top Real Estate and Mortgage Headlines for September 1st

It’s Wednesday and it’s the start of a new month. Here is today’s top real estate headlines according to the National Association of Realtors.

• Commercial Real Estate Yields Spur Investors
  Capitalization rates averaged 7.22 percent in the second quarter, or 4.29 percentage points higher than the yield on 10-year government bonds.
• Housing Less Likely to Be Wealth Builder
  The markets will stabilize, but some experts doubt that prices will rise faster than inflation.
• Mortgage Applications Slip Slightly
  The purchase index dropped 0.4 percent, but refinancings were up 2.8 percent last week as interest rates continue to fall, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
• No Class-Action Status on Phony Appraisals
  A U.S. District Court refused a request for class-action status in a suit by First American Corp. shareholders who said that the stock tanked when the company was charged with colluding with Washington Mutual to inflate appraisals.
• Hyperlocal Focus Is Key to Market Domination
  A multi-pronged approach including online and offline marketing plans and a six-month budget can help agents boost their share of the business.
• Google Invests in Low-Income Housing
  The Internet giant is spending $86 million on a tax-credit fund to finance the construction of 480 affordable housing units.

These are the top real estate and mortgage headlines for today, September 1, 2010.

Want to know how these national real estate headlines could impact you right here locally in Crown Point Indiana? Subscribe to this blog, Today’s Real Estate Reality, and let my years of experience in Crown Point Indiana guide you to an informed and successful real estate transaction.

Real Estate Is Local

If All Real Estate Is Local, Who Cares About Averages

All real estate is local! If you’ve heard it once, you have most likely heard it a thousand times. How could you not hear this old cliche when working with real estate and mortgage professionals.

The May 2010 Public Awareness Campaign from the National Association of REALTORS® even states:

“Every market’s different, call a REALTOR® today.” – What Matters Most

If this is true, why is all the focus on averages? Why should you, for instance, care about averages?

Here is a sample chart to illustrate average days on market for single family homes in Schererville Indiana.

From this chart, it appears that the Schererville Indiana real estate market is improving as the average days on market is nearing 180 days which is an indication of a balanced market. Be mindful that this is the average days on market for the entire spectrum of single family homes for sale in Schererville Indiana.

Wait a minute. Your home is not like everyone else’s home and the home you want to buy is so much nicer than other homes on the market. Let’s break the average days on market down to quartiles based on list price. The chart on the left below represents the top 25% of homes for sale in Schererville Indiana. The chart on the right below represent the bottom 25% of homes for sale in Schererville Indiana.

        

 

Do you notice anything different? Do you notice anything that is similar?

If  you recall, the average days on market for the entire spectrum of single family homes for sale was nearing 180 days. For the homes listed in the top quartile, most expensive, the average days on market is 40% longer. For the homes listed in the bottom quartile, least expensive, the average days on market is 15% less.

Depending on what price point you are looking to buy a home or sell a home, knowing the specific real estate trends and statistics to that real estate market would be critical to your decision making process. So back to the question…why should you care about averages?

Regardless of which graph you look at above, the real estate trend for average days on market in Schererville Indiana is definitely improving. Averages help illustrate trends and consequently helps manage expectations.

Real Estate Is Local

Home Price Index Rises 0.3% in March, Is It Time To Buy?

Home values rose in March, according to the Federal Home Finance Agency’s most recent Home Price Index. Values were reported higher by 0.3 percent, on average, from February.

We use the phrase “on average” because the Home Price Index is broad-reaching, national housing statistic. It ignores the dynamics of neighborhood real estate markets like Sand Creek as well as citywide markets like Chesterton Indiana, too.

Instead, the Home Price Index focuses on state and regional statistics.

For example, in March 2010 as compared to February:

• Values in the East South Central region rose 2.5%
• Values in the Mountain states rose 1.1%
• Values in the Middle Atlantic states fell 1.0%

Of course, none of this data is especially helpful for today’s home buyers and sellers.

Real estate is a local phenomenon that can’t be summarized by state or region. What matters most to buyers and sellers is the economics of a neighborhood and that level of granularity can’t be served up by a national housing report like the Home Price Index.

The Home Price Index data is additionally unhelpful to buyers and sellers in that it reports on a 2-month delay.

In other words, Home Price Index is not even a fair reflection of today’s market — it highlights the real estate market as it existed 60 days ago.

So why is the Home Price Index even published? Because government, business and banks rely on the reports.  As a national indicator, the Home Price Index helps governments make policy, businesses make decisions, and banks make guidelines. This, in turn, trickles down to Main Street where it impacts every one of us — and eventually influences real estate.

Since peaking in April 2007, the Home Price Index is off 13.44 percent. Is it time to reach out to your local real estate professional to weigh your home buying options?