December 28, 2006

U.S. existing-home sales rise again

November existing home sales were up 0.6% from October and total housing inventory sale fell 1%. The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $218,000 in November, which is 3.1 percent lower than November 2005 when the median price was $225,000. The median is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less. ” For every 1 percent drop in home prices, we project an additional 50,000 buyers are drawn into the market,” Lereah says.

December 28, 2006

Six convicted in case that cost banks more than $5 million

A federal judge has sentenced a former mortgage loan officer convicted of organizing a Washington, D.C., house-flipping scheme involving mortgage fraud to more than 24 years in prison. It’s hard to do real estate fraud without an appraiser as part of the team. Prosecutors said Colwell was not a licensed appraiser but used other appraisers’ names and licenses to write “completely fabricated reports on the value of the houses.” Well, that’s one way around it, steal an appraiser’s identity. Two employees of the underwriter were also involved as well as the escrow officer. Also entering a guilty plea for conspiracy to commit bank fraud was settlement agent Vicki Robinson. Robinson…

December 25, 2006

Good news for Arizona real estate investors

Rentometer, rent calculator. Check this out and make a comment on what you think of it. In particular, “How accurate do you think it is?” If Rentometer.com has reasonable accuracy, it would be a great “quick and dirty” tool for Arizona real estate investors when estimating rents in areas they don’t know well. Click on “Comments” in the lower right corner of this post and tell us what you think of it.  

December 23, 2006

Economist jokes

Russell Shaw, a Phoenix mega-Realtor, scared up a bunch of economist jokes. I have a Masters degree in Agricultural Economics and worked at USDA in Washington D.C. for a while so I really love some of these jokes. Here are my favorites; The only thing more dangerous than an amateur economist is a professional economist. Forewarned is forearmed. An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn’t happen today. See, economists can predict the future after all. An economist is someone who didn’t have enough personality to become an accountant. Ouch! Too close to home. I asked an economist for her phone number…

December 22, 2006

2006 Las Vegas real estate recap

Nice article summarizing the real estate market in Las Vegas in 2006. In the existing home market, closings were down nearly 23 percent through October while the median home price has increased about $4,000 since December 2005… Inventory jumped from a little over 13,000 in January and surpassed 20,000 for most of the year, a 10-month supply. In a vicious cycle, the inability to sell existing homes prevented many buyers from purchasing a new home. A common meme now is to state your local real estate market is either in “recovery now or testing the bottom.” More on Las Vegas real estate here.

December 22, 2006

California real estate outlook – Median price down 2% for 2007

A California Association of Realtors economist predicts California’s housing market may be nearing a bottom after months of plunging sales. Kleinhenz predicts that home prices will increase 6.5% to 7% this year from 2005 and may drop 2% in 2007. Areas seeing a lot of new-home building “” such as Sacramento, San Diego and parts of the Inland Empire as well as the high- and low-desert region “” are expected to see more price declines over the next few months. The comment below could apply to Arizona. The big wild card in 2007 will be how many homeowners decide to sell. If owners rush to market, inventories could balloon, creating…