Eagle Realty Blog

2006-12-27T11:47:00.000-08:00

Eagle Realty BlogReal Estate Rebound Expected in 2007Doug Duncan, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, expects the 30-year mortgage rate to hover around 6.5 percent for the remainder of the year, but climb to 6.8 percent by the end of 2008. Duncan is "optimistic about a rebound" in the housing market next year, citing still-low long-term interest rates, robust capital expenditures, and rising equity prices, among other factors.Meanwhile, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® expects existing-home sales to slip to just above 6.4 million in 2007 from an estimated 6.47 million this year. But a pullback in construction will spark an 8.7-percent decline in new-home sales to 975,000 from 1.07 million over the same time span.The median resale price will likely edge up 1.7 percent to $227,500 next year, and the median new-home price is forecasted to climb 1.3 percent to $241,400.Source: Inman News, Matt Carter (12/18/06)

Home Builders Rise in Confidance

2006-11-17T11:32:00.000-08:00

Home Builder Confidence Rises AgainHome builders’ confidence has improved for the second straight month.The National Association of Home Builders says its members’ confidence in the housing market had fallen for eight months in a row to a 15-year low of 30 in September.But beginning last month, the index went up again to 31 in October and 33 in November. The index peaked at 72 in June 2005 and was at 61 this time last year."More and more builders are seeing light at the end of the tunnel," says David Pressly, president of the NAHB and a builder based in Statesville, N.C. "Our members are telling us that the market is steadying after a significant downward correction. We look for sales to stabilize and gradually move up in the coming months."Robert Brusca, chief economist for FAO Economics, agrees. "The data tell us that the worst of housing is behind us," Brusca says.Source: Dow Jones Business News, Rex Nutting (11/16/2006)

Burst vs BOOM!!

2006-11-02T13:39:00.000-08:00

October 31, 2006—Friday the National Association of Realtors® will kick off a nationwide media campaign to encourage potential home buyers to buy now while interest rates are near 40-year lows and inventories are high. The campaign opens with full page advertisements in six leading newspapers -- Wall Street Journal and USA Today on Friday, the Washington Post on Saturday, and will run Sunday in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. It will run in the same newspapers again on the weekend of November 12. NAR’s first-ever newspaper blitz features the headline, “It’s a great time to buy or sell a home.” The advertisement points out that interest rates have fallen seven months in a row and are near 40-year lows, inventories of existing homes are higher than they have been in decades and prices have stabilized. But the perfect conditions for buyers are likely to change as sales pick up, prices gain traction and conditions improve for sellers next year. “Homeownership is a safe, secure way to build long term wealth. The national median price of homes bought ten years ago has increased 88 percent. The number of US households is expected to increase 15 percent during the next decade, creating a continued high demand for housing,” the ad reads. It quotes former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, “Most of the negatives in housing are probably behind us. The fourth quarter should be reasonably good, certainly better than the third quarter.” The campaign will continue with national media interviews featuring NAR President Tom Stevens and two new network television and radio ads directed at buyers and sellers will begin airing in second week of January. The new spots will be rotated into NAR’s $40 million network Public Awareness Campaign. Copies of the Talking Points and the ad are available at www.realtor.com. Other materials, including web banners, are under development.

Eagle Realty Blog

2006-09-01T10:04:00.000-07:00

Eagle Realty Blog

Home Sales are Declining!! Ok so the skeptics are stating that the housing market has busted!!! Does anyone remember the 80's??? Market has not busted... it has only slowed to a realistic level with buyers now being able to take time to find their American Dream!! If you are a marketing person you understand the product life cycle!!! We are in the Decline stage and with improved economic stats things are going to start improving. Hang in there and buy something.

Eagle Realty Blog

2006-07-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

Housing Starts Drop 5.3 Percent In June
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July 19, 2006 - Total housing starts dropped 5.3 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.850 million units, according to figures released by the Commerce Department today. This was 11.0 percent below the pace of a year ago.

Single-family housing starts were down 6.5 percent for the month to a pace of 1.486 million units, a 13.8 percent drop from the June 2005 pace. Multifamily housing construction was up 0.3 percent for the month to a seasonally adjusted pace of 364,000 units.

“NAHB’s surveys of single-family builders have been showing a steady decline in confidence since the middle of last year, and builders are acting accordingly. They are slowing their production as market conditions and demand cool down,” said David Pressly, president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Statesville, N.C.

“The June declines in single-family starts and permits clearly show that the housing downswing still is underway, a pattern consistent with our signals from the field,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. “Builders are reporting not only systematic declines in home sales, but also increases in sales cancellations and inventories—due to eroding affordability conditions as well as a withdrawal of investors/speculators from the market.”

Three of four regions reported decreases in housing starts for the month. Construction of new homes and apartments was down 11.5 percent in the Northeast, 4.0 percent in the South and 10.2 percent in the West. Housing starts increased 3.0 percent Midwest in June following a large decline the previous month.

Issuance of total building permits decreased 4.3 percent in June to a seasonably adjusted annual rate of 1.862 million units, 14.9 percent below the pace of a year ago. Single-family permit issuance was down 6.3 percent on a national basis to a pace of 1.395 million units for the month, reflecting declines in all regions of the country. The pace of multifamily permit issuance was up 2.0 percent to a pace of 467,000 units, although this level was 6.2 percent below a year earlier.

“In view of the obvious downward momentum in the housing sector, as well as the considerable downside risks that lie ahead, the Federal Reserve should proceed with great caution as it manages monetary policy in the months ahead,” said Seiders.Eagle Realty Blog

Eagle Realty Blog

2006-07-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

Eagle Realty Blog
As the 1990s opened, experts predicted that the decade would see the end of the mom and pop real estate office. Large, multi-office players would rule the roost, and the rolls of the National Association of Realtors would be pared from nearly one million to a couple of hundred thousand agents and brokers. However, the way it has turned out is that after 11 years of acquisitions and mergers, small, independently owned residential real estate firms continue to dominate the industry.
That was the conclusion of a study of real estate brokerages published late last year by the NAR. The survey was sent to 9,321 licensed Realtors; 2,792 responded.
About 77 percent of the companies are single-office operations. Only 4 percent have four or more offices. Seventy-five percent of smaller firms are not affiliated with a franchise, the survey shows. It also says the same percentage of firms indicate that they are not considering such affiliation.
In fact, the survey shows that franchise affiliation has stabilized following a spike of growth in the early 1990s.
Agents, often known as sales associates, are independent contractors. As such, they do not receive health and financial benefits available in other industries.
Such benefits as health insurance, disability insurance, life insurance, long-term care, and pension or 401(k) plans are offered to few.
For example, just 3 percent of real estate brokerages pay health-insurance premiums for their agents -- mostly the single-office firms with fewer than 20 employees.
Administrative staffs of larger firms fare better, but among those big firms, less than 1 percent pay health-care premiums. A few do split the costs, the NAR study showed.
A full 94 percent of all firms do not participate in 401(k) or pension programs for agents, according to the survey.
Affiliation with franchises and acquisition of smaller firms by larger independent brokerages have leveled off considerably over the last two years, the survey shows.
Six percent of firms affiliated with franchises such as Century 21 and Re/Max have ended such arrangements since 1999, while 3 percent of the firms surveyed were considering affiliation.
Does affiliation or association with a "brand" such as Re/Max or Century 21 make a difference in a firm's bottom line?
The survey says about two-thirds of the franchised companies responded that their profits had risen at least slightly because of the affiliation. About the same number attributed higher sales to such an affiliation.
Still, 19 percent reported that profits had actually declined because of the association, while 22 percent said sales had dropped because of the affiliation.
Real estate experts had long ago promised that technological advances would help reduce the red tape involved in a transaction and cut costs.
But how adept are the rank and file in the use of technology?
Although 15 percent of all companies responding to the survey said they had closed some part of their transactions on line, 88 percent of all agents and brokers were using the Internet and e-mail for less than 25 percent of their business.
Even fewer agents were generating leads from the Internet.
That is certainly much less use than was anticipated five years ago, and is surprising considering the emphasis that the industry had been placing on technology during that time.
The reason might be the case of going too fast too soon. For example, the National Association of Realtors' annual conventions between 1997 and 2000 saw the introduction of software programs that would practically sell houses by themselves; virtual tours; and Palm Pilots, laptops and digital cameras.
The 2001 convention in Chicago, on the other hand, saw less innovation. Instead, programs offered the basics of computer use, including sending an e-mail and using a Palm Pilot.
That’s not to say that the public isn’t embracing technology being employed by real estate firms. Many prospective buyers use national Web sites such as Realtor.com or those sites maintained by local and regional firms to look at houses in particular locations and in certain price ranges so they can narrow their searches and save time.
Consumers also are using the Internet for first contact with real estate agents and to save time.
But few consumers are buying houses on the Internet without seeing them first. Real estate, therefore, remains a personal contact enterprise.
Why has the merger-and-acquisition frenzy cooled, and why have affiliations remained at the same level as in 1999?
No one seems to have a foolproof answer, although many experts suggest that all firms have been so busy selling real estate over the last two years that they haven't had the time.
Published: April 4, 2002

Looking for a Cottage or Second Home!!

2006-07-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

It's a Buyer's Market for Summer Homes in Northern Michigan!!! Real Estate markets are stagnant in much of the country, but agents and owners say summer cottages in parts of Michigan are particulary tough sell. The slow market is giving a break to people who long have wanted to buy a vacation or retirement home, only to watch prices climb.(Source:Associated Press)

Eagle Realty Blog

2006-06-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

Eagle Realty Blog

Eagle Realty Opens a new branch office in Edmore Michigan and have really sean traffic pick up these past few weeks. Eagle Realty is a Full Service Real Estate Office handling Commercial, Residential, Vacant Land and Resort Properties in the State of Michigan.

2006-06-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

"Opening Doors to the American Dream"

Eagle Realty Press Release

2006-06-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

This week Bankrate.com reports that "The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 2 basis points to 6.71 percent...One year ago, the mortgage index was 5.73 percent; four weeks ago, it was 6.73 percent."

The NAR is predicting a calmer real estate market for 2006:"Existing-home sales are projected to drop 6.8 percent to 6.60 million this year from the record 7.08 million in 2005. New-home sales are forecast to fall 13.4 percent to 1.11 million from a record 1.28 million in 2005. Housing starts are likely to decline 6.2 percent to 1.94 million in 2006 compared with 2.07 million last year."Stating that rising interest rates have had an impact on the market, and job growth has effected others, the most likely scenario is for "The national median existing-home price for all housing types is forecast to rise 5.3 percent this year to $231,300."

Yes, the theme in the real estate market certainly is that the market is changing, or in many markets, has changed. An interesting article on MSN.com about the record number of condos on the market. This may spell "opportunity" for the condo buyer.