Monday, January 30, 2017

7 Cities With the Most Pest Infestations - Thankfully California Did Not Make The Top 7!!

Pests are a homeowner's nemesis, no matter where you live. But some cities are seeing a big increase in pest infestations.
For example, in New York, complaints about rats rose 7 percent from 2015 to 2016 and rose by 16 percent in Boston, according to the newly released American Housing Survey by the Census Bureau. In 2015, 11 percent of households encountered rats or mice and 12 percent spotted cockroaches, according to the survey. Bedbugs are on the rise in many cities too, according to a report by Orkin, a nationwide pest-control company. 
“We have more people affected by bedbugs in the United States now than ever before,” says Ron Harrison, an entomologist and director of technical services at Orkin. “They were virtually unheard of in the U.S. 10 years ago.”
Realtor.com®'s research team went on the hunt for critters. They sought to determine which cities have the highest prevalence of rat, cockroaches, mosquitoes, termites, bedbugs, fleas and ticks, and scorpions. They found that rats tend to reign in the Northeast while insects taunt the South. 
Here are the seven cities with the most pest infestations: 
  1. Houston, Texas
  2. New York, N.Y.
  3. Washington, D.C.
  4. Atlanta, Ga. 
  5. Philadelphia, Pa.
  6. Miami, Fla.
  7. Tampa, Fla. 
Source: "Critter Cities: America's Top 10 Towns for Pest Infestations," realtor.com® (Jan. 30, 2017)
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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Where Homes Sold the Fastest This Winter

Homes across the country are selling faster than they were a year ago. Nationwide, properties stayed on the market for an average of 52 days in December, down from a 58-day average a year ago, the National Association of REALTORS® reported in its latest housing report Tuesday. Thirty-seven percent of homes sold in December were on the market for less than a month.
NAR's latest housing report:2016 Marked Best Year for Sales in a Decade
The following five metro areas had listings that stayed on the market the shortest amount of time in December, according to inventory data from realtor.com®:
  • San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.: 49 days
  • San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.: 50 days
  • Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tenn.: 50 days
  • Billings, Mont.: 51 days
  • Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.: 51 days
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Sunday, January 22, 2017

Mortgage Rates Move Down Again

For the third consecutive week, fixed-rate mortgages edged down, lowering borrowing costs for buyers and refinancers.
Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Jan. 19:
  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.09 percent, with an average 0.5 point, dropping from last week’s 4.12 percent. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.81 percent.
  • 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.34 percent, with an average 0.5 point, falling from last week’s 3.37 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 3.10 percent.
  • 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.21 percent, with an average 0.4 point, falling from last week’s 3.23 percent average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.91 percent.
Source: Freddie Mac
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The Nation’s Priciest Listing: $250 Million

A posh Bel Air, Calif., mansion sets the record as the nation’s most expensive home ever listed for sale.
Bruce Makowsky’s new $250 million spec estate may have an eye-popping price tag, but his listing agent Branden Williams assures that the home is “worth every penny.”
“Everything is top of the line,” Williams says. And, he says he’s already starting to receive offers.
Here’s how they're justifying the hefty price tag: The 38,000-square-foot home features two master suites; 10 oversized guest suites; 21 bathrooms; three kitchens; a gym and spa; massage studio; five bars; 17,000 square feet of outdoor decks; an 85-foot infinity edge swimming pool; views that include mountains, the Pacific Ocean, and the Los Angeles skyline; and more than 100 curated art installations for art lovers. The home also features a four-lane bowling alley and lounge; a 40-seat 4K Dolby Atmos Theater; an outdoor hydraulic pop-up theater; two cellars fully stocked with wine; and a game room with candy wall.
The estate took more than four years to build.
Makowsky has captured headlines before with his luxe spec homes. The developer in 2014 sold a Beverly Hills, Calif., spec for $70 million in cash.
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Monday, January 16, 2017

Play Up Home’s ‘Hot Spots’ to Warm Up Buyers

A home’s interior can be used to spark “memorable moments” that appeal to home buyers emotions, new research suggests. Certain rooms in a home can make homeowners conjure up positive emotions and memories. Researchers call those areas “hot spots,” and urge designers to pay careful attention to those spots in making a home more inviting.
“The interior space can enhance emotional experiences,” says Wayne Visbeen, an architect in Grand Rapids, Mich.
A room’s ability to evoke positive emotions and memories is directly tied to the design and amenities of that room, suggests a study sponsored by Napoleon Fireplace, which sought to identify the emotional connections homeowners have with their homes.  
For example, features like fireplaces, high ceilings, and built-ins can help increase the appeal of rooms, the study noted.
The most popular areas of the home are centered around three elements: socializing, relaxation, and function. The greater of these elements a room has, the better job it does in creating a “hot spot,” researchers note.
BUILDER offers up an example: Designers can add a socialization space to a kitchen with an island or wet bar. Or, they can integrate the dining room with the kitchen to add greater functionality.
Visbeen and David Brown, partner at Hoffman York, a marketing and ad agency in Milwaukee, also said more emphasis should be placed on the design of the master suite. They say a “transition space” can make the bedroom feel more separate from the master bath and closet. This could be done in smaller areas too, such as with a small vestibule between the closet and bathroom. Then, “if one partner is getting ready in the morning and one is sleeping it’s a really nice feature,” Visbeen says.
Also, they emphasize accenting the fireplace in a home. Many special moments often occur around a fireplace, they say. Make sure to spotlight it or even add a firepit at the front entrance too.
Source: “Energize Buyers With Design Hot Spots,” BUILDER (Jan. 11, 2017)
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Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Study: Kitchen Renos Lead to Healthier Habits

Many homeowners who remodel their kitchen tend to develop healthier lifestyles, according to the 2017 Houzz Kitchen Trends Survey. Of more than 2,700 homeowners surveyed, 33 percent who completed a kitchen renovation say the project prompted them to cook more meals at home, eat less takeout, and consume more fruits and vegetables. Owners of all generations report such lifestyle changes after a kitchen redo, but millennials and baby boomers diverge on renovation tastes.
How Much Did They Spend?
Homeowners are putting more money into kitchen remodels. Nearly one in 10 spent more than $100,000 on their kitchen renovation in 2016, up 7 percent from two years ago, according to Houzz's survey. Twenty percent of homeowners spent between $50,000 and $100,000.
Millennial homeowners opt more often for modern or farmhouse styles, while boomers are more likely to choose a traditional style, the survey shows. Millennials also are more likely than boomers to install kitchen islands and pantry cabinets. White cabinets and countertops are more popular among younger homeowners, but gray remains the top wall color for all ages.
"Houzz research from the past three years shows that only one in six millennial homeowners and one in twelve older renovators start a kitchen renovation to improve the resale value of their home in preparation for a sale," says Nino Sitchinava, principal economist at Houzz. "With the growing trend of homeowners choosing to stay in their home for the long-term, the return on investment from a kitchen remodel is less tangible, measured in healthier habits and more face-time with family and friends instead of dollars."
Source: “Kitchen Trends Study,” Houzz (2017)
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Tuesday, January 10, 2017

December 2016 National Housing Trends eNewsletter

Angela Yglesias

Levesque Realty 

Cell: 805-490-4944   
Phone: 805-490-4944 

Housing Trends

December 2016

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National market update

Existing-Home Sales Forge Ahead in November

WASHINGTON (December 21, 2016) — A big surge in the Northeast and a smaller gain in the South pushed existing-home sales up in November for the third consecutive month, according to the National Association of Realtors®.



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America's Hottest Markets for Real Estate in December 2016

"On Dasher, on Dancer … on U.S. home buyers!” At least, that’s what Santa might say if he were checking out realtor.com® data while making his express prime deliveries (guaranteed delivery by Christmas morning) later this month. We took an early peek at the stats for December 2016 and found that, much like demand for toys and candy canes, demand for real estate showed no signs of slowing down for the holidays.



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National housing indicators

Existing home sales (Nov)

5.61 millions units*

Existing home median price (Nov)

$234,900

Housing Starts (Nov)

1.090 millions units*

New home sales (Oct)

0.563 millions units*
*Seasonally adjusted annual rate. Source: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

National economic indicators

Home ownership

3rd Quarter 2016

+63.5%

3rd Quarter 2015

+63.7%
The homeownership rate of 63.5 percent was not statistically different from the third quarter 2015 rate (63.7 percent) and 0.6 percentage points (+/-0.4)* high than the second quarter 2016 rate(62.9 percent).

New home sales

Nov 2016

+5.2%

Oct 2016

-1.9%
Sales of new single-family houses in November 2016 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 5.2 percent (±14.1%)* above the revised October rate of 563,000 and is 16.5 percent (±19.3%)* above the November 2015 estimate of 508,000.
Source: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

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Representing residential and commercial buyers and sellers in Ventura and LA Counties.
Disclaimer: The views, opinions, statements and/or ideas expressed in this Message Section do not reflect the ideas, policy, position, views or opinion of Move,Inc.

Consumer tips & hot properties

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The 5 Real Estate Trends That Will Shape 2017

Wonder what the new year holds in store? These key trends are likely to influence home buyers and sellers across the United States.


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The Best Real Estate Advice You Got in 2016, Decided by You

These are the 10 advice stories you viewed, shared, and discussed the most this year—plus can't-miss takeaways for each.


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Don't Get Stuck Experiencing Home Buyer's Remorse

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5 (Totally Legal) Tricks to Boost Your Credit Score Fast

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Don't Be Gross, and 6 Other Things Your Housecleaner Wishes You Knew

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Existing Home Statistics

View statistics based on national data, regional data and data gathered from 159 cities & metropolitan areas.

National Statistics

Statistics by City or Metropolitan Area

Regional Statistics

Source: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.
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Saturday, January 7, 2017

This May Be It for the Luxury Rental Boom

A seven-year boom in the high-end apartment sector may be nearing an end. Landlords of luxury rental properties likely will need to cut rents and offer concessions as supply starts to outstrip demand across the country, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Landlords reportedly in New York already are offering up to three months of free rent on some developments. In Los Angeles, some landlords are offering six months of free parking. In Houston, landlords are reportedly even waving the security deposit on some rentals.
“This will be a very challenged leasing environment almost everywhere,” says Jay Parsons, MPF Research vice president.
Apartment rents have jumped more than 26 percent since early 2010. The growth has outstripped inflation and income growth. In 2016, rents showed a slowing of increases. Rents rose by 3.8 percent. That is down from a 5.6 percent year-to-year growth in the third quarter of 2015, according to a report by MPF Research.
A flood of new apartments have hit the market in recent years, and most of those reflect developers' focus on the high-end sector. The number of upscale apartments emerging on the market, however, is outpacing the number of renters, and that gap is expected to widen in 2017.
For example, the New York Area is expected to have nearly 30,000 new apartments enter its pipeline this year. That is double the historical average, according to Axiometrics. What’s more, about 85 percent of those new apartments are considered luxury. Dallas will see nearly 25,000 new apartments compared to its long-term average of about 9,000, while Los Angeles is expected to see more than double its historical average.
Source: “Luxury Apartment Boom Looks Set to Fizzle in 2017,” The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 2, 2017) [Log-in required.]
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Mortgage Rates Start the Year Lower

Borrowing costs moved lower this week. But most economists aren’t predicting the trajectory to continue.
This marked the first time in 10 weeks that mortgage rates moved lower, Freddie Mac reports.
"The 30-year mortgage rate fell this week for the first time since the presidential election, dropping 12 basis points to 4.20 percent,” says Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “This marks the first time since 2014 that mortgage rates opened the year above 4 percent. Despite this week's breather, the 66-basis point increase in the mortgage rate since November 3 is taking its toll -- the MBA's refinance index plunged 22 percent this week."
Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Jan. 5:
  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.20 percent, with an average 0.5 point, dropping from last week’s 4.32 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.97 percent.
  • 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.44 percent, with an average 0.5 point, falling from last week’s 3.55 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 3.26 percent.
  • 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.33 percent, with an average 0.4 point, rising from last week’s 3.30 percent average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.09 percent.
Source: Freddie Mac
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I help people selling their homes get them sold quickly and almost always at 100% asking, even over in some markets. I save my real estate b...