Major Threat to Housing Recovery Recedes

Major Threat to Housing Recovery Recedes

Shadow inventory—or pre-foreclosures—have dropped by more than a third since August of last year, Lenders Processing Services reports in the “first look” data from its August Mortgage Monitor. 

Shadow inventories have now fallen to its lowest point in four-and-a-half years. 

Shadow inventory was once deemed a big threat to derailing the housing recovery, but that threat has been vanishing. The shadow inventory now represents 2.66 percent of all homes with a mortgage in the country, compared to 4.04 percent a year ago. Mortgage Rates Roll Back to July Levels:

$50 More Per Square Foot for Home Near Good School

$50 More Per Square Foot for Home Near Good School

Home buyers are willing to pay a premium in order to live in a top-ranked school district, a new study finds. 

They're forking over an average of $50 more per square foot for homes near top-notch schools, The brokerage used MLS databases to calculate the median sales price and price per square foot of homes within school zones during the period of May 1 to July 31. 

Analysis found that even within the same neighborhoods, home buyers are willing to pay substantially more for homes that fall in a top school district than for homes served by average-ranked schools. 

“Homes just a short distance apart with nearly identical attributes are selling for drastically different prices,” the report says. “We’ve looked across the country at homes that have sold in the last three months and found five examples where prices vary on identical homes by as much as $130,000.”  Read more....

How Sellers Can Save With Prelisting Inspections

How Sellers Can Save With Prelisting Inspections

Home inspections have the power to send all parties back to the negotiation table. As such, some sellers are taking the precautionary step of having an inspection done before listing the home for sale. 

Some real estate professionals say that having a home inspection prior to listing can offer several benefits to the seller. 

“The buyer has the upper hand when they have an inspection,” says Jessica Edwards, Coldwell Banker consumer specialist and real estate professional. “If you are willing to do it ahead of time, you give the control back to the seller.”Sellers who have a home inspection upfront also can identify any major problems that could potentially derail a sale later on at the closing table. Tips for Home Buyers, Sellers

New homes are up, up, up

New homes are up, up, up

Forget easing prices, Many of the nation’s largest builders are raising their prices, even as existing-home prices are beginning to moderate. 

For example, homebuilder KB Home has had average prices for its new homes soar 23 percent annually. Lennar has raised the average price on its new homes by 16 percent annually in the third quarter, now averaging $291,000. The average price of all existing homes was $258,000, 

'The big picture is that new-build house prices fell less than existing house prices during the crash and have risen more during the recovery,'  Read more .... 

Murray City Township

Murray City Township
History of Murray City Utah Pioneers Settling Written history states that at least 20 families were living in the South Cottonwood area in the 1860s. The area remained agricultural until 1869 when a body of ore was found in Park City and additional ore was found in the Little Cottonwood Canyon. Because of its central location and access to the railroad, the first smelter was built in Murray in 1870 and Murray became the home of some of the largest smelters in the region over the next 30 years. Just Listed: 836 W CLOVER MEADOW DR, Murray UT 84123 MLS: 1183253 Beautiful custom built home in Murray, where the Jordan River Parkway is your back yard.

Mortgage rates down 'Buyers Hurry to Lock in Rate

Mortgage rates down 'Buyers Hurry to Lock in Rate

As mortgage rates move up, buyers are moving in to secure interest rates before they're priced out of the market.

Most lenders offer buyers a loan lock-in period of 30, 45, 60, or 90 days. Lenders then are obligated to offer the home loan at that lock-in rate, even if rates have risen during that time. Some lenders lately have even revived “lock and shop” programs, allowing buyers to lock in an interest rate for an unlimited time before they even find a property to purchase.

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Owning Remains Significantly Cheaper than Renting

Owning Remains Significantly Cheaper than Renting

Trulia: Despite rising interest rates, owning a home is still significantly cheaper than renting at a national level and in most large metropolitan areas, according to Trulia’s Summer 2013 Rent vs. Buy Report.

While rising interest rates are closing the gap between renting and owning, owning is still 35 percent cheaper than renting nationally. A year ago, the difference was 45 percent.
“Recent mortgage rate and home price increases have made buying significantly more expensive than last year, but not enough to tip the math in favor of renting,” said Jed Kolko, chief economist for Trulia.
However, while owning remains more affordable than renting in all 100 of the nation’s largest metros, the threshold is closer in some markets  Read more....