1.Strategies for Setting a Price for Your Home
“To get top dollar for his Portland, Ore., home, Alex Hickman played lowball. He set his asking price below that of comparable homes nearby—and got six offers in four days.”
2.Beware the shortcomings of data on home prices and mortgage rates
“It has been said that figures lie and liars figure. But even when the numbers are truthful, they often are nearly meaningless.”
3.Home Flipping Wanes as U.S. Investors Find Fewer Bargains
“Home flipping, in which a buyer resells a property quickly for a profit, is on the decline as U.S. residential price gains slow and foreclosures dwindle. ”
4.U.S. economy adding better jobs, not just more jobs
“Gallup released some interesting data this morning, noting that 58% of full- or part-time workers are “completely satisfied with their job security.” That’s not an overwhelming majority, but it’s the best result Gallup has found since it started asking the question 20 years ago.”
5.High-end house flipping is soaring
“It is dirty, financially risky and potentially dangerous work, but depending on the current direction of the housing market, it can be highly profitable. But home “flipping,” defined as buying and selling a home within a short period of time for the sole purpose of making money, is now on the slide. ”
6.Silicon Valley buyers drive record sales of high-end homes in Santa Cruz
” All of a sudden, high-end homes are in demand, and many of the buyers are coming from Silicon Valley. ”
7.L.A. area nation’s most expensive housing market
“When it comes to buying a home or renting an apartment, the Los Angeles-Orange County area is the most expensive market among the nation’s 100 biggest metropolises, according to a report released Thursday by the real-estate website Zillow”