It’s Sweepstakes time again at Lennar, and we’re giving you several opportunities to enter for a taste of victory! During Lennar’s Decoration Taste Test Sweepstakes, you can weigh in on your favorite home decor photos each day through June 23rd, and enter for a chance to win $5,000. Lennar will post a new photo and question each day, giving you a choice of two answers to select from that demonstrate your own personal home decor style preferences. There are no wrong answers – every time you vote, you will have another chance to enter to win the $5,000 grand prize. You can come back every 24 hours to see a new photo, vote on a new Decoration Taste Test question and enjoy another chance to enter to win. You’ll also have the opportunity to share your Decoration Taste Test answers with your friends. After the Sweepstakes period ends, Lennar will randomly select one winner to receive the $5,000 Grand Prize! [Click here to visit Lennar on Facebook, then click on the “Sweepstakes” tab for details and official rules.]

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The majority of metros covered in Zillow’s Real Estate Market Reports saw home values inch up from March to April, the company reported. Zillow’s Home Value Index climbed to $158,300 for April, an increase of 0.5% month-over-month and 5.2% year-over-year. April marked the sixth consecutive month in which home values appreciated more than 5% on a yearly basis. According to Zillow, the last time national home values were at this level was in June 2004. Fifty-percent of the 365 metros tracked reported rising home values in April. Of the 30 largest areas, Sacramento experienced the largest monthly increase at 3.4%. Other large metros with notable monthly gains include Las Vegas (3%) and San Francisco (2.8%). On a yearly basis, 29 of the 30 biggest markets posted increases, with more than half going up by double-digit percentages. The largest improvements were seen in Phoenix (25.5 percent), Sacramento (25.4%), San Jose (25.2%), San Francisco (24.8%), and Las Vegas (23%). [Read this article]

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The number of Americans in the foreclosure process plummeted by nearly 25% in the past year, according to Lender Processing Services First Look mortgage report for April. The total delinquency rate for loans 30 days or more past due, but not yet in foreclosure, also fell below 6.5% for the first time since July of 2008. The total number of homeowners who are either delinquent or in foreclosure maintained its downward trajectory, reaching 4.7 million in April – the first time this figure has fallen below five million in 5 years, according to LPS Applied Analytics. The delinquency rate is down 5.81% from the prior month and 9.61% from year ago levels. The total U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate hit 3.17% in April, down 24.55% from year ago levels. [Read this article]

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There are many difficult choices to make when deciding whether to rent or buy a home, but one of the most important factors is also among the easiest to determine: How long do you plan on staying in the home or neighborhood under consideration? It has long been a rule of thumb that if you plan on staying in a home “long-term,” then you should buy instead of rent. But how long is “long-term,” really? Just how long does it take to recoup the upfront costs of buying, or to realize the savings inherent in a mortgage payment instead of a rent payment? In some places, the answer is as short as one year – or as long as 20 years. Zillow’s breakeven horizon helps renters or prospective buyers determine the point, in years, at which buying a home becomes more financially advantageous than renting the same home. [Read this article]

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It’s common sense that low mortgage rates are important to the housing market. They make purchasing a home more affordable and make refinancing more attractive for current homeowners. But low mortgage rates have other important benefits, too. Provided low borrowing costs don’t go to the extremes we saw in the boom, cheap credit can be part of a virtuous cycle. Here’s a look at how homeowners, the housing market, and the economy benefit from record low mortgage rates. Low mortgage rates help create demand for housing because would-be buyers want to jump on cheap financing before rates go up. This March, new home sales were more than 18 percent above levels reported a year earlier according to the Commerce Department. Since March 2012, the median existing-home value was up almost 12 percent, while prices for new homes rose about 3 percent. Measures from Case-Shiller and others home-price trackers put yearly gains at around 10 percent as well. Rising home prices are a key component to fixing the housing market. [Read this article]

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The dwindling supply of homes on the market and a surge in million-dollar housing activity sent the Houston-area median home price into record high territory in April, a new report shows. The median jumped 14.5 percent to $184,900, according to the Houston Association of Realtors. April marked the second month in a row the median hit a record high. “The Houston housing market shows absolutely no sign of letting up,” the association’s chairman, Danny Frank, said in a statement. He said more listings and additional home building are needed to meet the growing demand fueled by the healthy job market. Single-family home sales last month spiked 27.2 percent over April 2012, marking the 23rd straight month of positive year-over-year sales. Townhomes and condominium sales shot up 31 percent. Buyers closed on 6,482 single-family homes, representing the largest one-month sales volume recorded since August 2007, right before the recession took hold. [Read this article]

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The metro Atlanta housing market was “hot,” in the first quarter, boosted by job growth and record low inventory, Metrostudy reported. “The job market has gotten a lot better but now we don’t have enough houses to meet buyer demand,” said Eugene James, regional director for Metrostudy, in a statement. New home starts jumped 60 percent annually, the study noted. “In some cases up to 80 percent of the homes currently under construction have already been pre-sold,” said James. First quarter quarterly starts surged 68 percent and quarterly closings rose 41 percent year over year. “We expect to see strong trends like these for the rest of the year and into next,” James said. [Read this article]

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Multigenerational households are becoming more common – and it’s not just unemployed adult children moving in with baby boomer parents. Longer lifespans and rising health care costs are bringing more aging parents into their children’s spare rooms. According to the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers, from 2000 to 2007, the number of parents living with their adult kids rose from 2.2 million to 3.6 million – an increase of 64 percent. When contemplating moving parents in with you, the impulse is often to welcome mom or dad with open arms and little thought of consequences. Experts on geriatric care suggest a more cautious approach. It’s a life-changing step for the parent as well as the caregiving child, the household and the extended family, they say, and everyone needs to understand what’s involved. [Read this article]

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The year’s solid economic start faded late in the first quarter, but the recent setback is a temporary one, analysts claim. The slow in activity is partly due to ongoing fiscal drags, including the budget sequester. However, a modest reacceleration is expected in the second half of this year, as the housing market continues to gain traction, according to Fannie Mae’s economic outlook. Housing is expected to act as a tailwind for the economy throughout the year and into 2014, even though there may be a few hiccups in overall economic activity.  “Our May forecast predicts that the second half of 2013 will be a little stronger than the first half, despite the slowdown during the past couple of months,” Doug Duncan, chief economist for Fannie Mae. Residential investment contributed to economic growth for the eighth consecutive quarter, adding 0.3 percentage points during the first quarter of 2013. New single-family home sales rose in March, jumping 51%, which is the biggest gain since the second quarter of 2003. [Read this article]

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The housing market came out of April in a particularly strong position, according to Redfin’s latest Real-Time Price Tracker, with prices, sales, and inventory posting gains across the country. Redfin’s monthly report – based on home prices, sales, and inventory across 19 U.S. markets – shows prices rose 4.9 percent in April on a monthly basis and 16.1 percent on a yearly basis. Out of the 19 metros measured in Redfin’s report, 18 reported month-over-month increases in April, the same number as in March. All metros experienced price increases on a year-over-year basis. San Francisco, Sacramento, and Las Vegas saw the biggest year-over-year price gains, improving 34.5 percent, 33.5 percent, and 31.6 percent, respectively. “The housing market across the nation was hot again in April. Yes, home prices are up. But the big story in this month’s report is that inventory posted its largest month-over-month increase in over three years,” wrote Redfin blogger Tim Ellis. “With more homes finally available to buy, home sales posted their strongest March to April gain since 2009.” [Read this article]

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