From the monthly archives:

August 2012

Biggest Back-To-School Purchase: A New Home?

August 31, 2012
Thumbnail image for Biggest Back-To-School Purchase: A New Home?

Tweet Across the country, parents are preparing this week to send their children back to school, spending hundreds of dollars on books, uniforms and cold cuts for brown bag lunches. Another key back-to-school purchase for many families is a new home. A new analysis of Census data by the real-estate services company Trulia Inc. shows [...]

Read the full article →

U.S. Pending Home Sales Highest Since April 2010

August 31, 2012
Thumbnail image for U.S. Pending Home Sales Highest Since April 2010

Tweet The number of U.S. home buyers who signed contracts to purchase previously owned homes rose last month to the highest level in more than two years, the latest sign of a strengthening housing market. The National Association of Realtors said its seasonally adjusted index for pending sales of existing homes increased 2.4% in July [...]

Read the full article →

Why Home Price Gains Might Even Stick This Time

August 31, 2012
Thumbnail image for Why Home Price Gains Might Even Stick This Time

Tweet On Tuesday the Case-Shiller Index showed that June home prices in 20 U.S. cities were higher than a year ago, the first year-over-year gain since 2010, when a first-time homebuyer tax credit boosted sales. The question is: Will prices hold or even grow in the fall? In normal times, home prices often climb in [...]

Read the full article →

Consumer Spending Posts Biggest Rise In Five Months

August 31, 2012
Thumbnail image for Consumer Spending Posts Biggest Rise In Five Months

Tweet Consumer spending got off to a fairly firm start in the third quarter, rising by the most in five months and offering hope economic growth would pick up this quarter. The Commerce Department said consumer spending increased 0.4 percent in July after a flat reading in June. The rise was in line with economists’ [...]

Read the full article →

Economy Expanding ‘Gradually’, Real Estate Markets ‘Improving’: Fed

August 31, 2012
Thumbnail image for Economy Expanding ‘Gradually’, Real Estate Markets ‘Improving’: Fed

Tweet The nation’s economy expanded “gradually” from early July through mid-August, the Federal Reserve reported in its periodic Beige Book. The description of the economy, drawn from reports from each of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts differed from the usual tone of Beige Books which have recently described economic growth as “modest” or “moderate.” Six [...]

Read the full article →

The Next Decade For House Prices

August 31, 2012
Thumbnail image for The Next Decade For House Prices

Tweet U.S. home prices rose in June from a year earlier for the first time in nearly two years. Is this the start of a bounce back for housing, or is it just a cheerful blip in the numbers before prices resume their fall? Bet on neither. Instead, assume for planning purposes that U.S. house [...]

Read the full article →

Selling Your Home: Better To Stage An Unused Bedroom As An Office Or A Guest Room?

August 31, 2012
Thumbnail image for Selling Your Home: Better To Stage An Unused Bedroom As An Office Or A Guest Room?

Tweet Though it sometimes seems as if almost everyone is a workaholic, and therefore in need of dedicated work space at home, it is probably best to stage your extra room as a guest bedroom. “Unless you have to have a home office for some practical reason – in other words, you actually work from [...]

Read the full article →

Home Values In U.S. Cities Rise First Time Since 2010

August 28, 2012
Thumbnail image for Home Values In U.S. Cities Rise First Time Since 2010

Tweet Home prices in 20 U.S. cities climbed in June for the first time since a tax credit boosted sales in 2010, indicating the industry at the heart of the worst recession in the post-World War II era is starting to rebound. The S&P/Case-Shiller index increased 0.5 percent from June 2011 after falling 0.7 percent [...]

Read the full article →

It’s Not Just Case-Shiller: Almost Every House Price Index Everywhere Has Bottomed

August 28, 2012
Thumbnail image for It’s Not Just Case-Shiller: Almost Every House Price Index Everywhere Has Bottomed

Tweet This morning’s Case Shiller report for June showed prices in the 20 city composite rising YoY for the first time since 2007, with the exception of a few months during the $8000 home buying tax credit in 2010. Prices were up +0.5% YoY, and were also up +0.9% month over month from May to [...]

Read the full article →

Home For Us, Mom And Kids

August 27, 2012
Thumbnail image for Home For Us, Mom And Kids

Tweet Between 2008 and 2010, the number of U.S. households that included three or more generations of residents increased 15 percent, according to Pew Research. Pew indicates that this appears to be a lasting trend, not just a short-term response to the Great Recession, because satisfaction levels with the arrangement are high. Miami-based Lennar Corp., [...]

Read the full article →