5 Cities Buck Real Estate Trends While Housing Market Still Struggles

Visit WheatonHomes4Sale.com to Find Great Investments in Your Area

The Debate Over Fannie and Freddie 

Does the answer to falling home prices and rising foreclosures lie in empowering Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

That’s what the Federal Reserve thinks. The Fed told Congress this week that part of the remedy for the long ailing housing market could be in allowing the mortgage Goliaths to extend their customer base by providing more cheaper mortgages to a wider population. Cheaper rates mean more people buying homes. Which in turn translates to more sales, less foreclosures and price stabilization.

At a time when lending has been stifled with stricter rules and consumer confidence shot, this does seem like a good suggestion. But its not one that will be embraced and applauded by lawmakers. After all, the two companies don’t have stellar records. Since their rescue by the government in 2008, taxpayers have spent $169 billion to sustain the companies, Reuters said. The Obama Administration, too, supports reducing the government’s role in home financing, the story said. Thus the Fed’s suggestion doesn’t look like it will go very far, experts say.

"It comes at a time that Congress has become quite skeptical of Fannie and Freddie and their role, and seems to be looking for ways to diminish their long-run role in housing finance, not increase it," David Resler, chief economic adviser at Nomura Securities International, told Reuters.

But a weak housing market is a huge barrier against economic recovery, the Fed said. And it made other recommendations that would allow borrowers to get credit, stem the tide of foreclosures and encourage home sales.

Single Family Homes an Attractive Investment

Tightened credit and a dismal economy may have turned many consumers away from their dream homes. But, the one bright spot in the battered housing market is it’s ripe for investors. With home prices plummeting and mortgage rates for consumers with good credit below 4 percent - a 30-year low - single family homes are an attractive investment these days, says a Wall Street Journal story headlined “Where to put your money in 2012.” The one crucial piece of advice the story suggests is whatever you pour your money into, make sure that you keep your investment at a minimum. “That is especially important in a low-return environment,” the story says.

The Five Shining Stars of the Housing Market

While the rest of the country is seething in the gloom and doom of a battered housing market, five cities are high-fiveing and toasting to bucking the industry trend. The common denominator for the winners is a stable local economy, where unemployment is low and job opportunities ripe. These cities have also been able to check foreclosure activity. Here’s a look at five real estate success stories as detailed in TheStreet.com.

• Fort Myers/Cape Coral, Fla: The market here took a heavy beating during the downturn with prices falling more than 60 percent, the story said. But the Fort Myers/Cape Coral area is back with a vengeance. Foreclosure filings are depleting and investors are rising. Median prices skyrocketed more than 20 percent during the first 11 months of 2011, according TheStreet.com. The gain was contributed by investors rushing in to grab the sweet deals.

• Shreveport/Bossier City: Median price in this Louisiana community climbed 7.1 percent. Low unemployment and job opportunities along with affordable prices have helped the numbers, the story said.

• Washington D.C.: In the first 11 months of 2011, median prices of homes were up more than 5 percent in the Washington D.C. market and its surrounding Virginia suburbs. The political nerve center of the country benefits from its large pool of government and government-related jobs, Paul Bishop of the National Association of Realtors told TheStreet.com.

• Fort Wayne: Median prices of homes in this Indiana town climbed 5 percent. Affordable homes and job growth has helped the numbers, according to Bishop. Fort Wayne has also seen a drop in foreclosures and found a place in Realtor.com’s “Top 10 Turnaround Cities” list for the third quarter.

• San Antonio: Home prices rose a little over 4 percent in this Texas city. Job growth, population growth and diminished foreclosures contributed to the rise in median home prices.

Tweet

Cautioning Consumers on Websites' Online Home Estimates

Over 90% of today's consumers are beginning their home search online. Many of these consumers find themselves on sites like Zillow.com or Trulia.com using the information provided like "home value estimates" to directly influence their home purchase. Perhaps it would be helpful to learn more about these home valuations that so many view as accurate as an official home appraisal. Take a look at this information taken from a recent Wall Street Journal article, "How to Figure the Fuzzy Math of Internet Home Values" by Alyssa Abkowitz.
 
"They're the numbers millions of consumers are clamoring for. After years of real-estate pros holding all the informational cards in the home-sale game, Web-driven companies like Zillow, Homes.com and Realtor.com are reshuffling the deck, giving home shoppers and owners estimates of what almost any home is worth. People have flocked to the data in startling numbers: Together, four of the biggest sites that offer home-value estimates get 100 million visits a month, with web surfers using them to determine what to ask or bid for a home, or whether to refinance.

 

Zillow, Trulia and other websites post estimates of home values. But as Alyssa Abkowitz explains on Lunch Break, these popular sites can be -- by their own admission -- wildly inaccurate.

But for figures that can carry such weight, critics say, the estimates can be far rougher than most people realize. Valuations that are 20% or even 50% higher or lower than a property's eventual sale price are not uncommon, as the sites themselves acknowledge. The estimates frequently change, too—sometimes by hundreds of thousands of dollars—as sites plug new data into their algorithms.

All of the competitors make it clear their numbers are guesstimates, not gospel. "A Trulia estimate is just that—an estimate," says a disclaimer on that site's new home-value tool. Zillow goes a step further, publishing precise numbers about how imprecise its estimates can be. And every major site urges home-price hunters to consult appraisers or real-estate agents to refine their results.

But despite the disclaimers, homeowners and real-estate agents say, many Web surfers put enough faith in the estimates to sway the way they shop and sell."

To read the complete article visit  How to Figure the Fuzzy Math of Internet Home Values 

Want to browse homes for sale in your area? Visit WheatonHomes4Sale.com to view properties in your area for free!

Email Katie Oakes with The Synergy Team at KatieOakes@WheatonHomes4Sale.com for information on how much your home is worth

New Listing: Huge Family Home

4 0 4    H u b b a r d

P l a n o ,   I L 

Where can you get 4,000 square feet of living space UNDER $140K? HERE! Don't miss your chance to own here in this beautiful area featuing great schools. This property even backs up to a pond! Huge open kitchen leading to eat-in area and family room. Gigantic master suite has everything you will ever need including a seperate sitting room. Take the first step to owning your dream home today and stop by!

Check out all the pictures and information about this home on by following this link WheatonHomes4Sale.com



Housing Market Update November 2011

November 2011 Market Update

While home sales in September were down slightly from a relatively strong month in August, they were up from a year ago, giving encouraging signs of a strengthening market and potential for stabilizing, if not appreciating, home prices. These signs include an increasing demand, shown by the number of people shopping for homes, and the decreasing inventory of homes for sale, in conjunction with some of the lowest levels of new housing construction since the 1960s.
Of the 3.48 million homes sold in September, 32% were first-time home buyers. With more and more people entering the market, the persisting obstacle for most is still the restrictive lending environment. In a plea to banks and policy makers, NAR President Ron Phipps said, "We need to remove the roadblocks to a housing recovery—not place more obstacles in the way of financially qualified buyers."

With an increasing demand and shrinking inventory, it is hoped that banks will begin to see the market potential and start to lend to otherwise creditworthy home shoppers, opening the road to a more rapid recovery. While consumer confidence still remains at all-time lows, retail spending increased 1.1% last month, a positive sign of growth fueled by the approaching holiday season, which could propel the U.S. into a promising new year.

For more housing market data relative and specific to your area visit Real Estate's Market Insider and enter the desired zip code.

To browse homes for sale in your area for free visit WheatonHomes4Sale and enter your search criteria!

Buying a Home in Winfield? Do Not Miss This Deal

0 N 0 9 1   E L M W O O D  W I N F I E L D

 Listed at $154,900

View other homes in Winfield, IL

Back on the market, price has already been set by bank. Don't miss this opportunity to own in Winfield with DIST 200 schools!  Priced to sell! Come see this beauty for yourself. Stainless steel appliances, solid oak cabinets, and two closet pantrys make this a must have kitchen, great well-lit family room, large bedrooms, and other updates to numerous to mention. Don't miss the finished basement with a full bathroom and fireplace recently updated with a large laundy room with countertop space perfect for folding! 

If you or someone you know is interested in this property or just wants to talk real estate feel free to email me directly at KatieOakes@KW.com .