Real estate has been a tough topic lately.  In recent years many people bought homes which have since decreased in value.  Others got caught up in the real estate trend of borrowing more than they could actually afford with putting little or no money down, before they realized that they actually couldn’t afford the home they purchased.  A bleak picture has been at hand indeed, with home prices falling, people losing equity and many unable to pay their mortgages any more.  Bleaker still is the fact that borrowing money has become increasingly more difficult.  There is good news however.
The good …read more

Desirable towns seem to maintain their values where nearby, less high-end towns’ housing values are declining.  This phenomenon is an interesting one to say the least, one town’s property values drop significantly while a neighboring town’s property values rise.  A recent article by Ted Seifer in the Boston Globe pointed out how Wellesley, MA and Weston, MA real estate values remained strong while nearby Wayland home values dropped significantly.  In fact real estate values in Weston and Wellesley increased while the median Wayland home value dropped by nearly 20%.  Seifer demonstrates this in the Globe article “Just compare Weston and …read more

In real estate location can mean all the difference.  When real estate across the country has taken a nose dive, the only areas which are holding up are either those where the economy is still strong (yes there are some), areas where banks did not partake in the sub-prime lending or in areas that are always desirable to live in.  There are many high-end towns across the country that are in areas where real estate values have dropped 20%.  In these areas the most desirable towns have only dropped 10%, if at all.
A recent article in the Boston Herald mentions …read more

December showed a surprising increase in home sales across the country, a positive sign in a world of uncertainty.  According to realtor.org, existing home sales rose 6.5% in December, a nice increase in a tough year.  Home prices have been falling as have interest rates, creating a perfect climate for home buyers.  The factors that make buying a home attractive to potential home buyers are falling into place and while there is no way of knowing whether real estate prices have hit the bottom it is certain that if they are not at the bottom they will be soon.
In a …read more

A story in the New York Times, which you can find here, gives me hope that McMansion mania is finally petering out. According to the Times, the demand for ultra-large homes in New Jersey — where such homes have long ruled the market — seems to be waning. The Times isn’t sure if this is a longterm or a shortterm thing. But it does give me hope.

BusinessWeek recently ran an interesting story about homeowners who are paying a whopping 50 percent — or more — of their monthly incomes on mortgage and other housing payments. You can read the story here.

According to a Sept. 29 story by Bloomberg News, which you can read here, officials with the National Association of Home Builders are asking members of Congress to pass a $15,000 tax credit for all homebuyers. This, officials with the trade association hope, will entice consumers to purchase homes.

The National Association of Home Builders recently reported — citing statistics from the Commerce Department — that the sales of newly built single-family homes fell 11.5 percent in August.

The latest bit of creative genius that I’ve discovered comes by way of The New York Times, which details the story of a couple who, unable to sell a home that was nearing foreclosure, held a raffle to get the home off their hands. Yes, a raffle.

Election officials and voting-rights groups are worried that many of the millions of U.S. homeowners who lost their residences to foreclosure will also lose their chance to vote in the upcoming presidential election.