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BOISE LISTED WITHIN “TOP 10 PLACES TO LIVE”

October 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

BOISE LISTED WITHIN “TOP 10 PLACES TO LIVE”

Relocate America announced the top 100 places to live in the United States and our great city of Boise is listed at #8.

RelocateAmerica’s research dvision developed the top 100 places to live after reviewing extensive information on factors which are important within the community:  safety, recreaction, the health of the economy and housing.  The firm also acquired input from local residents, community leaders and business associates.

They are:

1. Austin, TX
2. Grand Rapids, MI
3. Boulder, CO
4. Raleigh, NC
5. Dallas, TX
6. Greenville, SC
7. Augusta, GA
8. Boise, ID
9. Omaha, NE
10. Oklahoma City, OK

View the entire list of the Top 100 Places to Live for 2011 at:

http://www.relocateamerica.com/2011/08/02/relocateamerica-announces-top-10-cities-for-2011/

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Boise area tops list of best places to retire!

September 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Boise ranks w/in the top 3 of CNN/Money Magazines best placed to retire.  Contributing to this honor is Boise’s thriving cultural scene which includes an opera company, the philharmonic orchestra, the Morrison Center for the performing arts, ballet, and the Shakespeare Festival.  Boise also received high marks for it’s recreational activities (we all know that!).

The TOP 10

1. Marquette, MI
2. Cape Coral, FL
3. Boise, ID
4. Danville, KY
5. Weatherford, TX
6. Southaven, MS
7. Pittsburgh, PA
8. Broken Arrow, OK
9. Lake Charles, LA
10. Winston-Salem, NC

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Ada County Real Estate Update–Improvement Continues!

September 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Ada County Real Estate Update–Improvement Continues!

Sales within Ada County have increased 43% in comparison to sales in August of 2010. Typically, August home sales compare evenly with July yet August of 2011 had 7.3% more sales than July of 2011.  Year to date, there have been 245 more real estate transactions than in 2010 which compiled a total of 3,947 close transactions (2011 already has 4,192 transactions completed).  Is our local market beginning to “mend”?

Forty-five percent of teh3 sales in August of 2011 were distressed—up 3% from the previous month.  Distressed sales (bank owned property, HUD and short sales) continue to hinder market performance yet these types of homes for sale are no longer the majority!

The average days on market for homes sold in August was 81 which is down from 90 days last year at this time.  Another improvement.  Pending sales (homes which have an offer to purchase accepted by both the buyer and seller) decreased 6% from July yet there is an average pending sales number of 900 at the end of the last 3 months—another sign of the extensive recovery at hand.

The amount of homes for sale and available at the end of August fell below 2,500 units for the 1st time since March of 2006 while the percentage of active distressed homes for sale increased almost 2 percent from June to 35%.  All of this said, in Ada County there are 4 months of property inventory and historically this exemplifies a “seller’s market”.   The pricing category containing the least supply are homes priced fewer than 119K in which there is just 3 months of inventory available.  However, consumption of inventory is increasing in all price ranges.

There is good news for home owners that have property w/in the upper echelon of pricing.  Homes priced $500,000-$699,999 have seen inventory decreased for the fourth month in a row to 6.9 months.

The local market continues to benefit from inventory levels lower than the average currently contained w/in the United States.

Will inventory levels continue to decrease due to recent hirings?  If so, we may see home builders making moves again which would greatly benefit our local economy.  I’d love to hear your thoughts . . .

Thinking of taking advantage of historically low pricing and interest rates?  Please call me dire ctly at 208-869-3469 in order to discuss your options.

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Foreclosure Activity Drops in Most Metro Areas

July 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Foreclosure Activity Drops in Most Metro Areas

According to RealtyTrac, foreclosure rates in the 1st half of this current year decreased 84% in 211 metropolitan areas examined.

Although foreclosure rates are improving in most metropolitan markets, RealtyTrac experts assume that the waning foreclosure numbers could be a natural side effect of the robo-signing debacle which is slowing the foreclosure process instead of a true clearing of excess foreclosure inventory.

Areas located in Arizona, Nevada and California was at the top of the list for metro areas with the highest foreclosure filings.

Florida, whose markets are well known for being hit very hard by the real estate bubble burst, saw a taper in foreclosure activity within the 1st half of the year with only Cape Coral-Fort Myers showing up within the top-twenty cities with the largest foreclosure rates.  Interestingly enough, cities within Florida held 9 spots on the top twenty lists from 2010.

The highest metro foreclosure rate is currently held by the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area.  One in every 19 housing units have become subject to foreclosure filings within the 1st half of the year which is 6 times higher than the national average.

Another area which ranked high (2.96% foreclosure rate) was the Reno-Sparks area.  Down 8% was the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale areas which saw 60,985 properties receive a foreclosure filing in the 1st half of 2011—a reduction of nearly 17% from a year ago.

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HOUSING STARTS UP 14.6% IN JUNE!

July 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

HOUSING STARTS-UP’S UP 14.6% IN JUNE TO 629,000!

According to Commerce Department information, housing start-ups increased 14.6% in June which show continued gains in comparison to previous months.  The housing start-up data came in well above analysts’ expectations.

Analysts polled were expecting housing starts to come in at 580,000 for June.  However, housing start-up’s increased to the highest level since January of 2011 at 629,000 Nationally.  This statistic is well above the seasonally adjusted basis of 549,000 for May and nearly seventeen percent higher than a year earlier.

In a simultaneous release, the department of Housing and Urban Development and the Census Bureau stated that housing starts climbed 9.4% in June—up substantially from May.  All in all, expectations from analysts were low.

June’s increase continues to provide positive data on the steady climb in housing starts which is a very good sign for the construction industry.

 

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Foreclosures Plummet in First Half of 2011

July 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Foreclosures Plummet in First Half of 2011

The first half of the year saw foreclosure filings falling dramatically as processing delays at banks strapped with an overabundance of repossessed homes continued to alter the numbers.

Filings for foreclosures went down 29% in comparison with the same period a year ago—down 25% from the last 6 months of 2010.

One in every 111 households received a foreclosure notice through June 30th of this year—approximately 1.2 million home owners within the United States.

Second quarter filings marked the lowers quarterly total since the end of 2007 as the meltdown in the mortgage industry was at its initial phases.

Some feel that the economic improvement within the foreclosure market can be traced to the processing delays brought on by the robo-signing scandal which discovered that bank employees were signing foreclosure documents without following all of the appropriate protocol.  Some assume that there may be as many as 1 million foreclosure auctions which were delayed in 2011 due to the scandal that will be hitting the block in 2012 or later.  As a result, the housing slump may be prolonged.

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Foreclosure Sales Still Abundant in the Real Estate Market

May 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Foreclosure Sales Still Abundant in the Real Estate Market . . .

Bank owned properties accounted for 28% of all home sales within the first quarter of 2011 even though the sale of foreclosed homes declined.  This rate is nearly six times higher than a normal housing market should be. 

Realty Trac Inc stated on May 26th that foreclosure sales hit the highest level of overall sales within a year during the first quarter nationally and also stated that the percentage of homes sold in foreclosure should be below 5%–in a normal market.

The sale of foreclosed homes in California accounted for 45% of all of the home sales within the first 3 months of 2011—down from 48% in 2010.  Foreclosed properties sold for roughly 34% less than the average sale price of non-distressed property.  Foreclosure sales in Arizona accounted for 45% of the overall sales in the first quarter—down 2 percentage points from 2010.

Numerous other states had sales of foreclosed property which accounted for ¼ of the sales of homes in the first quarter of 2011:  Florida, Michigan, Oregon, Virginia, Colorado, Illinois, Georgia, Ohio and Idaho.

Court delays have caused the pace of the foreclosure process to slow in the past months.  However, distressed homes and property remain within the housing market.  The homes, as mentioned previously, are often in need of repair and sell at a substantial discount.  This, of course, weakens prices for alternate homes for sale.

In the first quarter nationally, 158,434 distressed homes were sold.  This is down 16% from the last 3 months of 2010 and down 36 percent from a year ago.  Even though the sale of bank-owned properties declined, this still accounted for almost 19% of all sales—up from 17% in the fourth quarter of 2010.

There are still 872,000 homes that are being held by lenders yet still need to be sold.  At the current pace it will take 3 years to clear the inventory of 1.0 million homes for sale already in a certain stage of foreclosure.  This amounts to a 2 year supply for bank owned property alone.

Home Buyers saved an average of 35% when purchasing bank owned homes.  This discount is unchanged from the previous quarter.

The largest discounts on foreclosure property can be found in Ohio where these homes sold for an average of 41% less than non-distressed homes for sale.

Nevada, who led the United States in foreclosure sales, showed that 53% of homes that were sold were distressed (bank owned or short sale).  Nevada has an inventory of 28,000 bank owned properties currently on the market or scheduled to hit the market.

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Foreclosures Down In the Area Yet Could Increase Again

May 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Although foreclosures are down this year there may be a “spike” in the foreclosure rate in the coming months. 

In April, 158 notices of mortgage default notices were filed.  This is a 33 percent decrease from March of 2011.  Great sign!  However, default notices in Ada County increased 7% with 335 notices throughout April and 312 in March.  Upon combining default filings for Ada and Canyon counties, the overall foreclosure filings in comparison to last year have decreased (1,565 filing in March of 2011 in comparison to 2,405 during the same period in 2010)

Charlie Nate with Idaho Data Provides stated that the foreclosure numbers are lower than the same period last year yet may increase again this coming summer.  He also mentioned that foreclosures are down in 2011 yet are poised to rebound anytime upon the banks wrapping up their robo-signing issues.

Speaking of the robo-signing . . . Idaho joined a multi-State investigation which revied the amount of loan services that may have generated documents with errors associated with them.  “Robo-signing” is the process of foreclosure documents being signed without them being reviewed.  Some of the documentation may have also been signed without the use of a notary.

Some foreclosure filings were stopped last year due to the Robo-signing issues yet this could cause a wave of foreclosure filing this year.  Nate stated that more foreclosure inventories may be released this year which could increase the number of filings in both Ada and Canyon Counties.

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FREE Boise Home Search/Area Wide Home Search

March 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

FREE Boise Home Search/Area Wide Home Search

Trust Realty contains a FREE Boise home (and Greater Boise-Nampa Metro Area) search engine which is directly linked to the area Multiple Listing Service.   Property information is updated immediately and has no “lag time” much like the larger search sites (Trulia.com, Realtor.com, Zillow.com, etc).  In a nut shell, you are able to view real time data for Boise homes for sale (and Greater Boise-Nampa Metro Area) in the same manner as I, a licenses Broker in the State of Idaho.  www.TrustIdaho.com contains a user friendly mapping feature which streamlines your search and you can also create a profile which will automatically notify you when Boise homes for sale matching your search criteria come onto the market.

The search engine contained at http://www.trustidaho.com is an excellent tool for those activity looking for a home (or just browsing) since you are notified of homes that have come onto the market prior to the information populating to alternate websites.  Even though this is a “down” market, homes that are priced well still obtain offers within 24 hours.  The early bird gets the worm!   

This is a free, no obligation service.  Browse as you please by clicking the following Boise home search link:  Boise Homes for sale/Greater Boise-Nampa Homes for sale

*   Quality of life, upstanding people, opportunity for instant equity, low interest rates and historically low prices make it an opportune time to purchase a home.  As a buyer in the State of Idaho, you use my services at no charge.  The seller of the home that is purchased compensates Trust Realty and myself for bringing you to them and most importantly, representing your interests!  I specialize in new home ownership, relocation, investment and new construction and will provide you the negotiation skills and experience gained from over a decade in the real estate market.

Check out the boise home search today!

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BOISE HOMES—HAS THE MARKET STABALIZED?

March 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

BOISE HOMES—HAS THE MARKET STABALIZED?         

Boise home pricing has stabilized (in my opinion and others).  Granted, we could see a spurt of depreciation if inventory were to increase substantially. However, inventory levels within the Greater Boise-Nampa Real Estate Market have subsided drastically within the past 6 months.  If this trend continues then Boise home pricing will continue to stay stable and appreciation should begin.

Typically, any type of trend in home pricing is found at the employment epicenter of our Valley–Boise.  Statistics show that there has been some appreciation (although minimal) within certain pockets of SE Boise and North Boise.  This is a very good sign and I hope that the trend spreads throughout the remainder of the Treasure Valley that include Meridian homes, Kuna homes, Eagle homes, and Nampa homes.

A strong case for market stabilization can be found by viewing market statistics from the 1980’s.  You see, the real estate market during the mid 1980’s was similar (not exact since typical interest rates during this time were at 15%–much different then the 4.5% mortgage rates at this time).  At the “bottom” of the market during the 80′s, a potential purchaser could purchase a home for less then what it costs to rent a home.  When this happened, home pricing began its upward climb.  One can assume that this trend will surface for Boise homes, as well. 

At this time, one can purchase a Boise home for sale for less then it costs to rent.  I, along with most real estate experts predict that we are at the bottom of the market due to this fact.

It’s time to take advantage of the historically low Boise home prices and interest rates before this opportunity passes.  Please call or email me to discuss your options!

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