New-home sales up 17.2 percent from a year ago

Supply of new homes steady at 4.8 months in October

BY INMAN NEWS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2012.

Inman News®

New homes image via Shutterstock.

Sales of new single-family homes dipped 0.3 percent from September to October but were up 17.2 percent from a year ago, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today.

The median sales price of new homes sold in October was $237,700, 5.7 percent above last October's level, but a 4.2 percent dip from September.

The Census Bureau says that the estimated 147,000 new homes for sale at the end of October represented a 4.8-month supply at the current seasonally adjusted rate of 368,000 sales per year. That's up slightly from 4.7 months in September but down from 6.1 months a year ago.

New-home sales fall short of expectations Pace slackens from May to June, but rises 15.1 percent from last year

BY INMAN NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2012 Inman News®

New-home image via Shutterstock.

Sales of new single-family homes dropped 8.4 percent from May to June, but at a seasonally adjusted rate of 350,000 homes per year were up 15.1 percent from the same time last year, the Census Bureau reported today.

While the June numbers fell short of some analysts' expectations, sales for the first half of the year are ahead of projections, and today's report "was still fairly solid," according to Bill McBride of the blog Calculated Risk.

Foreclosure inventory remains near all-time high LPS: Most homes in foreclosure in judicial states delinquent for more than 2 years

BY INMAN NEWS, MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012 Inman News®

Dam image via Shutterstock.

The number of U.S. homes in the foreclosure pipeline remained near an all-time high in May with judicial foreclosure states posting inventory levels more than twice that in non-judicial foreclosure states, according to a monthly reportfrom loan data aggregator Lender Processing Services released today.

The nation's foreclosure inventory stood at 4.1 percent of all active mortgages in May. This includes all loans that have been referred to an attorney for foreclosure but have not yet finished the foreclosure process through sale.

Owners lose units in condo complex foreclosure | New owner terminates condo association, puts development up for sale

BY INMAN NEWS, FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 2012 Inman News®

Gavel image via Shutterstock.

Editor's note: The following story excerpt is republished with permission of AOL Real Estate. See the full story, "'This Is Crazy': Company Snatches Condos From Owners."

By TEKE WIGGIN

Teresa Fusco thought she had done everything that she needed to do to sail comfortably into her golden years. She owned a condominium unit in Reading, Pa., with an appraised valued of $101,000, and she had a rainy-day fund in case her health failed.

Windermere launches new-home sales division | Windermere Builder Solutions is a New Home Star franchisee

BY ANDREA V. BRAMBILA, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012 Inman News®

New subdivision image via Shutterstock.

With an eye toward taking advantage of a new-home market that's showing signs of recovery, brokerage company Windermere Real Estate has signed a franchise agreement with the national sales and marketing firm New Home StarCorp., the companies announced today.

Seattle-based Windermere Real Estate has created a new division, Windermere Builder Solutions, that is a franchisee of New Home Star and offers builders and developers marketing, sales, and operational support.

"For new construction business our agents already have a market share of 25 percent" in their local markets, said O.B. Jacobi, president of Windermere Real Estate.

Find the 'why' and they will buy | Instead of segmenting buyers, scope out their attitudes and feelings

BY DAVID FLETCHER, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2012 Inman News®

Fortune teller image via Shutterstock.

Today I issue a wake-up call to real estate agents everywhere: Stop worrying about reaching specific market segments.

You don't need to know about Generation X, Generation Y, Millennials, or the up-and-comers or the down-and-goners.

You want to label your prospects? I have the only three you need: ready, willing and able. Your problem is not the number of prospects you are working with. Many of you have more than you can handle now. Find the "why" and they will tend to buy.

Websites that depend on agent dollars are doomed | Realtor Notebook

BY TERESA BOARDMAN, THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2012 Inman News®

Dinosaur image via Shutterstock.

A couple of months ago I was contacted by the editor for a local news website. They syndicate some of my real estate content and we have had an ongoing relationship for many years.

They wanted to talk about having neighborhood pages with real estate listings on their website, and they wanted to get local agents to pay to sponsor the pages and to pay to advertise real estate listings on them.

Take your photo strategy beyond listings | Realtor Notebook

BY TERESA BOARDMAN Inman News®

St. Paul, Minn. Victorian home photo credit Teresa Boardman.

Home buying and selling activity started picking up a few months ago and is still going strong. But for me, it is also photography season.

I have an endless, inexhaustible need for photographs for blog posts and for advertising, and everything seems to look better in June. Some of the photographs I will take in the next two months will be sold next winter, and others will bring me clients.