Market & Trends
The world of real estate investing moves quickly. Catch the must-know news, market information, and trends for the industry here.
Back To: All Topics
Market & Trends
The world of real estate investing moves quickly. Catch the must-know news, market information, and trends for the industry here.
Back To: All Topics
Ohio Bans Plywood Usage on Vacant Homes
Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s signing of H.B. 463 on Jan. 4, 2017, makes Ohio the first state to outlaw the use of plywood to cover windows on vacant residential homes. “This is a significant advancement for those engaged in the battle against neighborhood blight in Ohio,” said Robert Klein, founder ...
Voice-Controlled Properties Trending in 2017
Voice control is set to be the next smart-home amenity home buyers cannot live without. If the idea of just speaking to your house and asking it to lock doors, turn off lights, or activate the security system makes you think a little bit of “The Jetsons” and then get ...
Don’t Let Bedbugs Kill Your Real Estate Deals
Only a decade ago, bedbugs were virtually unheard of in the United States. While many homeowners had probably heard the saying “Don’t let the bedbugs bite,” the majority were largely unconcerned with the reality of such instruction. Today, however, nearly everyone knows someone who has experienced issues with a bedbug ...
2016 Tax Changes for Real Estate?
Donald Trump and the Republican majorities are coming into office with plans to change the U.S. tax code. It’s not clear, however, how real estate might fare under some of the changes being discussed. Earlier Blueprint Now Ready for Launch A sweeping platform for overhauling most of U.S. tax laws ...
3D Printing to Disrupt Construction Industry Within 3 Years
The future of home construction is on the verge of what could be a huge transformation. 3D printing technologies are advancing rapidly for the construction of homes and other buildings. And according to some ambitious entrepreneurs, we may see widespread use of that technology in the not-too-distant future! One of ...
Buying More Affordable than Renting
Buying a home is more affordable than renting in 66 percent of U.S. housing markets analyzed in the 2017 Rental Affordability Report issued by ATTOM Data Solutions, parent company of RealtyTrac. The analysis incorporated recently released fair market rent data for 2017 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban ...
Are You ‘Helping’ Hackers Scam Your Clients?
Are you unwittingly helping hackers scam your clients? More and more real estate professionals are reporting that their clients are finding themselves victims of hacking and identity theft, thanks to real estate transactions. Hackers have discovered that breaking into a single real estate professional’s email account yields a treasure trove ...
Housing Credit Index Shows Movement
The Housing Credit Index, which measures new loan risk, has seen some decreases in the latest HCI National Overview by CoreLogic. Among the highlights of the Q3 2016 report: New loan risk, as measured by the HCI, is down year over year and compared to 2001 The share of home ...
Think Realty Magazine January/February 2017
+ WHAT'S INSIDE The Big Picture | TV Star-Struck • Market Update: San Diego • How Secure Are You? • An Intriguing Alternative • A Matter of Timing • Giving Back Cover Feature | Knowledge + Power = Freedom Up Close & Personal | Tech Titan • May the Fores ...
Members of the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM) gathered recently in Hawaii for the group’s 28th annual convention and trade show. The three-day event was highlighted by presentation of the organization’s 2016 awards and the installation of its incoming board and 2017 President Steve Schultz, MPM, RMP. Awards ...
Real Estate Investing in Orlando, Florida
It’s all about the numbers in Orlando, Florida, these days, and the numbers are looking pretty hot. The city recently made headlines as the fourth-hottest market in the nation, the “28th-Best Place for Careers and Business” and third-best city in the nation for job growth, per Forbes and online real ...
The right software can help you run your real estate business more efficiently. But how do you know the difference between useful features and bells and whistles when choosing a software package? Experts say that sticking to the KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid) theory will allow you to buy a ...
In 10 short years, from 2005 to 2015, the number of people turning 65 each year exploded from 2.2 million to 3.5 million. Many of these older Americans are increasingly choosing to rent. With this surge of older renters, developers are building age-restricted or so-called “active-adult lifestyle” apartments. These apartment ...
Home Affordability Drops to 8-Year Low
The Home Affordability Index, which shows national affordability of housing, shares that Q4 2016 was at its lowest level since Q4 2008. The report, issued by ATTOM Data Solutions, parent company of Realty Trac, shows that 29 percent of the U.S. county housing markets were less affordable than their historic ...
Will Trump’s Immigration Policy Lead to Another Foreclosure Crisis?
It’s no secret that President-elect Donald Trump made a lot of promises on the campaign trail and was pretty controversial while he did it. One of the biggest things that he promised voters was that he would take a hard stance on immigration policy; specifically, that he would start deporting ...
Google lawsuit has implications for real estate investors
A challenge to strict Google personnel policy bears watching by real estate investors and others who also often find themselves subject to non-compete, non-disclosure rules. However the court fight plays out, there are lessons to be learned. A Google product manager has brought suit against the search giant, saying that ...
Will Fed Rate Hike Crash the Market Again?
The Federal Reserve finally raised rates for the first time this year at its December meeting and suggested there could be three more rate hikes next year. There are varied opinions about what this could mean for real estate, so let’s tackle it! After threatening to do so for several ...
A New (Female) Buying Power in Real Estate
Women are, once again, changing the face of the housing market, and they’re not waiting for spouses, partners, or anyone else to do so. The buying force represented by single women in real estate is rising and, over the past three decades, the number of “single-female” transactions has risen from ...
Is Villainous ARM Making a Second Grab?
With mortgage rates rising, more and more homebuyers are considering something that most probably thought out of the question: taking on an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) in order to make a home sooner than they otherwise could. ARMs (and the lenders who originated them) received a large portion of the blame ...
Total U.S. properties with foreclosure filings had a noticeable decrease of 18 percent in November, per a report from ATTOM Data Solutions, parent company of Realty Trac. The total 86,561 foreclosure filings in November was down 18 percent from the previous month and down 17 percent from one year ago ...
BEWARE! If you own an apartment building or other commercial structure that was constructed in the 1950s, ’60s, or ’70s, you need to be aware of potential PCB contamination and any liability associated with it. PCBs could be the new "asbestos" in apartments and commercial buildings, as well as in ...
A Look Ahead to Existing Home Sales for 2017
Existing home sales probably won’t increase much in 2017, according to a new forecast from the National Association of Realtors and its fourth-quarter Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) survey. A majority of renters - 57 percent - say now is a good time to buy a house but that’s down ...
Rising Home Values Mean Fewer Underwater Mortgages
About 11 percent of U.S. homeowners were underwater on their mortgage during the third quarter, down from 13.4 percent a year prior, Zillow reports. That’s great news if you consider where things stood a few years ago. Back in early 2012, about 15.7 million Americans owed more on their mortgages ...
Starter Home Inventory Continues to Dry Up
The supply of U.S. starter home inventory has dropped off 12.1 percent since a year prior. The steepest year-to-year decline in three years, according to the latest Trulia Inventory and Price Watch. And if first-time buyers are able to find a house they like, it will consume about 38.5 percent ...
Experts Doubt Airbnb-Style Services Hurt Housing Inventory
Do short-term-rental services like Airbnb and HomeAway make it harder for average renters to find affordable housing? Zillow decided to ask housing experts. According to the new Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey, most of them don’t believe short-term rentals are the root of the inventory shortage. Only about 5 percent ...
