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There are many benefits to homeownership. One of the top benefits is being able to protect yourself from rising rents by locking in your housing cost for the life of your mortgage. Don’t Become Trapped  A recent article by ConsumerAffairs addressed the continuous rise in rents, stating: “The cost of putting a roof over your head continues to go up. Not only are home prices still rising, but the cost of rent rose 0.5% in June.” Additionally, in the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University’s 2017 State of the Nation’s Housing Report, it was revealed that, “Despite a slight improvement from 2014, fully one-third of US households paidRead More →

The price of any item is determined by the supply of that item, as well as the market demand. The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) surveys “over 50,000 real estate practitioners about their expectations for home sales, prices and market conditions” for their monthly REALTORS Confidence Index. Their latest edition sheds some light on the relationship between Seller Traffic (supply) and Buyer Traffic (demand). Buyer Demand The map below was created after asking the question: “How would you rate buyer traffic in your area?” The darker the blue, the stronger the demand for homes in that area. Only three states had a ‘stable’ demand level. Seller Supply The index also asked: “HowRead More →

Highlights: Existing Home Sales are now at an annual pace of 5.52 million. Inventory of existing homes for sale dropped to a 4.3-month supply, marking the 25th month in a row of declines. The median price of homes sold in June was $263,800. This is the 64th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains. Source: Housing Market & Real Estate News Lenora LostaunauLenora is a full-service San Diego real estate agent, serving residents county-wide, and those looking to live in San Diego. She specializing in Metro and Coastal San Diego, with a Masters Degree in Marketing and over 10 years in the real estate industry, LenoraRead More →

According to Bankrate’s latest Financial Security Index Poll, Americans who have money to set aside for the next 10 years would rather invest in real estate than any other type of investment. Bankrate asked Americans to answer the following question: “What is the best way to invest money you wouldn’t need for 10 years or more?” Real Estate came in as the top choice with 28% of all respondents (3% higher than last year), while cash investments – such as savings accounts and CD’s – came in second with 23% (the same as last year). The chart below shows the full results: The article pointsRead More →

In today’s highly competitive seller’s market where there are more buyers than there are homes for them to buy, some sellers may feel like the ball is in their court. And they would be right when it comes to choosing which offer to accept, the closing date, or even which improvements they are willing to make to their house prior to selling. One thing to remember though, is that there is always a line that shouldn’t be crossed. Interest rates can change, financing might not go through, the appraisal might not come back at the price that you have agreed to. These are all opportunities toRead More →

Recently there has been a lot of talk about home prices and if they are accelerating too quickly. As we mentioned before, in some areas of the country, seller supply (homes for sale) cannot keep up with the number of buyers who are out looking for homes, which has caused prices to rise. The great news about rising prices, however, is that according to CoreLogic’s Homeowner Equity Report, the average American household gained over $14,000 in equity over the course of the last year, largely due to home value increases. The map below was created using the same report from CoreLogic and shows the average equity gain per mortgaged homeRead More →