We have many reasons to be optimistic about housing. Past-due mortgages and foreclosure filings have been trending down in recent months, not to mention inventory is decreasing, interest rates are lower than ever and home prices are stabilizing. But the …

Maintaining a competitive edge in today’s market takes more than positioning yourself as an educated, trusted advisor. As buyers and sellers alike continue to turn to the Internet to start their real estate search, it’s more important than ever that …

Professionals Realty Group USA (ProsUSA) President Glenn Melton reports that the recent Chinese government’s liberalization of restrictions on investing capital outside of the country, will have a positive trickling down affect on real estate brokers and agents’ business in the…

Prudential Network Realty’s Elizabeth Hudgins of the Ponte Vedra Beach office was recently recognized as the No. 1 sales associate in the Prudential Real Estate Network in Florida, which encompasses more than 10,000 agents, the company announced. In year-to-date statistics …

High end homes in both Malibu and Pacific Palisades are selling faster, according to a Westside Estate Agency (WEA) analysis of housing data in the two luxury markets through the third quarter.

The report, which reviews overall total sales in …

The median home price in the U.S. has plunged nearly 40% in a little over five years, but the worst is definitely over, according to a recent report by Kiplinger: The market has finally wrung out the last excess valuations…

Whether it’s filing your taxes on time, paying your bills, cleaning out the garage, or getting out of bed to exercise, everyone tends to procrastinate once in a while. It has been said that Robinson Crusoe is the only person…

As 2011 draws to a close, it makes you wonder; where did the time go? On the other hand, one thing you’re not left wondering is whether mobile will remain an important part of the technological and marketing landscape moving…

Everyone knows that the housing market has been a little daunting for the last several years. Ups and downs, talk of good news and bad news, and a confusing amount of information about rising and falling mortgage rates has rendered…

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes edged up two points from a downwardly revised number to 21 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for December. This marks a third consecutive …

For sellers with homes on the market or for newly moved-in buyers, fixing up your home can be a worthwhile and satisfying process. Needless to say, the home improvement process can potentially be daunting when trying to keep track of…

In recent years, it has been hard to ignore all of the negative publicity that has been circulating about the national economy, the stock market and current events. The state of the real estate market in particular has received a…

CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), a provider of information, analytics and business services, recently released its first-ever Natural Hazard Risk Summary and Analysis, detailing the record-breaking natural disasters that struck the United States in 2011. The report provides an analysis of significant…

Finding a new place to live just became easier for consumers who can now browse apartments on their smartphones, according to Apartment Finder (ApartmentFinder.com), which recently launched an additional mobile tool—a free Android App to make looking through photos, maps,…

In the world of listings, the silver medal means absolutely nothing. It pays less than nothing. And, in fact, it actually costs you, because of all those wasted hours (and gas for your car, materials for the listing presentation, etc).…

Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nevada, recently issued the following statement on a congressional plan to raise fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and use them…

Editor’s Note: The below article, which originally appeared in the December 2011 issue of Real Estate magazine, features updated information regarding the National Flood Insurance Program.

The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR) is a leading advocate regarding federal legislative and…

The UFA Default Risk Index for the fourth quarter of 2011 edged lower to 131 from last quarter’s revised 133, which suggests that residential mortgage default and prepayment risks are continuing their return to normalcy.

According to the latest UFA…

The heart of any company can be found beating inside the walls of its customer service department. Providing superior customer service after the sale is a smart business decision that pays long-term dividends. All the money a company spends on …

Purchasing a home, especially if it is your first time, can be an extremely stressful and complicated process. It is easy to get overwhelmed by your choices and the many steps it takes to get the deal closed and the …

This week, the Real Estate Marketing Summit is returning to the exemplary location of the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, Calif., where hundreds of participants have registered to arrive on Wednesday, December 14th, 2011. Thousands, throughout the world, however, …

Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) recently released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey(R) (PMMS(R)), showing average fixed mortgage rates largely unchanged and near their record lows helping to keep housing affordability high for those borrowers who are in …

The jumbo 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to a new record low of 4.68 percent, according to Bankrate.com’s weekly national survey. The average jumbo 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.4 discount and origination points.

To see mortgage rates …

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently released the November edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard—a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. Included in this month’s report are…

Residential real estate is not rocket science. We know that this housing crisis is:
1. Explainable – bad lending, mad speculation, wild expectations, government meddling
2. Isolated – bad mortgages, negative equity, strategic default, government meddling
3.…

Home prices have declined over the past three months and now trail last year by 3.9 percent, according to the latest CoreLogic Home Price Index.

“Home prices continue to decline in response to the weak demand for housing. While…

There’s no place like home for the holidays, and a new consumer survey from Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC confirmed that the majority of Americans wouldn’t have it any other way. Approximately four in 10 respondents (39 percent) say…

The holidays are fast approaching. Regardless of what denomination you are- the next couple of months are probably going to be more hectic than most as you prepare to conclude 2011 with friends and family. If your home is on…

Real Estate Marketing Summit 2011 (REMS) is in the process of making the final preparations for this year’s event, being held Dec. 14-15 at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego. Highly successful in its inaugural year, REMS 2010 was…

In late-breaking news Tuesday Brookfield Residential Property Services, a Brookfield Asset Management Inc. affiliate, announced that it has purchased Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services (PRERS), a recognized leader in employee relocation and real estate franchising from Prudential Financial, Inc.…