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Monday, May 14, 2012

While consumers are seeing a half-full glass, commercial real estate investors and execs are less willing to say they’re confident in their slice of the economy. According to the latest quarterly Sentiment Survey from the Real Estate Roundtable, while commercial real estate pros say things improved in the first quarter, they’re still nervous about some of the commercial mortgages that will mature in the coming year...

Consumer sentiment hits (another) high

Monday, May 14, 2012

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index (basically, the one everyone uses) not only beat the predictions for early May, but hit its highest level since January 2008. “Analysts” had predicted that the index would drop from 76.4 (April) to 76.2. Instead, it climbed to 77.8. What do those numbers mean? Essentially, in 1964 researchers asked consumers if they were positive or negative about...

LPS reports first home-price increase since 2010

Friday, May 11, 2012

There are a lot of small indicators of a market turnaround, and LPS (that’s Lender Processing Services) has a new one: It’s Home Price Index — which is based on actual closings — was up 0.2 percent in February, and the company expects it to rise again in March by another 0.3 percent. Small changes, to be sure, but as LPS VP Raj Dosaj points out, prices increased “for the first time since March 2010, and for only the...

Join the 2013 class of the Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

If you could do just one thing next year guaranteed to ratchet-up your earning potential and real estate knowledge and create a personal referral network that could pay dividends for the rest of your career…would you do it?Perhaps the more appropriate question is: Why wouldn’t you?Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy (VLA) graduates say it’s the best way to supercharge your real estate career.

VARbuzz: Builder survey: Renters really want to own

Monday, May 7, 2012

“Renters Really Prefer Owning, Builder Survey Says,” says the Wall Street Journal. I grabbed that immediately — looked like a good, positive story.Unfortunately, the survey the story is based on doesn’t really say that.Sayeth the Journal:A survey from PulteGroup — one of the nation’s largest home builders — has found a surprising result: Many renters want to buy homes.But PulteGroup actually said:

VARbuzz: REO flood a-comin’? Doesn’t look that way

Friday, May 4, 2012

As we told you the other day, all the hubbub about shadow inventory — a flood of foreclosures and distressed sales coming down the pike — looks to have been a tempest in a teapot and much ado about nothing. A mountain out of a molehill, if you will.The Wall Street Journal has a piece, “That New Foreclosure Tsunami? Still Waiting” in which it points out that the fears seem unjustified:

VARbuzz: Good foreclosure news from CoreLogic

Friday, May 4, 2012

In its March National Foreclosure Report, CoreLogic found that foreclosures dropped 18.8% from March 2011. Even better, foreclosures in the first quarter were down 14.7% from the first quarter of 2011.“Compared to a year ago, the number of completed foreclosures has slowed,” said Anand Nallathambi, chief executive officer of CoreLogic. “Since the foreclosure inventory is also coming down, this suggests that loan...

VARbuzz: Real estate’s a good investment, but not as good as gold — so say you all

Friday, May 4, 2012

“Gold gold gold gold gold gold gold.” –Dwarf mining song, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.iA Gallup poll found that 34 percent of Americans consider gold the best long-term investment. Real estate and stocks came in as number 2 and 3, with men preferring real estate and women preferring stocks.Why gold? Historical reasons.

Join the 2013 class of the Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

If you could do just one thing next year guaranteed to ratchet-up your earning potential and real estate knowledge and create a personal referral network that could pay dividends for the rest of your career…would you do it?Perhaps the more appropriate question is: Why wouldn’t you?Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy (VLA) graduates say it’s the best way to supercharge your real estate career.

VARbuzz: Builder survey: Renters really want to own

Monday, May 7, 2012

“Renters Really Prefer Owning, Builder Survey Says,” says the Wall Street Journal. I grabbed that immediately — looked like a good, positive story.Unfortunately, the survey the story is based on doesn’t really say that.Sayeth the Journal:A survey from PulteGroup — one of the nation’s largest home builders — has found a surprising result: Many renters want to buy homes.But PulteGroup actually said:

VARbuzz: REO flood a-comin’? Doesn’t look that way

Friday, May 4, 2012

As we told you the other day, all the hubbub about shadow inventory — a flood of foreclosures and distressed sales coming down the pike — looks to have been a tempest in a teapot and much ado about nothing. A mountain out of a molehill, if you will.The Wall Street Journal has a piece, “That New Foreclosure Tsunami? Still Waiting” in which it points out that the fears seem unjustified:

VARbuzz: Good foreclosure news from CoreLogic

Friday, May 4, 2012

In its March National Foreclosure Report, CoreLogic found that foreclosures dropped 18.8% from March 2011. Even better, foreclosures in the first quarter were down 14.7% from the first quarter of 2011.“Compared to a year ago, the number of completed foreclosures has slowed,” said Anand Nallathambi, chief executive officer of CoreLogic. “Since the foreclosure inventory is also coming down, this suggests that loan...

VARbuzz: Real estate’s a good investment, but not as good as gold — so say you all

Friday, May 4, 2012

“Gold gold gold gold gold gold gold.” –Dwarf mining song, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.iA Gallup poll found that 34 percent of Americans consider gold the best long-term investment. Real estate and stocks came in as number 2 and 3, with men preferring real estate and women preferring stocks.Why gold? Historical reasons.

Join the 2013 class of the Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

If you could do just one thing next year guaranteed to ratchet-up your earning potential and real estate knowledge and create a personal referral network that could pay dividends for the rest of your career…would you do it?Perhaps the more appropriate question is: Why wouldn’t you?Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy (VLA) graduates say it’s the best way to supercharge your real estate career.

VARbuzz: REO flood a-comin’? Doesn’t look that way

Friday, May 4, 2012

As we told you the other day, all the hubbub about shadow inventory — a flood of foreclosures and distressed sales coming down the pike — looks to have been a tempest in a teapot and much ado about nothing. A mountain out of a molehill, if you will.The Wall Street Journal has a piece, “That New Foreclosure Tsunami? Still Waiting” in which it points out that the fears seem unjustified:

VARbuzz: Good foreclosure news from CoreLogic

Friday, May 4, 2012

In its March National Foreclosure Report, CoreLogic found that foreclosures dropped 18.8% from March 2011. Even better, foreclosures in the first quarter were down 14.7% from the first quarter of 2011.“Compared to a year ago, the number of completed foreclosures has slowed,” said Anand Nallathambi, chief executive officer of CoreLogic. “Since the foreclosure inventory is also coming down, this suggests that loan...

VARbuzz: Real estate’s a good investment, but not as good as gold — so say you all

Friday, May 4, 2012

“Gold gold gold gold gold gold gold.” –Dwarf mining song, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.iA Gallup poll found that 34 percent of Americans consider gold the best long-term investment. Real estate and stocks came in as number 2 and 3, with men preferring real estate and women preferring stocks.Why gold? Historical reasons.

Q1 2012 home sales report is now available

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The First Quarter 2012 Virginia Home Sales Report has been released and brings good news for the Commonwealth! Several long-term trends indicate that Virginia’s housing market is continuing to stabilize.As shown above, the pace of home sales in the first quarter of 2012 marked an improvement over both the first quarter of 2011 and 2010.

Join the 2013 class of the Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

If you could do just one thing next year guaranteed to ratchet-up your earning potential and real estate knowledge and create a personal referral network that could pay dividends for the rest of your career…would you do it?Perhaps the more appropriate question is: Why wouldn’t you?Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy (VLA) graduates say it’s the best way to supercharge your real estate career.

VARbuzz: Commercial Realtors — this rally’s for you, too

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Commercial Realtors have their own reasons for attending the ginormous Realtor Rally to Protect the American Dream (rPad), as NAR treasurer Bill Armstrong explains in an audio message.

VARbuzz: Major survey shows good news for commercial, residential sectors

Thursday, March 29, 2012

The Urban Land Institute released its semi-annual Real Estate Consensus Forecast, in which it surveyed 38 leading real estate economists and analysts from “major real estate investment, advisory, and research firms and organizations” about their views on the upcoming real estate market.And it looks like good news. Or, rather, it looks like the consensus is that we’ll be getting good news.Over the next three years,...

Get Active: VAR's Legislative Advocacy Conference

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Wednesday, February 15 is REALTOR® Day on the Hill. You won't want to miss this important chance to talk directly with your legislators on issues that affect your business. Stick around for the Housing Policy Forum later in the afternoon, then make your way to the Jefferson for our can't-miss Legislative Reception. On Wednesday, the annual Political Advocacy Luncheon with special guest speaker David Stevens, who is...

Press play: Capitol Connections 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

VAR’s legislative package this year comes from three main sources:

Join the 2013 class of the Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

If you could do just one thing next year guaranteed to ratchet-up your earning potential and real estate knowledge and create a personal referral network that could pay dividends for the rest of your career…would you do it?Perhaps the more appropriate question is: Why wouldn’t you?Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy (VLA) graduates say it’s the best way to supercharge your real estate career.

VARbuzz: Builder survey: Renters really want to own

Monday, May 7, 2012

“Renters Really Prefer Owning, Builder Survey Says,” says the Wall Street Journal. I grabbed that immediately — looked like a good, positive story.Unfortunately, the survey the story is based on doesn’t really say that.Sayeth the Journal:A survey from PulteGroup — one of the nation’s largest home builders — has found a surprising result: Many renters want to buy homes.But PulteGroup actually said:

VARbuzz: Real estate’s a good investment, but not as good as gold — so say you all

Friday, May 4, 2012

“Gold gold gold gold gold gold gold.” –Dwarf mining song, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.iA Gallup poll found that 34 percent of Americans consider gold the best long-term investment. Real estate and stocks came in as number 2 and 3, with men preferring real estate and women preferring stocks.Why gold? Historical reasons.

Q1 2012 home sales report is now available

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The First Quarter 2012 Virginia Home Sales Report has been released and brings good news for the Commonwealth! Several long-term trends indicate that Virginia’s housing market is continuing to stabilize.As shown above, the pace of home sales in the first quarter of 2012 marked an improvement over both the first quarter of 2011 and 2010.

Get Active: VAR's Legislative Advocacy Conference

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Wednesday, February 15 is REALTOR® Day on the Hill. You won't want to miss this important chance to talk directly with your legislators on issues that affect your business. Stick around for the Housing Policy Forum later in the afternoon, then make your way to the Jefferson for our can't-miss Legislative Reception. On Wednesday, the annual Political Advocacy Luncheon with special guest speaker David Stevens, who is...

Join the 2013 class of the Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

If you could do just one thing next year guaranteed to ratchet-up your earning potential and real estate knowledge and create a personal referral network that could pay dividends for the rest of your career…would you do it?Perhaps the more appropriate question is: Why wouldn’t you?Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy (VLA) graduates say it’s the best way to supercharge your real estate career.

VARbuzz: Real estate’s a good investment, but not as good as gold — so say you all

Friday, May 4, 2012

“Gold gold gold gold gold gold gold.” –Dwarf mining song, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.iA Gallup poll found that 34 percent of Americans consider gold the best long-term investment. Real estate and stocks came in as number 2 and 3, with men preferring real estate and women preferring stocks.Why gold? Historical reasons.

Get Active: VAR's Legislative Advocacy Conference

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Wednesday, February 15 is REALTOR® Day on the Hill. You won't want to miss this important chance to talk directly with your legislators on issues that affect your business. Stick around for the Housing Policy Forum later in the afternoon, then make your way to the Jefferson for our can't-miss Legislative Reception. On Wednesday, the annual Political Advocacy Luncheon with special guest speaker David Stevens, who is...

Press play: Capitol Connections 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

VAR’s legislative package this year comes from three main sources:

Virginia is setting the stage for a strong second half of 2011

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Richmond, VA, July 21, 2011- Despite slower home sales during second quarter 2011, compared to second quarter of 2010, the housing market in Virginia may be ready to surge forward in the third and fourth quarters. Other good news is that we can see a clear increase in sales from first quarter 2011 to second quarter 2001.

Join the 2013 class of the Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

If you could do just one thing next year guaranteed to ratchet-up your earning potential and real estate knowledge and create a personal referral network that could pay dividends for the rest of your career…would you do it?Perhaps the more appropriate question is: Why wouldn’t you?Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy (VLA) graduates say it’s the best way to supercharge your real estate career.

Get Active: VAR's Legislative Advocacy Conference

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Wednesday, February 15 is REALTOR® Day on the Hill. You won't want to miss this important chance to talk directly with your legislators on issues that affect your business. Stick around for the Housing Policy Forum later in the afternoon, then make your way to the Jefferson for our can't-miss Legislative Reception. On Wednesday, the annual Political Advocacy Luncheon with special guest speaker David Stevens, who is...

Press play: Capitol Connections 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

VAR’s legislative package this year comes from three main sources:

New Laws have taken affect in Virginia

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The 2011 Session of the General Assembly, like every other session, produced many changes in Virginia law. Most of these will take effect on July 1. VAR’s legislative team was able to secure many changes during this year’s General Assembly session that will have a profound effect on your real estate business.

Take part in VAR's 2011 Member Survey

Sunday, February 20, 2011

The Virginia Association of REALTORS® wants to serve you better. To do that, we need to know what we do that works, what we do that doesn’t, and what else we should be doing. Further, we want to know how you feel about important services and representation VAR provides that you can’t get somewhere else. To do that, we’ve created this survey. Please help us by taking a few minutes (actually, more like 10-15...

VARbuzz: Harrisonburg added to list of improving markets

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The National Association of Home Builders has added Harrisonburg to its Improving Markets Index, which “tracks housing markets throughout the country that are showing signs of improving economic health.”It’s the first Virginia city to make the list, which hit a nice, round 100 metropolitan areas.

VARbuzz: CoreLogic: Home prices down in March… but only slightly

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

CoreLogic’s March 2012 Home Price Index finds that, nationwide, prices dropped from year to year — but only by six-tenths of a percent.They also increased 0.6% from February to March. Normally I ignore month-to-month numbers, but what’s notable about this is that it’s the first month-to-month increase since July 2011.Read more over at Calculated Risk.

VARbuzz: RealDirect offering end-run around traditional model

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Things that make you go “Hmm”: New York-based RealDirect.com is offering an alternative to the use-a-Realtor model of home buying and selling. It offers not only to handle the logistics of listing a property, but it also gives sellers the advice of real real estate agents, for a flat fee of $395 a month or up to two percent commission. (It offers various levels of service.)Now it’s expanding onto the buyers’ side,...

VARbuzz: Student loan rate set to double — and that’s bad for housing

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

One of the issues facing the housing market in the next few years will be, oddly enough, student loans. With the cost of education rising, a lot of 20- and 30-somethings are spending a good chunk of their income paying them off. That’s one reason many may not buy a home as quickly as they might have a few years ago.As Bloomberg put it in “‘Explosion in Student Debt’ Drags Down Housing“:As the cost of attending U.S....

VARbuzz: "Rents soar" — and that could be good for sales

Monday, May 7, 2012

So what happens when a lot of people lose their homes to foreclosures and short sales? And a lot more find they don’t qualify for a mortgage? They rent, obviously.And when demand for rentals goes up, what happens? Anyone? Yes, you in the back.That’s right: Prices go up.And that’s exactly what’s happening, reports the LA Times, in “Rents soar as foreclosure victims, young workers seek housing.”

Special edition legal hotline Q&A: VA agency law changes

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

VAR’s Jay DeBoer kicks off our special Legal Hotline Q&A videos on agency with a concise overview of what you can expect come July 1 when changes to the law go into effect. You won’t want to miss this intro to the changes, including:upcoming changes to required (new) disclosure formsenhanced dual agency disclosure infothe low-down on the written brokerage agreement requirementthe skinny on the mandatory...

VAR's Agency Center is now online

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Agency: It’s a simple word that describes a complex set of relationships that Realtors® engage in every day. Its complexity is evidenced by the volumes of books written about it, the fact that it is taught as a semester course in law school and, most importantly, the way it is misunderstood in everyday real estate practice.The Virginia Association of Realtors® worked to help develop legislation to enhance the agency...

Five great exhibitors to see at NAR’s 2012 Midyear Trade Expo

Monday, April 30, 2012

Chrysler Group LLC — REALTOR Benefits® Program partner offers REALTORS® exclusive discounts on select Chrysler Group vehicles.Lowe’s Program for REALTORS® — Available exclusively to NAR members through the REALTOR Benefits® Program — provides free customizable marketing tools and coupons, plus discounts on gift cards.REALTOR® University — Take your professional career to a new level with NAR’s new Master of Real...

Legal Hotline FAQs: Anti-Trust

Monday, April 16, 2012

Legal Hotline FAQs: Unusual disclosure scenarios

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

VARbuzz: Harrisonburg added to list of improving markets

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The National Association of Home Builders has added Harrisonburg to its Improving Markets Index, which “tracks housing markets throughout the country that are showing signs of improving economic health.”It’s the first Virginia city to make the list, which hit a nice, round 100 metropolitan areas.

VARbuzz: CoreLogic: Home prices down in March… but only slightly

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

CoreLogic’s March 2012 Home Price Index finds that, nationwide, prices dropped from year to year — but only by six-tenths of a percent.They also increased 0.6% from February to March. Normally I ignore month-to-month numbers, but what’s notable about this is that it’s the first month-to-month increase since July 2011.Read more over at Calculated Risk.

VARbuzz: Student loan rate set to double — and that’s bad for housing

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

One of the issues facing the housing market in the next few years will be, oddly enough, student loans. With the cost of education rising, a lot of 20- and 30-somethings are spending a good chunk of their income paying them off. That’s one reason many may not buy a home as quickly as they might have a few years ago.As Bloomberg put it in “‘Explosion in Student Debt’ Drags Down Housing“:As the cost of attending U.S....

VARbuzz: "Rents soar" — and that could be good for sales

Monday, May 7, 2012

So what happens when a lot of people lose their homes to foreclosures and short sales? And a lot more find they don’t qualify for a mortgage? They rent, obviously.And when demand for rentals goes up, what happens? Anyone? Yes, you in the back.That’s right: Prices go up.And that’s exactly what’s happening, reports the LA Times, in “Rents soar as foreclosure victims, young workers seek housing.”

VARbuzz: Gas prices down

Monday, May 7, 2012

Here’s a bit of good news, for those of you who do a lot of city driving: Gas prices in the US are down to an average of $3.85 a gallon — 15 and a half cents lower than last year.

VARbuzz: Bad reporting, new-home sales, and the Commerce Department

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Behold, nonsense. Here are some headlines today:New Home Sales Slide in MarchUS new-home sales off 7 percent in March, largest decline in a yearNew home sales plunge in March‎This is known as bad reporting. The worst comes from Karl Case via Yahoo Finance: “The American Dream Of Buying A Home May Be Over.”If any of these people bothered to actually check the facts, they’d know better. Instead, you’ve got a whole...

VARbuzz: HARP 3.0? Only a rumor right now

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

So there’s talk about the potential of a HARP 3.0 that would be available to even more distressed homeowners.The Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) is a Obama-administration initiative (started in 2009) that allows homeowners who are current but underwater to refinance their loans at today’s crazy-low rates.If you wanted to take advantage of HARP 1.0, you had to meet certain requirements:

VARbuzz: Inventory drops — and the WSJ explains why

Monday, April 23, 2012

We told you the other day how home sales were up in March over a year ago (and have been posting such gains for nine months now), and NAR is reporting that inventory nationwide is down 21.8% from March 2011.So what’s the deal? According to the Wall Street Journal, the reasons are threefold.First, although prices are down closer to their historical norms, people remember 2005 — and don’t want to sell so far off the...

May 17 REALTOR® Rally is THIS week!

Friday, April 20, 2012

It’s time to stand up for your profession. It’s time to stand up for housing. It’s time to show the country that Realtors® are going to be heard.On May 17, thousands of Realtors from across the country will converge on Washington D.C., in front of the Capitol, Washington Monument (location moved to accomodate the thousands of rally registrants!), sending a message no one can misunderstand:We are Realtors, we are...

VARbuzz guest post: Realtors® Need to Know Their Limits

Friday, April 20, 2012

…or know when to ask for help.This morning I fielded a distressing call from a home seller who was qualified for the DoD Homeowners Assistance Program. They were not in my area but when they were looking for answers to some questions about the process they found my blog posts on the program. All I can say after our conversation was WOW.

Five great exhibitors to see at NAR’s 2012 Midyear Trade Expo

Monday, April 30, 2012

Chrysler Group LLC — REALTOR Benefits® Program partner offers REALTORS® exclusive discounts on select Chrysler Group vehicles.Lowe’s Program for REALTORS® — Available exclusively to NAR members through the REALTOR Benefits® Program — provides free customizable marketing tools and coupons, plus discounts on gift cards.REALTOR® University — Take your professional career to a new level with NAR’s new Master of Real...

VARbuzz: Mini Accessible Tech: Will you have Internet access on July 9?

Monday, April 23, 2012

A quick visit to a government Web site could make sure you don’t lose your Internet connection in July.The FBI says that hundreds of thousands of computers are infected with a virus, and those machines will lose Internet access on July 9.

VARbuzz: Zestimate change causes wailing, hand-wringing

Friday, March 30, 2012

Remember the hubbub a few weeks ago when NAR revised some of its home-sales data? It’s happening again — but this time it’s Zillow on the receiving end.And people are not happy about the changes.Quoth the Wall Street Journal story:On June 14th, Bill Trumbo, a 68-year-old retired financial analyst in Phoenix, Ariz., logged onto his bank’s online personal financial management account and found that his house in...

VARbuzz: Social media for Realtors: Mostly myth?

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Interesting post by Jeff Brown over at Bloodhound Blog on social media and the real estate business. His point: All talk, not a lot of action.“My years online have shown me widgets and SM [social media] pretty much add sales every now and again,” he says. “Agents don’t need shiny toys and Facebook to do that.”And: “For years now, agents from coast to coast have paid good money to hear about widgets and SM ‘how to’,...

VARbuzz: Love, hate, Trulia

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

I’m not sure what to make of these two stories.Business Insider: “Zillow And Trulia Face Backlash From Real Estate Agents“Among their complaints are that the sites allow any agent, for a fee, to have their name and photo appear prominently beside homes listed for sale in a given region, even if they aren’t the agent who represents the seller.[snip]Some realtors also claim that many listings on the largest sites are...

Join the 2013 class of the Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

If you could do just one thing next year guaranteed to ratchet-up your earning potential and real estate knowledge and create a personal referral network that could pay dividends for the rest of your career…would you do it?Perhaps the more appropriate question is: Why wouldn’t you?Virginia REALTOR® Leadership Academy (VLA) graduates say it’s the best way to supercharge your real estate career.

Special edition legal hotline Q&A: VA agency law changes

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

VAR’s Jay DeBoer kicks off our special Legal Hotline Q&A videos on agency with a concise overview of what you can expect come July 1 when changes to the law go into effect. You won’t want to miss this intro to the changes, including:upcoming changes to required (new) disclosure formsenhanced dual agency disclosure infothe low-down on the written brokerage agreement requirementthe skinny on the mandatory...

VAR's Agency Center is now online

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Agency: It’s a simple word that describes a complex set of relationships that Realtors® engage in every day. Its complexity is evidenced by the volumes of books written about it, the fact that it is taught as a semester course in law school and, most importantly, the way it is misunderstood in everyday real estate practice.The Virginia Association of Realtors® worked to help develop legislation to enhance the agency...

Five great exhibitors to see at NAR’s 2012 Midyear Trade Expo

Monday, April 30, 2012

Chrysler Group LLC — REALTOR Benefits® Program partner offers REALTORS® exclusive discounts on select Chrysler Group vehicles.Lowe’s Program for REALTORS® — Available exclusively to NAR members through the REALTOR Benefits® Program — provides free customizable marketing tools and coupons, plus discounts on gift cards.REALTOR® University — Take your professional career to a new level with NAR’s new Master of Real...

Q1 2012 home sales report is now available

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The First Quarter 2012 Virginia Home Sales Report has been released and brings good news for the Commonwealth! Several long-term trends indicate that Virginia’s housing market is continuing to stabilize.As shown above, the pace of home sales in the first quarter of 2012 marked an improvement over both the first quarter of 2011 and 2010.

VARbuzz: CoreLogic: Home prices down in March… but only slightly

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

CoreLogic’s March 2012 Home Price Index finds that, nationwide, prices dropped from year to year — but only by six-tenths of a percent.They also increased 0.6% from February to March. Normally I ignore month-to-month numbers, but what’s notable about this is that it’s the first month-to-month increase since July 2011.Read more over at Calculated Risk.

VARbuzz: B of A: Homeownership rate will be 63%

Monday, May 7, 2012

“Housing analysts at Bank of America say the nation’s homeownership rate will decline further,” reports Housing Wire. “The rate will eventually fall to about 63 percent and remain there, they say.” (The current US home ownership rate is 65.4 percent.) Well that settles that, doesn’t it?Do people really believe they can predict something like that? Seriously? It’s one thing to say that, thanks to foreclosures,...

VARbuzz: Builder survey: Renters really want to own

Monday, May 7, 2012

“Renters Really Prefer Owning, Builder Survey Says,” says the Wall Street Journal. I grabbed that immediately — looked like a good, positive story.Unfortunately, the survey the story is based on doesn’t really say that.Sayeth the Journal:A survey from PulteGroup — one of the nation’s largest home builders — has found a surprising result: Many renters want to buy homes.But PulteGroup actually said:

VARbuzz: REO flood a-comin’? Doesn’t look that way

Friday, May 4, 2012

As we told you the other day, all the hubbub about shadow inventory — a flood of foreclosures and distressed sales coming down the pike — looks to have been a tempest in a teapot and much ado about nothing. A mountain out of a molehill, if you will.The Wall Street Journal has a piece, “That New Foreclosure Tsunami? Still Waiting” in which it points out that the fears seem unjustified:

VARbuzz: Good foreclosure news from CoreLogic

Friday, May 4, 2012

In its March National Foreclosure Report, CoreLogic found that foreclosures dropped 18.8% from March 2011. Even better, foreclosures in the first quarter were down 14.7% from the first quarter of 2011.“Compared to a year ago, the number of completed foreclosures has slowed,” said Anand Nallathambi, chief executive officer of CoreLogic. “Since the foreclosure inventory is also coming down, this suggests that loan...

VARbuzz: Barclay’s crystal ball: Housing could ‘normalize’ in 2014, 2015, or 2016

Monday, March 5, 2012

Analysts at Barclay’s have determined that, depending on a variety of conditions, the nation’s housing supply could reach “normal” levels in two, three, our four years.That’s per a story in HousingWire.

VARbuzz: Beyond the bricks: Know your new construction types

Monday, March 5, 2012

So you’ve got your standard house that we all know and love: Bricks, wooden frame, the usual. And you’ve got your mobile home (hint: check for wheels). But there are a bunch of other species of the American homestead, and Arlington Realtor/blogger Genevieve Concannon wants to be sure you know the difference.

VARbuzz: No, the sky isn’t falling on FHA

Friday, March 2, 2012

Much has been made of the potential — somehow — of the Federal Housing Administration running out of money. After all, it had to help bail out all those banks when the Great Recession started.Contrary to what you may have heard, says NAR, FHA isn’t in danger of going under. But — like a lot of other rumors in an election year — this one keeps circulating.So…“There has been considerable coverage in the media about...

VARbuzz: Almost a quarter of homes underwater, more in Virginia

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Almost 23% of U.S. residential properties with a mortgage are underwater, and another 3% are “near negative” (have less than five percent equity). In Virginia, the numbers are slightly higher than the national average; about 30% of Virginia’s homes are underwater or close to it.This comes from the latest negative equity report from CoreLogic.Some other interesting tidbits:

Arizona Association buys largest regional MLS in the state

Monday, August 15, 2011

The board of the Arizona Association of Realtors voted to acquire the state’s largest MLS, the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service Inc. (ARMLS), for $4.75 million. The plan is to work with the state’s 13 other MLSs to create a single entity covering the entire state: the Arizona Multiple MLS. (Yes, that’s “Arizona Multiple Multiple Listing Service.”) Much of the work is already done, at least from an...

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