We are “leaning in” to get our properties sold before the New Year.  The inventories that we were throwing on the shelf 2-3 years ago are now flowing back into the market keeping prices in check.  It is decision time and waiting another year to sell, will most likely cost money to get there.  We are tweaking photos, content and even location to get our sellers to the finish line.

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Home prices in both the United States and Canada have steadily been increasing over the last several months, according to recent housing market data.

Evidently, CoreLogic Home Price Index recently reported that U.S. home prices have increased in nearly all major cities, and were up 12.4 percent year-over-year in August.

Meanwhile, in Canada, home prices are showing their own gains in terms of home prices!

This is encouraging news for anyone hoping to sell their home soon.

U.S., Canada Home Prices Are On the Rise!

Here are three encouraging signs for both the US housing market and Canadian housing market:

• Home prices increased month-over-month throughout the summer
• The proportion of distressed homes on local markets has been declining
• Home values are seeing year-over-year gains

More specifically, here’s a look at recent activity on the U.S. housing market:

• Home prices increased 1.8 percent between June and July.
• August saw a 0.9 percent increase in home prices
• Nevada saw the largest increase in home prices, with a 25.9 percent year-over-year home price increase.
• Nevada was followed by California, Arizona, Utah and Florida respectively in terms of home price appreciation.
• For metropolitan areas, San Bernandino and Los Angeles in California saw more than a 20 percent year-over-year increase in August. That makes them some of the highest jumpers in price appreciation.
• Out of the 100 largest cities, Akron, Ohio, was the only one to see prices decrease.
• New Mexico had the smallest appreciation, with just a 1.54 percent increase, followed by Vermont, Delaware, West Virginia and Kentucky. Those states had between a 2 and 3 percent increase.
• All of the above statistics factored in distressed sales. But if you take those out, home prices increased by 11.2 percent year-over-year in August 2013
• Still, home prices remain 17.1 percent below their peak in April 2006. 
• Analysts remain optimistic about the future, predicting a 12.7 percent price hike for September.

And here’s a look at what Canadians are seeing in terms of home prices:

• Canadian home prices increased by 0.1 percent between July and August
• Home prices were also 1.8 percent higher than a year earlier

Your National Real Estate Experts

The summer home-buying season ended on a positive note in most markets in Canada and the United States, which is sure to please home sellers everywhere!

And given that analysts are expecting this upward trend to continue, home owners can feel optimistic when they ultimately decide to list their properties!

Check back here soon for updates on housing market trends that may affect you!

Hilton Head Island, SC – Our Hilton Head “blog” now has over 7,500 readers and hundreds of visitors every day.  It has been our goal to keep you posted on the local happenings, area news, worthy events, property ownership ideas and important information. Hopefully one of these posts has given something back to you.  Listed below are the 10 articles in order of their popularity.  I would love to know what your favorite was.  Maybe it was one below or one from the past.  E-mail me and let me know! Read the rest of this entry

Hilton Head Island, SC – Many Hilton Head property owners have called or emailed recently for comparables because of their recent Beaufort County Reassessment.  If you would like a list of applicable comparable properties, please email me at Robbie@robbiebunting.com .   Below is an email we received recently.  Just let us know if you would like some help.  It is very easy for us to gather this information for you if it is available.  Thank you.

• “We received out countywide reassessment for property tax and want to appeal it. They have assessed the home at $XXX,XXX for tax purposes. As part of the appeal, we have to send in comparables.   Are you able to send some along for us to use?  Thanks so much!”

The condition of a property can often be corrected with price, however improvements to the condition will make a Hilton Head property sell faster and quite possibly for more money in the market today.  Condition is really the only thing a seller can change other than price to get their property sold.   With available inventory and selection that exist on Hilton Head Island, buyers do not have to settle for a property that needs work.  It is still a beauty contest for Hilton Head Island properties and the best will win.  Sellers have spotted this trend and have become pro-active in positioning their properties to be the next sold.  Listed below are several ways to make a property more saleable. Read the rest of this entry

Hilton Head buyers that are agonizing over a 1% counter offer from the seller are missing the point and usually the property in today’s market.  It is easy to understand why a buyer stays put on their offer in a declining market, but that option is going, going, gone.  Just look at Zillow pricing for Hilton Head over the last year.  It shows an improvement of almost 10%.  A buyer that gets sticker shock in an improving market, just may have to wait for the next recession to buy a home. Read the rest of this entry

The national housing market continues to show great gains lately, according to recent data from the Standard & Poor’s Case/Shiller home price index and other national sources.

Despite some setbacks like rising mortgage rates, the housing market is on an upward swing.

Just Consider These 3 Indicators:

1.) more sellers are listing their homes
2.) more lenders are approving loans
3.) more builders are constructing new developments

This is great news for the entire economy but particularly for interested home sellers!

U.S. Homes for Sale

Here’s an overview of the recent data released by several housing market experts, as originally reported by the New York Times:

• Home values increased 12.4 percent from July 2012 to July 2013
• Year-over-year home prices were up in all 20 cities tracked by Case/Shiller, varying from 3.5 percent in New York to 27.5 percent in Las Vegas.
• Month-to-month home increases were only 0.6 percent, a slowdown from the 1.7 percent increase in April and the 0.9 percent increase in May and June.
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported an 8.8 percent gain in home prices year-over-year.
• Meanwhile, Lennar and KB Home reported plenty of growth and profits in the third quarter, with Lennar seeing a 39 percent increase in 3rd quarter earning year-over-year and KB seeing its profit increase by 7 times year-over-year!
• The number of mortgage applications for home purchases has increased by 7 percent over the last year, although refinance requests have actually decreased 70 percent since early May.
• 2.5 million households regained equity in their homes during the second quarter, according to CoreLogic.

Experts credit the improvements on the housing market to an array of reasons, including people rushing to invest in property before prices continue to rise, lenders gradually relaxing their lending standards, an increase in overall housing inventory, a small inventory of foreclosures on the market and mass home purchasing by investors.

The recent activity on the housing market is sure to benefit the entire country, even if residents aren’t planning on buying or selling a house.

That’s because when the housing market improves, people tend to feel wealthier and thus are more likely to spend money.

This in turn bolsters the greater U.S. economy as a whole!

Still, it should be noted that rising mortgage rates may cool off the housing market slightly in the next few months. Rates have increased from 3.4 percent in January for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to 4.4 percent in July.

But these rates are well below what they’ve been in recent decades!

National Housing Market News that Affects You

As you can see, our national housing market is getting stronger everyday – which is good news for all of us!

Check back here soon for more updates on the current state of the national housing market and how it may affect your home buying and selling efforts.

Hilton Head Properties has made it easier for buyers to research and navigate properties for sale in Hilton Head, Bluffton and Daufuskie Island.  This program allows our clients to search all Hilton Head area properties for sale with no sign up required.  You can search at your convenience and we even added some cool research tools to make it easier for our visitors to find out everything they can about a property.  Read the rest of this entry

Shipyard Plantation is an 800 acre community on the south end of Hilton Head Island that provides a beautiful blend of residential and resort vacation living. Featuring single family homes and villas, Shipyard Plantation is also a perfect place to own rental property. Many of the Shipyard Plantation homes and villas for sale overlook fairways and fresh water lakes. The Beach Club at Shipyard Plantation is located on the beach and offers direct private access for residents, renters and guests. Read the rest of this entry