Tag Archives: NAR
Charlottesville People – Do you Care What the National Association of Realtors Say?
I know I’m a broken record. I get a tremendous amount of value from the National Association of Realtors – from their publications (On Common Ground is tremendous), to the lobbying they do to the information they share … but as far as home sales data and projections, I don’t understand why there is so much gnashing of teeth and complaining about the NAR’s projections and data. The NAR is a trade organization for Realtors. I’m not bashing the NAR, but I would like to see their analysis put in the appropriate context.
Understanding the Charlottesville area real estate market is a full-time job – representing buyers and sellers, analyzing the market, etc.; making sense of the nation’s housing market – I’d go so far as to say it’s impossible to do accurately or credibly.
For a brief summary of where we are in Charlottesville:
Nest’s January 2012 Real Estate Summary
And the “Market Statistics” category in RealCentralVA. Or, better yet, if you have a question about the market, start your research looking at the broader market statistics and then, ask me.
To see the responses to the title question from those on Twitter, read the rest of the story.
Lawrence Yun is Right (My take on the NAR’s Revisions)
“From a consumer’s perspective, only the local market information matters and there are no changes to local multiple listing service (MLS) data or local supply-and-demand balance, or to local home prices,” Yun explained. (business insider)
True. Ignore the NAR. Read local real estate analysis.
If you’re looking for insight into and analysis about the Charlottesville area real estate market, start here.
Realtor.com’s App Rocks – So Say I & my Clients
Say you want to know what houses are for sale in a certain, undefined area around Crozet Park.
I never thought I’d say such nice things about Realtor.com. I’ve written a few things about them over the years, and while I still have issues with their AVM and a few other things, the Realtor.com App is tremendous.
Put simply:
- If you’re searching for a home, download it.
- If you’re curious about home prices as you drive around, download it.
- If you’re a Realtor, get it .
I was showing houses in Crozet last … Continue reading…
HR 2413 – “Safe and Sound”: The Bill to Reform Fannie and Freddie?
We’ll see.
H.R. 2413, supported by the NAR, is billed as:
To establish a sustainable Federal Secondary Market Facility for Residential Mortgages that is financed by private capital, to terminate the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and repeal the charter Acts of such enterprises, and for other purposes.
I’m trying to make sense of the bill today Continue reading
Real Estate Data and Analysis is Local. And always will be
If you haven’t been paying attention to the national real estate data world for the past week, you might have missed the National Association of Realtors responding to claims that it has been inflating housing sales .
…While some I have spoken with today call the claim by CoreLogic (a housing data provider) that the Realtors overestimated home sales in 2010 by almost 1.5 million, “overblown,” the Realtors themselves admit there is a problem.
… This is a big and important conversation because the NAR’s data, along with Case Schiller, are important, widely read, and depended on by many to ascertain the psychology of buyers, sellers – real estate consumers.
…I’ve said it before, when you’re evaluating the Charlottesville real estate market, ignore the national data ; it will only cloud your opinion . Continue reading
Insight into the Home Buying and Selling Process
In my business I have found that, on average, many of my buyer clients search for between 12 and 24 months – they are searching data, market trends, growth patterns, identifying where they want to live and then focusing on the homes themselves. … But a far lesser percentage than I expected. 
Length of search for buyers who used an agent, first-time and repeat buyers: – I presume that the repeat buyers may be those repeat buyer buying within the region they already inhabit; they know where they want to live, so the investigative process is much shorter. 
Information sources used in home search, by first-time and repeat buyers, and buyers of new and previously owned homes: – Same as last year, Internet, Real Estate Agent, Yard Sign are the top three sources. … I’m not completely discounting print’s effectiveness; for branding , print is hard to beat, for selling a house , it’s not even in the conversation. 
A qualifier to the below chart: Good real estate agents are useful. … As I said four years ago, Zillow Cannot Adapt ; until they develop effective Artificial Intelligence , people will be the best options. 
No surprises here – the internet is the most frequently used information source; this is one reason that I coach my buyer clients (and any reader, really) in how to effectively search for homes in the Charlottesville area . 
Continue reading
Home Buyer Tax Credit Closing Extension Has Life – H.R. 5623
From GOP.gov (bolding mine): H.R. 5623 would extend the homebuyer tax credit of up to $8,000 for the purchase of a principal residence before October 1, 2010. … The bill would provide any homebuyer who entered into a contract on a home by April 30, 2010, but have been unable to go to closing within the required 60 days; the provision would extend the closing date for an additional 90 days. … Under current law, taxpayers who submit a bad check or money order to the IRS must pay a penalty of 2% of the amount of the check or money order. … ] This provision would extend the authority of the Department of Homeland Security to implement fees related to the recently-enacted Travel Promotion Act for one year, through fiscal year 2011. Continue reading
So … Has the Tax Credit Closing Deadline Been Extended? Maybe.
I’m reading this morning that the amendment was approved: The Senate has amended a bill to give homebuyers who were under contract on a home purchase by April 30 an additional three months to close the deal and claim the federal homebuyer tax credit. … I read this on the OpenCongress site – Dems Lose Big on Unemployment Insurance/Tax Extenders Vote After two weeks of solid debate — and two weeks of people having their unemployment insurance cut off because of congressional inaction — the Senate this morning took their first test vote on passing H.R. 4213 , the “American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010.” … As you know, Senator Reid has been supporting an amendment to H.R. 4213 that would extend the deadline for closing for the homebuyer tax credit from June 30 to September 30. … But also yesterday, earlier in the day before Senator Reid’s amendment, the Senate voted against a motion that would move closer to ending debate on the bill and passing it. Continue reading
