Cincinnati's RE/MAX Elite and the Clermont financial group. If you absolutely, positively want to position yourself to be successful in today's market!
Many of you probably heard that the Department of Justice and National Association of Realtors. have just settled their long standing dispute regarding the competitiveness of Multiple Listing Service practices.
So, what have we gained after two years of government investigation and two and a half years of litigation? DOJ says that NAR will now "repeal its anticompetitive policies," and will promise not to be anticompetitive in the future. That's it, no more anti-competitiveness? I just don't see how this legal exercise will have much of an impact on our industry.
The government is not requiring the payment of any fines, nor the admission of any wrong-doing. The NAR IDX policy remains unchanged, their revised VOW policy will become permanent and MLS data will continue to be reserved for the use of professional real estate brokerages. No big news here.
The most significant result? The elimination of "opt-out" practices that allowed brokers to prevent their listings from being shown on competitors' websites. However, many brokers have long since realized that the widespread distribution of their listings is the most beneficial practice. At the same time, this settlement also says that a seller still has the right to control under what circumstances their listing may be shown on the Internet.
Over two years ago, we made the decision at RE/MAX that the best course was to provide the consumer with ALL available listings, without any online registration. Today, remax.com is the most visited website among all our competitors. The free marketplace decided where the best services could be found.
Of course, both sides are claiming victory, but I see the results of this settlement as more favorable to our industry. Most importantly, the NAR leadership did not back down. They fought the good fight and represented our interests very well. We should all be grateful for their unwavering commitment.
I think the real estate industry will move forward very much like it has in the past, regardless of this settlement. The marketplace will always decide what system works best and which companies will survive. I still see great opportunities in this market, and believe that RE/MAX is positioned to experience the very best the future has to offer.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Cincinnati Homes and Mortgages
RE/MAX Elite and the Clermont financial group. If you absolutely, positively want to position yourself to be successful in today's market!
Yesterday, several mortgage lenders issued three separate "rate sheets" in response to the changing mortgage market.
It was the fourth time in the last 6 trading days that mortgage lenders issued multiple rate sheets in a day, and continued the trend that started in mid-January.
The yo-yo nature of mortgage rates underscores the importance of making mortgage rate comparisons within a limited time frame.
Multiple quotes should be gathered with an hour of each other and, even then, it's prudent to ask your lender: "Has there been a mortgage rate reprice in the last hour?"
The current market volatility is in contrast to the "normal" environment of one-rate-sheet-per-day to which mortgage rate shoppers have been accustomed. But with the changing economy, we all have to adapt.
Mortgage rate quotes from this morning won't necessarily be valid this afternoon so if you're in the market for a home loan, be sure to do your shopping in a limited timeframe and don't forget to ask about the reprice.
(Image courtesy: City of Peterborough)
Yesterday, several mortgage lenders issued three separate "rate sheets" in response to the changing mortgage market.
It was the fourth time in the last 6 trading days that mortgage lenders issued multiple rate sheets in a day, and continued the trend that started in mid-January.
The yo-yo nature of mortgage rates underscores the importance of making mortgage rate comparisons within a limited time frame.
Multiple quotes should be gathered with an hour of each other and, even then, it's prudent to ask your lender: "Has there been a mortgage rate reprice in the last hour?"
The current market volatility is in contrast to the "normal" environment of one-rate-sheet-per-day to which mortgage rate shoppers have been accustomed. But with the changing economy, we all have to adapt.
Mortgage rate quotes from this morning won't necessarily be valid this afternoon so if you're in the market for a home loan, be sure to do your shopping in a limited timeframe and don't forget to ask about the reprice.
(Image courtesy: City of Peterborough)
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Cincinnati homes and mortgages
RE/MAX Elite and the Clermont financial group. If you absolutely, positively want to position yourself to be successful in today's market!
Hitwise Ranks remax.com No. 2 on Quarterly Top 10 List Based on share of visits among all U.S. Web sites in the "Business and Finance - Real Estate" category, remax.com is a Hitwise Top 10 Award winner at No. 2 for the quarter ending March 2008.
The Hitwise Top 10 Award recognizes Web sites from over 160 industries that are leaders in their field.
In March alone, remax.com received nearly 6 million hits. About half of them were direct, which means 3 million hits came from top-of-mind brand recall and consumers typing in "remax.com" to access the Web site.
Continuing efforts to increase visibility of remax.com through TV, print and radio ads, plus Search Engine Marketing strategies, put remax.com into the second-place position ahead of competitors such as homegain.com, realestate.com, century21.com and coldwellbanker.com. (Source: Carat and iProspect Monthly Report - April 2008.)
Hitwise Ranks remax.com No. 2 on Quarterly Top 10 List Based on share of visits among all U.S. Web sites in the "Business and Finance - Real Estate" category, remax.com is a Hitwise Top 10 Award winner at No. 2 for the quarter ending March 2008.
The Hitwise Top 10 Award recognizes Web sites from over 160 industries that are leaders in their field.
In March alone, remax.com received nearly 6 million hits. About half of them were direct, which means 3 million hits came from top-of-mind brand recall and consumers typing in "remax.com" to access the Web site.
Continuing efforts to increase visibility of remax.com through TV, print and radio ads, plus Search Engine Marketing strategies, put remax.com into the second-place position ahead of competitors such as homegain.com, realestate.com, century21.com and coldwellbanker.com. (Source: Carat and iProspect Monthly Report - April 2008.)
Monday, May 12, 2008
Cincinnati Homes And Mortgages
RE/MAX Elite and the Clermont financial group. If you absolutely, positively want to postion yourself to be successful in today's market!
Guest Blogger: Dave Liniger, RE/MAX FOUNDER
Has This Market Hit Bottom? May 12, 2008
If you're like me, you're getting a little frustrated with the media's reporting on the current housing market. It's a mess, a crisis, a disaster- I've heard it all. I understand that sensationalism sells, but the real problem is that the information reporters rely upon to make these dire assumptions is often inaccurate.
The good news is that some reporters are finally figuring it out! On May 1, MarketWatch carried a story written by Chris Pummer, a respected financial reporter, who contributes to many mainstream newspapers. In his report, "Home Price Data has its Flaws," he noted that the much relied upon S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index might be giving "imprecise readings of price changes at all levels."
Pummer also noted that most surveys don't agree and that many are flawed by their assumptions, and are using negative hyperbole when describing our current market. It has also been reported that S&P had admitted that their report may "paint an incomplete picture." Really, you think so?
On May 6 The Wall Street Journal printed a guest editorial by hedge fund manager Cyril Moulle-Berteaux entitled, "The Housing Crisis is Over." His premise was that April 2008 could very well mark the bottom of this market, but he emphasized that a bottom doesn't mean that we'll instantly return to 2005, but that "the trend is no longer getting worse."
Moulle-Bertreaux bases his conclusion on the affordability of housing today, the price versus household income. He also says the so called "experts" who say the market has another 30% to drop are making a "simplistic analysis that is appealing on the surface, but is flawed for a variety of reasons."
I have always said that the housing market is like the stock market, no one can predict an exact high or low. At the same time, I am encouraged today by reports from our Affiliates around the country that lead me to believe we are near a bottom. It could take until the end of the year to know for sure if things are turning around, but in the meantime, we could certainly use more accurate and sensible reporting on the situation.
But tell me what you think? Have we hit bottom? What's it like in your market? Post a message to my blog and let everyone know how things look from your view point.
Also, I would encourage you to read the two articles that are linked above and pass the word - the sky is NOT falling down and there's never been a better time to buy a house. Dave
Copyright © 2008 RE/MAX International Inc. 5/12/08
Comments: (3)
Hi Dave, I love to read about great changes in the real estate market. And your blog is right on target that the market is starting to see signs of change. We are starting to see a change in the Tampa, Florida market area. We have seen a 27% increase in sales March over Feb 2008 in the Brandon/Riverview/South Shore area of Hillsborough County Florida our office market area. The Florida Associate of Realtors reported a 10% increase in sales for the State for the same time period. If this trend continues we should have a great home selling/buying summer. Ed Pichette, Broker/Owner, RE/MAX South Shore Realty, Riverview, FL
Hey Dave, Great read of your blog this morning. The following article appeared in our local newspaper this weekend "Sales Surge for Fourth Consecutive Month," by Zach Fox of The Californian. Several months ago I wrote an email to this reporter after he incorrectly quoted stats from our local MLS, regarding how "bad" it was. It was not as bad as he had indicated. I think after my email and subsequent conversation.this particular reporter has changed his slant on reporting news about Real Estate. This is the second article written by this reporter in the last 30 days, showing great positive news. (There was some negative news in the article, but the beginning and mostly throughout there was positive news, encouraging buyers to act now). I would encourage agents throughout the network to have similar dialogues with local reporters. David Weldon, RE/MAX Elite Team, Temecula, CA
Guest Blogger: Dave Liniger, RE/MAX FOUNDER
Has This Market Hit Bottom? May 12, 2008
If you're like me, you're getting a little frustrated with the media's reporting on the current housing market. It's a mess, a crisis, a disaster- I've heard it all. I understand that sensationalism sells, but the real problem is that the information reporters rely upon to make these dire assumptions is often inaccurate.
The good news is that some reporters are finally figuring it out! On May 1, MarketWatch carried a story written by Chris Pummer, a respected financial reporter, who contributes to many mainstream newspapers. In his report, "Home Price Data has its Flaws," he noted that the much relied upon S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index might be giving "imprecise readings of price changes at all levels."
Pummer also noted that most surveys don't agree and that many are flawed by their assumptions, and are using negative hyperbole when describing our current market. It has also been reported that S&P had admitted that their report may "paint an incomplete picture." Really, you think so?
On May 6 The Wall Street Journal printed a guest editorial by hedge fund manager Cyril Moulle-Berteaux entitled, "The Housing Crisis is Over." His premise was that April 2008 could very well mark the bottom of this market, but he emphasized that a bottom doesn't mean that we'll instantly return to 2005, but that "the trend is no longer getting worse."
Moulle-Bertreaux bases his conclusion on the affordability of housing today, the price versus household income. He also says the so called "experts" who say the market has another 30% to drop are making a "simplistic analysis that is appealing on the surface, but is flawed for a variety of reasons."
I have always said that the housing market is like the stock market, no one can predict an exact high or low. At the same time, I am encouraged today by reports from our Affiliates around the country that lead me to believe we are near a bottom. It could take until the end of the year to know for sure if things are turning around, but in the meantime, we could certainly use more accurate and sensible reporting on the situation.
But tell me what you think? Have we hit bottom? What's it like in your market? Post a message to my blog and let everyone know how things look from your view point.
Also, I would encourage you to read the two articles that are linked above and pass the word - the sky is NOT falling down and there's never been a better time to buy a house. Dave
Copyright © 2008 RE/MAX International Inc. 5/12/08
Comments: (3)
Hi Dave, I love to read about great changes in the real estate market. And your blog is right on target that the market is starting to see signs of change. We are starting to see a change in the Tampa, Florida market area. We have seen a 27% increase in sales March over Feb 2008 in the Brandon/Riverview/South Shore area of Hillsborough County Florida our office market area. The Florida Associate of Realtors reported a 10% increase in sales for the State for the same time period. If this trend continues we should have a great home selling/buying summer. Ed Pichette, Broker/Owner, RE/MAX South Shore Realty, Riverview, FL
Hey Dave, Great read of your blog this morning. The following article appeared in our local newspaper this weekend "Sales Surge for Fourth Consecutive Month," by Zach Fox of The Californian. Several months ago I wrote an email to this reporter after he incorrectly quoted stats from our local MLS, regarding how "bad" it was. It was not as bad as he had indicated. I think after my email and subsequent conversation.this particular reporter has changed his slant on reporting news about Real Estate. This is the second article written by this reporter in the last 30 days, showing great positive news. (There was some negative news in the article, but the beginning and mostly throughout there was positive news, encouraging buyers to act now). I would encourage agents throughout the network to have similar dialogues with local reporters. David Weldon, RE/MAX Elite Team, Temecula, CA
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Cincinnati 'Media Is Wrong About Housing Slump'
RE/MAX Elite and the Clermont financial group. If you absolutely, positively want to postion yourself to be successful in today's market!
Why buy a house now? You've been getting bad information. Here's why.
The financial press is worried that they might have gone too far - paralyzing the nation into recession by piling on housing. So they're finally beginning to question the indexes where they get their data, and whether the news is really as bad as it seems. Slowly but surely, headlines are changing from Don't Buy A Home Now to Is It Time To Buy?
We said it here first on Realty Times - that consumers aren't getting the full story. Indexes can be misleading because of the locations, prices, types of housing, and rates of increase they track.
In late April, Robert Shiller, founder of the Case-Shiller Index, announced that there was a good chance housing prices would fall further than the 30 percent drop during the Great Depression.
Shiller has plenty of reason to be negative - he makes money when people buy housing hedge funds, licensed with data obtained through his company Macromarkets LLC.
Now, finally, one brave journalist is writing that Case-Shiller is flawed.
In his story "Home-price data has its flaws," Chris Plummer of MarketWatch slammed both Shiller's Index and the Associated Press for being "grim reapers."
For the first time, S&P Index Committee Chairman David Blitzer "acknowledged his organization's overall and metro-market readings paint an incomplete picture."
No kidding. The index covers only 20 markets, heavily weighted to the most volatile metros in the nation.
Plummer also lampooned the AP for writing that "despite that index's limited seven-year history, home prices plunged by a record percentage at their fastest rate ever."
He also notes, "The glaring discrepancy in this case is that 17 of the 20 metro areas posted record annual declines, and yet 78 percent of the 330 metropolitan regions that the NAR tracks reported price increases ... ."
Bravo, Plummer. But the rest of the financial press still has a long way to go.
When Shiller says home prices are going to fall 30 percent, not one reporter who covered the story asked this simple follow-up question: "Bob, during the worst part of the Great Depression, one in four people were out of work. Our unemployment rate is a little over 5 percent. So what's going to drive home prices that low?"
Instead, no one did even the minimum Wikipedia search to find out what conditions were really like 75 years ago.
What that means is not only are the indexes misleading - the reporting is worse.
Right now we have mortgage interest rates three points below historical norms. We have housing inventories five months greater than balanced markets. Combine that with unemployment that is a half percent lower than the recession of 2003, and you have excellent homebuying conditions.
Stop listening to the media. Go buy a home.
Why buy a house now? You've been getting bad information. Here's why.
The financial press is worried that they might have gone too far - paralyzing the nation into recession by piling on housing. So they're finally beginning to question the indexes where they get their data, and whether the news is really as bad as it seems. Slowly but surely, headlines are changing from Don't Buy A Home Now to Is It Time To Buy?
We said it here first on Realty Times - that consumers aren't getting the full story. Indexes can be misleading because of the locations, prices, types of housing, and rates of increase they track.
In late April, Robert Shiller, founder of the Case-Shiller Index, announced that there was a good chance housing prices would fall further than the 30 percent drop during the Great Depression.
Shiller has plenty of reason to be negative - he makes money when people buy housing hedge funds, licensed with data obtained through his company Macromarkets LLC.
Now, finally, one brave journalist is writing that Case-Shiller is flawed.
In his story "Home-price data has its flaws," Chris Plummer of MarketWatch slammed both Shiller's Index and the Associated Press for being "grim reapers."
For the first time, S&P Index Committee Chairman David Blitzer "acknowledged his organization's overall and metro-market readings paint an incomplete picture."
No kidding. The index covers only 20 markets, heavily weighted to the most volatile metros in the nation.
Plummer also lampooned the AP for writing that "despite that index's limited seven-year history, home prices plunged by a record percentage at their fastest rate ever."
He also notes, "The glaring discrepancy in this case is that 17 of the 20 metro areas posted record annual declines, and yet 78 percent of the 330 metropolitan regions that the NAR tracks reported price increases ... ."
Bravo, Plummer. But the rest of the financial press still has a long way to go.
When Shiller says home prices are going to fall 30 percent, not one reporter who covered the story asked this simple follow-up question: "Bob, during the worst part of the Great Depression, one in four people were out of work. Our unemployment rate is a little over 5 percent. So what's going to drive home prices that low?"
Instead, no one did even the minimum Wikipedia search to find out what conditions were really like 75 years ago.
What that means is not only are the indexes misleading - the reporting is worse.
Right now we have mortgage interest rates three points below historical norms. We have housing inventories five months greater than balanced markets. Combine that with unemployment that is a half percent lower than the recession of 2003, and you have excellent homebuying conditions.
Stop listening to the media. Go buy a home.
Cincinnati 'Media Is Wrong About Housing Slump'
RE/MAX Elite and the Clermont financial group. If you absolutely, positively want to postion yourself to be successful in today's market!
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Cincinnati Homes and Mortgages
RE/MAX Elite and the Clermont financial group. If you absolutely, positively want to postion yourself to be successful in today's market!
Mortgage Market Update:
The Federal Reserve met in late April and reduced the fed funds rate, the rate at which banks lend money to each other, by a quarter-point. The fed funds rate now stands at 2 percent, down from over 5 percent in September 2007. Wall Street analysts believe this may be the last rate decrease in store as the Fed seeks to keep inflation in check.
Fixed-rate mortgages remain stable and hover in the high 5 percent range, up slightly from one month ago.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported a March slowdown in Existing Housing Market, which was down 2.0 percent from February. As it stands, the NAR is anticipating an annual sales volume of 4.93 million homes for 2008.
Finance Q and A:
Q: Is it better to obtain a no fee loan, or one with points and a lower interest rate?
A: Each loan has its benefits. The no fee loan is a practical option for many buyers today, but comes with a higher interest rate and higher monthly payment. Buyers who choose a no fee loan often do so if they think they will be moving again, or if they need the money for something else.
Buyers who pay points up front and reduce their mortgage rate will benefit from a smaller payment. This is a practical approach for buyers who plan on staying in their residence long enough to recover their upfront cost.
Each situation is unique. To find out which option is best for you, contact your mortgage professional today!
Tip of the Month:
With the number of foreclosure investment opportunities on the rise, would-be investors are wise to consult with their mortgage professional first about possible financing options. Depending on credit, some investors can still arrange conventional financing, while others may want to explore lines of credit or borrowing against existing equity. Find out what options are available by calling your mortgage professional today.
Mortgage Market Update:
The Federal Reserve met in late April and reduced the fed funds rate, the rate at which banks lend money to each other, by a quarter-point. The fed funds rate now stands at 2 percent, down from over 5 percent in September 2007. Wall Street analysts believe this may be the last rate decrease in store as the Fed seeks to keep inflation in check.
Fixed-rate mortgages remain stable and hover in the high 5 percent range, up slightly from one month ago.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported a March slowdown in Existing Housing Market, which was down 2.0 percent from February. As it stands, the NAR is anticipating an annual sales volume of 4.93 million homes for 2008.
Finance Q and A:
Q: Is it better to obtain a no fee loan, or one with points and a lower interest rate?
A: Each loan has its benefits. The no fee loan is a practical option for many buyers today, but comes with a higher interest rate and higher monthly payment. Buyers who choose a no fee loan often do so if they think they will be moving again, or if they need the money for something else.
Buyers who pay points up front and reduce their mortgage rate will benefit from a smaller payment. This is a practical approach for buyers who plan on staying in their residence long enough to recover their upfront cost.
Each situation is unique. To find out which option is best for you, contact your mortgage professional today!
Tip of the Month:
With the number of foreclosure investment opportunities on the rise, would-be investors are wise to consult with their mortgage professional first about possible financing options. Depending on credit, some investors can still arrange conventional financing, while others may want to explore lines of credit or borrowing against existing equity. Find out what options are available by calling your mortgage professional today.
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