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Showing posts from December, 2019

Bubble Alert! Is it Getting Too Easy to Get a Mortgage?

There is little doubt that it is easier to get a home mortgage today than it was last year. The  Mortgage Credit Availability Index  (MCAI), published by the  Mortgage Bankers Association,  shows that mortgage credit has become more available in each of the last several years. In fact, in just the last year: More buyers are putting less than 20% down to purchase a home The average credit score on closed mortgages is lower More low-down-payment programs have been introduced This has some people worrying that we are returning to the lax lending standards which led to the boom and bust that real estate experienced ten years ago. Let’s alleviate some of that concern. The graph below shows the MCAI going back to the boom years of 2004-2005. The higher the graph line, the easier it was to get a mortgage. As you can see, lending standards were much more lenient from 2004 to 2007. Though it has gradually become easier to get a mortgage since 2011, we are nowhere near the le

5 Reasons to Sell This Fall

Here are five reasons listing your home for sale this fall makes sense. 1. Demand Is Strong The latest  Buyer Traffic Report  from the  National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows that buyer demand remains very strong throughout the vast majority of the country. These buyers are ready, willing, and able to purchase… and are in the market right now! More often than not, multiple buyers are competing with each other to buy a home. Take advantage of the buyer activity currently in the market. 2. There Is Less Competition Now Housing inventory is still under the 6-month supply that is needed for a normal housing market. This means that, in the majority of the country, there are not enough homes for sale to satisfy the number of buyers in the market. This is good news for homeowners who have gained equity as their home values have increased. However, additional inventory could be coming to the market soon. Historically, the average number of years a homeowner stayed in t

Things to do in Portland, Oregon - Part 12

Portland Saturday Market:

Portland Housing ‘a Bit Less of a Seller’s Market’

The market isn't climbing at the pace it was, but prices are still expected to climb For the past several years, if you’ve owned a house around Portland, you’ve probably had the opportunity to sell it for a sizable profit. According to the economists who presented at Friday’s housing market forecast for the Home Builders Association of Metro Portland, things are starting to cool off. “It’s probably a little bit less of a seller’s market than we were experiencing a year or 2 ago,” said University of Oregon economist Timothy Duy. “You’re making that transition from a super-heated market to just a sort of hot-ish market.” The market isn’t climbing at the pace it was, but prices are still expected to climb. One of the reasons is home builders are still struggling to keep up with demand. “We’ve been under-building for years,” said National Association of Home BuildersChief Economist Robert Dietz. “That’s the reason that inventories are tight. That’s the reason that home prices ar

Things to do in Portland, Oregon - Part 11

Hoyt Arboretum:

The Hottest Housing Market in the Portland Area is Beaverton

What does Beaverton have in common with Milford, Massachusetts and Nashua, New Hampshire? All three communities are in the top 50 hottest housing markets in the U.S., according to realtor.com. The average home price in the Beaverton 97005 ZIP code is $342,800. “That's up pretty substantially -- 14.3 percent from a year ago,” says realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale. “It’s quite a bit higher than the U.S., but lower than what we typically see in the Portland metro area, and a little bit lower than the surrounding counties.” Hale said the survey found that the average home in Beaverton stayed on the market for just 23 days, three times shorter than the national average of 71 days. “The good news is supply seems to be catching up,” Hale said. “The days on market is actually a little bit higher than it was a year ago. So maybe there's some improvement in supply relative to demand, especially in Beaverton.” Since houses are moving quickly in Beaverton and the Portl

Home Owners Listing Luxury Homes Face Pressure to Throw in Extra Perks

   A Rolls-Royce or artwork are not unusual bonus items “You’re not buying a property, you’re buying a piece of history,” an agent once said. Home owners are increasingly turning to big-ticket items as a way to lure prospective buyers according to recent reports. In Los Angeles, that includes adding Hollywood artifacts. Max Ember, screenwriter and art collector, sold his three-bedroom 1936 Streamline Moderne estate in the Hollywood Hills for $2.4 million in September. Included in that price tag was a fountain once owned by Argentinian icon Eva Peron and metal “clouds” from Hollywood’s well-known Cocoanut Grove nightclub. His agent, Ben Belack of the Agency, urged him to go for that “aspirational price” due to the historical items that came with the unique home. Ember isn’t the only one playing this game. Scott Gillen recently threw in a super-charged Range Rover and $1.5 million worth of art into his $85 million Malibu spec known as “the New Castle.” Spec developer Nile Niami

Top Real Estate Broker in Portland OR Shares Real Estate Market Insights

The time to buy a new home is sooner rather than later, according to Jordan L. Matin and his team of real estate specialists. The Matin Real Estate Group is a full service real estate agency serving Portland, OR . There are strong chances of the mortgage rates rising at the conclusion of the upcoming election cycle.  This means those who are looking to buy a home should choose to move quickly. Buyers are not the only ones who can see benefit from the mortgage rates. The Matin real estate brokers of Portland, Oregon get an average of 4.6 percent more on a sale than others, particularly when sellers follow the recommendations of the team. That is only a part of why opting to move a home with the Matin real estate agency of Portland, OR is a good choice. Jordan, the brokers and the Realtors of his team have other important points to make for anyone looking to buy or sell: - 50 percent of the properties moved in 2018 were unsuccessful with other Portland real estate agenci

Things to do in Portland, Oregon - Part 10

Pioneer Courthouse Square: