Tag Archives: spring

Spring Cleaning Solutions for Everyone from HouseLogic

Posted on by
Reply

Washington, D.C. – March 30, 2018 (PRNewswire) Spring has sprung, and for most Americans, that means it’s time to pull out the duster, grab the sponge and start their annual spring cleaning. This month’s “Choose Your Own Spring Cleaning Plan!” spotlight from HouseLogic.com, the comprehensive website for home owners, buyers and sellers from the National Association of Realtors®, features five articles containing information, tips and advice on the best cleaning methods for homeowners based on their lifestyle and hobbies.

Check out the full spotlight at www.houselogic.com.

NAR Logo

Here are some of HouseLogic’s suggestions for taking on this yearly cleaning ritual:

If You Love, Love, LOVE Houseplants. For home owners who prefer a greenhouse to a regular house, cleaning means keeping plants healthy, fed and well pruned. Check out HouseLogic’s tips for keeping a home both clean and green, with tips like massaging a plant’s dirt to break it up, using a magnifying glass to check for bugs and giving plants an outdoor shower.

If Cooking is Your Passion. For homeowners who dream of becoming master chefs, the kitchen is the most important room in their home. Look at HouseLogic’s ideas for tackling the tough spots in kitchens, such as cleaning the rubber seals on refrigerators and dishwashers with water and soap, which will help them last longer and keep the seals tighter.

When Clutter Is Your No. 1 Enemy. Sometimes cleaning is not enough; sometimes the stuff just needs to go. HouseLogic has suggestions for uncluttering, purging and organizing; like hosting a ditch ‘n’ wine party – invite friends over for a bottle of wine, and get their help deciding what to keep and what to toss.

When Your Kids Are Your Priority – Not a Clean House. There is only so much time in a day, and most parents would rather spend time with their kids than mopping the floor. HouseLogic has suggestions for involving kids in the cleaning ‘fun,’ like letting kids join a purge party. Families can sort through items to donate, which not only helps children learn the value of decluttering, it also gets rid of stuff!

If You’d Rather Be DIYing Something. Some homeowners would rather build a bookshelf than dust one. HouseLogic has cleaning tips for amateur carpenters, with ideas like inspecting tools for loose parts, dull blades or cracked cords and throwing away tools that cannot be fixed.

For more information on the best ways to get a home spic and span this spring, visit HouseLogic.com.

HouseLogic is a free source of information that helps consumers make smart, confident decisions about all aspects of home ownership. Made possible by Realtors®, the site helps owners get the most value and enjoyment from their existing home and helps buyers and sellers make the best deal possible.

The National Association of Realtors® is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Information about NAR is available at www.nar.realtor. This and other news releases are posted in the newsroom under the “About NAR” tab.

For further information contact:

Jane Dollinger
(202) 383-1042
jdollinger@realtors.org

Homebuyers Pull Out All the Stops for Hotly Competitive Spring Market

Posted on by
Reply

– Survey reveals most still optimistic about closing; But tight market may require top-dollar bids

– More than one-third of homebuyers expect “a lot of competition this spring” and are adjusting their bidding strategies

– 60 percent expect to close in the next six months; 40 percent have been searching for more than seven months

– 40 percent plan to put more than 20 percent down

Santa Clara, CA – March 22, 2018 (PRNewswire) The 2018 spring buying season is expected to be one of the most competitive seasons in years, driven by spill-over buyers from last year and record-breaking inventory lows. Despite their willingness to resort to brash tactics to get a leg up, buyers remain optimistic about closing on their dream home, according to new survey data released today by realtor.com®, a leading online real estate destination.

realtor.com logo

“We’re only a few weeks into March and already seeing the market heat up,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist for realtor.com®. “Holdover buyers hoping for greener pastures this spring are likely to find sparse options that require them to pay top-dollar or make other concessions.”

Buyer demand is booming, which is reflected in today’s falling inventory and fast time on market. Despite record-low levels, inventory has been declining for 42 consecutive months and is currently down 8.5 percent from a year ago, according to realtor.com® listing data. Days on market in February was at 83 days, a record for that month.

A large portion of this demand is being driven by buyers who are holdovers from last summer and beyond, according to an online survey of more than 1,000 active buyers conducted in early March by Toluna Research.

The survey showed 40 percent of today’s buyers have been searching for more than seven months, while an additional 34 percent have been searching for four to six months. Slightly more than a quarter – 26 percent – have been in the market three months or less.

More than one-third — 35 percent — of those surveyed indicated they anticipate “a lot of competition” this spring, while 36 percent expect some competition, which could explain why many seem to be approaching the housing market strategically.

When asked about all the strategies they are using to get ahead, 42 percent revealed they are checking listing websites every day, while 40 percent of buyers plan to put more than 20 percent cash down. The survey also revealed that 33 percent are setting price alerts, 31 percent plan to put a larger earnest money deposit down, and 26 percent are willing to offer above asking price. Only 6 percent indicated they are not planning to use any tactics to cope with competition.

“The majority of buyers are aware of the tough competition they’re up against this spring. Having been in the market awhile, they’ve likely lost a few homes to better offers, which has given them more time to save and up their bidding strategies,” added Hale.

Despite the competition, buyers remain confident about closing on a home and are willing to stay the course. Nineteen percent of buyers expect to close in zero to three months, 34 percent of buyers expect to close in four to six months, 18 percent anticipate closing in seven to nine months, 15 percent in 10 to 12 months, and 15 percent expect it to take more than a year.

About realtor.com®

Realtor.com® is the trusted resource for home buyers, sellers and dreamers, offering the most comprehensive source of for-sale properties, among competing national sites, and the information, tools and professional expertise to help people move confidently through every step of their home journey. It pioneered the world of digital real estate 20 years ago, and today helps make all things home simple, efficient and enjoyable. Realtor.com® is operated by News Corp [NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc. under a perpetual license from the National Association of REALTORS®. For more information, visit realtor.com®.

Contact:

Lexie Puckett Holbert
lexie.puckett@move.com

Speed of January Sales Felt More Like Spring Selling Season

Posted on by
Reply

February 2018 RE/MAX National Housing Report on MLS Data from 53 Metro Areas

Denver, CO – Feb. 16, 2018 (PRNewswire) The record speed of January home sales may signal that buyers aren’t waiting around for the typical spring selling season to begin. Despite home sales being down 2.8% year-over-year, the February RE/MAX National Housing Report shows homes sold in a mere 60 days last month, marking the fewest Days on Market of any January in the nine-year history of the report. To access the housing report infographic, visit: https://rem.ax/2GdTVcL.

Remax Logo

Days on Market typically decline each month leading into the heart of the spring and summer buying season in July and start increasing monthly as fall progresses into winter.

“We recently saw the groundhog predict six more weeks of winter, but January housing numbers are telling a different story,” said RE/MAX CEO Adam Contos. “It looks like the spring selling season may have arrived early because home buyers are not slowing down. The speed of this market is on pace with what we saw in the prime of the 2017 selling season.”

The Median Sales Price of $224,000 also set a January record — up 6.7% year-over-year. Out of 53 markets, 51 posted gains, marking January as the 22nd consecutive month of year-over-year price increases dating back to April 2016.

Closed Transactions

Of the 53 metro areas surveyed in January 2018, the overall average number of home sales decreased 27.4% compared to December 2017 and decreased 2.8% compared to January 2017. Twenty of the 53 metro areas experienced an increase in sales year-over-year including, Milwaukee, WI, +13.6%, Albuquerque, NM, +12.8%, Kansas City, MO, +12.5%, and Boise, ID, +12%.

Median Sales Price – Median of 53 metro median prices

In January 2018, the median of all 53 metro Median Sales Prices was $224,000, down 4.7% from December 2017 but up 6.7% from January 2017. Billings, MT, was the only metro area to see a year-over-year decrease in Median Sales Price at -6.4%. Eleven metro areas increased year-over-year by double-digit percentages, with the largest increases seen in Boise, ID, +18.7%, Las Vegas, NV, +16.2%, San Francisco, CA, +14% and Orlando, FL, +13.8%.

Days on Market – Average of 53 metro areas

The average Days on Market for homes sold in January 2018 was 60, up three days from the average in December 2017, and down six days from the January 2017 average. The metro areas with the lowest Days on Market were San Francisco, CA, at 31, Omaha, NE, at 34 and Nashville, TN at 36. The highest Days on Market averages were in Augusta, ME, at 109, Chicago, IL, at 96 and Hartford, CT, at 93. Days on Market is the number of days between when a home is first listed in an MLS and a sales contract is signed.

Months Supply of Inventory – Average of 53 metro areas

The number of homes for sale in January 2018 was down 4.8% from December 2017, and down 14.8% from January 2017. Based on the rate of home sales in December, the Months Supply of Inventory decreased to 3.4 from December 2017 at 3.7, as well as decreased compared to January 2017 at 3.8. A 6.0-months supply indicates a market balanced equally between buyers and sellers. In January 2018, 49 of the 53 metro areas surveyed reported a months supply at or less than 6.0, which is typically considered a seller’s market. The metro areas that saw a months supply above 6.0, which is typically considered a buyer’s market, were Birmingham, AL, at 8.2, Augusta, ME, at 7.5, Miami, FL, at 7.1 and New Orleans, LA, at 6.8. The markets with the lowest Months Supply of Inventory continued to be in the west with Denver, CO, San Francisco, CA and Seattle, WA at 1.1.

Contact

For specific data in this report or to request an interview, please contact newsroom@remax.com.

About the RE/MAX Network:

RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by Dave and Gail Liniger, with an innovative, entrepreneurial culture affording its agents and franchisees the flexibility to operate their businesses with great independence. Over 115,000 agents provide RE/MAX a global reach of more than 100 countries and territories. Nobody sells more real estate than RE/MAX, when measured by residential transaction sides. RE/MAX, LLC, one of the world’s leading franchisors of real estate brokerage services, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of RMCO, LLC, which is controlled and managed by RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: RMAX). With a passion for the communities in which its agents live and work, RE/MAX is proud to have raised more than $157 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® and other charities. For more information about RE/MAX, to search home listings or find an agent in your community, please visit www.remax.com. For the latest news about RE/MAX, please visit www.remax.com/newsroom.

Description

The RE/MAX National Housing Report is distributed each month on or about the 15th. The first Report was distributed in August 2008. The Report is based on MLS data in approximately 53 metropolitan areas, includes all residential property types, and is not annualized. For maximum representation, many of the largest metro areas in the country are represented, and an attempt is made to include at least one metro from each state. Metro area definitions include the specific counties established by the U.S. Government’s Office of Management and Budget, with some exceptions.

Definitions

Transactions are the total number of closed residential transactions during the given month. Months Supply of Inventory is the total number of residential properties listed for sale at the end of the month (current inventory) divided by the number of sales contracts signed (pended) during the month. Where “pended” data is unavailable, this calculation is made using closed transactions. Days on Market is the number of days that pass from the time a property is listed until the property goes under contract for all residential properties sold during the month. Median Sales Price is the median of the median sales prices in each of the metro areas included in the survey.

MLS data is provided by contracted data aggregators, RE/MAX brokerages and regional offices. While MLS data is believed to be accurate, it cannot be guaranteed. MLS data is constantly being updated, making any analysis a snapshot at a particular time. Every month the RE/MAX National Housing Report re-calculates the previous period’s data to ensure accuracy over time. All raw data remains the intellectual property of each local MLS organization.