Tag: real estate

  • Spruce Up Your Home- Design Trends in 2014

    For recent buyers, or soon-to-be sellers, here’s ten big design trends in 2014:

    1.) Wider reclaimed wood and wood-like porcelain floors
    Floorboards are becoming wider, sometimes up to 5-6 inches. Mixing in different types of wood, even reclaimed boards, and keeping the stain colors warm is becoming popular. Porcelain flooring is also becoming more popular as it’s very sturdy and comes in a wide variety of styles, sizes, and colors. These types of flooring can look good with either traditional or contemporary styling.

    2.) Simple cabinets and big drawers
    Warm gray colors are replacing oranges and browns in the kitchen. Styles are becoming more modern and clean, rather than traditional. Hardware is also becoming less visible and more modern. Having large lower drawers instead of cabinets is becoming the preference because large drawers allow easier access, and can be fitted with removable storage receptacles.

    3.) Color Palettes
    Brighter colors are being sought after. Instead of beiges and whites, warm grays are becoming very popular. This is being accented with colors such as lighter greens and blues, lavender, soft corals, shell colors, and even some darker purples and metallics. Blue is being used a lot throughout decor. Four main color palettes are making a comeback: black, white and gray with warmer woods and textures; flesh tones, beiges, gray, and off-white; bolder and darker colors such as purples, reds, golds, and teals; and very bright colors balanced with neutrals.

    4.) Indoor/Outdoor Living Spaces
    French Doors that open to the outside, large windows, and screened or covered porches are continuing the trend of blending indoor and outdoor areas. Pool houses are being remodeled to include living areas, kitchens, and fireplaces. People are also adding in fire pits, and propane heaters to outdoor areas.

    5.) Kitchen colors and appliances
    Home owners are adding in kitchen appliances with bold colors, and that are more energy-efficient. New counter top materials such as metals instead of granite are also becoming popular.

    6.) Luxury bathrooms
    Big steam showers with rain heads, large whirlpool tubs, anti-fogging devices, and even installing a T.V. are making bathrooms even more luxurious than before.

    7.) More Technology
    Technology is being integrated more and more from anything to lighting and heat, windows/window treatments and doors, to digital displays for watching T.V. or cycling through photos. This is becoming more popular due to less costly wireless technology.

    8.) Global Styles
    Mixing ethnic elements in with traditional or modern spaces can be a great way to add color into a space. Whether it’s a rug, artwork, or embroidered fabrics.

    9.) Unique Qualities
    People are becoming more willing to spend money on unique one-of-a-kind design elements for interior spaces. Metal or sculptural furnishings, creative rugs, and a wide variety of other unique products are being used.

    10.) Accent Chairs
    Accent chairs are becoming more common in order to provide more seating space, and also pops of color throughout a room. They’re also a smaller, more affordable way of introducing a new style to a room.

  • 59 Metros Back to Normal

    According to National Association of Home Builders/First American’s latest Leading Markets Index, 59 out of 350 housing markets across the country have returned to, or exceeded their last normal level of housing and economic activity.

    Markets nationwide are running at around 87% of their normal economic and housing activity. The Leading Markets Index evaluates metro areas to see if they’re getting close to, or even exceeding, their previous levels of normal activity. This factors in average single-family permits, home prices, and employment levels for the past 12 months and then compares it to that market’s past levels.

    At the top of the list of major metros is Baton Rouge, L.A. which is now performing at a 41% higher rate than its previous levels of activity. Some other top markets include: Oklahoma City; Honolulu; Austin and Houston, Texas; and Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. All of those markets are experiencing more activity than in the past.

    There are also some smaller metros that are experiencing double their activity in comparison to activity prior the recession, like Odessa, Texas and Midland, Texas. Some other strong smaller metros are: Casper, Wyoming; Bismarck, North Dakota; and Grand Folks, North Dakota.

    David Crowe, a chief economist for NAHB, says, “The strong energy sector is at the forefront of the recovery and centered in many small and mid-sized markets in Texas, Louisiana, North Dakota and Wyoming. In fact, these four states account for eight of the top 10 markets on the LMI and 45 percent of the markets that are at or above normal.”

  • 4 Million Renters Say They’re Eager to Buy

    According to a new survey by Zillow of renters in the 20 largest housing markets in the U.S., 10% of renters say they want to buy a home in the next year. If those 10% of renters all buy homes in the next year, it’ll amount to 4.2 million first-time home buyer sales. That number is double the amount of first-time buyers in 2013.

    Normally, first-time home buyers make up about 40% of the housing market. NAR recently released a report though saying that the share of first-time home buyers has fallen to the lowest number on record since 2008. First-time home buyers only accounted for 26% of the housing market in January.

    However, more renters are now expressing a desire to buy homes, especially as the housing market is recovering and home prices rise. In some of the areas that were hit the hardest during the housing downturn, such as Miami, Atlanta, and Las Vegas, renters showed the strongest home ownership aspirations.

    Stan Humphries, a Zillow’s chief economist commented, ” Even after a wrenching housing recession, this data shows that the dream of home ownership remains very much alive and well, even in those areas that were hardest hit. But these aspirations must also contend with the current reality, and in many areas, conditions remain difficult for buyers. The market is moving toward more balance between buyers and sellers, but it is a slow and uneven process.”

  • 10 Most Expensive Places To Live In The World

    It could cost as much as $6.64 in U.S. dollars for a cup of coffee, or $6,960 to rent an unfurnished, two-bedroom apartment In Hong Kong. Hong Kong ranked # 3 on Mercer’s latest annual Cost of Living Survey. The survey is aimed at giving those who are working abroad insight into the cost of living and is frequently used by employers to come up with compensation packages for employees with international assignments.

    In order to come up with this list, Mercer researchers looked into cities in five continents, then measured the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, items like housing, food, clothing, transportation, household goods, and entertainment. They used New York as a baseline city to compare against the other cities.

    “Despite increasing prices in most European cities, European currencies for the most part slightly strengthened against the U.S. dollar, which pushed most Western European cities up in the ranking,” Nathalie Constantin-Métral, who compiled the survey, told Forbes. Increased rental prices has also pushed some European cities up in the rankings, particularly Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt, according to the study.

    The following are the most expensive cities in the world in 2014, according to Mercer’s survey:

    1.     Luanda, Angola
    2.     N’Djamena, Chad
    3.     Hong Kong, Hong Kong
    4.     Singapore, Singapore
    5.     Zurich, Switzerland
    6.     Geneva, Switzerland
    7.     Tokyo, Japan
    8.     Bern, Switzerland
    9.     Moscow, Russia
    10.   Shanghai, China

  • 12 States With the Lowest Amount of Foreclosures

    Many homeowners in the U.S. are still dealing with the after-effects of the housing bubble and credit meltdown. However, the foreclosure market is starting to show signs of slowly improving.

    The amount of completed foreclosures in December dropped 14% in comparison to December 2012. There were 45,000 foreclosures in December 2013, whereas there were 52,000 in December 2012. However, that’s still higher than the monthly average of foreclosures seen from 2000-2006 where there were only around 21,000 foreclosures per month.

    Anand Nallathambi, president and chief executive officer of CoreLogic remarked that 2013 was a transitional year for residential property in the U.S. However, higher home prices, lower shadow inventory levels, and the slowly improving economy are positive signs. The housing market is expected to continue healing in 2014, but progress will remain slow.

    There are presently 36 states that have a lower foreclosure inventory level than the national foreclosure inventory. These are the 12 States with the lowest foreclosure inventory level throughout the U.S.

    1. Wyoming

    Foreclosure Inventory: 0.4%
    Completed Foreclosures in 2013: 854

    2. Alaska

    Foreclosure Inventory: 0.5%
    Completed Foreclosures in 2013: 854

    3. North Dakota

    Foreclosure Inventory: 0.6%
    Completed Foreclosures in 2013: 417

    4. Nebraska

    Foreclosure Inventory: 0.6%
    Completed Foreclosures in 2013: 1,673

    5. Colorado

    Foreclosure Inventory: 0.6%
    Completed Foreclosures in 2013: 9,652

    6. California

    Foreclosure Inventory: 0.7%
    Completed Foreclosures in 2013: 39,149

    7. Minnesota

    Foreclosure Inventory: 0.7%
    Completed Foreclosures in 2013: 9,364

    8. Montana

    Foreclosure Inventory: 0.7%
    Completed Foreclosures in 2013: 1,006

    9. South Dakota

    Foreclosure Inventory: 0.7%
    Completed Foreclosures in 2013: N/A

    10. Virginia

    Foreclosure Inventory: 0.8%
    Completed Foreclosures in 2013: 12,409

    11. Missouri

    Foreclosure Inventory: 0.8%
    Completed Foreclosures in 2013: 13,811

    12. Arizona

    Foreclosure Inventory: 0.8%
    Completed Foreclosures in 2013: 19,831