Real Estate Information Archive

Asheville Home Buyers Say this is the Time!

It is hard to believe that one out of four properties sold are investors. It seems most people agree this is the time to buy Asheville Real Estate. More than 68% of current home owners and renters agree now is a good time to buy a home. Over 30% of renters and one in five home owners say they want to buy a home within the next two years. 

It is encouraging that the consumer is optimistic about buying a home either for an investment or their residence. The American still places high value on home ownership but are hesitant because of the tightening of credit that make it hard to obtain a mortgage and the uneasiness of job security.

With Foreclosure starts moving up 20 percent in August over July, posting their highest monthly levels of the year. Will keep a strong investor base and keep Asheville home prices low. But there are signs of improvement, Foreclosure starts were down more than 12% compared to August of last year.

We are finding that in many areas home prices are starting to level off some in the Asheville area like Grove Park, Biltmore Forest but the second home market in Maggie Valley and Waynesville home prices continue to drop.

What does the future hold… Good Question!

Asheville Mortgage Rates Reach New Lows

Asheville Mortgage Rates for the third straight week, fixed-rate mortgages inched down, reaching new lows. A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged a record low of 4.01 percent this week while the 15-year fixed-rate set a new record of 3.28 percent, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey.  In Western areas, 30-year rates moved even lower, averaging 3.95 percent, Freddie reports. 

Fall is here is the prices have never been lower in my life time and with the record low interest rates it is time to take advantage of the best time ever to buy a home.

Here’s a closer look at rates for the week ending Sept. 29: 

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.01 percent, inching down from last week’s previous record of 4.09 percent. A year ago, 30-year rates averaged 4.32 percent. 
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.28 percent, dropping from last week’s previous record of 3.29 percent. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 3.75 percent. 
• 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: held steady this week at 3.02 percent. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.52 percent. 
• 1-year ARMs: averaged 2.83 percent, up slightly from last week’s 2.82 percent average. A year ago, 1-year ARMs averaged 3.48 percent. 

Google+ Should I or Shouldn’t I?

We have to ask ourselves how many social web sites can I manage. Between Twitter, Facebook and LinkeIn I’m done. Well OK almost done. I have not yet signed up to Google+ but I have thought about it and then that will be it! Well Ok they say never say never, so I guess I will not sign up with another until it comes out.

Google+ new social network, which recently opened to the public, is seeing growth that could soon even bypass LinkedIn and Twitter. 

Google+ is up 1,269% over 15,000,000 visits during the last week of September. While that still isn’t close to Facebook’s 1.8 billion visits, Google+ has seen rapid growth since its public debut, after weeks in beta status.

Google+ now ranked in 8^th place among all social networks, behind LinkedIn and MySpace. Shortly after it was opened to the public, Google+ took third place in traffic, briefly overtaking Twitter.

So OK what is next I understand you have to be invited to sign up on Google+ and no one has invited me yet. Should I wait because I have enough social networking to keep me busy for a long time but then again what if I am missing out on something I should be doing? Ok I guess I’ll call someone and just drop a hint!

Asheville Sellers Say Their Homes Are Worth More

Over 75% of Asheville home owners say their homes are worth more than they sell for or the recommended listing price but 68% of home buyers say homes are overpriced. 

So is anyone right?

In regards to Asheville Real Estate it depends on the area for example Grove Park, Biltmore Forest and Biltmore Park homes are increasing in value and buyers are more willing to step up and invest more.

Areas like Waynesville and Maggie Valley Homes are still dropping in value about 1% a month. So often it is difficult to get the buyer and seller to agree because pricing is so low already.

It is difficult putting a CMA together for clients because finding comps in the area that sold within the last year is often difficult without using a bank owned sale or foreclosure.

Using properties like foreclosures and bank owned properties can really affect the price by lowering it too much. So in those cases I would have to agree with the seller perhaps a suggested listing price is too low.

So consult with your Realtor on what areas would best fit your needs and make sure they know the area. Allow them to guide you in the area of pricing regardless if you’re a buyer or a seller. Asheville Homes continue to change in value it is important to have the right information before selling or buying.

Great news as for the second straight week mortgage rates reached another milestone, with 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages hitting record lows again, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey. 

Home owners who refinanced at today’s 30-year fixed-mortgage rate could trim nearly $1,715 a year in interest payments on a $200,000 loan.

As continued investor concerns over the state of the European debt markets kept U.S. Treasury bond yields low and allowed mortgage rates to ease once more this week. I believe this could be a trend for the next week or two.

This is what it would look like for now.

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.09 percent this week, down from last week’s previous record of 4.12 percent. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.37 percent. 
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.30 percent, dropping from last week’s record low of 3.33 percent. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 3.82 percent. 
• 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.99 percent this week, up slightly from last week’s 2.96 percent average. A year ago at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.55 percent. 
• 1-year ARMs: averaged 2.81 percent, down from last week’s 2.84 percent average. A year ago, the 1-year ARM averaged 3.40 percent. 

This should make a different in increasing Asheville home sales and a already fast pace Asheville Real Estate market.

As interest rates continue to drop investors lean to investing their money into real estate as the long term return has always been there.

Asheville August Existing-Home Sales Up!

Home sales increased in August, even with ongoing tight credit and appraisal problems total existing home sales, which are completed transactions that include single family, townhomes and condominiums 7% over last year. I believe the positive market fundamental that includes favorable affordability conditions and rising rents are underlying motivations, and Investors are more active in absorbing foreclosed properties. In additional to bargain hunting, some investors are in the market to hedge against higher inflation.

The Asheville Real Estate home sales investors accounted for 22 percent of purchase activity in August, up from 18 percent in July and 21 percent in August 2010. First-time buyers purchased 32 percent of homes in August, unchanged from July; they were 31 percent in August 2010.

Investors paying all cash accounted for 29 percent of transactions in August, unchanged from July, they were 28 percent in August 2010, investors account for the bulk of cash purchases.

The record low interest rates continue to surge Asheville home sales with the national average commitment rate for a 30 year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.27 percent in August, and down from 4.55 percent in July; the rate was 4.43 percent in August 2010.

I believe one of the biggest factors keeping home sales from a healthy recovery are mortgages being denied to creditworthy buyers, and appraised valuations below the negotiated price. I always suggest to buyers to find more favorable credit terms with community and small regional banks.

Second home markets like Waynesville and Maggie Valley home sales are up marginally up 4.9% year to date.

So real estate still continues to increase and investors are looking for those opportunities and they sure are out there.

Is it Time to Refinance Your Home?

Will the latest speech President Obama vowing to help more Americans refinance their mortgages really help?

I believe it could be a start to help Asheville Real Estate but more needs to be added. Those home owners that are upside down on the home it will still be difficult to get financing. Other areas like Maggie Valley and Waynesville where second home owners are prevalent this program may not cover them.

Obama said to help responsible home owners we're going to work with federal housing agencies to help more people refinance their mortgages at interest rates that are now near 4 percent.

There are no specifics about the refinancing plan. Because his speech mostly to preview his American Jobs Act a bill that would include tax cuts for small businesses, extend unemployment benefits, and provide other aid that would set out to help workers and spur more job.

 Obama said to get the economy moving forward, we simply must address the millions of people in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. This massive shadow inventory is a dead weight on the housing market and the whole economy and we can’t ignore it.

I do not believe this is enough help to turn the housing market around however some praised the president’s refinancing proposal, saying it will help underwater home owners lock in record low rates and lower their monthly mortgage bill and could save them up to $2,000.00 a year.

This is a positive start to helping home owners a I believe more will be added to the program to address the Asheville home owners that are upside down on their homes.

Asheville Multifamily Housing Continues to Rise.

Asheville new multifamily housing recently reached its highest quarterly reading since the housing boom. 

Fourth consecutive quarter we have seen Asheville Real Estate increase in multifamily housing. There are many communities like Residence at the Biltmore that provide a full service rental programs to manage your property. This turnkey type living makes it easy for second home owners to lock up and go back home and enjoy rental income when they are not using it.

North Carolina multifamily construction is trending upward, and it is definitely the brightest sector in the broader housing market. Asheville’s multifamily production Index increased from 41.7 in the first quarter of the year to 44.4 in the second quarter its highest quarterly reading since 2006. The index has continued to improve since reading a record low of 16 in the third quarter of 2008. 

Even though Asheville multifamily is trending upward, production is still very low in a historic context and in the context of what we project is necessary to meet long-term demand, But seems to be a trend that could be new life style of living.

Asheville Foreclosure Delays Reach New Records

Asheville delinquent home owners are living in their homes longer rent free. Home owners with a loan in foreclosure haven’t made a payment, on average of 20 months a new record high, according to new data by Lender Processing Services Inc. 

Nationally over one million loans that are ninety days or more are delinquent or going into foreclosure, 42 percent of the home owners have not made a payment in more than a year, with an average delinquency of 397 days that is over a year.

But even living rent free has it problems researchers found that the increase of foreclosures coincided with a 7.2 percent increase in emergency room visits and hospitalizations for hypertension, and an 8.1 percent rise for diabetes among people aged 20 to 49. The foreclosure increase was also associated with a 12 percent increase in hospital visits related to anxiety, also among the 20 to 49 age group. Plus, foreclosure increases also were found to have a nearly 40 percent jump in hospital visits for suicide attempts, although those numbers still remain low. 

So I guess the best thing for us is to just pay our mortgage if we can.

Do you have a Smart Phone?

They say by 2015 over 94% of the population will have a smart phone. Currently over 35% of Americans age 13 and older who use mobile devices now have a Smartphone. The number of people who have Smartphone’s increased 10 percent in July to 82.2 million people.

The Google Android phones taking the lead with 42% of the market with Apple now only has 27%.

Here are the following top Smartphone platforms and the market share of Smartphone subscribers.

It is easy to see why Google wants to start making phones.

• Google: 41.8%
• Apple: 27%
• RIM: 21.7%
• Microsoft: 5.7%
• Symbian: 1.9%

Asheville NC often because of the mountains can be difficult getting a good signal. I have found that Verizon by far is the best service in the area. Being in Asheville Real Estate I live with my iPhone and iPad at all time.