The state's 18% gain is more than double the U.S. average. California shows a rise of 4.6% in the fourth quarter.
From Bloomberg News
March 2, 2007
The real estate boom has gone West. And Northwest.
The state with the fastest-growing home prices in the fourth quarter was Utah, at 18%, more than double the U.S. average, a government report showed Thursday. Wyoming was No. 2 at 14.3% and Idaho was third at 14%. Washington gained 13.7%, and Oregon was fifth at 13.5%.
California came in at No. 35, with a gain of 4.6%, compared with 21% a year earlier.
Nationally, the real estate market stagnated, with a gain of 5.87% from a year earlier, the slowest pace since 1999, the Washington-based Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said. The report doesn't give an average price, only the percentage change. The West and Northwest benefited from strong job markets, more affordable housing, population growth and vacation home sales. Read more here ...
Fad fading, but smart, patient investors can make a profit
By Scott Bernard Nelson
Entreprenuer.com
Has the house flipping bloom finally fallen off the rose? HomeSmart LLC in San Juan Capistrano, California, which tracks real estate deals in 150 metro areas coast to coast, found that in every region, the proportion of home sales for properties owned six months or less has fallen dramatically since hitting a peak in 2005.
HomeSmart President Mike Ela says he assumes most of that quick buying and selling was intentional, which fits his definition of "flipping." Not only are flips becoming less prevalent, but they're also becoming riskier.
In Florida, for example, only 2.6 percent of home sales were for flipped properties in the third quarter of 2003. But that percentage had more than doubled to 5.8 percent by the third quarter of 2005. As the real estate market cooled, the percentage dropped, hitting 2.4 percent in the final three months of last year. More ...
See also:
Las Vegas "House Flipping" Ends Up Like Most Bets
Jennifer Bunker, CRS, GRI
Utah Real Estate Broker
Did you know that raisins and tulip bulbs can be hazardous to your pet's health?I actually didn't until I found this article on MSNBC. Turns out a lot of things we all have around our home can be deadly to our cats and dogs. I have a cat who will chew anything green and growing. I didn't know that some of it was actually dangerous to her health. Read the story and see the list ot dangerous items here.
Not surprisingly, women are statistically more likely to end up with a subprime product than men. This is due to the fact that many women are single parents and head of household. They still make significantly less than men do, and typically shoulder the lion's share of the burden of raising the children alone, both economically and emotionally. This of course, makes them more of a lending risk.
However, in the big picture, if a subprime loan is all a woman can secure due to her economic factors, that I believe she is still better off purchasing her own home than continuing to rent. It is more expensive, but still worth the investment in the aggregate. This should be done only with good counsel from her REALTOR and Mortgage Professional such that she doesn't get in over her head. The best strategy in my opinion is to buy a home that is a solid investment with a strong likelihood of appreciation. Even if this ends up to be a tiny cottage, most of the time it's still a better option than continuing to rent.
The state's 18% gain is more than double the U.S. average. California shows a rise of 4.6% in the fourth quarter.
