Real Estate News

Real estate news, opinions and tidbits from across the nation.

By admin • January 20th, 2009

If you ever come across a listing with a quarter bath, chances are it’s outside.

The Triad Business Index for November 2008 was unchanged over the previous month, but over the past 12 months, the TBI was up 2.4 percent.
Some of the highlights of the November report:

Residential building permits, which reflect planned construction, were off 8.4 percent

Existing, single-family homes sold in the Triad totaled 1,719 in the 4th quarter (seasonally [...]

Last year, the Federal Government enacted the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to help stimulate the housing market by giving a tax credit to first-time home buyers. The basic idea of the act is to bring a new group of buyers into the housing market to add additional sales; first-time buyers don’t have an existing home to sale, but sellers will more-than-likely need to find a new home once their property has sold.

Read on for some need-to-know facts about this credit if you are thinking about buying in 2009.

The Pew Center on the States has released a report saying that states are ramping up their response to the housing crisis.

According to the report: 1 in 33 homeowners is projected to experience foreclosure in the next two years as a result of sub-prime loans from 2-3 years ago.

A survey finds that most Americans have moved to a new community at least once in their lives.

In 2008, only 12% of the American population changed addresses, down from 13% between 2006 and 2007. The reasons for this trend may be the slowing economy, the downward spiral of the housing market, and the increase of two-income families.

With all of the recent talk about recessions, government bail outs, and layoffs, it’s nice to hear a little good news once in awhile. On SaturdayDecember 13, six families moved into their brand new townhomes, built by Habitat for Humanity.

Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has been building homes for low income families who could otherwise not realize the dream of home ownership.

IFF, a Chicago-based nonprofit real estate lender and consulting group, has received the Wachovia Next Award for Opportunity Finance, one of the nation’s largest and most prestigious awards in the financial services industry.

IFF is the Midwest’s leading nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution. Listingbook will launch in the Chicago market in January.