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DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS 

The spring selling season is in full swing. Here's a breakdown of what you and your clients need to know about the state of the housing market.

Home prices are surging

Price growth is only increasing, due to a lack of inventory in some markets. According to Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist "Insufficient supply appears to be hampering prospective buyers in several areas of the country and is hiking prices to near unsuitable levels." Buyers in many areasneed to be prepared for an increased amount of competition due to low housing inventory this spring.

Mortgage rates hold steady

30-year fixed rate mortgages remain at 3.7 percent, but that is likely to change. "Low mortgage rates are a welcome sign for those in the market to buy a home this spring season and will help to support homebuyer affordability," says Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac. 

Sellers are needed

It continues to be a seller's market, as total housing inventory at the end of February increased just 1.6 percent to 1.89 million existing homes available for sale. For the second month in a row, unsold inventory is at a 4.6-month supply, below what is considered normal for a healthy market.

Buyers want move-in-ready properties

Despite the low housing inventory, buyers are picky about the condition of properties for sale and expect homes to be move-in-ready. "Buyers don’t want to assume any risk with properties that need work, particularly first-time buyers with limited cash resources," says Budge Huskey, chief executive officer at Coldwell Banker Real Estate.

Foreclosures keep slipping

After peaking in 2006, foreclosures are returning to significantly low levels across the country. "Given that August 2006 was the peak of the housing bubble, this eight-and-a-half year low in foreclosure activity is a significant milestone and a sign that nationwide foreclosure activity is on track to return to historic norms this year," says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

Trending in 2015

21 Hot Housing Trends for 2015

Designers, Builders Reveal Hot Trends for 2015

Investor slowdown

Competition between regular buyers and investors is decreasing. Home prices are getting so high that the share of home sales to investor clients recently reached a four year low.

Buying: it's cheaper than renting

A recent study from NAR found that rents are on the rise in many parts of the country. "In the past five years, a typical rent rose 15 percent while the income of renters grew by only 11 percent," says Yun. A recent study also showed that renters are spending around 30 percent of their wages on rent, compared to homebuyers who spend below 15 percent of their wages on mortgage payments.

A focus on first-time buyers

New programs from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seek to make it easier for first-time borrowers to buy a home. They recently introduced 3 percent down payment mortgages-- the first time down payments have been this low on Freddie Mac loans in nearly five years. Besides this, Freddie Mac launched the "Our Home Possible Advantage Program", which is aimed at supporting first-time buyers by allowing no minimum from borrowers in contributions, which means that parents or relatives now can cover 100 percent of the down payment through gifts.

Going green

Millennial clients are providing the push for home builders to downsize. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the average size of a new home is 10 percent less than the typical home five years ago. Younger clients are leading the push for green and energy efficient homes, according to a recent study by NAR.

Source: "9 Real Estate Trends to Watch in 2015," The Fiscal Times (March 27, 2015)

Staging Your Home Makes a Difference When Selling

7 Tips for Staging Your Home

By: G. M. Filisko

Make your home warm and inviting to boost your home’s value and speed up the sale process.

The first step to getting buyers to make an offer on your home is to impress them with its appearance so they begin to envision themselves living there. Here are seven tips for making your home look bigger, brighter, and more desirable.

1.  Start with a Clean Slate

Before you can worry about where to place furniture and which wall hanging should go where, each room in your home must be spotless. Do a thorough cleaning right down to the nitpicky details like wiping down light switch covers. Deep clean and deodorize carpets and window coverings.

2.  Stow Away Your Clutter

It’s harder for buyers to picture themselves in your home when they’re looking at your family photos, collectibles, and knickknacks. Pack up all your personal decorations. However, don’t make spaces like mantles and coffee and end tables barren. Leave three items of varying heights on each surface, suggests Barb Schwarz of Staged Homes in Concord, Pa. For example, place a lamp, a small plant, and a book on an end table.

3.  Scale Back on Your Furniture

When a room is packed with furniture, it looks smaller, which will make buyers think your home is less valuable than it is. Make sure buyers appreciate the size of each room by removing one or two pieces of furniture. If you have an eat-in dining area, using a small table and chair set makes the area seem bigger.

4.  Rethink Your Furniture Placement

Highlight the flow of your rooms by arranging the furniture to guide buyers from one room to another. In each room, create a focal point on the farthest wall from the doorway and arrange the other pieces of furniture in a triangle around the focal point, advises Schwarz. In the bedroom, the bed should be the focal point. In the living room, it may be the fireplace, and your couch and sofa can form the triangle in front of it.

5.  Add Color to Brighten Your Rooms

Brush on a fresh coat of warm, neutral-color paint in each room. Ask your real estate agent for help choosing the right shade. Then accessorize. Adding a vibrant afghan, throw, or accent pillows for the couch will jazz up a muted living room, as will a healthy plant or a bright vase on your mantle. High-wattage bulbs in your light fixtures will also brighten up rooms and basements.

6.  Set the Scene

Lay logs in the fireplace, and set your dining room table with dishes and a centerpiece of fresh fruit or flowers. Create other vignettes throughout the home — such as a chess game in progress — to help buyers envision living there. Replace heavy curtains with sheer ones that let in more light.

Make your bathrooms feel luxurious by adding a new shower curtain, towels, and fancy guest soaps (after you put all your personal toiletry items are out of sight). Judiciously add subtle potpourri, scented candles, or boil water with a bit of vanilla mixed in. If you have pets, clean bedding frequently and spray an odor remover before each showing.

7.  Make the Entrance Grand

Mow your lawn and trim your hedges, and turn on the sprinklers for 30 minutes before showings to make your lawn sparkle. If flowers or plants don’t surround your home’s entrance, add a pot of bright flowers. Top it all off by buying a new doormat and adding a seasonal wreath to your front door.

Read more: http://members.houselogic.com/articles/7-tips-staging-your-home/preview/#ixzz3WU0o8yx9

Yearly Real Estate Sales of Single Family Homes since 2003 in Franklin County, Ma of the Pioneer Valley Region

I've been keeping track of single family sales for all Franklin County towns since 2003.  I recently added 2014 and you can see a trend of where real estate sales are headed.   Interesting to see the rise and fall of the market over the past 12 years.  It appears we are now at 2004 to 2005 prices and an increase in values should continue over the next few years.  I do have the breakdown of sales for each town since 2003.  If you are interested in knowing the activity in your specific town, feel free to email me at wanda@mooneyandroberts.com.   

This information is gathered from MLS and does not include private sales.

Benefits of Selling a Home in the WInter!

This is the time of year when my sellers are making the decision whether to keep their home on the market or remove and re-list in the spring.   Depending on the property, I do encourage my sellers to keep their homes on the market for the following reasons:

1)  Buyers purchase homes 12 months out of the year.  There has been time when I have had more 

     sales in the winter than in the spring or summer. 

2)  You have less competition of homes on the market this time of year.  The majority of 

     sellers will wait until spring to list which means you have more competition on the 

     market.  If the inventory of homes for sale is down there will be less choices for Buyers to 

     choose from. 

3)  Buyers who look this time of year want to be settled in before spring.  They want to enjoy 

     their new home when the warmer weather arrives. 

4)  Less real transactions are being processed which means a quicker response you will receive 

     from your lenders, appraisers and attorneys.  

5)  You will have less showing appointments but the Buyers looking are usually more serious.  

If you have any questions about selling your home, please give the Mooney & Roberts team a call. 

Wanda Mooney - 413-337-8344

wanda@mooneyandroberts.com

Cathy Roberts - 413-522-3023

cathy@mooneyandroberts.com

Real Estate Predictions for 2015

5 Real Estate Predictions for 2015

"The good news for 2015 is that the U.S. economy appears well-poised to sustain about a 3 percent growth rate in 2015 — only the second year in the past decade with growth at that pace or better," says Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "Governmental fiscal drag has turned into fiscal stimulus; lower energy costs support consumer spending and business investment; further easing of credit conditions for business and real estate lending support commerce and development; and consumers are more upbeat and businesses are more confident, all of which portend faster economic growth in 2015. And with that, the economy will produce more and better-paying jobs, providing the financial wherewithal to support household formations and housing activity."

Freddie Mac economists have made the following projections in housing for the new year:

1. Mortgage rates: Interest rates will likely be on the rise next year. In recent weeks, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has dipped below 4 percent. But by next year, Freddie projects mortgage rates to average 4.6 percent and inch up to 5 percent by the end of the year.
2. Home prices: By the time 2014 wraps up, home appreciation will likely have slowed to 4.5 percent this year from 9.3 percent last year. Appreciation is expected to drop further to an average 3 percent in 2015. "Continued house-price appreciation and rising mortgage rates will dampen affordability for home buyers," according to Freddie economists. "Historically speaking, that's moving from 'very high' levels of affordability to 'high' levels of affordability."
3. Housing starts: Homebuilding is expected to ramp up in the new year, projected to rise by 20 percent from this year. That will likely help total home sales to climb by about 5 percent, reaching the best sales pace in eight years.
4. Single-family originations: Mortgage originations of single-family homes will likely slip by an additional 8 percent, which can be attributed to a steep drop in refinancing volume. Refinancings are expected to make up only 23 percent of originations in 2015; they had been making up more than half in recent years.
5. Multi-family mortgage originations: Mortgage originations for the multi-family sector have surged about 60 percent between 2011 and 2014. Increases are expected to continue in 2015, projected to rise about 14 percent.

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

Source: Freddie Mac

Tips for Buying and Using Dehumidifiers

A dehumidifier should be used in most basements. I am amazed how many people don't use them and how musty and damp it is in their basement.  Once you start using one, it won't be long before you will notice a big difference.  Here are some tips about dehumidifiers and how to determined the best kind to buy and when they are needed. 

Tips for Buying and Using Dehumidifiers

Save your sinuses, your home, and your money by controlling humidity levels with a dehumidifier.

Ah, summer chores! There’s a lawn to mow, paint to touch up, a grill to clean. But there are summer maintenance concerns inside, too; namely, taming your home’s No. 1 enemy -- moisture.

Summer’s higher temps raise humidity levels in your home, and all that moist air can wreak havoc on interior walls and flooring. Too-high humidity promotes the growth of mold, mildew, and other allergens that take a toll on homeowners, too -- especially asthma and allergy sufferers.


How Do I Know If My Home is Too Humid?

The EPA recommends keeping your home’s humidity under 60% during the summer and between 25% to 40% in the winter. You can pick up a hygrometer at your local hardware store for less than $25; it’ll measure the air’s moisture content.

But your own comfort -- or discomfort -- is one of the best indicators of off-kilter humidity. Coughing, sneezing, and clammy hands can all be signs that the air is too humid.

Your home has a few ways of telling you, too:

• Wonky wood: Hard-to-open wooden window frames and creaky, buckling hardwood floors are signs of swollen wood caused by too much moisture in your home.

• Funky smells: A musty odor can indicate growth of moisture-loving mold and mildew.

• Damaged walls: Peeling wallpaper, blistering paint, and dark spots on walls or the ceiling are all symptoms of excess humidity.

• Constant condensation: Basic household activities like cooking and showering put moisture into the air, but if you’re seeing condensation on your windows long past bath time, your humidity level is probably too high.

Related: What's the No. 1 Thing People Want in Their Bathroom?

What Are My Options for Dehumidifiers?

A dehumidifier pulls in wet air, removes moisture, and then exhausts the drier air back into your home.

There are two types of dehumidifiers: portable and whole-house. The type of dehumidifier that’s best for the job depends on the size of the space you want to dry out and how often you need to.

Portable Dehumidifiers

For one specific space, like a kitchen or a bedroom, a portable dehumidifier ($100 to $350) should do the trick. You can move it from room to room as needed during the months when moisture is a problem.

Some larger models (those with 30+ pint capacities) can be bulky to move, and with a portable you’ll have to empty the water tank each time it’s full. Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about overflow; most new models come with an automatic shutoff if the water tank gets full. Some units also have humidistats, timers, remote controls, and built-in wheels.

Tip: Use the greywater your dehumidifier collects to water your houseplants.

Operating a portable dehumidifier will add to your energy bill -- about 160 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month, or roughly $19 per month. That's more than your refrigerator uses, but less than the average air conditioner, which eats up about 300 kWh per month.

FYI: Speaking of your AC, yes, running your air conditioner can lower humidity in your home, but more effectively when temps are in the 80s or above. On days when the temps are in the 70s, your AC won't be running enough to pull any significant amount of moisture out of the air. Without a dehumidifier, the air may still feel sticky even if temperature in your home is at a comfortable level.

This chart from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) can help you determine the size (pint capacity) of the dehumidifier you should use based on existing conditions and the size of the space. The values indicate the number of pints collected in a 24-hour period.

Condition without dehumidification during warm and humid outdoor conditions	500  sq. ft.	1000 sq. ft.	1500 sq. ft.	2000 sq. ft.	2500 sq. ft.
Moderately damp -- Space always feels damp and has musty odor only in humid weather.	10	14	18	22	26
Very damp -- Space always feels damp and has musty odor. Damp spots show on walls and floor.	12	17	22	27	32
Wet -- Space feels and smells wet. Wall or floors sweat, or seepage is present.	14	20	26	32	38
Extremely wet -- Laundry drying, wet floor, high load conditions.	16	23	30	37	44

*Dehumidification variables also include such other factors as climate, laundry equipment, number of family members, number of doors and windows, and degree and intensity of area activity. Chart data via AHAM.

Whole-House Systems

If you live in a climate where controlling humidity levels is a year-round battle, or you find yourself using multiple portable units, it may be time to install a whole-house system ($1,500 to $2,800), which can be integrated right into your HVAC.

“While a portable dehumidifier can be effective in certain areas, its range is very limited. A whole-house system utilizes a home’s existing duct system for heating and cooling to treat the entire house,” says Andrew Parra, a consultant at Deljo Heating and Cooling in Chicago.

Plus, there’s no tank to empty; a plastic tube and a run of PVC pipe carries water into a basement drain. No basement? A condensate pump will route water outside or to another drain, often in a laundry room or bathroom. You’ll need a pro to install a whole-house dehumidifier.

Parra recommends installing the system’s humidistat on a central, inside wall of your home, away from doors and windows, to ensure a more accurate read.

Low-Tech DIY Options to Dehumidify

Or maybe you want to DIY -- dry-it-yourself. You can dehumidify with some common household items, including:

• Chalk
• Kitty litter
• Charcoal briquettes
• Rock salt

These DIY solutions work best in small spots like closets or crawlspaces. Some do double duty, removing funky odors in addition to moisture.

By: Libby Walker

Published: July 21, 2014

Read more: http://members.houselogic.com/articles/guide-to-dehumidifiers/preview/#ixzz3BS0OqZqD
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Home not Selling? 6 signs telling you it might be time to lower your price!

Home not selling? That could happen for a number of reasons you can't control, like a unique home layout or having one of the few homes in the neighborhood without a garage. There is one factor you can control: your home price.

These six signs may be telling you it’s time to lower your price.

1. You’re drawing few lookers

You get the most interest in your home right after you put it on the market because buyers want to catch a great new home before anybody else takes it. If your real estate agent reports there have been fewer buyers calling about and asking to tour your home than there have been for other homes in your area, that may be a sign buyers think it’s overpriced and are waiting for the price to fall before viewing it.

2. You’re drawing lots of lookers but have no offers

If you’ve had 30 sets of potential buyers come through your home and not a single one has made an offer, something is off. What are other agents telling your agent about your home? An overly high price may be discouraging buyers from making an offer.

3. Your home’s been on the market longer than similar homes

Ask your real estate agent about the average number of days it takes to sell a home in your market. If the answer is 30 and you’re pushing 45, your price may be affecting buyer interest. When a home sits on the market, buyers can begin to wonder if there’s something wrong with it, which can delay a sale even further. At least consider lowering your asking price.

4. You have a deadline

If you’ve got to sell soon because of a job transfer or you’ve already purchased another home, it may be necessary to generate buyer interest by dropping your price so your home is a little lower priced than comparable homes in your area. Remember: It’s not how much money you need that determines the sale price of your home, it’s how much money a buyer is willing to spend.

5. You can’t make upgrades

Maybe you’re plum out of cash and don’t have the funds to put fresh paint on the walls, clean the carpets, and add curb appeal. But the feedback your agent is reporting from buyers is that your home isn’t as well-appointed as similarly priced homes. When your home has been on the market longer than comparable homes in better condition, it’s time to accept that buyers expect to pay less for a home that doesn’t show as well as others.

6. The competition has changed

If weeks go by with no offers, continue to check out the competition. What have comparable homes sold for and what's still on the market? What new listings have been added since you listed your home for sale? If comparable home sales or new listings show your price is too steep, consider a price reduction.

Read more: http://members.houselogic.com/articles/6-Reasons-To-Reduce-Your-Home-Price/preview/#ixzz3BMDrvUGo
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64 Important Numbers Every Homeowner Should Know! Check it out!

Coldwell Banker posted this information and I think it is extremely helpful.   You can check out 64 important numbers every homeowner should know at the This Old House website!  Click here for details.

Keep up with the maintenance of your home! Can lose $20,000 in value - read on . . .

An out-of-shape house is older than its years and could lose 10% of its appraised value, that’s a $15,000-$20,000 adjustment for the average home. But good maintenance can even add value. A study out of the University of Connecticut and Syracuse University finds that regular maintenance increases the value of a home by about 1% each year. So if you’ve been deferring maintenance, or just need a good strategy to stay on top of it, here’s the simplest way to keep your home in good health.

This article has a list of things that you can do to keep up with the maintenance of your home.  Another good idea is to contact your local realtor and have them take a look at your house to determine what things would need to be done to retain the home's value.   

Click here to read the entire article.

Impact of Rising Mortgage Rates

Mortgage rates will continue to rise. They will probably be near 5 percent by this time next year, compared to the 3.5 percent average of the past 12 months. The rates will be even higher in 2015 and 2016. Certainly, rising rates are bad news for buyers and some potential homebuyers will be pushed out of the market. For example, the number of renter households that have sufficient income to buy a $177,000 home at a 3.5 percent mortgage rate is 17.8 million. The number drops to 14.9 million at a 5.0 percent mortgage rate, which is a decline in percentage terms of 16 percent.

But there is one major compensating factor that can easily neutralize the negative impact of rising rates. As REALTORS® well know, there are many good potential buyers who have been denied a mortgage that in past normal years would have easily qualified. The comparison is with normal years and not the bubble years of no standards whatsoever. The Federal Reserve has also often commented about the excessively tight underwriting standards in today’s mortgage market. At the same time, banks have been reporting a strong profit growth from mortgage originations due to exceptionally low default rates on recently originated mortgages, particularly since 2010. Such well-performing recent mortgages should not be surprising since defaults do not happen in an environment with rising home prices. It appears then more loan originations, at least at the margin, will bring more profits for the lenders and correspondingly bring more buyers out into the marketplace. My estimation says there would be an additional 15 to 20 percent more homebuyers who qualify by returning to normal underwriting standards from the current very tight conditions. The table below shows the average credit score of those who obtained mortgage approvals in recent years. The credit scores are much higher now than in past normal times. So, for example, someone with a credit score of 730 would have had no trouble obtaining a Fannie-backed mortgage in the past, but is currently getting denied today.

There are other factors that can also help alleviate the rising interest rate conditions. The economy is adding jobs. A total of 2 million net new jobs were added in the past 12 months and another 2 million new ones are likely over the next 12 months. More jobs always lead to more home sales as long as rates do not spike.

Furthermore, there could be room for a reduction in fees associated with obtaining government-backed mortgages. The high profits generated by Fannie and Freddie in recent quarters are implying excessive add-on fees charged to consumers by these two effectively government agencies. A pure for-profit company should have the right to innovate and earn any profit it can obtain as long as there are no barriers to entry into the business. But Fannie and Freddie, as we have learned, are not and should not be for-profit entities. They got into a mess because of the hyper-gambling mindset of “heads we win and tails taxpayers lose”. Fannie and Freddie need to stick to the simple business plan of guaranteeing soundly underwritten, mostly boring 30-year mortgages, as they are currently doing. These simple 30-year fixed rate mortgages served our grandparents well and they subsequently will serve our grandkids well. No major innovation is required, which is the reason why being an effectively government agency can work fine. (We should, however, never trust the government to come up with an innovative product. Today’s iPhone and similar competitive products are worlds apart from the phones that our grandparents used.) The point is that Fannie and Freddie are making good profits now. They should first speedily repay the taxpayer bailout money. But afterwards, excess profits only mean excessive consumers fees. So a reduction in fees in the near future should occur, just in time to help offset the higher mortgage rate environment.

Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist

Lawrence Yun is Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research at NAR. He directs research activity for the association and regularly provides commentary on real estate market trends for its 1 million REALTOR® members

Good News in April for Pioneer Valley Real Estate Market

Pioneer Valley Real Estate update for April is reporting an influx of buyers looking and sales down due to lack of inventory.      The interest rates are still at an all time low and this is one of the main reasons why the real estate market is continuing to do well.   You will continue to see positive news throughout this year and possibly into the next. 

In April, Franklin County, sales rose 37.5 percent from 24 to 33 and the median sales price fell 5.9 percent from $168,450 to $158,500. 

For more information about the latest local real estate news, check out the complete article with quotes from Pioneer Valley real estateagents.

Massachusetts Pending Sales Are Up!

Pendings Sale for April

Despite the low inventory of homes for sale, buyers made a huge push in April to make offers on homes. In fact, the push was so huge that more single-family homes were put under agreement in April 2013 than in any month since MAR began tracking pending home sales data in January 2004. While condos didn’t hit an all-time high, they did hit their 2nd highest total.

Link to April 2013 Pending Sales News Release

Here are the highlights:

• Single-family pending home sales were up 32.8% compared to April 2012 – biggest increase since April 2010 (last month of tax credit)
• 5,948 is the most homes ever put under agreement in any one month
• Condo pending home sales were up 37.4% compared to April 2012
• 2.435 is the 2nd most condos put under agreement in any single month (March 2005 – 2,501 units was the most)

This information is provided by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors

Tips for Sealing Air Leaks

Air leaks can waste a lot of your energy dollars. One of the quickest energy-- and money-saving tasks you can do is caulk, seal, and weather strip all seams, cracks, and openings to the outside.

TIPS FOR SEALING AIR LEAKS

·         Test your home for air tightness. On a windy day, carefully hold a lit incense stick or a smoke pen next to your windows, doors, electrical boxes, plumbing fixtures, electrical outlets, ceiling fixtures, attic hatches, and other places where air may leak. If the smoke stream travels horizontally, you have located an air leak that may need caulking, sealing, or weatherstripping.

·         Caulk and weatherstrip doors and windows that leak air.

·         Caulk and seal air leaks where plumbing, ducting, or electrical wiring comes through walls, floors, ceilings, and soffits over cabinets.

·         Install foam gaskets behind outlet and switch plates on walls.

·         Inspect dirty spots in your insulation for air leaks and mold. Seal leaks with low-expansion spray foam made for this purpose and install house flashing if needed.

·         Look for dirty spots on your ceiling paint and carpet, which may indicate air leaks at interior wall/ceiling joints and wall/floor joists, and caulk them.

·         Cover single-pane windows with storm windows or replace them with more efficient double-pane low- emissivity windows. See the Windows section for more information.

·         Use foam sealant on larger gaps around windows, baseboards, and other places where air may leak out.

·         Cover your kitchen exhaust fan to stop air leaks when not in use.

·         Check your dryer vent to be sure it is not blocked. This will save energy and may prevent a fire.

·         Replace door bottoms and thresholds with ones that have pliable sealing gaskets.

·         Keep the fireplace flue damper tightly closed when not in use.

·         Seal air leaks around fireplace chimneys, furnaces, and gas-fired water heater vents with fire-resistant materials such as sheet metal or sheetrock and furnace cement caulk.

Fireplace flues are made from metal, and over time repeated heating and cooling can cause the metal to warp or break, creating a channel for air loss. To seal your flue when not in use, consider an inflatable chimney balloon. Inflatable chimney balloons fit beneath your fireplace flue when not in use, are made from durable plastic, and can be removed easily and reused hundreds of times. If you forget to remove the balloon before making a fire, the balloon will automatically deflate within seconds of coming into contact with heat.

This information is provided by Energy.gov.