10-Year Review: How’s Housing Really Doing?

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 03, 2014

The housing market has made some strides in recent months, but how has it performed compared to 10 years ago? Has the real estate market really dug itself out of the housing crisis?

The National Association of REALTORS® on its Economists’ Outlook blog recently used the latest October housing data to compare existing home sales, median sales prices, and inventory figures to those from 10 years ago. Researchers used the 10-year October average, an average of the data from the past 10 Octobers, to gauge how current market conditions stack up.

Home sales

Leader: October 2014

The number of homes sold was higher in October 2014 than the…

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Home, condo sales closing in on $200 million

Modified: Thursday, Nov 13th, 2014
BY: WYATT HAUPT JR.

 
A sale is pending on this home at 450 NE 70th Place in Newport. The 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath ocean view home was originally listed at $289,000. Broker Bonnie Saxton of Advantage Real Estate in Newport has the listing.
 
 
NEWPORT — A robust start to the fall season has the regional residential real estate market knocking on the…

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Picking out the perfect home can be a challenging task. But that’s only the first step.

You still need to be an attractive loan candidate, navigate the mortgage processand plan well for the future.

Since all that can get a little tricky, many home buyers made mortgage mistakes that cost them dearly.

In order to avoid some of the biggest missteps, you should first know what they are.

1. Picking Any Old Mortgage

You don’t want to be saddled for even a short period of time with the wrong mortgage.

Investigate all of your options, and then you need to lay your choices side-by-side and do the math—making sure you have an emergency savings for worst-case scenarios.

Loan shop with several different lenders and use the realtor.com® mortgage…

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staging-mistakes-sellers    

Nowhere in life is the old adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder truer than in real estate. One woman’s dream home might be a mid-century modern, Mad Men styled contemporary, while another’s includes all the gingerbread charm of a classic Victorian. But when it comes to prepping a home to be viewed and (fingers crossed!) sold, there is both art and science to staging a home before its listed to maximize its appeal to the broadest number of target buyers.

The challenge is this: staging is an investment, one every seller can’t afford to make (although studies have shown professionally staged homes sell faster and for more than non-staged counterparts). So many sellers take it on as a do-it-yourself project which,…

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Real estate is a big deal. For most Americans, a home is the most expensive purchase they’ll make in their lifetime. It’s a serious transaction with significant financial and emotional ramifications for the parties involved, and having proper representation is critical.

Today’s buyers and sellers agree. In 2012, a full 89 percent of buyers used a real estate agent, and so did 88 percent of sellers.1

Realtor® representation during a real estate transaction is important for both buyers and sellers. Here are six of the chief reasons:

Fiduciary responsibility. When you work with a Realtor®, their fiduciary responsibility is to you. That means you have an expert who is looking out for your best financial interests, an expert who’s contractually bound…

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From Lincoln County Board of Realtors

Tammy Gagne was presented Thursday with the 2013 REALTOR of the Year award by the Lincoln County Board of Realtors. This award is presented annually to a member of the Board of REALTORS that recognizes one of their members for their outstanding service to the Realtor organization, their profession and their community. Tammy has been a full time REALTOR for over 25 years in Lincoln County. She was instrumental in the merger of the South Lincoln Association of Realtors and the Lincoln County Board of Realtors, creating a unified membership of Realtors to serve clients and customers in all of Lincoln County. She has served on the Boards of Directors of both entities over the years and currently serves on the Lincoln…

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Advantage Real Estate was voted 2013's "Best Real Estate Office" and "Best Commercial Real Estate" in the annual "News Times Reader's Choice Awards". We would like to extend a big THANKS to our wonderful community for your continued support!

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As of 2013, a new tax on home owners takes effect, but don't worry- it's not likely to affect you. Here's why.

Some sources have characterized the so-called Medicare surtax as a transfer tax on real estate, but it's not.

What the tax is: A 3.8% tax on investment income from some sources, such as dividends, interest payments, and capital gains; and a last-minute addition to healthcare legislation, enacted in 2010, to help shore up Medicare. It affects a limited group of high-income people.

Specifically, the 3.8% tax applies only to joint filers with an adjusted-gross income (AGI) above $250,000 ($125,000 for married filers filing separate returns) and single filers with an AGI of more than $200,000.

Another limitation is that it's imposed on the…

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Market update:

  • There are currently 938 residential properties on the market, including 36 foreclosures and 62 short sales.
  • The average sale price in April was $267,568, relatively unchanged from March.
  • The average new listing price was $320,360 in April, down from $348,026 in March.
  • Homes sold for 94% of their list (asking) price in April.

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