Blog entries tagged Realtors

Report: Houston Area Among Strongest Markets in Second Quarter

Greg RIvera — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:00:00 +0100

The second quarter was a good one for the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area, which has been named as one of the nation’s 20 strongest metro areas by the Brookings Institute.

The Washington, D.C. company’s quarterly MetroMonitor ranks the nation’s 100 largest metro areas for their economic performance based on five key indicators — employment, unemployment, output, home prices and foreclosure rates.

Houston led the nation in housing prices, with a 4.9 percent increase over the 2008 second quarter, according to the report. That compared with a 4.4 percent average decline among the Top 100 metro areas as a whole and a 1.7 percent decrease in the national average.

Texas overall was considered strong, with Austin, Dallas and San Antonio all also included in the Top 20 markets.

As a whole, the Top 20 areas experienced average employment losses of 1.7 percent from their peaks, and 17 have seen home prices rise over the past year, according to the report. By contrast, the 20 weakest-performing areas have seen average employment declines of 8.2 percent, while home prices have dropped by an average of 11 percent in the past year.

Source: houston.bizjournals.com
Image Source: houstonproperties.com

Pending Home Sales Jump

Melissa Burnham — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

According to the National Association of Realtors, the pending sales for homes have risen 6.7 percent in April, which equals a full 3.2 percent higher than last year. These types of sales are specifically pending sales on existing homes, or mortgage contracts that are signed but not closed.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun states that this index can actually be difficult to measure absolutely, as the processing time varies from sale to sale. "The relationship between contracts on pending home sales and closings on existing home sales is taking longer than in the past for several reasons: mortgage processing time has increased, it is taking many months to close on those homes requiring short sales with lender approval, and some sales are falling through at the last moment," he said.

As many experts have gathered, the housing market has reached so low recently that it can only rise back up again now, as seen by the increase in pending homes sales, NAR’s housing affordability index at its second-highest level on record in April, and also the 2.9 percent increase of reported closed home sales.

It can’t be said better than by the Houston Business Journal, stating that “lower prices and attractive mortgage rates are breathing new life into housing.” Hopefully past mistakes have been thoroughly corrected and only positive news awaits the housing market.

Source: Houston Business Journal

Welcome to the River Park West Blog

Melissa Burnham — Wed, 06 May 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Celebration is on order for the new blog section of River Park West! Now, current and future homeowners, as well as realtors and community leaders can remain updated to all of the new developments shaping the community. These blog posts will act as the main source of the latest news, events and any important information.

Realtors and residents should feel free to stay in tune by subscribing to this page via RSS or check back frequently to remain connected.

As we strive to consistently provide access to this continual source of all manner of useful information concerning the River Park West community, we hope that you further your support and interest in our endeavor. In return, we will do our best to always bring you the best.

Thank you for your time and support. Come and visit us again soon!