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Rates on New Home Loans Join Downward Trend

On Christmas Eve, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported a 10 basis point decline in mortgage interest rates for the month of November. Data from FHFA’s Monthly Interest Rate Survey (MIRS) cover conventional single-family mortgages and distinguish whether the loans are for the
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Consumers Feel Good about Mortgage Credit

More Americans now believe it would be easy for them to get a mortgage, according to Fannie Mae’s January 2014 National Housing Survey results. Consumer attitudes regarding the ease of getting a mortgage climbed 2 percentage points to an all-time survey high of 52 percent, while those who think
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Consumers More Committed to Buying or Selling This Year

Prudential Real Estate, an HSF Affiliates LLC real estate brokerage network, recently released results of its fourth quarter Consumer Outlook Survey indicating that consumers’ perception of residential real estate is increasingly favorable, and that consumers are more committed to buying and
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Can Shadow Inventory Help Relieve Price Pressure?

Home prices grew at the fastest pace in seven years in 2013. This is good news for property owners, both homeowners and landlords, as they witnessed, on average, a $32,000 gain in housing equity over the past two years. The equity increase is an immediate financial gain for many. For others, it
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Online Access: The Importance of Product Experience

From what began as a traditional offline business, real estate began moving online in the late 1990s and has increasingly become not only an online business, but a mobile one. Real estate will always have a fundamental human element, but homebuyers in 2013 have a much different experience than
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The 8 Best Tablet Apps for Real Estate

Do you use a tablet in your real estate business? While we all love our smartphones, tablets are increasingly prevalent in the marketplace today. In many cases, especially for real estate agents, they’re easier and more convenient to use. Here’s a list of our eight favorite tablet apps
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Consumer Confidence Shows Mixed Results

Measures of consumer confidence were mixed in the most recent release. The Conference Board reported that the Consumer Confidence Index increased by 3.2 points on a month-over-month seasonally adjusted basis in December to 80.7. Meanwhile, according to Thomson Reuters and the University of
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10 Reasons to Buy a Brand New Home

Much like the rest of the real estate industry, new home construction is on the rise! Are you a real estate agent who sells or even specializes in new builds? Below is a list of the top 10 reasons for home buyers to buy a brand new house. Feel free to use this information during your buyer
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Today’s Buyers are Looking for these 10 Things in a Home

While David Letterman’s Top 10 lists generally culminate in a No. 1 ranking, the following list includes in no particular order 10 things that are important to buyers today, especially Millennials who represent a significant buyer niche in today’s market. 1. Quality of the neighborhood –
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No Signs of Cooling in Home Prices during this Winter

Data through November 2013, released recently by S&P Dow Jones Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, showed that the 10-City and 20-City Composites increased 13.8 percent and 13.7 percent year-over-year. Dallas posted its highest
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