Home Resales Boom Into The End Of The Tax Credit; Home Values Seen Rising.

Existing Home Sales rose in March, as expected. U.S. home buyers closed on 7 percent more homes as compared to February.

Furthermore, versus March 2009 -- a month many people equate to the low point of the U.S. economy -- sales volume was up 16 percent.

"Existing home sale" is the technical term for a home resale; a home previously inhabited by a person. It's the opposite of a "new home sale" which is a sale of a newly-constructed home.

Existing Homes Data is tracked by the National Association of Realtors® and a closer look at the March data reveals some other interesting notes:

1. Year-over-year sales are higher for the 9th straight month
2. Real estate investors represented 19 percent of all homes purchased
3. First-time home buyers account for 44 percent of all buyers

Also worth noting is that the supply of available homes is down on a broader basis. At the current rate of sales, the existing home inventory will be exhausted in 8 months.

Despite banks releasing foreclosures and REO into the Palmyra market, that's still one half-month less from February.

When supplies drops, home prices tend to rise. It suggests an underlying strength in housing that should support home prices through the next few months -- especially as the home buyer tax credit finishes working its way through the system.

That said, real estate markets are local. You shouldn't assume that what's happening on the national level is also happening here at home. Be sure to check with your real estate agent about local market conditions before making a decision to buy or sell.

RealtyTrac's 2009 Foreclosure Report Gives Reason For Optimism

Like real estate, it appears that foreclosure activity is a local phenomenon, too.

As reported by RealtyTrac.com, more than half of all foreclosure-related activity in 2009 came from just 4 states:

1. California
2. Florida
3. Arizona
4. Illinois

More than 1.4 million filings made in 2009 are attributed to the above states. Furthermore, each ranks in the Top 10 for 2009 Foreclosures Per Capita.

The other states are Nevada, Utah, Georgia, Idaho, Michigan and Colorado.

Versus 2008, foreclosures are up 21 percent nationwide and that's a big number, but a deeper look at RealtyTrac's annual reports reveals a more positive undertone on the housing market.

1. 40 states fell below the national Foreclosures Per Capita average in 2009
2. Foreclosure activity fell on an annual basis in 10 states as compared to 2008

Foreclosures are still prevalent, though, and buying homes in foreclosure in Philadelphia continues to be big business. Having been active in selling foreclosures for over 22 years, our firm sees this activity on a day to day basis in the inquiries from the Lender's web sites sending buyers to us. First-time buyers, move-up buyers, and real estate investors each are bidding aggressively.

Distressed homes account for one-third of home resale activity, according to an industry trade group.

That said, buying foreclosures can be tricky.

First, properties are often sold "as-is" and the cost of repairs may unwind the home's status as a "value buy". Furthermore, a lender may require specific fixes to be made prior to closing and that, too, costs money.

Second, buying a foreclosed home in Pennsylvania isn't as streamlined as buying a "normal" home. Closing on a foreclosure can be a longer process if the sherriff deed is not yet recorded, though many foreclosures can settle much faster. But you need to know the time frame since a 4-month time-frame may not fit your schedule.

And, third, finding foreclosures can be difficult. Despite the growth in foreclosure search engines, it still takes a good real estate agent to uncover the best homes at the best prices. Luckily, being such a vendor, we can make it a little easier. You should still concentrate on finding the best house for you, even if its not a foreclosure.

Read the complete foreclosure report and take a peek at RealtyTrac's foreclosure heat maps. If you like what you see, talk to your real estate agent about what to do next.

There's still good deals in the foreclosure market -- you just have to know where to find them

Short Sales What the Heck are They?

In Philadelphia and New Jersey, there are more short sales then there were in the past, but we don;t have the problems faced in some other parts of the country. Even so, even real estate agents need specific training to help you with them, which is why I developed our short sale training course after returning from chairing the Short Sale Working Group last year for the National Association of REALTORS .

Because there is so much interest in , and confusion about Short Sales, I thought that this video might help consumers understand just what they are and how they work.

I'm Stuck Between Two Attorneys!

Today I am in Atlanta for ReTechSouth.

The conference has grown into a pretty substantial event describing itself as;

A place where agents, brokers, lenders, builders and many other real estate industry practitioners could join together to collaborate on how technology can improve business

Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? And I’m very impressed by the people that will be speaking at the conference, Jeff Turner, Ginger Wilcox, Teresa Boardman, Kelley Koehler, Ines Hegedus-Garcia, Todd Carpenter, Joe Ferraro, Rob Hahn, a ton of other great speakers, and (less impressively) me.And, for people that really know their stuff, there is an opportunity to meet the real BoomerJack Boardman. Obviously, the level of information to be passed here is only surpassed by the multitude of awesome social networking rock stars (your author not included).

I’m very excited because I’m moderating the Cage Match of the Century - a ginormous stupendous spectacle of a debate between those two Web 2.0 giants, Joe Ferraro of Sellsius.com fame, and Rob Hahn A.K.A. The Notorious R.O.B. And you dear reader are going to hear about it first right here!

Today on the Main Stage at ReTechsouth, Joe will be the Pasha of Positivity, arguing the Pro stand on every question while Rob (a usually bright pleasant and positive gentleman) will become the raging Ninja of Negativity! Based upon their thorough and exhaustive academic and practical backgrounds, they will enlarge the mind through their exploration of four important questions:

1. Should Agents Blog?
2. Is there a Place in Social Networking for Shameless Self-Promotion and Advertising?
3. Does Size Matter? AKA Your Importance in Social Media is determined by the size of your…. followers
4. Nobody needs a broker!

From the conference calls to set this up and choose our topics, to the emails we have exchanged, colored by my own opinion of these two smart guys, I anticipate a ton of fun and even more information. So if the idea of two attorneys fighting while moderated by a seasoned real estate broker (someone spilled pepper on me this morning) is at all intriguing to you , I hope you’ll be there when we kick it off Friday at 11 AM on the main stage.

Seeling Your Home Faster and for more money!

Super Bowl Weekend traditionally marks the start of the Spring Buying Season in real estate. Anecdotally, real estate agents will tell you that buyer activity tends to tick higher at this time of the year.

Meanwhile, with mortgage rates still trolling near all-time lows and Congress debating a first-time homebuyer tax credit, 2009 may bring out even more buyers than we've seen in the past.

Just having your home on the market may not be enough to attract an offer, though -- the home has to have appeal. That brings us to home staging -- the process by which a homeowner re-organizes and re-presents his home to appeal to as many potential buyers as possible.

Home staging is part-science, part-art, and part-psychology. Homebuyers tend to judge homes within the first 8 seconds of seeing them so making a quality first impression can mean the difference between getting multiple bids, and just getting a lot of foot traffic.

The 4-minute video gives some quick-and-easy tips, including:

• Create more light in the home
• Clean up the closets and thin them out
• Remove the clutter from every room in the house

Even though home inventories are falling, supplies are still higher than in previous years. Home sellers wanting to stand out in a crowd may want to consider staging their homes to help them sell more quickly.

Staged homes sell for as much as 17% more money and as much as 40% faster than non-staged ones.

Philadelphia's Housing Market OMG I'm their Expert!

Image via WikipediaLike everyone, I spend part of my day at the computer, reading news, looking at my emails, and deciding which of them to read.

Since I subscribe to a number of publications on-line, I have to pick and choose the ones that get my attention first. SO this morning, as I was reviewing that I looked at my RealtyTimes headlines to see a headline reading, "Hot Market: City of Brotherly Love Grows Jobs". Obviously, as the CEO of Philadelphia's largest Century 21 firm, this is news I can use, so I jump right on the link and start reading the article, figuring that here is additional information for our agents to share with potential buyers.

As I read the article the second paragraph jumps out at me;
Blogger and real estate broker Bill Lublin says, "In Philadelphia, our real estate market has seen some decline in the number of homes sold through the MLS this year, but a remarkable stability in price. Combined with the affordable interest rates available to buyers to day, our city is poised (according to Smart Money Magazine) for a housing recovery."

I'm crushed! How do I quote myself to my agents? But the article goes on the retrieve its value by quoting a Philadelphia Business Journal article quoting a Brookings Institution study. entitled "Recent Immigration to Philadelphia: Regional Change in a Re-Emerging Gateway". Gateway cities are defined as cities where there are substantial immigrant popultions, and this study showed that This article showed that there has been tremendous growth in immigrant population, providing data showing that 75 percent of Philadelphia's labor growth over the past 8 years came from our immigrant population.

The article went on to note that Philadelphia's job growth was the 6th largest in the country, and that our prices were relatively flat , with little decline since last year, bucking the national trend and providing additional security for Philadelphia area home buyers.

So in the final analysis,even if I am the expert they quoted, , the good news they reported had solid and substantial roots in common sense for Philadelphia's home buyers. What a relief!

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