Home prices rose 6.2% this spring from the same time last year, though the rate of growth is significantly smaller than the year-over-year comparisons for the three previous seasons.
Las Vegas saw the largest spring increase at 15.2 percent, while prices in Cleveland remained nearly flat.
Image via flickr/401(k) 2013
In the second quarter of 2014, mortgage banks reported an average net gain of nearly $1,000 per loan.
That number is up quite a bit from the previous quarter, when the banks were losing almost $200 for every loan taken out.
“The gains seen in the second quarter come after first quarter losses that were likely triggered by a variety of factors including the implementation of new Dodd-Frank regulations and extremely low origination volumes,” Marina Walsh, MBA’s Vice President of Industry Analysis, told Mortgage News Daily. “Some loan closings may have been pushed into the second quarter, resulting in an increase in profitability as per-loan production costs declined.”
Image via flickr/401(k) 2013
The Sky Penthouse – set to be the world’s most expensive apartment – is currently under construction in Monaco. It will sit high above the nation’s skyline and overlooks the Riviera.
The 35,000-square-foot, five-story abode is expected to sell for as much as $400 million.
Image via flickr/trishhartmann
Bloomberg News has reported that New York City is currently experiencing a shift in what what neighborhoods are considered the most desirable for apartment and office rentals.
Whereas Midtown – from 30th to 59th Streets – has been the hotspot in recent years, areas further downtown are beginning to pick up steam. The once-popular neighborhood now has more vacancies than it did at the height of the recession in 2009.
“The epicenter of this city has shifted several times before and is in the process of shifting again,” said Michael Cohen, tri-state region president of Colliers International.
Image via flickr/@marco
Escala, the Seattle condo complex where the fictional Christian Grey famously lived in the wildly popular 50 Shades of Grey novel series, has become a hot commodity in the Seattle real estate market.
In the book, Grey inhabited the penthouse, and real-life broker Erik Mehr says the building has been a hotspot ever since the series became popular.
Interest in the building has picked up steam again recently with the release of trailer for the movie adaptation of the book.
“Our silly phone calls have spiked again where people want to rent the [penthouse],” he says.
Image via zillow.com
According to the latest reports, 38 percent of home purchases in the second quarter of 2014 were all-cash deals. This is a large number to be sure, but it is actually down from 42 percent in the first quarter of the year.
Experts are attributing the decline to the fact that there are fewer deals to be had for the large institutional buyers that purchase multiple homes per year. According to CNN Money, those types of deals make up 4.7 percent of all sales, down from 6 percent last year.
Image via flickr/401(k) 2012
The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development revealed this week that, from June to July, three important residential construction numbers have risen nationwide.
The numbers of construction permits taken out (+8.1 percent), construction projects started (+15.7 percent) and construction projects completed (+3.7 percent) all increased significantly.
All three of these measures suggest that the housing market continues to pick up in strength.
Image via flickr/JD Hancock
Following more a year on the market, Bruce Willis’s $16.5 million Beverly Hills estate has finally sold.
The final purchase price was nearly 20 percent less than the original asking price of $22 million, which Willis had set back in May of 2013.
The 10,000-square-foot home boasts 11 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms and even has its own tennis court and movie room.
Image via Hilton & Hyland
“Million Dollar Listing” has two new agents this season in British transplants James Harris and David Parnes.
The two men are successful realtors and own Bond Street Partners in L.A., and now they will help move million-dollar properties on the Bravo TV show.
The seventh season of “Million Dollar Listing” is set to air on Wednesday, Aug. 20.
Image via Twitter/dparnes