Friday Facts April 15, 2011

FRIDAY FACTS April 15, 2011 From an article in the Wall Street Journal: “Memo to sellers: you’ve got more competition this spring. Price those homes accordingly”. Inman News cites the NAR report showing that nationwide, sales of homes over $1 million rose 3.9% in February. They represent 2% of all sales. Sales of homes between $100,000 and $250,000 fell 7% and represent 42% of all sales. RealTrends reports that second home purchases declined at the same rate (5.6%) as primary home purchases in 2010. Investment properties dropped 7.8%. They represent 17% of overall purchases and 59% paid cash. Vacation homes dropped 1.8%. They represent 10% of overall purchases and 36% paid cash. In the Wall Street Journal: “Federal regulators proposed far-reaching changes to lending rules that eventually could raise the cost of borrowing for most homeowners, kicking off what is likely to be a furious effort by the housing and banking industries to soften the proposal.” A prime mortgage would be one where a borrower has a down-payment of at least 20% At the end of 2010, approximately 46% of all homeowners with mortgages had less than 20% equity. · Inman News noted that Android-equipped smart phones outranked both the BlackBerry and the iPhone for the three month period ending in February. 33% of smart phone users over age 13 owned the Android-equipped phone, making it the most powerful platform.