According to the numbers, foreign nationals account for more than 2% of home purchases in America each year. But did you know more than 50% of these “foreign” buyers are recent immigrants or non-immigrant visa holders who live right here in the U.S.? And did you know 10% of them are Canadians (third-highest of any nation)? Check the stats to learn more!
When you put your home up for sale, choosing the right asking price could be the difference between getting what you want and leaving big-time dollars on the table — especially in today’s tight market. So how do you find the right number?
Setting an asking price is all about striking a balance — between the price you want and what the market will bear, high interest rates and low inventory, first impressions and protracted negotiations. In this treacherous territory, it’s good to have an agent to guide you to the promised land. We’ll help you make sense out of the tea leaves and find the asking price that fits your property.
I love a good numbers game, and finding your asking price is all about crunching the data. The first step is to analyze comparable sales in your neighborhood. How do the homes compare to yours by the numbers? How closely did asking prices mirror impartial estimates? How long did the properties spend on the market? Once you know the landscape, it’s easier to find your way.
For the second year in a row, foreclosures are up across the country, and the trend has a lot of folks remembering the Great Recession. But we’re still nowhere near the levels we saw when that bubble burst. About 25 of every 100,000 homes in America had a distressed property or foreclosure filing in June, which is about 15 times lower than during the recession.
And the pain isn’t spread equally. The highest rates of foreclosure can be found in small to mid-sized metro areas like Modesto, which checks in at number ten on this list from Realtor.com.
Although average mortgage interest rates have seen a slight decline over the past few weeks, they’re still twice as high as just one year ago. Meanwhile, median housing prices in the Bay Area are on the rise despite a 14% drop year over year. With this level of volatility, a fixed-rate mortgage makes more sense every day. But again, personal circumstances may do the deciding for you.
You can learn a lot about a housing market by looking at the high end. In that respect, the Bay Area could be on the rise, as indicated by the top listing prices from Sebastopol to Santa Cruz.
