It’s that time of year. The time for lists. Santa has one. You probably have one for sending holiday cards and buying presents. And every major media outlet or publication has one counting down the best things of 2011. Why do we love lists so much? I think it has to do with the joy of being able to cross something out when we accomplish it.

In any case, we wanted to share some of the most popular posts we’ve shared from this past year in a miniature year in review for real estate content. Here are the 5 most read posts on the Coldwell Banker Blue Matter blog:

5. You Might Be Surprised to Learn What’s Going on with Baby Boomers In this post we took a look at a recent survey that Coldwell Banker Real Estate conducted to give a snapshot of the impact Baby Boomers have on the housing market. Although all the buzz in the media has to do with the Gen Y, the Baby Boomers are still the major force in the real estate market. Click here to take a look at the highlights from our survey and see just how important the Baby Boomers are for housing.

4. A Zombie Proof House 2011 might just be the year of the zombies. You’ve got the hugely popular TV series, The Walking Dead; an upcoming film adaptation of the best-selling book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies; and of course successful zombie-focused video games like Dead Rising and Dead Island. So when I came across this property being touted as “zombie proof” I felt it was my duty to pop culture to blog about it. In fact this post was the most shared post on Blue Matter and has caused the social ranking tool, Klout, to rate Coldwell Banker as being “influential” about zombies. Check out the zombie proof house for yourself by clicking here.

3.  State by State Housing Market Infographic Coldwell Banker Real Estate produced this infographic way back in February, but it’s still getting attention even in December. In this post we shared an interactive map that showed you a snapshot of housing market conditions in all 50 states. Due to the popularity of this post, we’ll most likely look at updating it with new stats for next year. Click here to take a look at the post on state by state housing market conditions.

2. Hey Case-Shiller It’s Not the End of the Real Estate World This post was written by Coldwell Banker CEO, Jim Gillespie, in response to the June Case-Shiller index which continued to tout the end of the real estate world as we know it. In this post Gillespie showed some of the flaws in taking the Case-Shiller report as gospel as the real estate conditions vary from market to market while the Case-Shiller index only looks at a select few markets and then paints a national picture with only those numbers. While the post was written in June, what Jim Gillespie talks about is still very applicable today. Click here to take a look.

1. Coldwell Banker and Funny or Die Launch “The Truth” Just squeaking past the “Hey Case-Shiller”, the post on our partnering with Funny or Die and comedian, Alan Thicke, to create the fact revealing series, The Truth, was our most popular post of the year. This 3-part series, hosted by Alan Thicke, was our first endeavor with Funny or Die and uncovered some hidden truths about common misconceptions throughout history. At the end, Alan Thicke reveals another misnomer that some people think Coldwell Banker is a bank. Silly people. These videos have received nearly half a million views across YouTube and Funny or Die. Check it out for yourself by clicking here or watching the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNBn8oEJtfI&feature=player_embedded

http://blog.coldwellbanker.com/5-most-popular-real-estate-posts-for-2011/

Housing prices will stop sinking next spring. But recovery will be a  gradual process — too slow to help the economy much next year. Look for prices,  which have fallen an average of 31% since 2006, to drop an additional 2% or so  in the early months of 2012 and then recover that lost ground by the end of the  year.

The growth in 2013 won’t be dramatic Come 2013, expect home prices to rise  only 3% to 4% — not too far from the pre-boom average of 4.8% a year, but well  short of the bounce that usually follows a housing slump. After the milder  housing downturn in the early 1980s, home prices grew an average of 6.5% for six  years.

http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/practical-economics/archives/finally-a-bottom-for-home-prices.html

Washington, DC, November 21, 2011

Existing-home sales improved in October while the number of homes on the market continued to decline, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Total existing-home sales¹, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, rose 1.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million in October from a downwardly revised 4.90 million in September, and are 13.5 percent above the 4.38 million unit level in October 2010.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the market has been fairly steady but at a lower than desired level. “Home sales have been stuck in a narrow range despite several improving factors that generally lead to higher home sales such as job creation, rising rents and high affordability conditions. Many people who are attempting to buy homes are thwarted in the process,” he said.

“A higher rate of contract failures has held back a sales recovery. Contract failures² reported by NAR members jumped to 33 percent in October from 18 percent in September, and were only 8 percent a year ago, so we should be seeing stronger sales,” Yun added.

Contract failures are cancellations caused by declined mortgage applications, failures in loan underwriting from appraised values coming in below the negotiated price, or other problems including home inspections and employment losses. “Other recent factors include disruption in the National Flood Insurance Program, and lower loan limits for conventional mortgages, which paradoxically force some of the most creditworthy consumers to pay unnecessarily higher interest rates,” Yun said.

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to a record low 4.07 percent in October from 4.11 percent in September; the rate was 4.23 percent in October 2010.

NAR President Moe Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc., in Miami, said consumers can increase their odds of obtaining a mortgage by being aware of how credit scores are determined. “If you want to get a mortgage, don’t buy a car or take on new installment debt or credit cards,” he said.

“Pay all your bills on time, maintain old credit lines and don’t use more than 30 percent of your credit limit. Realtors® can help you understand the issues surrounding access to affordable credit, in addition to helping you find the right home and negotiate terms,” Veissi said.

An ongoing positive trend is a steady decline in the number of homes on the market. Total housing inventory at the end of October fell 2.2 percent to 3.33 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an 8.0-month supply³ at the current sales pace, down from an 8.3-month supply in September. Inventories have been trending gradually down since setting a record of 4.58 million in July 2008.

The national median existing-home price⁴ for all housing types was $162,500 in October, which is 4.7 percent below October 2010. Distressed homes – foreclosures and short sales typically sold at deep discounts – slipped to 28 percent of sales in October from 30 percent in September (17 percent were foreclosures and 11 percent were short sales); they were 34 percent in October 2010.

“In some areas we’re hearing about shortages of foreclosure inventory in the lower price ranges with multiple bidding on the more desirable properties,” Yun said. “Realtors® in such areas are calling for a faster process of getting foreclosure inventory into the market because they have ready buyers. In addition, extending credit to responsible investors would help to absorb inventory at an even faster pace, which would go a long way toward restoring market balance.”

All-cash sales accounted for 29 percent of purchases in October, little changed from 30 percent in September and 29 percent in October 2010; investors make up the bulk of cash transactions.

Investors purchased 18 percent of homes in October, compared with 19 percent in September and 19 percent in October 2010. First-time buyers accounted for 34 percent of transactions in October, up from 32 percent in September; they were 32 percent in October 2010.

Single-family home sales increased 1.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.38 million in October from 4.31 million in September, and are 13.8 percent higher than the 3.85 million-unit pace one year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $161,600 in October, which is 5.8 percent below October 2010.

Existing condominium and co-op sales were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 590,000 in October but are 10.5 percent above the 534,000-unit level in October 2010. The median existing condo price⁵ was $160,300 in October, down 1.5 percent from a year ago.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast fell 5.1 percent to an annual level of 750,000 in October but are 1.4 percent above October 2010. The median price in the Northeast was $224,400, down 5.5 percent from a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest rose 2.8 percent in October to a pace of 1.10 million and are 19.6 percent higher than October 2010. The median price in the Midwest was $132,800, which is 4.7 percent below a year ago.

In the South, existing-home sales increased 2.1 percent to an annual level of 1.94 million in October and are 14.1 percent above a year ago. The median price in the South was $145,700, down 1.6 percent from October 2010.

Existing-home sales in the West rose 4.4 percent to an annual pace of 1.19 million in October and are 15.5 percent higher than October 2010. The median price in the West was $207,500, which is 1.6 percent below a year ago.

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2011/11/ehs_oct

House Prices: Where They Will Be in the Spring

Disclaimer: This blog covers the national housing market as a whole. Please check with a local real estate professional to discover how the following information will impact your region. – The KCM Crew

Many sellers want to wait until the spring before putting their home on the market. This might be for any of several reasons:

1. They don’t want to be inconvenienced during the holiday season.
2. They believe that they will see more potential buyers and as a result will get a higher price.
3. In the northern part of the country, they might not want people walking through the snow and then into their house.
4. All of the above

In a normal real estate market, this may make sense. However, this market has been anything but normal. This spring will also see some abnormalities. The biggest difference will be the direction prices will take.

In years past, the spring market would favor the seller because increased demand would outpace any increase in supply: the number of houses coming onto the market would not be as great as the number of buyers newly entering the market. In most situations, when demand is greater than supply, prices increase.

The reason this spring will be different is that the supply of homes coming to the market will be dramatically impacted by foreclosure properties being released by the banks. Many believe this increase in inventory will far outweigh buyer demand. In situations where supply is greater than demand, prices decrease.

Will This Actually Happen?

RealtyTrac, in their latest foreclosure report, explained:

“U.S. foreclosure activity has been mired down  since October of last year, when the robo-signing controversy sparked a flurry  of investigations into lender foreclosure procedures and paperwork. While foreclosure activity in  September and the third quarter continued to register well below levels from a  year ago, there is evidence that this temporary downward trend is about to  change direction, with foreclosure activity slowly beginning to ramp back up.

This will impact prices.

What Do Experts Believe the Impact Will Be?

Here are the pricing projections by several major entities:

• Zillow believes we will not see a bottom in prices until the first quarter of 2012.
• Standard & Poors thinks prices will drop %5 in the next few months.
• JP Morgan Chase believes prices will depreciate 6 to 7% over the next six months.
• Barclays says prices will fall 7% by the end of the first quarter of 2012.

Bottom Line

You may pay a hefty price for the convenience of not having your property on the market right now.

Wall Street Journal & Forbes: It’s Time to Buy A Home

We believe very strongly that now is the time to buy a home. Some will say we are just saying this to create real estate transactions and commissions. Because of that, today we will quote what those outside the real estate profession are saying to the people who look to them for financial advice.

The Wall Street Journal

Last week, in an article entitled It’s Time to Buy That House, the WSJ told their subscribers:

“It’s an excellent time to buy a house, either to live in for the long term or for investment income…Houses aren’t the magic wealth creators they were made out to be during the bubble. But when prices are low, loans are cheap and plump investment yields are scarce, buyers should jump.”

In an article two weeks ago, MarketWatch.com (the on-line blog for WSJ) told their readers:

“Now could be the best time in history to buy a home.”

Forbes.com

In a report to their subscribers, Capital Economics reported that:

“The previous declines in house prices and the more recent drop in mortgage rates to record lows have created an unusual situation in which the median monthly mortgage payment is more or less the same as the median rental payment.”

Why is this important? Last week, Forbes explained to their readers:

“If rents simply kept up with inflation at a 3.2% annual increase, a $1,500 rent payment would cost that renter nearly $900,000 over the next 30 years. The same $1,500 payment made to their mortgage would be only $540,000 (because the payments don’t increase with inflation).”

They went on to explain the advantages of homeownership during retirement:

“Even with a dismal 1% growth rate over 30 years, a $300,000 property would appreciate well over $100,000 giving the homeowner an additional nest egg for retirement…

At a time when retirement is becoming much more challenging, an extra $400,000 (or likely more) can make a major difference not to mention the impact of NOT having to pay a mortgage.  How much less would you have to save for retirement if you didn’t pay the mortgage?”

Bottom Line

When the iconic financial newspaper and the iconic financial magazine say that it now makes financial sense to purchase a house, perhaps it’s time to buy a home.