Category Archives: Real Estate

NEW RESIDENTIAL SALES IN FEBRUARY

NEW RESIDENTIAL SALES IN FEBRUARY 2011Sales of new single-family houses in February 2011 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 250,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. … Continue reading

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U.S. February Existing Home Sales Fall to 4.88 Million Rate

March 21 (Bloomberg) — Sales of U.S. previously owned homes dropped more than forecast in February and the median purchase price declined to the lowest since April 2002, indicating the housing market is struggling to recover. Purchases decreased 9.6 percent … Continue reading

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ECONOMIC REPORTS this Week

ECONOMIC REPORTS Data will include existing home sales for February (Monday); new home sales for February (Wednesday); durable goods orders for February and initial jobless claims (Thursday); and gross domestic product for the fourth quarter and the Thomson Reuters/University of … Continue reading

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Home construction slows to a crawl Building pace is far below the level economists consider healthy

WASHINGTON — Builders broke ground last month on the fewest homes in nearly two years and cut their requests for permits to start new projects to a five-decade low. The decline in construction activity is the latest evidence that the U.S. housing … Continue reading

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Saving the homeownership ideal

Pundits and economists across the political spectrum are now bemoaning America’s homeownership “fetish.” I understand the pushback. This view of homeownership as a U.S. birthright contributed to the housing bubble, which, when it burst, exacerbated the financial crisis. But homeownership … Continue reading

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An Improving But Fragile Housing Market

Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee yesterday, NAHB’s Chief Economist David Crowe reported on the state of the nation’s housing markets and urged caution on housing policy issues. These issues include finding definite solutions to the issue of the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), … Continue reading

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A beacon of hope for Inland Southern California

A beacon of hope for Inland Southern California’s distressed home-building industry shines brightly near a tollway to Orange County where houses by the dozens are in various stages of construction and the pounding of hammers fills the air. “To me the … Continue reading

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WHY IT MATTERS

Ticonderoga Securities analyst Stephen East anticipates that PulteGroup’s new home orders will tumble 23 percent and its closings will drop 34 percent. In the third quarter, the builder’s new home orders slid 12 percent. While builders such as KB Home … Continue reading

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A thousand small demonstrations of incompetence

In their book Rules to Break and Laws to Follow, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D. write that “customers have memories. They will remember you, whether you remember them or not.” Further, “customer trust can be destroyed at once by a … Continue reading

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New-Home Sales Rise 5.5 Percent In November

Sales of newly built, single-family homes increased 5.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 290,000 units in November, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Commerce Department. The gain represents a partial bounce-back from a near-record low, … Continue reading

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