Welcome to the last Friday of Q3 2015! As the weather is warming up throughout the country, we hope you’re getting ready for the busy Open House season ahead! Before you’re heading out to enjoy your weekend, let us help you catch up on the latest industry news in our weekly Real Estate Resource Roundup.
Sales of New U.S. Homes Unexpectedly Rise to Seven-Year High
As the job market continues to improve, Americans are purchasing more new homes than they have in the last seven years. New home sales climbed nearly 8 percent to 539,000 sales for the past 12 months.
Effective Rate on New Home Loans Drops Below 4 Percent
While new home sales are definitely on the rise, rates for new home loans have been under 4 percent since the year began. In January rates dropped below four percent to 3.92 percent, and in February the declined continued to 3.79 percent.
Mortgage Applications Rise 9.5 Percent
The amount of Americans interested in purchasing a home may be increasing as last week mortgage applications rose by 9.5 percent according to the Market Composite Index.
Housing Market Recovering in 2015
Thanks to many indicators and recently published reports, 2015 is looking like the year for the real estate industry to officially recover. Increased inventory and affordability are currently the two strongest predictors of whether this will be strong year for real estate.
Closing Costs Are a Mystery to Millennials
Millennials are might be the hottest demographic in the real estate market at the moment, but they are not without their own set of unique issues to deal with. A national survey found that 65{0a8e414e4f0423ce9f97e7209435b0fa449e6cffaf599cce0c556757c159a30c} of millennials are unfamiliar with closing costs.
A Match Made in Heaven: National Real Estate Franchisor Partners with Housing Nonprofit
Inman News wrote about our new exclusive partnership with Rebuilding Together, a national non-profit specializing in providing low-income homeowners with repairs and upgrades, which was announced during our brand conference Fusion 2015 earlier this week.
Why Meerkat and Periscope Are the Next Big Challenge for Marketers
Live video sharing and streaming platforms are continuing to pop up all over the Internet. This week two new apps, Meerkat and Periscope made waves in the news, and they both have the potential to shake up the way we view real estate.
And, in case you missed it here on Clean Slate, get to know much more about Debbie Ashbrook, director of business service and solution at Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate, in the latest installment of our #10QW series. Also, please consider donating to Rebuilding Together to help preserve affordable housing and revitalize neighborhoods around the country.
