House Swapping Is An Option For Homeowners In A Struggling Market
In the film The Holiday, two women on opposite sides of the world decide to trade houses over the Christmas holidays. Trading homes for vacation purposes is not a new idea, but what if the swap was permanent? Investors looking to sell a house could consider a swap if they are interested in purchasing new property while receiving market value for their own.
An estimated 16,000 Americans are in the market to trade their homes, according to ConsumerAffairs.com. That’s not many in the grand scheme of things—there were over four million homes on the market at the end of 2007—but the number is steadily growing as more people get fed up with the lack of buyers.
Title Issues Can Make Property Sales Fall Flat
Title insurance can prevent problems for property owners
Written by: Cali Zimmerman
When purchasing a new property, often the last things on a buyer’s mind are potential title problems that could arise later on. But the fact is that 26 percent of title searches reveal an issue that can be corrected before purchasing the property, according to the American Land Title Association. If these issues go uncorrected, they can pose big problems for investors when they eventually come to light.
Sacramento Year-Over-Year Home Prices Drops 18.6 Percent
NEW YORK, NY – February 1, 2008 – In what seems like a sea of bad news, three of the cities
tracked by the RPX prices show persistent strength, according to the RPX Monthly Housing
Market Report released today by Radar Logic Incorporated.
“As volume in RPX contracts continues to grow, we are seeing more investment and trading
strategies emerge within the 25 cities we currently publish,” said Michael Feder, Chief Executive
Officer of Radar Logic Incorporated. “The November monthly research report shows that RPX
offers investors the opportunity to successfully trade disparities in regional and local housing
markets.” The RPX Monthly Housing Market Report is published by the Radar Logic
Incorporated research department under the direction of Jonathan Miller, Executive Vice
President.
$6 Million Bonus For KB Homes CEO When Company Loses $929.4 Million
KB Home Reported 2007 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results posted on Jan 08, 2008.
“The Company delivered 23,743 new homes in fiscal year 2007, down 26% from the 32,124 new homes it delivered in fiscal year 2006. Revenues totaled $6.42 billion in fiscal year 2007, decreasing 32% from $9.38 billion in fiscal year 2006, reflecting fewer new home deliveries and a 9% year-over-year decline in the average selling price to $261,600 from $287,700. The Company posted a loss from continuing operations of $1.41 billion in fiscal year 2007 due to non-cash charges associated with inventory and joint venture impairments and land option contract abandonments; goodwill impairment; and the deferred tax assets valuation allowance. In fiscal year 2006, the Company generated income from continuing operations of $392.9 million. Including the results of its French discontinued operations, the Company posted a net loss of $929.4 million or $12.04 per diluted share in fiscal year 2007 and net income of $482.4 million or $5.82 per diluted share in fiscal year 2006.”
First American CoreLogic Releases November 2007 LoanPerformance House Price Index
First American CoreLogic, a member of The First American Corporation (NYSE:FAF) family of companies and a leader in residential mortgage data and analytics for the mortgage industry and Wall Street, today announced the release of its November 2007 LoanPerformance Home Price Index (HPI).
The LoanPerformance HPI provides a comprehensive set of monthly home price indices and median sales prices covering 7,462 ZIP codes, 956 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSA) and 662 counties located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The indices, which are the most comprehensive available in the industry, are reported to clients five weeks after each full month ends. (For a state-by-state map, visit www.loanperformance.com/assets/images/pr0108_image_lg_ch.jpg).
America’s 15 Most Lucrative Neighborhoods
| City and Neighborhood | Price Growth Since 1990 |
| San Francisco, Calif.: Grove And Webster Streets | 522% |
| New York, N.Y.: Riverside Drive And 149th Street | 4,391% |
| Washington, D.C.: Rosslyn/Highlands | 566% |
| Los Angeles, Calif.: Ohio And Westgate Avenues | 3,081 |
| Miami, Fla.: Miami Beach (City Center) | 1,532% |
| Atlanta, Ga.: Memorial Drive And Boulevard Southeast | 430% |
| Detroit, Mich.: John C Lodge Freeway And Clairmount Street | 396% |
| Philadelphia, Pa.: Walnut And Third Streets | 184% |
| Seattle, Wash.: 23rd Avenue And Union Street | 445% |