Where is America moving?

As it does every January, Atlas Van Lines reviews data on the origins and destinations of interstate moves during the last 12 months. I thought it will be interesting to share this report.

Southwestern and Mid-Atlantic coastal states were popular destinations in 2011. The Midwest continues to lose residents, but Michigan became a balanced state after six consecutive years of steady outbound moves. For the sixth year in a row, Washington, D.C. had the highest percentage of inbound moves, while Ohio came out the clear leader in the highest percentage of outbound moves.

Interesting enough, Oregon is considered a balanced state with almost an equal number of people moving in and moving out according to this report. Looking at the migration report for past 10 years, Oregon has always had either positive or balanced migration.
Folks, whether moving to Portland or moving out of Portland or it's a local move, contact me and I would be happy to help.
 

RMLS Market Action Report Dec. 2011

It's the time for Portland metro market action report for the month of Dec. 2011.

In a nutshell, last year ended on a good note with improvement in sales activity compared to Dec. 2010. 

Closed sales increased by 10.3%. However the average sale price for Dec.2011 was down 6.2% compared to Dec. 2010. For the year the average sale price dropped 6.7% compared to 2010.

For more details, see the link.

2012 Real Estate Predictions

As the country shakes off the effects of the worst economic recession in recent history, the residential real estate market is beginning to rebound, and Dave Liniger, chairman and co-founder of RE/MAX, sees several positive factors that could take hold in 2012. The highlights are:

  • Continued low interest rates
  • Home prices stabilizing and starting to rise
  • Increasing numbers of home sales
  • Rising inventories, mostly due to increased foreclosures
  • Distressed properties will make up about half of all sales
  • An improved Short Sale process to help avoid foreclosure
  • Homeownership rates continue to fall
  • Foreign and domestic investors will buy 25% of homes
  • Increasing reliance on real estate agents
  • Increased use of Mobile and Social technologies

Watch his video here.

So if you have been holding off,  now may be the year to move forward with your plans. What are you seeing in your neighborhood?

April 2011 Demand & Absorption Report

FHA Mortgage Insurance Premiums Going Up In April 2011

 

Starting April 18th the annual mortgage premium for FHA loans will be going up 25 basis points. What this means to you is that (on average) for every $50,000 in purchase price you will pay around $10 extra a month for your FHA insured mortgage.
Although it is true that something must be done to protect FHA insured loans, this definatly won't be welcome news to those buyers just scraping by to qualify.

 

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