Realtors are increasingly confident about current market conditions and the outlook for the next six months, although expectations for condos are still less than “moderate,” according to survey data gathered in March. Source: National Association of Realtors.
Slightly over half of appraisers in a recent survey expressed a degree of confidence in the housing market and nearly half reported appreciating home values in their markets.
Some 54.7 percent of appraisers said their level of confidence is mildly or moderately strong, while 24.9 percent were neutral. The survey was completed by United States Appraisals’ nationwide panel of residential appraisers.
“Appraisers tend to be realistic, focused on their local markets and unmoved by news stories and national numbers,” said Aaron Fowler, President of United States Appraisals. “We believe they provide a good gauge of the status of the housing market. After the last few years, a mildly strong level of confidence shows some definite improvement in appraiser attitudes.”
Opinions were slightly rosier regarding home values. Some 46.2 percent reported a mild increase in values in their area. Some 15.6 percent were seeing a moderate value increase, while 24 percent were neutral. Despite somewhat tepid feelings on the market in general, most appraisers reported increased order volume: 26.1 percent saw mild increases, 17.8 percent saw moderate increases and 18.5 percent reported significant volume increases. Only 15.3 percent of respondents reported any reduction in their order volume.
Comments from the survey:
“Improving, people seem tired of waiting.”
“Significantly more activity at middle and upper end of the value range and the supply of existing housing is down significantly as well.”
Suppliers of glass, drywall and wood products, who reduced output during the slump, are testing the vigor of the rebound by boosting prices before committing to restore capacity. Builders, including Lennar Corp. (LEN), Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL) and KB Home, are asking homebuyers for more money as a result or are delaying sales, posing a temporary hurdle for the industry that has become one of the pillars of the economic expansion.
Building-material manufacturers “are raising prices dramatically, and once they’re convinced that these prices are going to stick, they’ll start reinvesting in those plants,” helping ease supply constraints, said John Burns, chairman of Irvine, California-based John Burns Real Estate Consulting, which provides research to developers, construction-product manufacturers and investors. “Those can take a year to get up and running.”
In a sign demand remains strong, a report yesterday showed sales of new houses advanced in March, capping the best quarter for the industry since 2008. Purchases of new single-family properties climbed 1.5 percent to a 417,000 annual pace, the Commerce Department said.
Bedford Corners NY Real Estate Report RobReportBlog 2013 6 months ending 4/24 2012 10 Sales 8 $754,500.00 median sold price $1,462,500.00 $315,000.00 low sold price $530,000.00 $21,500,000.00 high sold price $4,800,000.00 4813 average size 5385 $351.00 ave. price per foot $365.00 254 ave days on market 256 $2,892,000.00 average sold price $1,980,500.00 93.83% ave sold to ask 95.38%
Buyers may be reading too much into simplified school rankings offered on real estate sites, paying premiums of $200,000 or more for homes served by schools that score only slightly better than other schools in the same school district, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
School district officials in San Mateo County, Calif. say real estate professionals are part of the problem, because they rely on test scores and school ranking sites to help sell homes. They’re holding an event next month to give Realtors a better understanding of what qualities make for a good school.
The Chronicle described a “feeding frenzy” for homes in the city of San Carlos, where the school district’s four elementary schools all score “well above” the state average.
The lowest performing elementary school in the district, Brittan Acres, scored 880 on the state’s 1,000-point Academic Performance Index. While the state considers scores of 800 or above ideal, the other three elementary schools in the district all score above 900.
One buyer withdrew an offer on a home served by Brittan Acres and fired his Realtor when the agent — who serves on the board of a neighboring school district — insisted that the school was fine.
Educators say test scores can often reflect the makeup of a school’s population. Low-income students and those who speak English as a second language can dent overall scores, but high-scoring schools don’t always have the best teachers or programs.
Spring has already proven to be a success for the housing industry. In its latest report, CoreLogic noted that there are a number of factors that could help strengthen the housing sector even more, but homebuyers are still facing major obstacles standing between themselves and homeownership.
Right now, sellers are facing the challenge of owning enough equity in their existing home to have a strong enough downpayment on a home in a competitive sellers’ market. Not only that, they need to have a qualifying credit profile in a tight lending industry.
Luckily, many of those markets that were hit the hardest have had strong price improvements in 2012, removing some of the insufficient equity constraint. With more equity in their hands, owners are putting their homes up for sale and contributing to a tight housing inventory, CoreLogic writes, then transitioning into the buyer role once their home has sold.
Not only that, increasing equity is reviving trade-up buyer demand, creating a healthy housing cycle.
Coinciding with this newfound equity is increased investor activity, which is expecting to continue driving demand throughout the year.
It is anticipated that the first-time homebuyer will also make a stronger appearance in the near future. Today’s household formation has many potential first-time buyers running to rentals, but CoreLogic notes that is part of the cycle.
The report’s author, Mark Fleming, writes, “As new renter-households are formed, rental prices are bid up, making the prospect of owning more attractive to existing renters.”
New California foreclosure actions posted a sharp plunge in the first quarter to levels not seen since the previous housing boom.
Lenders filed 18,567 mortgage default notices on homes and condominiums during the first three months of the year, down 51.4% from the previous quarter and a drop from 67% from the same time last year, according to DataQuick.
The drop is due to rising home prices, a strengthening economy and government interventions designed to curtail foreclosures.
“It appears last quarter’s drop was especially sharp because of a package of new state foreclosure laws — the ‘Homeowner Bill of Rights’ — that took effect Jan. 1,” said John Walsh, president of DataQuick.
He added, “Default notices fell off a cliff in January, then edged up.”
Meanwhile, default notices remained more prevalent in California’s cheaper neighborhoods, according to DataQuick.
A deed in lieu of foreclosure allows a lender to take possession of a property securing a deliquent loan without going through the foreclosure process.
This would allow homeowners to walk out from under massive amounts of debt without a full-fledged foreclosure on their credit history.
Deeds in lieu are becoming more popular — albeit still in much lower numbers than short sales and loan modifications and refinancing activity. RealtyTrac data shows just above 20,000 DILFs nationwide in 2012, up 39% from about 14,000 in in 2011.
In the past few years, as owner of a video production company, I’ve noticed a real shift in what clients are requesting. A few years ago, it was mostly the typical sales pitch video. But, now clients want more. They’re looking for ways to connect with their audience, to use emotion, and to create a lasting impression. This is a promising trend for all of us in the professional video industry. Below are a few reasons to embrace the trend of storytelling in videos.
1. Storytelling sets us apart as video professionals in a world where anyone can shoot and edit.
As professionals, we strive to do a much better job than our clients could do just setting up a camera and reading a script. New editing software and cheap digital cameras make everyone a video producer. But, once we hone the craft of telling great stories, our clients can’t really emulate that. And, they don’t want to spend the time it takes to master the art.
Use humor in your stories
2. Storytelling videos are much more likely to be shared online
Sales pitch videos, though they certainly have their place, aren’t really likely to be shared online. But, when you create a humorous, interesting, thought-provoking, or problem solving video, people will share it. Consider this example.
My company, Marietta Video Productions, got a call from the owner of a commercial painting company. He wanted us to shoot one of his restaurants being painted. When he told me the restaurant was The Big Chicken, one of Atlanta’s iconic landmarks, I asked him to let us tell that story, not just shoot some video. He agreed and arranged to allow us to interview a couple of others involved in the project.
The result was a really fun video that accomplished the goal – a great response from the people who mattered – his clients. They didn’t just watch the video, they enjoyed it, laughed at it, and shared it. The video helped to create a deeper alliance between him and his customers. It portrayed him as a caring, creative, and fun guy who really goes above and beyond for his customers. It also gave his customer’s a deeper understanding about what sets his company apart from his competitors.
3. Storytelling videos can be very efficient and can help you get the sale.
Some clients have a really tough time narrowing down the points they want to make in a script. The process of developing a script and storyboard can be very time consuming.
All clients want to bring too many ideas and thoughts into a video while still keeping it short. And, if the client can’t really articulate their vision, and they’re relying on you to come up with what they want, sometimes, you can lose the sale.
I’ve learned over the years that when I tell a client we will develop their story from conducting interviews instead of creating a script and storyboard, it eases their stress. The client trusting you – the video producer – to pull out the best portions of the interviews and keep the ideas concise gets the ball rolling and helps you land the sale.
The process is simple. We do interviews, preferably with the client and the business owner. We send the audio files to a video transcription company, such as CopyTalk™. We get the transcripts back in a couple of days and write the stories completely from the interviews, just like a news reporter does. I use information in the narration, and I use the interviews to convey opinion and emotion.
Keep in mind, storytelling does not have to be expensive for your client. We use stock video in some cases and build the story around what we can find. In most cases, it’s much easier and less time consuming than developing a script and trying to get clients to say something that’s scripted rather than the conversational style of an interview.
In the Data Center video below, we used stock footage for the opening scene. We told the story through the eyes of our client’s customer, and we developed the script from the interviews. This video achieved its goal as well, helping our client “connect” with their prospects. It’s helped them close several key sales.
Storytelling seems to be the buzzword right now in video. It’s not just the interview style of storytelling clients want. No matter how you tell the story, whether using interviews or a script, keep in mind, the components of storytelling such as emotional characters, a fun or dramatic plot, and engaging settings are more likely to land a great response and be shared online.
