Are you looking for an impeccable condo in the heart of Oak Lawn? Check this out!
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4107-Bowser-Ave-Apt-101_Dallas_TX_75219_M80369-83613
New Listing!
An absolute must see Dallas home with sophisticated finishes making the home a great combination of elegance and luxury. The dramatic foyer presents a grand curved staircase with an iron banister and is flanked by the gorgeous dining room. The living room features a large tumbled stone fireplace and mantle with ample room for storage and a wall of windows with views of the backyard. Gain access to the spacious covered patio with built-in grill right from the living room. The immaculate chef's kitchen features an oversized island and professional grade stainless steel appliances, which are sure to please. The beautiful kitchen has tons of space on the granite countertops, 6-burner gas range, double ovens, a breakfast bar, walk-in pantry, dry bar and open sight lines into the breakfast area and living room. A perfect mudroom and laundry area is right off the kitchen and leads into the spacious 3-car garage with an additional storage closet. The first floor master bedroom retreat has incredible vaulted ceilings, a huge walk-in closet, his/her sinks, linen closet, spa-like bath and separate shower. Upstairs opens up to a spacious game room, an oversized study and large secondary bedrooms with walk-in closets. The second floor also provides two full baths one of which is a delightful jack-and-jill and an additional half bath. This immaculate home includes additional features such as nest thermostats, professional landscaping, and easy access to the neighborhood clubhouse and pool right across the street!
Real Estate Bonuses!
Tips of the trade: Getting your home ready to sell. First impressions are everything - a little landscaping and flowers go a long way! Thinking about selling your home and need an agent willing to go the extra mile to get top dollar for your home? Give me a call - I would love the opportunity to earn your business!
Home prices within 5% of peak before the recession!
Happy Holiday's everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful break and got to spend some quality time with families. The Christmas cheer is still in the air as we get close to wrapping up 2013!
The housing market has hit an all new high: "Home prices have zipped back into record territory in a handful of American cities, a milestone that comes seven years after the housing bust ravaged the market and the broader economy" reported the Wall Street Journal.
http://online.wsj.com/news/interactive/pricey123020131230?ref=SB10001424052702304202204579256620643694940
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304202204579256620643694940
Talk about a great holiday gift for our economy! According to the research, Texas and the Great Plains are the nations steadiest markets due to population growth and strong job growth tied to the oil, mineral and gas industries!
If anyone is in the market to buy or sell, please think of me. I would love the opportunity to earn your business!
The holiday season brings some good news: The spike in new-home sales "negates" interest rate trouble!
We have some great news in the DFW area other than the White Thanksgiving we celebrated. In an article posted by MetroTex, David Crowe, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders says "The strong October results return us to the sales levels we saw earlier this year and negate the pause caused by the sudden jump in interest rates and we expect sales to continue to rise as pent-up demand is released and first-time home buyers creep back into the market." North Texas home sales are up and forclosures continue to decline according to the Texas A&M Real Estate Center. There was a 20% drop in the number of days homes stayed on the market in November 2013 compared to November 2012. This news goes hand in hand with recent rankings that 7 Texas cities are listed in the top 25 of the nation in creating jobs according to the Milken Institute's "Best Performing Cities" report.
The real estate market continues steadily to stabilize and based on reports from the Wall Street Journal and National Association of Home Builders across the country all regions posted double digit gains in new home sales for the month of October. According to CoreLogic data, lenders foreclosed on 7,624 area homes for the year ending in October — the lowest volume in forced home sales in more than five years!
For all of those who missed the boat on the home purchasing/selling spree in the spring and summer: have no worries, round two is back and we can help! Give me a call at 214-707-2655 or email at Richa@RichaGuptaRealty.com with any questions.
Strong home sales continue in DFW
Job and population growth in conjunction with continuing strong home sales are still evident in the residential housing market for the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This is great news for all the consumers that chose to stay put during the spectacular summer sales spree that we had seen. Rates are still low and the opportunity to buy and sell properties is still extremely feasible. Though the new home supply is smaller than the pre-owned home inventory, we have to keep in mind that many DFW home builders are jaded from the recession and were cautious in their construction pursuits. Have no fear because according to reports from the National Association of Home Builders/First American Leading Markets Index (LMI), 52 of the 350 nationwide metropolitan areas have returned or exceeded their pre-recessionary levels of activity with Texas listed as one of the top performing areas! One such example was featured by RECON: Crescent Communities is creating a new master planned development in Denton called Timberlake which will have 1,000 homes priced from $200,000 - $400,00.
Here is an article from Dallas Morning News highlighting the continued recovery:
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/area-home-sales/20131009-dallas-fort-worth-new-home-supply-at-20-year-low1.ece
Foreclosures are down!
Remember that bleak and dreary time in our recent past where so many great people had their homes foreclosed? Well lets take a deep breath of relief because according to research done by CoreLogic Inc., foreclosure rates in Texas have gone down by more 30%.
The report also said "approximately 949,000 homes in the U.S. were in some stage of foreclosure as of July 2013 compared to 1.4 million in July 2012, a decrease of 32%".
Steve Brown, Real Estate Editor at Dallas Morning News did a great synopsis of their report. Below is a copy of the article:
During the 12-month period ending with July, researchers at CoreLogic found, 7,995 home foreclosures were completed in the Dallas area. That’s down from more than 11,000 in the previous 12 months.
The Dallas area now ranks 12th for foreclosures among the major U.S. cities CoreLogic tracks for its report.
The top foreclosure market for the year ending in July was Atlanta, with almost 26,000 completed home foreclosures.
“As the housing market continues to recover, the foreclosure inventory is declining quickly, down by 32 percent from a year ago,” Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, said in the report.
“Continued strength in the housing market will contribute to our outlook for ongoing improvement in the stock of distressed assets through the end of this year.”
Filings for new foreclosures are down about 40 percent in North Texas this year.
Rising home prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are reducing the number of homeowners who are underwater in their mortgages, which is helping to slow foreclosures.
Zillow Inc. said Wednesday that in the second quarter, 16.5 percent of North Texas home loan holders owed more than their house is worth. That’s down from 24.2 percent in second quarter 2012.
In the second quarter, 175,812 D-FW homes were underwater, with a negative equity of $9.5 billion, Zillow estimates.
Nationwide, 23.8 percent of homeowners with loans are upside down. That amounts to about 12.2 million homes.
“Widespread rising home values during the past year have helped chip away at negative equity nationwide, helping many homeowners who were only modestly underwater to come up for air,” Zillow chief economist Dr. Stan Humphries said in the report. “For those homeowners who are deeply underwater, though, there is still a long row to hoe.”
The highest negative equity rates are in Las Vegas, 48.4 percent, and Orlando, Fla., 39.8 percent.
Home prices have been rising rapidly in North Texas this year, which has helped erase debt problems for many homeowners.
Source: http://www.dallasnews.com/business/residential-real-estate/20130829-dallas-area-home-foreclosures-down-almost-30-percent-in-last-year.ece
The Business of Real Estate
"Of all macroeconomic influences affecting real estate, the one factor generally considered more important than other is employment" - William B. Bruggeman, Ph.D.
I had the pleasure of having Dr. Bruggeman as my professor for my Real Estate Investments class during my Masters at SMU and this concept of having a strong economic base aka employment, was the foundation of macroeconomics in real estate.
According to the Texas Workforce Commission and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Texas economy grew by 19,900 jobs in July. We are fortunate to live in an area with low volatility in our economy. Unfortunately, we have weather hot enough to bake cookies in your car while you shop at a mall, but I digress.
We have a lower cost of living here compared to many other parts of the country, with all the perks of living in big cities or close to metropolitan cities. With big cities, comes a large population stimulating the markets as well.
More jobs and more people are a plus in the real estate world. According to Mark Doutzer, Chief Economist and Director of Research at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M, "approximately 68 percent of all jobs in Texas are located in DFW, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. Nearly 90 percent of all Texas jobs are located in our 25 metro areas. That means just 11 percent of jobs are outside of our largest cities."
Real Estate is back
After a long and painful recession, our housing market is finally picking back up! The number one indicator of real estate growth, is economic stability. Now that jobs are starting to circulate and revive our economy, we're seeing wonderful changes in our housing market. The following indicators of positive growth were reported under Texas Market News by TAR and the Star-Telegram:
Strong regional economic growth helped the housing market in Texas rebound faster than in other areas of the country, and there’s no reason it won’t continue, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
Job growth, particularly in the energy sector, and the overall expansion of the Texas economy has boosted home sales, which are now reaching pre-housing-boom levels. As a result, home prices and apartment rents have risen faster than usual, said the report, which was released on Thursday.
Through April, the state’s home sales rose at an annualized 23 percent, an increase seen just before the housing collapse, the report said.
“Further improvement is anticipated in the housing sector,” the report said. “Anecdotal reports from Dallas Fed industry contacts suggest a very competitive marketplace for buyers, with multiple offers on homes driving up prices.”
Sales of existing homes have risen statewide and in major metro areas by 33 percent since the start of the housing recovery in 2011, the report said.
And through the first quarter, Texas home prices exceeded by 7 percent the pre-recession peak recorded in the fourth quarter of 2007, said the report’s authors D’Ann Petersen, a business economist, and Christina Daly, research analyst.
Home prices nationally are 13.8 percent below their peak six years ago, the report said.
“Texas prices have especially improved since single-family demand began turning the corner in late 2011,” the report said. “Prices rose 6.2 percent in the 12 months ended March 31.”
Single-family home sales in Texas in the first quarter reached 53,937 homes, a 17.5 percent increase from the same quarter of 2012, the Texas Association of Realtors reported in May.
Sandra Baker, 817-390-7727 Twitter:
@SandraBakerFWST
