More home buyers may jump off the sidelines this spring as they get more urgent about purchasing a home, fearing that home price and mortgage rate increases are on the horizon.

Housing surveys in recent weeks have shown that more Americans are seeing now a great time to purchase a home. In the most recent survey, 73 percent of Americans say now is a good time to buy, according to the latest Fannie Mae Housing Survey conducted in March. That’s up from 70 percent in February who said it was a great time to buy.

“Conditions are coming together to encourage people to want to buy homes,” says Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist. “With an increasing share of consumers expecting higher mortgage rates and home prices over the next 12 months, some may feel that renting is becoming more costly and that home ownership is a more compelling housing choice.”

Indeed, more buyer urgency is evident in the market. Thirty-three percent of those surveyed by Fannie say they expect home prices soon to increase, which is the highest percentage in a year. What’s more, nearly 40 percent say they expect mortgage rates to rise in the next year too, which is also up from previous surveys.

Coupled with that, 48 percent of Americans say they expect rents to continue to climb, and 44 percent say they expect their financial situation to improve in the next year.

Source: “More Americans Think It’s Time to Buy a Home,” MSN Real Estate (April 9, 2012)

Will Housing Prices Soar By 2014?

Americans’ concerns over housing and the economy are subsiding, according to Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey from February.

An improving job market is a big part of what’s behind Americans feeling more confident about the housing market and the direction of the economy, according to the survey.

“The pickup in the pace of hiring over the past few months has helped soothe consumer concerns, lifting their moods regarding their personal finances, the direction of the economy, and their views on the housing market,” says Doug Duncan, chief economist of Fannie Mae. “As a result, we’ve seen more potential for economic upside, creating a more balanced near-term outlook.”

The survey found that 28 percent of Americans expect home prices to increase over the next 12 months while 53 percent say prices will likely stay the same. Fifteen percent say they expect home prices to decline.

Meanwhile, the majority of those surveyed see rental prices continuing to increase over the next year.

Sixty-five percent of those surveyed say that if they were going to move they’d buy their next home; 29 percent say they would rent.

With low mortgage rates and falling home prices, 70 percent of those surveyed say now is a good time to purchase a home. Also, more Americans surveyed say now is a good time to sell, rising to 13 percent in February, which is the highest level in more than a year but still low by historic standards.

Overall, Americans expressed more confidence about their personal financial situation, with only 12 percent saying they expected their personal financial situation to worsen in the next 12 months — which is the lowest number in more than a year.

Source: Fannie Mae

Pennsylvania’s new law prohibiting texting while driving will take effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, making texting while driving a primary offense carrying a $50 fine, according to the state department of transportation.

“Your most important job when behind the wheel is to focus only on driving,” said PennDOT secretary Barry J. Schoch in a news release. “Most people would never close their eyes for five seconds while driving but that’s how long you take your eyes off the road, or even longer, every time you send or read a text message.”

Governor Corbett signed legislation last November making Pennsylvania the 35^th state to ban texting while driving. The law makes texting while driving a primary offense, which means police may pull over a driver for texting alone. Officers may not seize cell phones from drivers.

The texting ban includes no reading or sending of emails and no web surfing. Drivers will still be permitted to talk on their handheld phones.

The new law specifically does the following:

• Makes it a primary offense to use an interactive wireless communication device (IWCD) to send, read or write a text-based message.
• Defines an IWCD as a wireless phone, personal digital assistant, smartphone, portable or mobile computer or similar devices that can be used for texting, instant messaging, emailing or browsing the internet.
• Defines a text-based message as a text message, instant message, email or other written communication composed or received on an IWCD.
• Institutes a $50 fine for convictions.
• Makes clear that this law supersedes and preempts any local ordinances restricting the use of interactive wireless devices by drivers.

The ban does NOT include the use of a GPS device, a system or device that is physically or electronically integrated into the vehicle, or a communications device that is attached to a mass transit vehicle, bus or school bus.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, over 3,000 people in the United States died last year due to distraction-related car accidents. In 2010, there were nearly 14,000 crashes in Pennsylvania where distracted driving played a role, with 68 people dying in those crashes.

Visit PennDot’s website and choose “Anti-Texting Law” to learn more information.

About Diana Dietz:
Diana Dietz is the Multimedia Journalist at the PA Association of Realtors(R).

Home buyers with mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration will soon see a rise in fees, the agency announced Monday.

The agency is raising its fees in an effort to try to recoup some of its depleted reserves*, which suffered from the rising number of home owners who defaulted on their mortgages. The agency also says it’s raising fees to try to encourage the return of more private capital to the market.

FHA loans allow for smaller down payments, as low as 3.5 percent compared to traditional loans, and they often have less stringent credit requirements, which have made them soar in popularity in recent years. (The agency insures loans but doesn’t issue them.) About 40 percent of all new mortgages for home purchases in 2010 were FHA-backed mortgages.

In particular, FHA will increase two fees that borrowers pay. Starting April 1, it will increase its annual mortgage insurance premium for loans under $625,500,  bringing the total cost from 1.15 percent of the loan amount to 1.25 percent. Starting June 1, larger loan premiums will see an increase of 0.35 percent of a percentage point, bringing the total premium costs up to 1.5 percent of the loan amount, The New York Times reports.

FHA also announced it will raise a fee for the upfront mortgage premium by 0.75 of a percentage point, which will now total 1.75 percent of the loan amount.

The New York Times illustrates the impact of the increase in a recent article: For example, a borrower with a 3.5 percent down payment with a mortgage of $193,000 can expect to pay an upfront mortgage premium alone of $3,377, compared to the prior $1,930. That can be rolled into the mortgage.

The new fees will also apply to home owners who want to refinance their mortgages, the agency announced.

The raise in fees is expected to bring in $1.25 billion in additional revenue to the agency through September 2013.

Coworking is a movement that takes the best of working in and outside of an office.

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Coworking is a movement in which independent workers share space with others, taking advantage of the positive aspects of working in a group setting.

Aliza Schlabach is trying to take it a step further and provide a coworking space with built-in child care somewhere on the Main Line or in the Western Philadelphia suburbs.

Last Thursday she rented the upstairs room of the Gryphon Cafe for an afternoon of coworking. She asked for $5 per person to cover the cost of renting the room. But she is currently searching for commerical real etate where she could set up a permanent work space.

A permanent space would include office amenities that everyone would share, like printers and a watercooler. Coworking aims to give independent workers that opportunity to network and chat around the watercooler or the coffee machine — something they do not have at home.

And coworkers actually become more productive when they work in the presence of others, Schlabach said, adding that she hated the isolation of working alone.

“There’s definitely a need here” for coworking for parents, she said, which would “give support to families, help them be more productive but also stay in contact with their children.”

There are 1,400 coworking spaces worldwide but only a few that include child care, she said. Coworking for Parents, which her business is called, would also be open to non-parents or to people who do not need the child care.

Market History
Chester County had a large increase in Settled units, 13.2%, in January 2012 as compared to January 2011. Using that same time frame, Pending units also saw a large increase, at just over 26%.

For more county specific data, check out the Market History Report, which details current and historical information for Single-Family and Condo listings over the last 10 years in Chester County. Single-Family Jan. ’11 Jan. ’12
Inventory 3,278 3,124
Settled Units 242 274
Median Price $300,000 $280,000
Stl Price/Orig Price 91.2% 90.7%
Get this info anytime you login on the Info Center.

• Chester Single-Family Report
• Chester Condo Report

Single-Family YTD Jan. ’11 Jan. ’12
Settled Units 242 274
Average Price $374,000 $321,000
Median Price $300,000 $280,000
Stl Price/Orig Price 91.2% 90.1%

• Single-Family Year-to-Date Report
• Condo Year-to-Date Report
Year-to-Date Market Snapshot
Through January 2012, Chester County has settled 274 units at an average price of $321,000.

This information and more can be found in
the Year-to-Date Snapshot, which contains statistical information for Single-Family and Condo listings recorded within TREND’s 13 primary counties over the last 3 years.

The Gateway to Great Valley

Great Valley is on the verge of explosion- in a good way.  The 29 interchange is being built as I type and will bring in a new era to the already powerful residential and commercial properties surrounding Great Valley Corporate Center.  Direct Turnpike access means many things- but I will list a few.

1. The Corporate center will be available to a much wider pool of potential employees as Western PA and New Jersey residents have a direct link to Great Valley- thus negating a previously horrid commute.  This will make Great Valley an employment destination and a sure foothold for any Company smart enough to see the value.  As companies move in to Great Valley Corporate and Atwater, many of the upper management will wish to live nearby in the high demand Charlestown and Willistown Townships as well as the high end ‘pocket neighborhoods’ like Valley Forge Mountain and Valley Forge Woods.

2. Phoenixville will finally be east to get to.  Phoenixville is already blooming in an astounding renaissance of Art, Cuisine and Nightlife and now there is an exit off the Turnpike that leaves you 5 miles due south with 3 gorgeous country roads to take you Downtown.  Far fetched? DeMutis is building a $60M dollar project downtown.  The plans for the mixed-use development include a 30,000-square foot office building, 90,000-square feet of retail space and 275 apartments.order cialis A 630-space parking garage is also planned for the site.

3.Many people cannot afford to live near Great Valley, but access the employment is paramount.  Expect Morgantown (two exits west) to get a nice boost in residential purchasing followed by growing local business.  Look up and down the Turnpike and see for yourself…Now is the time to get in on boom,
Contact Us to get some of the best real Estate deal on and Off the Market.

Optimism Builds in Housing Market

01/24/2012 By: Krista Franks