Agent Profile
Tony and Libby Kelly, MBA, M.Ed. are ranked in the top 1% of REALTORS in Portland Metro. They have been featured on HGTV's "House Hunters" 3 Episodes & "My House is Worth What?" 4 Episodes.
Hundreds of Foreclosures Stopped
Federal judges questioned the legality of many foreclosed home sales. This caused hundreds of sales to be halted while the situation is looked into.
Certain sales were halted in order to make sure the homeowners had fully explored all options to avoid foreclosure. Dozens of foreclosures were removed from the ReconTrust Co. website, presumedly to avoid having to halt even more sales.
The legal concerns stem from the use of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc., a corporation set up by the mortgage banking industry to rapidly record the ownership of mortgages so they could be packaged and sold as securities. This allowed lenders to sell loans without recording each transaction with county recorder offices. Naturally a process built for speed is not built for detail, and now there is no paper trail to prove ownership of all these home loans.
This leaves a lot of unanswered questions. How does a bank take back a home it can’t prove it owns? How does a homeowner keep a house he can’t afford?
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2011/03/rulings_put_brakes_on_hundreds.html
PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE http//:www.TonyandLibby.com
Portland Oregon Market Report
February Residential Highlights
While there were fewer active and new listings on the market, sales activity in Metro Portland showed an improvement in closed sales in February 2011. Closed sales this month were above levels from both last February and the month prior, January 2011. Also notable in February was a slight decrease in inventory, down from 11.3 last month and the lowest of the previous two Februarys. Closed sales were up 5.8% in February 2011 compared to February 2010. Pending sales were down 13.9%, and new listings dropped 26.1%. Comparing the previous month of January 2011 with February 2011, closed sales grew from 1,035 to 1,074 (3.8%). Pending sales also increased from 1,489 to 1,592 (6.9%). New listings dropped from 3,128 to 2,883 (-7.8%). At the month’s rate of sales, the 11,746 active residential listings would last about 10.9 months.
Sale Prices
Average sale price for February 2011 declined 10.5% compared to February 2010. Median sale price also fell 9.1%. Month to month, comparing January 2011 to February 2011, average sale price went down from $248,900 to $244,500 (-1.8%) while median sale price slightly decreased from $215,000 to $213,700 (-0.6%).
Year-to-Date
Comparing January-February 2011 with the same period in 2010 shows closed sales increased 5.4%. Pending sales were down 8.3%, and new listings decreased by 23.6%. A comparison of year-to-date totals between 2011 and 2010 shows average sale price dropped 10.7% and median sale price went down 8.9%.
PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE http//:www.TonyandLibby.com
Generation Y
One of the things that builders are learning about Generation Y (Millennials), is that they do not want the same home they’re parents had. There are many home options that are falling out of favor, things like formal living rooms, soaker tubs, and dependence on their cars.In fact, 1/3rd are willing to pay for the ability to walk everywhere.
Another thing that is out is cookie-cutter developments. A whole neighborhood of the same house is not attractive anymore.
Outdoor space is still important but Millennials are not looking for acres of land. It would actually be preferable to not have to mow. Enough room to BBQ and have friends over would be just fine. Oh, and an outdoor fire-pit!
What IS desirable are fitness centers, game/party rooms, big shower stalls, enough space in front of the t.v. for the Wii, and a place to eat while watching the tube.
These desires will have a big impact on builders, and you will likely see a lot of these preferences in the newer dwellings.
http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/no-mcmansions-for-millennials.html
PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE http//:www.TonyandLibby.com
Agency Info
Keller Williams Realty Portland Premiere
17700 SW Upper Boones Ferry Rd
Portland, OR 97224