The Hawaii Team Real Estate Blog
Top Economists See Recovery Very Differently
Several economic experts offered Newsweek their opinions about the state of the economy. Here are four of their viewpoints in a nutshell: 1. Allan Meltz, professor at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business and a historian of the Federal Reserve: “The...
Now’s The Best Time To Build
You think I’m crazy, don’t you. You may think it’s not a good time to do anything, but I’ve been talking to builders lately and they make a strong case for why it’s never been a better time to build. Cornerstone Homes owner...
Survey: Households Say Now is Good Time to Buy
More than three-quarters (78 percent) of potential first-time home buyers say that now is a good time to buy a home, despite widespread concern about the economy. Out of the 1,000 prospective U.S. first-time home buyers surveyed in early March for the CENTURY 21...
America’s Ten Wealthiest Towns
The very wealthy seem to be mostly immune from recent economic downturns. BusinessWeek ranked America’s wealthiest towns based on the 2008 net income and 2008 net worth of their residents. Here's BusinessWeek's list of America’s top 10 wealthiest...
Buy Your Next Home on Facebook
After reading this title you’re either saying, “No one is buying homes off Facebook,†or you’re thinking “What the heck is Facebook?†Don’t worry. I’ll explain both. Facebook is a social networking Web site. What’s...
NAR Applauds Fed Move to Buy Securities
In response to the announcement yesterday by the Federal Reserve to purchase up to $750 billion in mortgage-backed securities, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® President Charles McMillan released the following statement: “NAR applauds the Federal Reserve...
New Home Construction Rises in Feb
New-home construction rose 22.2 percent in February, compared to January, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000 units. Applications for building permits, which are considered a good measure of future building, rose 3 percent in February to an annual rate of...
New Law Keeps Banks Out
President Barack Obama signed a bill into law Wednesday that permanently prohibits banks from entering the real estate brokerage and management business. The bill--H.R. 1105, the Omnibus Appropriations Bill--ends the National Association of REALTORS' nearly eight-year...
Loan Aps Rise As Rates Fall
Average mortgage rates dipped below 5 percent last week, driving mortgage application volume up 11.3 percent to 723.4 from 649.7 the previous week on an adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey. On an unadjusted basis, the index...
House Passes Bankruptcy Bill
The U.S. House approved legislation on Thursday that will allow bankruptcy judges to lengthen terms, cut interest rates and reduce the principal owed by bankrupt borrowers. The so-called "cramdown" bill (the actual name of the bill is the "Helping Families Save Their...
How Do We Turn The Economy Around?
What’s the formula for jump-starting the nation’s economy? That’s the question of the year and one that dominated the news in this past month of February. Rightly so. Everyone seems to have an opinion regarding the right answer, so...
30 Year Rates Inch Up This Week
Freddie Mac reports an increase in the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to 5.07 percent for the week ended Feb. 26. Rates rose slightly, from 5.04 percent the prior week. "Mortgage rates were little changed this week amid mixed data reports of a slowing economy," said...