Tag Archives: Real Estate

Real Estate

Unique Homes – Las Vegas Home Made Completely in Japan

A home at 38 Hawkeye Lane near Las Vegas is a concept home built like no other. The home measures in at a robust 5,501 square feet and is listed for $7.9 million.

The plot twist? Each piece of the foundation and framing traveled 4,766 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean in one of 22 shipping containers from Japan. The project was conceived by Sekisui House, which is based in Osaka. The company is one of Japan’s largest homebuilders and purchased the American builder Woodside Homes in 2017.

The company now wants to wow American homebuyers with a touch of its signature style. And if you’re going to gamble on a cool concept, Vegas feels like the right venue.

Source: This Sleek $7.9M Concept Home in Las Vegas Was Made in Japan | realtor.com®

Arizona, Real Estate

Home Sales Down in May

Sales of previously owned homes fell 9.7 percent in May compared April, the third monthly decline, the National Association of Realtors said Monday.

Existing home sales are counted at the time of closings. So these would have been based on contacts signed in March and April, when most of the country was under instructions to stay at home and real estate showings were off-limits in many areas.

Compared with a year ago, home sales were down 26 percent. Home sales hit an a 13-year high in February but began plunging as the coronavirus discouraged shopping from home, public health officials told Americans to avoid unnecessarily venturing out of their homes, unemployment jumped higher amid mass layoffs, and many states and cities prohibited realtors from showing homes in person.

Previously-owned homes make up most of the housing market, although the sales have a smaller impact on gross domestic product because so much of the work on them has already been completed. Nonetheless, existing home sales can drive sales in appliances, furniture, and home improvement goods. And they remain an important barometer of household confidence and prosperity.

Each of the four major regions of the country witnessed dips in month-over-month and year-over-year sales, with the Northeast experiencing the greatest month-over-month drop, according to the NAR. The decline was worse than the 8.8 percent expected.

Many economists expect that low interest rates and the reopening of the economy will drive up sales in June and in the months to come. Real estate showings are once again permitted in most of the country. Home sales typically peak in mid-summer.

Source: Home Sales Plunged 9.7% in May as Coronavirus Lockdowns Kept Americans Indoors

Real Estate

Summer Home-Buying Season Heats Up

As the summer home-buying season gets underway, median home prices are surging. They shot up 4.3% year over year as the number of homes for sale continued to dry up in the week ending June 6, according to a recent realtor.com® report.

That’s correct: Prices are going up despite this week’s announcement that the U.S. officially entered a recession in February. While that’s below the typical 5% to 6% annual price appreciation this time of year, it’s nearly back to what it was before the coronavirus pandemic.

Median prices were rising 4.5% in the first two weeks of March before the COVID-19 lockdowns began. Nationally, the median home list price was $330,000 in May, according to the most recent realtor.com data.

The culprit for the increasing prices: a lack of homes for sale and a rush of buyers. The total number of home listings on realtor.com was down 25% in the first week in June compared with the previous year—when there was also a housing shortage. In the first two weeks of March, listings had fallen 16% annually.

Source: What Recession? Summer Home-Buying Season Heats Up as Prices Rise | realtor.com®

Arizona, Real Estate

Will Working at Home Spark New Home Sales?

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The growing trend of working remotely could untether Americans from office spaces in pricey areas and prompt them to buy homes elsewhere.

Home sales in the suburbs as well as smaller, less expensive cities could see a boost that continues beyond pre-pandemic levels, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Some tech companies, including Facebook, Twitter, and Square, have already announced that they will allow select employees to work remotely full time. They expect half of their workforce to work remotely within five to 10 years.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that about 75% of his employees have already expressed an interest in moving to a different city if they could work remotely.

The insurance company Nationwide, based in Columbus, Ohio, has announced a permanent transition to working from home for some of its employees as well as a hybrid work model for others. That hybrid model includes working from smaller brick-and-mortar offices that will remain open.

Source: Could the Rise of Remote Work Spark More Home Sales? | Realtor Magazine

We closed our office in Kingman in 2007, anticipating the real estate slowdown that came after 2008. Besides the convenience of having an office in town (with a bedroom if we wanted to stay overnight,) it really didn’t seem to affect our business at all. We were pretty much always meeting people in Yucca, or by the exits on I-40, so nothing really changed at all. The only downside to having a home office, is that you’re always “at work.”

Real Estate

Coronavirus Leads to Worst Home Sales in a Decade | realtor.com®

Existing-home sales hit their lowest level in a decade as the coronavirus pandemic continued to play havoc on the housing market.

Sales of previously lived-in homes plummeted 17.2%, to just 4.33 million transactions in April compared with a year ago, according to the seasonally adjusted numbers in a recent report from the National Association of Realtors®. They were down 17.8% from March as much of the country stayed home to help stem the spread of COVID-19.

“Sales are at the worst level in about a decade. But all things considered, it really could’ve been worse,” says realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “It’s not surprising given that everyone’s staying home.”

With nearly 39 million folks filing for unemployment since the crisis began two months ago and many parts of the country still prohibiting in-person showings, May and June could also be rough months for the housing market, she predicts.

Source: Coronavirus Leads to Worst Home Sales in a Decade | realtor.com®

We’re still super busy in Mohave County. It’s startling to see the number of sales, and the number of new homes being constructed.

Real Estate

Biggest Real Estate Investors Hoarding Cash

The world’s biggest real estate investors are sitting on piles of cash, preparing for once-in-a-lifetime opportunities created by the pandemic.

With economies around the world sputtering, commercial real estate prices are expected to come down. How much they’ll fall is the key question. Sellers are currently willing to concede discounts of around 5%, while bidders are hoping for about 20% off pre-pandemic prices, said Charles Hewlett, managing director at Rclco Real Estate Advisors. That estimated gap, which is likely wider in specific cases, has put a freeze on deals.

“The mantra for anything that hasn’t gotten started is: delay, defer and, in many cases, renegotiate,” Hewlett said. “If I’m going to have vintage May 2020 on my books, I want to be able to demonstrate to my investors that I got an exceptionally good deal.”

The volume of deals in Europe plunged 65% in April from a year earlier, according to Leahy. U.S. and Asian markets faced similar drops.

Source: Real estate buyers loaded with cash wait for sellers to crack – Daily News

Real Estate

Home Prices Still Rising in the Pandemic

Home sellers can take heart. Despite the fervent wishes of buyers, home prices are ticking up during this coronavirus crisis—instead of down. In a surprise, the median home list price rose 1.6% annually in the week ending April 25 compared with the same week a year ago, according to the most recent national data from realtor.com® looking at the 99 largest metropolitan areas.

Real estate experts have been predicting that price growth would level off or even dip, as prices had been up only 0.3% year over year in the previous week and just 0.8% in the week prior to that. That was a stark contrast to just a few months ago, when prices were rising by more than 4% annually before the coronavirus pandemic essentially put the U.S. on lockdown.

Source: Despite the Coronavirus, Home Prices Are Still Rising—for Now | realtor.com®

Meanwhile, residential sales in the Lake Havasu-Kingman-Bullhead City markets continue to be very strong, and the builders are all busy.

Land sales in Yucca have been very strong this year, and at this pace it will be the best year in many. Summer will tell the tale, but it seems that everyone suddenly needs more space these days. We have plenty of sunshine and wide open vistas to accommodate you all!

They aren’t making any more of the land though, so get your piece while it’s the most affordable in the last 25 years. – Ben

Real Estate

Real Estate Listings Plummet in April – NAR

April is usually one of the busiest months for the housing market, as the spring home-buying season is well underway. Not this year. The novel coronavirus has dealt the real estate market a series of blows, starting with sidelining both buyers and sellers and worsening the already severe housing shortage.

The number of homes that went on the market plummeted in April compared with the previous year. New listings were down 44.1% nationally, according to realtor.com®’s Monthly Housing Trends Report. That affected the overall number of homes for sale, which was down by about 189,000 listings, representing about a 15.3% drop in housing inventory in April compared with the prior year.

Source: Number of Home Listings Plummeted in April as Coronavirus Took Its Toll | realtor.com®

And we’re busier than in years… Ben

Real Estate

Lowest Mortgage Rates Ever

There is at least one bright spot for home buyers, sellers, and owners amid the economic mayhem brought on by the novel coronavirus. Mortgage interest rates have fallen to a new record low, a boon to homeowners who may want to refinance and save money, and buyers (if anyone feels like buying a home right now).

Rates have been on a wild ride since this crisis began, and the average for a 30-year fixed-rate hit 3.23% for the week ending April 30, according to Freddie Mac. That’s the lowest it’s been since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971. The average rate was 4.14% a year ago.

The drop may not seem all that substantial, as it’s not even a full percentage point. But the lower rate will save borrowers $132 a month for a $320,000 home (the national median home price) if they made a 20% down payment. That’s $1,584 a year—which adds up over the life of that 30-year loan.

Source: Mortgage Rates Hit New All-Time Lows—and They May Fall More | realtor.com®

Real Estate

Real Estate Update April 2020

We started off April, very concerned about the coronavirus, and here at the end of the month, we’re still concerned, but ever more hopeful as it appears that the lockdown will probably do more damage than the virus. Only time will tell, but we sure have all been stunned at the rapid change to every aspect of our lives, and not just here, but world wide.

Real estate has continued at a brisk pace in Mohave County with some slowing in residential sales, but overall still very strong.  I believe that once our economy is opened from its’ current strangled state that we’ll see a surge of pent up demand, especially from southern California.

Meanwhile, suddenly Yucca Arizona land is a hot item. We’ve seen a big uptick in land sales from everyone who actively works here. For the first time in many years, we are seeing the inventory begin to clear a bit, and finally some price appreciation. One can only hope…

It makes sense to me, as I feel a sense of security here on 40 acres that I wouldn’t have in a locked down city. While its somewhat tedious to have virtually no personal social contact, it’s pleasant here, and I don’t feel boxed in at all. The garden keeps every spare moment occupied (and sometimes the guitar does too!)

Solar power is liberating from the grid. Decentralization allows one to adjust to changing conditions whether it be cloudy days, extra power needs for the hot days etc.  It’s challenging to adjust your lifestyle to your power production, but having redundant systems brings a peace of mind that being dependent on government or utility companies can never give.

Besides the natural beauty that we experience here on a daily basis, there’s the knowing that my neighbors and friends here are for the most part, very independent and self sufficient. Many are far more prepared than us, but more importantly, helpful and supportive.

April is ending on a hot note, and by hot, I mean the actual temperature. We’re seeing an early heat wave going from pleasant 70s to warm 90s virtually overnight. Yucca will see 100 degrees this week. Often, the hot weather signals a big slowdown in land activity. We’ll see if this year is different. – Ben