Real Estate Blog - September, 2020

For Sale in Volga SD

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4 BEDROOMS | 1 full, 1 ¾ baths BATHROOMS | 1881 SqFt

Beautiful corner lot is perfect for this 4 bedroom, 2 bath home. The large kitchen has a vaulted ceiling, pantry with roll-outs, and island. The dining area has sliding doors to the deck. ALL kitchen appliances are included! A pellet stove in the family room keeps you feeling warm and cozy as fall approaches. The garage has a propane heater and has a concrete pad beside the garage. Sellers have just replaced the garage doors, painted the deck, did some interior paint and had the exterior of the house professionally painted two…

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The Cost of Renting Vs. Buying a Home

Some Highlights

• The percentage of income needed to afford a median-priced home today is declining, while that for renting is on the rise.
• This is making buying a home an increasingly attractive option for many people, especially with low mortgage rates driving purchasing power.
• Let’s connect if you’d like expert guidance on exploring your homebuying options while affordability is high.

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Should You Buy an Existing Home or New Construction?

Finding the right home to purchase today is one of the biggest challenges for potential buyers. With so few homes for sale and construction of newly built homes ramping up, you may be wondering if you should consider new construction in your search process. It’s a great question to ask, and one to look at from the pros and cons of what it means to buy a new home versus an existing one. Here are a few things to consider when making the best decision for your family.

New Construction  

When buying a new home, you can often choose more energy-efficient options. New appliances, new windows, a new roof, etc. These can all help lower your energy costs, which can add up to significant savings over time. With programs like ENERGY STAR, your home…

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Builders & Realtors Agree: Real Estate Is Back

When shelter-in-place orders brought the economy to a screeching halt earlier this year, many believed the residential housing market would follow suit. Countless analysts predicted buyer demand would disappear and home values would depreciate for the first time in almost a decade. That, however, didn’t happen. It appears the opposite is taking place.

After the bottom fell out of the real estate market immediately following the shutdown, it has come roaring back – and seems to still be gaining steam. Here’s a look at two recent reports – one from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and one from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) – showing this growing strength.

Builder Confidence Hits All-Time High

Last week, it…

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The Top Reasons People Are Moving This Year

Today, Americans are moving for a variety of different reasons. The current health crisis has truly re-shaped our lifestyles and our needs. Spending extra time where we currently live is enabling many families to re-evaluate what homeownership means and what they find most important in a home.

According to Zillow:

“In 2020, homes went from the place people returned to after work, school, hitting the gym or vacationing, to the place where families do all of the above. For those who now spend the majority of their hours at home, there’s a growing wish list of what they’d change about their homes, if possible.” 

With a new perspective on homeownership, here are some of the top reasons people are reconsidering where they live and…

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Aurora Home For Sale

209 Audra Dr, Aurora, SD

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$ Click for current price
4 BEDROOMS | 2 full, 1 ¾ baths BATHROOMS | 2176 SqFt

JUST LIKE NEW, BUT WITH ALL THE EXTRAS! This Split Level home is barley broken in, so why pay new price, when you can have it all right now. Fully finished with a 10x10 deck and a yard full of grass. This home has an extra large foyer to fit a small party, access to the 3 stall garage and an extra coat closet. Take the party upstairs and entertain with the open floor plan of the Kitchen, Dining Room and Living Room. Later, you can take it downstairs to the large Family Room, or an option to…

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Forbearance Numbers Are Lower than Expected

Originally, some housing industry analysts were concerned that the mortgage forbearance program (which allows families to delay payments to a later date) could lead to an increase in foreclosures when forbearances end. Some even worried that we might relive the 2006-2008 housing crash all over again. Once you examine the data, however, that seems unlikely.

As reported by Odeta Kushi, Deputy Chief Economist for First American:

“Despite the federal foreclosure moratorium, there were fears that up to 30% of homeowners would require forbearance, ultimately leading to a foreclosure tsunami. Forbearance did not hit 30%, but rather peaked at 8.6% and has been steadily falling since.”

According to the most current data from Black…

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Just How Strong Is the Housing Recovery?

The residential real estate market has definitely been the shining light in this country’s current economic situation. All-time low mortgage rates coupled with a new appreciation of what a home truly means has caused the housing market to push forward through this major health crisis. Let’s look at two measures that explain the resilience of the real estate market.

Purchase Mortgages

The number of buyers getting a mortgage to purchase a home is a strong indicator of the strength of a housing market. Below is a graph of the week-over-week percent change in that number, as reported by the Mortgage Bankers’ Association:

The number dropped dramatically in March and mid-April when the economy was shut down in response to COVID. It…

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Sellers Are Returning to the Housing Market

In today’s housing market, it can be a big challenge for buyers to find homes to purchase, as the number of houses for sale is far below the current demand. Now, however, we’re seeing sellers slowly starting to come back into the market, a bright spark for potential buyers. Javier Vivas, Director of Economic Research at realtor.com, explains:

“Seller confidence has been improving gradually after reaching its bottom in mid-April, and now it appears to have reached an important recovery milestone…After five long months, sellers are back in the housing market; while encouraging, the improvement to new listings is only the first step in the long road to solving low inventory issues keeping many buyers at bay."

Even with the number of…

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The Beginning of an Economic Recovery

The news these days seems to have a mix of highs and lows. We may hear that an economic recovery is starting, but we’ve also seen some of the worst economic data in the history of our country. The challenge today is to understand exactly what’s going on and what it means relative to the road ahead. We’ve talked before about what experts expect in the second half of this year, and today that progress largely hinges upon the continued course of the virus.

A recent Wall Street Journal survey of economists noted, “A strong economic recovery depends on effective and sustained containment of Covid-19.” Given the uncertainty around the virus, we can also see what economists are forecasting for GDP in the third quarter of this year (see graph…

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