Real Estate Information Archive

I wrote a few months back that the mortgage interest rates will probably begin to increase very shortly. Well, it looks like the time has arrived, at least in the short term. In the last few weeks the rate has increased from the 3.75% range up to 4.35%.

Please review the chart below and see what the impact is on a projected mortgage payment. Yes, there may be some pull back in rates for a while but as I said in a blog last week we never intentionally hit the bottom of the rate cycle until after it has passed. If you need any additional information on interest rates or homes that are available for sale please contact me at Don@DonRoth.com.  

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

One of our soap box issues over the past year has been the lack of private lending money. Our interest was naturally piqued when we read that Institutional Risk Analytics released a report titled "The Real Role of Banks in Residential Mortgage Finance.

"The report basically expounds many of our concerns: The Federal Reserve's low-rate policies are discouraging private money from entering the mortgage-backed securities market, which means many lenders have to adhere to the strict standards of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Having the market dominated by the Federal Reserve and two government-backed entities attenuates private credit formation.

Rising mortgage lending rates would draw more private capital into the market, which means there would not only be more credit but more credit that would meet the demands of a more diverse group of borrowers.To be sure, the spike in rates we've seen over the past week has taken the wind out of the refinance boom. But as more borrowers realize that higher rates are more likely than lower rates, more borrowers will be motivated to act and more lenders will be motivated to lend.

It's also worth remembering that even if mortgage lending rates rise above 5%, the monthly payment on a median mortgage would make up only 14% of the current median income, because homes are so affordable these days. Rising rates would not disrupt the market, they would simply reset expectations to market reality.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Mortgage lending rates have been on the rise, and they've been on the rise in a big way. Over the past week it's possible that someone inquiring on the 30-year fixed-rate loan could have been quoted a price 50-basis points higher than what was available a month ago.

Rates have pulled back slightly, but they remain elevated compared to February's lows. We expect them to remain elevated. Markets appear less risk averse: Investors are no longer huddling behind U.S. Treasury securities every time Greece hiccups. The major stock market barometers – the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index – are approaching four-year highs.In short, investors want more return. They are less satisfied with the 2% return offered on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes, which makes these notes more risky. If more investors demand a higher coupon payment, more investors will sell low-coupon Treasury securities, thus forcing the yield on these securities to rise.

As U.S. Treasury note and bond yields go so goes mortgage-backed securities yields and so goes mortgage lending rates. We are not terribly concerned though. We don't think rising rates will crimp the housing recovery, because higher economic growth and rising employment will more than offset higher interest rates.

Home builders appear to share our sentiment. The National Association of Home Builders sentiment index shows optimism has risen to a five-year high. This suggests to us the bust is officially over and that housing is on sustainable growth trajectory.

That said, housing starts did edge down in February, but from an upwardly revised January posting. Permits were the positive takeaway, increasing 5.1% for the month.Last week we mentioned that if we saw a reversal of fortune in Las Vegas, then the housing recovery has likely turned the corner and become a nationwide phenomenon. This might just be serendipity, but, lo and behold, the FDIC reports that single-family home permits in Nevada increased 16.1% in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to the fourth quarter of 2010. Maybe miracles really do happen.

Like new-home sales, existing-home sales are also displaying sustained strength. Sales dipped slightly – by 0.9% to 4.59 million annualized units – in February, but the data follow an extremely strong and upwardly revised January sales posting. Over the past six months, sales have been trending perceptibly higher.

We are further encouraged by the trend in existing home prices, which have been firming and moving higher in 2012. The median price of an existing home moved up 1.3% to $156,600 in February.Overall, we like the direction the housing market has taken. We also like the idea of mortgage markets moving to more normalized, market-driven pricing. We think this points to a much stronger, sustainable market over the long term.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

I am honored to be asked to speak at the 2012 Real Estate Lending 101 conference at the Pennsylvania Credit Union Association next month.

I will be discussing how lenders can get more business from the Realtors® they are associated with. What can a lender do to garner an agent's referrals? What makes a Realtor want to recommend a lender to his/her clients? Is bringing brownies to an agent's office an effective way to get business? Or is offering marketing tools a better way to gain an agent's trust? Where does social networking fit into the mix?

Networking and referrals from other Realtors® - the easiest and cheapest form of advertising. I'll tell lenders everything they need to know about getting referrals from a Realtor!

Lenders can hear all this an more at the April 19 conference. It is an event you won't want to miss!

April 19, 2012, 2:30 to 3:30 pm
Pennsylvania Credit Union Association 
4309 North Front St.
Harrisburg, PA  17110

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com

Steadily and slowly the Harrisburg PA real estate market continues to improve on many fronts. The number of homes sold and settled in February 2012 increased by 18% over the same period in 2011 and the number of homes sold and pending increased by approximately 15% since the end of 2011. But the average sales price for homes settled decrease by about 5% in February when compared to February 2011. And the number of active listings for residential listings increased slightly since the end of 2011. Overall this is excellent news for the areas real estate market and it is anticipated that the overall positive trend will continue throughout the year.

I have been asked by many people “how is the market and is this a good time to buy or sell a home?” My answer is absolutely, and yes! I assist buyers and sellers in most likely their largest financial transaction that will occur, and my answer is absolutely. Why? As I have been saying interest rates are at or near historic lows and there is only one direction they are going and that is up, almost guaranteed. As with the price of a home and the comment of I am going to wait until they hit bottom. Well, my answer is that we never know where the bottom is until they have already begun an upward trend. And if I was that smart to figure out the bottom, I would be spending more time on the beach rather than giving you an analysis of what appears to be an improving real estate market. Will there be challenges ahead? Absolutely, but remember when prices were keeping many people from buying a home? Well, you now have a once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase a home at a unique time in our history.

Remember there is an excellent inventory of homes in all prices ranges so to find your next home please visit my web site, www.DonRoth.com, and click on the search listings tab and find the most current list of available homes for sale.  

Harrisburg PA Real Estate Sales Statistics - Feb 2012

West Shore School Districts

School District    Average Sales Price 2011 Average Sales Price 2012      Days on Market

Camp Hill                    $125,900                                 $155,900                     184/90

Carlisle                        $168,012                                 $199,130                     160/155

Cumberland Valley      $266,689                                 $283,057                     162,116

East Pennsboro            $115,960                                 $189,075                     101/67

Mechanicsburg             $210,978                                 $165,354                     89/174

Northern York                $215,025                                 $173,206                     139/154

West Shore                    $169,636                                 $156,007                     90/114

East Shore

School District               Average Sales Price 2011 Average Sales Price 2012      Days on Market

Central Dauphin        $201,096                                 $156,527                     177/115

Derry Twp                  $309,625                                 $216,863                     70/124

Harrisburg                  $ 46,628                                  $ 59,924                      121/111

Lower Dauphin          $213,853                                 $227,433                     55/145

Middletown                $179,925                                 $ 79,419                      163/93

Steel High                   $69,500                                   $ 42,633                      65/142

Susquehanna Twp     $195,471                                 $129,294                     131/125

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com. 

We expect to see a surge in mortgage applications in coming months. Couple low rates with HARP 2.0, the federal mortgage program that will enable millions of underwater homeowners to tap the mortgage market, and mortgage loan demand is sure to grow.

The combination of low rates and HARP 2.0 alone is enough to send business through the roof. Now we get word the Obama administration wants to allow more homeowners to refinance by dropping fees on federally insured mortgages. The administration's plan has the FHA dropping upfront insurance premiums on streamline refinances from 1% to 0.01%. The FHA would also drop annual premiums from 1.15% of the loan balance to 0.55%.

There is one catch: the lower fees only apply to borrowers who took out loans before June 1, 2009 . Still, lower-fee FHA loans are expected to help two to three million borrowers refinance.

The prospect of rising mortgage demand is worth keeping in mind as we head into the spring and summer selling season. Lenders will be busy, and sometimes very busy. Our advice, which we've offered in the past, is not to wait. For buyers, home affordability has never been better; for refinancers, rates have never been lower.

Given the present market dynamics, we think the risk of waiting to refinance or to buy a home far outweighs the possible reward of a lower home price or a lower interest rate.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Home prices continue to garner front-page attention. CoreLogic reports that prices declined for the sixth-straight month in January, dipping 1% from December. Year-over-year prices are down 3.1%. In short, CoreLogic says that prices are about where they were 10 years ago.CoreLogic offers one set of data on home prices, Clear Capital offers another, less ominous set. According to Clear Capital, national home prices declined only 1.9% year-over-year. What's more, its data show short-term prices being more stable, with prices falling only 0.6% from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2011.

Everyone is keeping a close eye on distressed properties. Now that last year's “robo-signing” foreclosure imbroglio is behind us does that mean we will see a surge in foreclosed and REO properties? And if so, how will they impact inventory and prices?

Pertinent questions, to be sure, and ones we don't have a ready answer for. We do know that the inventory of existing homes for sale declined 21%, or by 600,000 units, in 2011. At the most recently reported sales pace, that means we are looking at 6.1 months of supply – the lowest inventory level since April 2006. Lower supply supports higher prices.

Today's low inventory is attributed to falling foreclosure volume. But now that banks are free to foreclose, two million more homes are expected to hit the market over the next two years. If that's the case, then distressed inventory will rise sharply. Returning to economics: higher supply leads to lower prices.

There are a few extenuating factors though. The economy is improving, and continues to add jobs at an increasing rate. The private sector added 216,000 jobs last month, according to the latest national employment report from Automatic Data Processing. That's a significant increase over the 173,000 jobs added in January. More people working means more people who can afford a home.

The rise in REO properties could be offset by a decrease in other market segments. For instance, there was a significant increase in short sales in the fourth quarter of 2011, which pushed the number up to nearly 910,000 units nationwide. That said, the long-term trend for short sales is down; fewer short sales could be a counterweight to rising REO units.

Housing formation is another attenuating factor. After 2007, household formation plummeted to 300,000 per year from its historical rate of 1.25 million. We see a lot of pent up demand. The population continues to grow, the economy continues to improve, home affordability is at a multi-decade high. The market is ripe for a spike in new household formation.

In short, we don't expect new REO properties to upset the housing recovery like the more dire pundits are predicting.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

This is a great article by Peter Fletcher of Residential Settlements!

A pre-approval is one of the greatest assets a home buyer can get.

Pre-approval is a written assessment of your worthiness for a loan. When you seek pre-approval for a home loan, your lender will assess your ability to pay, as well as your credit history, to decide how much they are willing to lend you.

Although you can make an offer and go through to the start of property settlement without having pre-approval, smart home buyers get pre-approval before they make an offer.

Really smart home buyers get pre-approval before they even start going to home opens.

Here’s why you should, too:

1. You get a better choice of properties. When you visit a home open and talk to a real estate agent, letting them know that you have pre-approval is a sure-fire way to get them to take you seriously as a buyer. Once a real estate agent knows you’re serious about buying, they’re likely to call you about potential properties before they’ve even hit the market, giving you a better choice of properties, and potentially cheaper deals.

2. You get a better deal. To sellers, pre-approval is almost like a guarantee that the deal they strike with you won’t fall over. Sellers want certainty, because if the buyer they choose can’t get finance, the seller will have to start marketing their property all over again. To them, this certainty is worth money – I’ve seen plenty of deals where the seller has accepted a lower offer because that buyer had pre-approval and the higher offers didn’t.

3. You won’t waste time looking at homes you can’t afford. Getting pre-approval will give you a much better idea of what homes are within your price range, so you’ll know in advance which properties are too pricey to waste your time on.

4. You won’t have your heart broken. Imagine falling in love with a property and even going so far as to make an offer on it – only to find out at that it’s out of your price range! Save yourself the disappointment of having a deal fall through by knowing in advance what you can (and can’t) afford.

If you’re planning to buy a home, get a pre-approved home loan from your chosen lender. Your seller, real estate agent, and settlement agent will thank you for it – and you’ll be glad you did.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com

I wanted to provide some interim information on the Harrisburg PA real estate market.

Sold Homes

Homes sold and settled for the first two months of 2012 are up over 10% when compared to the same period of 2011. And homes that are under contract in the same period are up over 15%. What do I attribute that to? As I have been saying for the past few months one of the factors is the incredible low interest rate environment for one and I also think the great weather we have had has been a possible influence on the market. And yes some very attractive pricing also has had an impact for the increase in sales for this period.

Average Sales Price

There is one piece of sobering news and that is the average sales price of Harrisburg PA real estate has declined to $166,078 and that is approximately an 8% decrease for the first two months compared to 2011. But in my opinion, that there has been such a decrease does not concern me as we progress through the remainder of this year. Why can I say this? Because I have seen many homes come to the market recently and be under contract within 10 to 15 days and in many price ranges and we haven’t seen the numbers like this in a few years. And the activity crosses many price ranges although the higher priced homes are still moving at a slower pace than the lower priced homes.

I just wanted to give some good news to potential buyers and sellers and within the next week I will provide the normal breakdown for school districts for your review. And if would like to scan the most up to date data on homes that are currently for sale in the Harrisburg area, please visit my web site, www.DonRoth.com, and click on the search listings tab and you will have a wealth of information available to you. Have a great day and enjoy our fabulous weather.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com

We tend to become more cautious when a theme grips the market. Residential rental property is the hottest theme these days. Even the great Warren Buffett is bullish on rentals, declaring that he would buy a couple hundred thousand single-family homes and rent them, if only he had a way to manage them.

Another prominent supporter of rentals, Lewis Ranieri, the co-inventor of the mortgage-backed security, lays out the case in a research paper for using federal entities to support converting foreclosed properties into rentals. According to Ranieri, his foreclosure-to-rental model can be developed in “most every market in the United States,” and thus help clear the distressed-housing overhang.

We see a few unintended consequences, though. When markets don't develop organically, there tends to be inefficiency – you get too much or too little of something. Just look at housing six years. The market was incentivized for more home ownership, and we got too much of it.

Single-family rental properties are fine, to be sure, but large swaths of single-family rentals might not be. Rents are rising, but they don't always rise. Rents impacted capitalization rates. If rents drop, so will capitalization rates and property values. In addition, renters don't care for properties as well as owners. Could a higher percentage of neglected properties translate into more downward price pressure for owners?

All we're saying is that before we ask for something we need to be sure we really want it; unintended consequences can be very costly in the long run.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.