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Central Texas Real Estate |
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Tuesday, 02 March 2010
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Associated Press) – Homeowners have received another year to refinance their loans under the Home Affordable Refinance Program, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced yesterday.
The program, which was originally scheduled to end June 10 but now expires June 30, 2011, allows borrowers who owe up to 25 percent more than their homes are worth to refinance at lower interest rates.
The Treasury Department reports that, so far, the program has helped about 220,000 homeowners with loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, far less than the projected four to five million.
Tuesday, 02 March 2010
AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) – Texas expects to receive $2.25 billion for about 450 highway projects statewide from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act road construction funding.
About 320 of the projects are currently under construction.
These dollars are leveraged with state funds, including about $12 million awarded last month to Central Texas projects, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
Nationwide, the bill signed last year is expected to pump $26.1 billion into the nation’s road infrastructure.
Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the funding yesterday.
Monday, 21 September 2009
TEXAS CITIES' HOUSING FORECAST STABLE
CARY, N.C. ( Local Market Monitor) – Five large Texas cities and ten smaller ones are among the nation's top markets when it comes to expected home price performance, according to Local Market Monitor’s latest Home Price Forecast.
Among the largest markets — those with populations exceeding 600,000 — Dallas-Plano-Irving, Fort Worth–Arlington, Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown, San Antonio and Wichita Falls filled five spaces on the ten-slot list of cities with the best expected performance in home price over the next year.
The same survey of the smallest U.S. markets revealed ten Texas cities were tops, tied with other cities across the country. These were Abilene, Amarillo, Brownsville-Harlingen, College Station–Bryan, Corpus Christi, Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood, Laredo, Lubbock, Texarkana and Waco.
The study predicts local market behavior over the upcoming 12 months in over 300 markets, identifying those that are stable and have opportunity for growth.
Friday, 28 August 2009
First National Real Estate Brand to Offer Automatic Notifications of New Listings Through a Mobile Application
PARSIPPANY, N.J. – August 20, 2009 –Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC today announced the launch of the first-ever international home search application for iPhoneTM and AndroidTM-powered devices. The Coldwell BankerReal Estate mobile application enables users to easily search for property listings and recent home sales in 28 countries in North America, Europe, Central America, Caribbean, Australia and South America. The results of these searches as well as the search itself can be saved in a personalized ‘My Coldwell Banker’ account newly created from the user’s smartphone or added to an existing account with coldwellbanker.com by logging into the site directly from the handheld device. Unique to the Coldwell Banker application, searches that are saved to an app-created ‘My Coldwell Banker’ account will automatically generate notifications of new properties and open houses, alerting the user to updated results right on the device’s homepage.
Coldwell Banker Real Estate continues to raise the bar on the traditional home search. In October 2008, Coldwell Banker Real Estate set out to reach the masses by becoming the first full-service national real estate brand to optimize its Web site for use on all mobile devices. By early 2009, international Coldwell Banker Real Estate listings in 28 countries became accessible via the Coldwell Banker brand Web site on the iPhone, Blackberry and other smartphones. To date, more than 200,000 users have viewed Coldwell Banker Real Estate listings from the convenience of their handheld devices. Building upon this success, the Coldwell Banker brand is taking the next step in providing consumers with greater flexibility when searching for a home by designing a mobile application that is intuitive, quick and convenient.
“While the desktop computer remains a proven screen, Coldwell Banker recognizes that today’s technologically savvy consumers are also using smartphones to access information on-the-go,” said Michael Fischer, senior vice president of marketing for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “We are committed to improving the consumer experience and will continue to introduce innovative technology such as this mobile application to provide our customers with up-to-date home data the moment they want it and to wherever they may be.”
Features of the new application include:
- GPS-based search to locate nearby homes for sale, open houses and recent homes sold
- Ability to sort recently sold properties by location, price and sale date
- Option to view search results in list form or on a variety of maps including street, hybrid and satellite that are marked with “clickable” Coldwell Banker Real Estate icons
- Detailed property listings that include images and a slideshow view
- Direct dial and e-mail functions from the user’s mobile handset to the local Coldwell Banker Real Estate listing agent associated with each property
- Real-time notifications of new properties and open houses identified through the user’s customized saved searches
Bootstrap Software was responsible for developing and building the Coldwell BankerReal Estate mobile application.
iPhone is a registered trademark of Apple Computers, Inc.
Android is a trademark of Google Inc. Use of this trademark is subject to Google Permissions.
About Coldwell Banker Real Estate
Since 1906, the Coldwell Banker® organization has been a premier full-service real estate provider. In 2008, Franchise Times magazine’s prestigious Top 200 issue ranked the Coldwell Banker system No. 1 in real estate for the ninth straight year and 12th among franchisors in all industries. The Coldwell Banker System has approximately 3,500 residential real estate offices and more than 101,000 sales associates in 47 countries and territories. The Coldwell Banker System is a leader in the industry in residential and commercial real estate, and in niche markets such as resort, new home and luxury property through its Coldwell Banker Previews International® division. It is a pioneer in consumer services with its Coldwell Banker Concierge® Service Program and award-winning Web site, www.coldwellbanker.com. Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services. Coldwell Banker® is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Each office is independently owned and operated.
Thursday, 20 August 2009
H-E-B DISTRIBUTION CENTER GROUNDBREAKING IN TEMPLE
TEMPLE (San Antonio Business Journal) – San Antonio-based H.E. Butt Grocery Co. has broken ground on its new 450,000-sf distribution center.
The facility, which is being built on 160 acres next to Temple’s Rail Park at Central Pointe, will employ about 112 and house stock for more than 50 H-E-B grocery stores between Austin and Dallas.
Monday, 15 June 2009
If you’ve been thinking about buying and you qualify for the $8000.00 tax credit, now is the time to do it! -Jean
New home subsidy unlikely to get through Congress
The Obama administration introduced an $8000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers in February in order to stimulate the housing market. Some believe the government should do more and offer incentives to all homebuyers. Johnny Isakson, a Republican Senator, has submitted a proposal to offer all buyers a $15,000 tax credit for home purchases. Isakson said the rising number of foreclosures "is continuing to precipitate a downward spiral in values, loss of equity by the American people and a protracted, difficult economic time." Analysts believe that the proposal may not find favor with Congress.
"There is bailout burnout across the country," said Brian Gardner, senior vice president at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. "There's an argument for the stimulus, but the possibility of the bill passing is unclear," said Gardner. The proposal will cost the government $30 billion. Jaret Seiberg, a policy analyst for Concept Capital's Washington Research Group, said that "in an era of record deficits, it will be hard for lawmakers to accept that cost." The National Association of Realtors and National Association of Homebuilders have welcomed the bill since they expect the proposal to eliminate oversupply of homes and stabilize the property market.
Friday, 01 May 2009
- Texas home prices remain stable and a home is a good investment.
- FHA loan limits have been raised temporarily.
- Receive up to $8000.00 tax credit on homes purchased before December 1, 2009
- Interest Rates are LOW!
1. Texas Home prices remain stable. Nationally, home prices dropped 4.5 percent last year for the overall index (which includes financing and re-financings) and 8.2 percent based on purchases-only data. But latest home appreciation rates released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) indicated Texas fared well in 2008, especially compared with the rest of the country- in fact Texas home prices increased an average 2.1 percent last year! What does this mean for you...a homeowner or a new
homebuyer? The Killeen-Temple-Ft. Hood area home appreciation rates were up by 2.5%, this means that owning or buying a home in the Central Texas area is still a good investment!
2. FHA Loan limits have been raised temporarily. If you qualify for a FHA loan, FHA Loan limits for the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood Area increased from $200,160.00 to
$271,050.00 for a one-unit property. This temporary new increase is established for 2009 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and allows homebuyers more flexibility in choosing the right home.
3. Receive up to a $8000.00 tax credit on homes purchased before December 1, 2009. As mentioned in our last month’s newsletter…. First-time Homebuyers can claim a tax credit worth $8000.00 - or 10% of the home’s value, whichever is less on their 2008 or 2009 tax returns. To qualify for the credit the home purchase must be made between January 1, 2009 and November 30, 200, the buyers must be First-time homebuyers (may not have owned a home for the past three years), and they must live in the home for at least three years or they will be obligated to pay back the credit. For more information visit www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com.
4. Interest Rates are low. Interest rates are the lowest they have been in the past five years. Lower interest rates mean lower payments and puts money back into your
pocket for other expenses. Owning a home is a good investment.
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Michael Shires, associate professor in public policy at Pepperdine University, and Joel Kotkin, a Forbes weekly columnist and presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University, have compiled their fifth annual list of the best places for job growth. The study is based on job growth in 333 regions--called Metropolitan Statistical Areas by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which provided the data--across the U.S. The analysis looked not only at job growth in the last year but also at how employment figures have changed in these areas since 1996. Wary of overemphasizing recent data, the authors strive to provide a complete picture of the potential a region has for job-seekers. According to their data, these are the top 10 small cities for jobs.
Guess who’s on there…that’s right KILLEEN, TEXAS at #5!
Here’s the link: http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/13/best-small-cities-jobs-opinions-columnists-employment_slide_7.html?thisSpeed=15000
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