S&S Real Estate Blog

WASHINGTON (AP) – Oct. 17, 2012 – U.S. builders started construction on single-family homes and apartments in September at the fastest rate since July 2008, a further indication that the housing recovery is strengthening. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that builders broke ground on homes at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000 in September. […]

ORLANDO, Fla. – Aug. 22, 2012 – Pending sales, closed sales and median prices rose, while the inventory of homes and condos for sale dropped in Florida’s housing market in July, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®. “Florida’s real estate recovery is on solid ground,” said 2012 Florida Realtors President Summer […]

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Aug. 23, 2012 – Bidding wars are back as the housing market continues its recovery. After years of lackluster sales and sagging prices, demand is growing while the number of homes for sale shrinks. Those market conditions drive multiple offers in many areas, but real estate agents and other housing followers […]

WASHINGTON – June 18, 2012 – Everyone’s heard the horror stories – the contractor who rips out the back of a house, has a nervous breakdown and disappears, one day before the homeowner leaves town for vacation. Or the builder who never shows up on time, does poor work and overcharges. Home renovations, expected to […]

WASHINGTON – June 19, 2012 – The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) told lenders on Friday that it would nix a rule that makes it more difficult for some borrowers to qualify for a mortgage. FHA is trying to boost its reserves and lessen losses from mortgage defaults. As a result, it announced in March that […]

WASHINGTON – June 19, 2012 – Confidence among U.S. builders ticked up this month to a five-year high, an indication that the housing market is slowly improving. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index rose in June to 29, the highest reading since May 2007. It increased from a reading of 28 […]

WASHINGTON (AP) – June 19, 2012 – U.S. builders started work on more single-family homes in May and requested the most permits to build homes and apartments in three and a half years. The increase suggests the housing market is slowly recovering even as other areas of the economy have weakened. The Commerce Department said […]

WASHINGTON – Feb. 27, 2012 – Pending home sales are on an upward trend – an admittedly uneven but meaningful trend – since reaching a cyclical low last April, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Today’s national Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) rose 2 percent compared to December 2011. The PHSI, a forward-looking indicator […]

WASHINGTON – Feb. 28, 2012 – The U.S. government has started selling off its stock of homes in foreclosure. The Federal Housing Finance Agency said Monday that a group of investors purchased the first of 2,500 homes being sold as part of a foreclosure-to-rental program. The government has control over roughly 250,000 foreclosed homes owned […]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Feb. 28, 2012 – For the first time since the real estate crash crippled Florida’s economy and battered struggling homeowners, a bill to hasten foreclosures through the courts is headed to the full House and Senate. A narrow 6-4 vote Monday in a specially scheduled meeting of the Senate Banking and Insurance […]