Happy Sunday -- here is your weekly market snapshot for Real Estate activity in the Phoenix metro area. This last week saw another increase in active listings -- however, pending sales had a big jump meaning that buyers are very active!!!!! Have an awesome Day!

For More information about homes for sale in Goodyear AZ. Call Rodney Barnes Real Estate today 623-217-7548

Why You'll Likely Pay More for Housing in 2014

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By Vera Gibbons




















While we're just a few weeks into the New Year, you've likely seen headlines showcasing what will cost more this year. You'll have to dig even deeper into your pocket to pay for everything from food to stamps to college education, travel, healthcare and more. In fact, even your biggest expense -- housing -- is getting pricier in 2014:

HOME VALUES
Zillow Projections: +3% nationally in 2014 -- While 2013′s double-digit gains in home appreciation were certainly economically beneficial (home prices are back at their peak levels in some areas), let's be realistic: they're not sustainable.This year, expect home values to continue to rise but at a more modest, balanced pace of about 3 percent, nationwide.

HOME LOANS
Zillow Projections: 5% -- As the Fed tapers its bond-buying programs and the economy continues to improve, expect mortgage rates to rise from a current level of about 4.6 percent to 5 percent by the end of 2014, making homes more expensive to finance. For example, the monthly payment on a $200,000 loan will rise by about $160. But there's a silver lining for potential home buyers: it should be easier to get a mortgage this year because higher rates have slashed refinancing activity, prompting some banks to ramp up their purchase lending. Additionally, there will be more inventory on the market, and less competition from investors, as the home-buying process becomes less frenzied.

HOME RENTS
Zillow Projections: +2.5% nationally in 2014 -- Rents have been rising for some time and there's no end in sight, especially now, when the market is seeing limited supply coupled with high demand. The foreclosure crisis, tight credit conditions and economic uncertainty have forced more Americans to rent. Expect rents to continue to rise throughout 2014, so budget accordingly. Research prices in your area with tools such as Zillow's Rent Index, maintain good credit, and consider bringing in roommates so that you don't become a statistic. According to a recent report byHarvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, half of all U.S. renters are spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent, up from 19 percent a decade earlier.

http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2014/01/22/housing-cost-increases-2014-zillow/

Looking for information on Homes for Sale in Goodyear AZ? Call Rodney Barnes Real Estate at 623-217-7548

For Some Borrowers, It's Now Easier to Get a Mortgage

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2014

Borrowers may be having an easier time applying for a mortgage compared to a year ago. 

The average credit score for approved mortgages dropped to 727 in December, down from 748 one year prior, according to Ellie Mae, a mortgage technology firm. FICO credit scores run on a scale from 300 to 850. 

Forty-six percent of mortgages that closed in December had credit scores above 750. One year earlier, 57 percent of mortgages posted credit scores that high. In December, about 31 percent of loans had credit scores below 700. One year earlier, that percentage stood at 21 percent, according to Ellie Mae. 

Debt-to-income ratios are growing. The average total monthly debt for borrowers of closed loans in December stood at 39 percent of their incomes. That’s up from 35 percent in June. 

“Rising interest rates and home prices could account for some of the increase in debt-to-income ratios,” MSN Real Estate reports. 

More lenders may be getting comfortable easing standards since home prices have been rising over the past year. Also, lenders are facing a big drop in refinance business, which may prompt them to get more competitive in trying to nab more borrowers for home purchases, housing experts say. 

However, the effect of new mortgage regulations, which took effect last week, have yet to be seen.

Tighter credit standards may be making for better borrowers, according to a new report. Loans originated last year are performing better than any year since tracking began in 1997, according to a report by Black Knight Financial Services. 

Source: “Credit scores drop for new mortgages in 2013,” MSN Real Estate (Jan. 15, 2014)

For Some Borrowers, It's Now Easier to Get a Mortgage



For More Information about Homes for sale in Goodyear AZ, contact Rodney Barnes Real Estate today at 623-217-7548.

Smart Homes are the latest craze. Homes Are Getting Smarter, More Connected

Homes Are Getting Smarter, More Connected

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, JANUARY 09, 2014

Sixty-one percent of consumers say they’re interested in learning more about home automation, according to recent market research from the Consumer Electronic Association. Home owners have an increasing number of options, too.

Smart-home technologies are growing, with everything from the ability to remotely control a home’s lights and temperature to sending text messages to appliances or monitoring a home’s security and energy consumption from a smartphone.

Several technology companies are showing off gadgets for the connected home during this week’s 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Mass adoption of smart home technology has been slow and is likely still 10 years away, said panelists at a Wednesday session called “Exploring the Future of the Connected Home.”

But smart-home technology has made strides in recent years with easier-to-use designs and more flexible products. The smartphone has been fueling that growth, said Matt Rogers, co-founder and vice president of engineering at Nest.

Smart homes can be trained to react to the owner and be automated based on the owner’s lifestyle: Lights can turn on when it senses the owner is a certain distance and can turn off as the owner leaves, said Mike Soucie, Revolv’s co-founder and head of marketing.

Homes are being outfitted to capture predictive analytics that can help owners know when something is wrong, too.

“You have a check engine light on your car that tells you when something is wrong,” explained Mark Hanson, product development lead at Alarm.com, during a CES session on Tuesday called “Home Sweet Radical Home.” “But with a home, you often don’t know until something breaks. With [smart home] technology, your home will tell you when something is about to go wrong.” 

Smart Home Technology Debuts at CES

A range of smart home technologies were featured at this year’s CES, including:

• Texting appliances: LG’s new Home Chat smart platform connects your home’s appliances to your smartphone, allowing you to text back and forth. For example, you can text your fridge: “What groceries do I need?” And it’ll respond with a text containing a grocery list.  
• App-controlled home: Samsung debuted its Smart Home App, which allows home owners to control several appliances in their home, from the TV to connected appliances, wearable tech, and more. Home owners can personalize settings on their electronics and then control them remotely. For example, they can view cameras in their TV or other devices while they’re away from home; receive alerts from the Smart Customer Service feature when something in their home is going wrong, such as an appliance malfunctioning; and use a voice-control setting to speak commands to the home, such as turning off the lights by saying “leaving.” 
• Voice-controlled thermostat: Honeywell recently introduced a Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat that responds to voice commands. For example, say “make it cooler,” and the thermostat will cool the house by one degree. Or, tell the thermostat to “make it five degrees warmer,” and the thermostat will follow your voice prompts.  
• Touchscreen locks: Schlage touted a new lock that can be opened or locked with a four-digit code and controlled with a smartphone app. The lock will also send home owners alerts if the lock is being tampered with or the wrong code has been entered a certain amount of times.
• Smart lights: Lumen introduced an app-enabled LED Smart Bulb that can be controlled wirelessly via a smartphone. You can dim the lights, set the lights to come on at a certain time, and even choose from 1 million colors to set the right mood. The lights also can be set to blink to alert you when you have an incoming phone call. 

—By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine

Homes Are Getting Smarter, More Connected

Homes for sale in Goodyear AZ. Call Rodney Barnes Real Estate at 623-217-7548

Google Buys Nest for $3.2 Billion in Cash

Google has entered into an agreement to acquire Nest, the business behind the smart thermostat and smoke detector, for $3.2 billion in cash.

“They’re already delivering amazing products you can buy right now—thermostats that save energy and smoke/CO alarms that can help keep your family safe," Larry Page, cofounder and CEO of Google, said in a statement. "We are excited to bring great experiences to more homes in more countries and fulfill their dreams!”

SEE ALSO: How Nest and Smart Technologies Are Re-Inventing Climate Control

Nest was founded by Tony Fadell, a former Apple employee who is credited with being the brains behind the iPod, in 2010. Fadell will continue to run Nest and the company will operate as a standalone brand under Google.

“We’re thrilled to join Google," Fadell said in a statement. "With their support, Nest will be even better placed to build simple, thoughtful devices that make life easier at home, and that have a positive impact on the world.”

In a separate blog post published on Nest's website, Fadell emphasized that he believes Google has the "business resources, global scale and platform" to accelerate Nest's growth "across hardware, software and services for the home globally."

As Fadell points out in the post, Nest and Google have had a long relationship, which included Google investing in Nest through its venture capital investment arm Google Ventures.

This decision wasn’t made on a whim – Google has been in the mix in some way or another for about three years of our almost four-year history. In fact, my first meeting with Google as a Nester was before we’d launched. At the 2011 TED Conference, Erik Charlton and I huddled in a corner with Sergey Brin to show him a video and an early model of the Nest Learning Thermostat – he instantly got what we were doing and so did the rest of the Google team when we showed them. In May 2011, Google Ventures led our Series B round of financing, and in 2012, Series C. Time and time again, Googlers have shown themselves to be incredibly like-minded, supportive and as big of dreamers as we are. I know that joining Google will be an easy transition because we’re partnering with a company that gets what we do and who we are at Nest –and wants us to stay that way.

Earlier this month, news broke that Nest was looking to raise $150 million in funding at a valuation of $2 billion.

The acquisition could give Google a strong footing in the growing market for Internet-connected household devices. Some have also speculated that it might provide Google with even more data on its users, though Nest noted in its blog post that it will continue to take user privacy "seriously."

While this is certainly a large acquisition, it's not the company's biggest. Google bought Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, another hardware-focused business, in 2011. Google had $56.5 billion in cash and marketable securities as of the end of the third quarter of 2013.

Google stock was up slightly in after hours trading.

http://mashable.com/2014/01/13/google-buys-nest-for-3-2-billion/#!

Shadow Inventory Plummets to Lowest Level in 6 Years

Shadow Inventory Plummets to Lowest Level in 6 Years

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2014

Shadow inventory -- also often known as “pending supply” -- dropped to the lowest level since August 2008, to 1.7 million homes, CoreLogic reports in its latest report. The shadow inventory is down 24 percent compared to year-ago levels. 

CoreLogic estimates shadow inventory by the number of properties that are seriously delinquent in foreclosure or held as REO by a mortgage servicer but not currently listed on the MLS. 

“Nationally, loan performance continues to improve,” says Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “The rate of seriously delinquent loans is at a new five-year low, down 26 percent relative to a year ago. The shadow inventory continues to decline as well, decreasing at an average monthly rate of 46,000 units over the last year. Healthy market levels of shadow inventory are around 650,000 units, so there is more to be done, but the trend is in the right direction.”

In November, completed foreclosures were down 29 percent year over year. But foreclosures are still elevated by historical standards. In November 2013, there were 46,000 completed foreclosures, but between 2000 and 2006, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month nationwide. 

While the foreclosure pipeline is gradually clearing, many home owners across the United States are still struggling to make their payments. About 812,000 homes in the United States were in some stage of foreclosure in November 2013. The percentage is down by 34 percent from a year earlier when foreclosure inventory stood at 1.2 million. 

The five states with the highest foreclosure inventories as the percentage of all mortgaged homes are: Florida (6.6 percent), New Jersey (6.5 percent), New York (4.7 percent), Maine (3.5 percent), and Connecticut (3.5 percent). 

Source: CoreLogic
Shadow Inventory Plummets to Lowest Level in 6 Years

For more information on Goodyear Homes for Sale Contact Rodney Barnes Real Estate at 623-217-7548

Infill Housing Projects are the new trend for the Phoenix Housing Market.

Infill Housing Projects are the new trend for the Phoenix Housing Market. Builders are buying empty lots closer downtown Phoenix and/or downtown Scottsdale and building condo's. People are wanting to be closer to the action, similar to places like Boston or Philadelphia.

In the heart of metro Phoenix’s core communities, new houses and condo projects are in the works on vacant parcels, in half-built subdivisions and in teardown projects replacing run-down buildings.

Prospective buyers who want to live closer in instead of on the region’s fringes are spurring builders, big and small, to develop infill housing at the fastest pace in Valley history.

By percentage, growth of infill homebuilding is outpacing the rest of metro Phoenix’s new-home market.

Read More Here: http://www.azcentral.com/business/realestate/articles/20131120phoenix-housing-market-core.html?nclick_check=1

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