by guest contributor Peter Fugiel, Ph.D. As the U.S. home markets begin to improve, it is clear that realtors and buyers alike are looking for more middle-market inventory. A few years ago, the hot topic was that the markets were too fragile for a major distressed...
Housing & Real Estate
Steep Drop in Home Prices Affects Local Tax Bases
by guest contributor, Peter Fugiel, Ph.D. Anticipated drops in local property taxes will most likely cause the states to intervene. And while they’re at it, they need to introduce necessary local government reforms. Backdrop: In the summer of 2012, Zillow commented to...
Realtors Lean Toward Optimism for U.S. Home Prices
Real estate professionals have an increasingly positive outlook for the direction of home values, according to a third quarter 2012 survey by HomeGain, a website that provides online home valuations. The survey reported that 51percent of realtors expect home values to...
Is the U.S. Housing Market Making a Comeback?
“Glass-half-full” people, take note: Ten of the 20 metro areas comprising the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index showed improvement in April 2012 compared to a year earlier, according to newly released data. Even the “glass-half-empty” set may find solace...
Identifying Bright Spots in a Bleak Housing Market
The near-term outlook for the housing market is not good. A recent Wall Street Journal article, entitled “Home Forecast Calls for Pain” sums it up: “Economists, builders and mortgage analysts are predicting the weakened U.S. economy will depress housing prices for...
A Perspective: Five Local Steps to Solving the National Mortgage Mess
by guest contributor, Peter Fugiel, Ph.D. Communities all over the U.S. are gradually learning the hard way: the only effective solution to the mortgage mess has to be community-based. And in the case of bringing back local real estate values, it turns out that...