Sunday, November 23, 2008
With home prices decreasing and interest rates holding at historically low levels, the number of potential home buyers nationwide and in the Boise City-Nampa MSA who can afford to buy new and existing homes has reached the highest level in more than four years, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) released on November 17, 2008.
| Posted by Chuck Miller at 7:04 PM |
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Friday, November 21, 2008
According to an article that appeared in today's Wall Street Journal, an unexpected drop in U.S. electricity consumption has utility companies worried that the trend isn't a byproduct of the economic downturn, and could
reflect a permanent shift in consumption.
| Posted by Chuck Miller at 11:41 AM |
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Monday, September 15, 2008
We know that all real estate is local, but here are some very interesting statistics from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service regarding third party certified Green Homes. The following is an excerpt from an article that appeared in The Residential Energy Services Network's (RESNET) September Newsletter.
| Posted by Chuck Miller at 2:58 PM |
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Wednesday, September 03, 2008
The University of Michigans monthly survey of consumer sentiment asks households to rate buying conditions for homes.
| Posted by Chuck Miller at 2:37 PM |
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Saturday, August 02, 2008
Read the following article and see if you can guess which housing market the writer is writing about. I've replaced all the references to the particular housing market and any other key words that might give away the answer with blank spaces. Youll find the answer at the end of the article.
| Posted by Chuck Miller at 11:09 AM |
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Wednesday, July 16, 2008
As a Builder, I am extremely interested in the current debate about the home building and mortgage finance industry. One comment I have heard repeatedly over the past several weeks is the need to return to sound mortgage standards based on home values of 2.5 to 3 times income, 30 year fixed rate mortgages at 80% loan-to-value and a 20% down payment. But just how realistic is this?
| Posted by Chuck Miller at 5:20 PM |
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Sunday, July 13, 2008
In my last blog, I posed the question Does the Rise in Foreclosures Constitute a Crisis? Last Monday I responded to a commentor who reported a rumor that IndyMac bank was close to bankruptcy. Based on my research of the facts, I concluded that it was unlikely. While IndyMac did not file bankruptcy, IndyMac Bank, F.S.B., Pasadena, CA was closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Conservator on Friday July 11th. This is the 3rd largest bank failure in U.S. history. So is this a crisis? Should we panic?
| Posted by Chuck Miller at 12:58 PM |
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Thursday, July 03, 2008
The Idaho Business Review reported on Wednesday that default filings remained high in June in Ada and Canyon counties after declining in May. IdahoDataProviders.com who published the report had viewed Mays decline as a positive sign for the local real estate. But they stated in their newly published release that foreclosure filings for June are back up to previous levels, continuing the trend of steadily increasing foreclosures supporting their position that the number of Idaho homes entering into foreclosure will continue to climb for the rest of 2008.
| Posted by Chuck Miller at 4:46 PM |
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Monday, June 09, 2008
I read with interest the articles in the Statesman last week about the Star residents who are upset about the prefabricated homes being erected in their subdivision. In fact, the Statesman reported that the residents are going to seek an injunction 'first thing Monday morning,' to keep houses out of their subdivision. So, Im departing from my series on remodeling to talk about Housing Affordability and Systems Built Housing
| Posted by Chuck Miller at 10:45 AM |
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Sunday, June 08, 2008
Any homeowner planning to remodel, wants nothing less than a professional job. Who wouldnt want the best quality in terms of workmanship and materials when it comes to improving their most prized and most valuable asset? However, when it comes to selecting a remodeler, too many buyers conveniently forget the time-proven adage that you get what you pay for.
| Posted by Chuck Miller at 2:37 PM |
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