City of Baton Rouge Home Sales Actually Up 26% in April 2012, Not Just 21% As Reported In Media.

Reporting on GOOD NEWS in Baton Rouge Real Estate this morning. According to GBRAR MLS Numbers for April 2011 versus April 2012, the number of sold properties was up 26% from 230 in April 2011 to 289 in April 2012. Number of home under contract is up 42% from 281 in April 2011 to 399 in April 2012. The average months supply of inventory is down -39.5%. The average days on market is down 12%.

See on www.batonrougehousingreports.com

Tom Bhramayana on Real Estate Video Blogging!  More and more people are using Web 2.0 to brand themselves but nothing is growing faster and has more potential to go viral than video…

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Nationally, Housing starts in April shoot up 30% over last year | HousingWire

“The number of housing starts, or homes beginning construction, hit 717,000 in April, up 29.9% from year ago levels, the federal government said Wednesday.

Housing starts also rose 2.6% from March’s revised figure of 699,000 starts and nearly 30% from the 552,000 starts recorded in the same month last year, the U.S. Census and Department of Housing and Urban Development said.” 

Read the remainder of this HousingWire article at the link below. 

See on www.housingwire.com

via BusinessReport.com, “With 616 sales recorded as of this morning, 20.8% more homes were sold in April across the eight-parish region tracked by the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors compared to the same month a year ago, GBRAR reports. Last April, a total of 510 home sales were recorded.”  Read the remainder at the link below. 

See on www.businessreport.com

5 Reasons Why Your House Didn’t Appraise For What You Thought it Should!

Excellent Article from my Appraiser Friend Tom Horn in Birmingham AL! Tom helps explain some of the myths in today’s housing markets.

I Love These 2:
COST DOES NOT EQUAL VALUE!
AND
YOUR NEIGHBOR DID NOT TELL YOU THE TRUTH!

NO, Cost Does Not Equal Value. Installing Slab Granite Counters in a $300,000 subdivision makes a lot more sense to the market than installing it in a $100,000 first time home buyer market. The $35,000 IG Pool or $18,000 Metal Building on Slab with electricity might be worth only $5,000 to a buyer.

NO, Your neighbor was wrong! I get this each month where I’m doing an Appraisal and homeowner tells me the neighbor told them that such and such house sold across the street for $X amount of $. Or, there’s been 2 recent sales on our street for $X amount and they’re really only listings and not solds.

http://activerain.com/blogsview/2721481/5-reasons-why-your-house-didn-t-appraise-for-what-you-thought-it-should

See on activerain.com

600 Livingston Parish high school students were screened for health problems by the North Oaks Sports Medicine team on Saturday, May 5 at the NOHS campus in …..check out the video! 

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LA REALTORS Report On Baton Rouge Housing Market Q1 2012. Greater Baton Rouge Real Estate Trends Report Q1 2012 by Louisiana REALTORS. Some very good news here! 

See on www.batonrougehousingreports.com

WATSON via The Livingston Parish News — Shoppers are expected to line up for their first look at the new Walmart store opening here Wednesday morning. This is a detailed article published on April 7, 2012 and requires login to view.

“The third Walmart in Livingston Parish will add about 300 new jobs, company officials say. Walmart stores currently anchor the retail economies of Denham Springs and Walker. Sam’s Club, a Walmart subsidiary, is slated for opening in Denham Springs next to the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World sometime in June.“

See on livingstonparishnews.com

The Christian Science Monitory – Houses are more affordable then they’ve been in decades, and interest rates are low. But a home can turn into a bad buy if you make one of these crucial mistakes.  If you want a new home and can afford it, now is an exciting time to buy. According to the National Association of Home Builders, prices nationwide are the most affordable they’ve been in decades. Interest rates are low. And there shouldn’t be a supply problem – RealtyTrac predicts a lot more foreclosures ahead.

Read the remainder at the link below. 

See on www.csmonitor.com

Via The Advocate Newspaper:

“It took five years, a financial market meltdown, a drought in speculative housing and near financial ruin to get Greystone Golf and Country Club near Denham Springs into the homebuilding business.

Developer Ron Menville Jr. said the shift in Greystone’s business plan had its roots in 2007. At the time he and Greystone were on top of the world.“….read the remainder below at The Advocate link. 

See on theadvocate.com