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Real estate-related searches on Google.com have grown 253 percent over the past four years, according to a joint study from the National Association of REALTORS® and Google. “These results parallel the trends shown in NAR’s economic research reports,” says NAR President Gary Thomas, broker-owner of Evergreen Realty in Villa Park, Calif. “As home sales and prices continue to trend up, more people are regaining confidence to invest in their future through homeownership.”

The fiscal cliff, an economically damaging set of tax hikes and spending reductions scheduled to begin in 2013, has been avoided (for now) and that is good news for housing in the short-run. The enactment of H.R. 8, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, will extend permanently most, but not all, of the 2001/2003 tax cuts. The legislation prevents a fiscal drag of approximately $600 billion in 2013, which would have been large enough to push the current weak economy into recession. That in turn would have reduced demand for both owner-occupied and renter housing and threatened the ongoing recovery for home building.

A recent article published by NAHB shows that, based on a long-run calculation that averages mobility tendencies over a number of years, the typical buyer of a single-family home can be expected to stay in the home approximately 13 years before moving out. This work updates a previous article that used data from the American Housing Survey (funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and conducted in odd-numbered years by the Census Bureau) through 2007.

Regional Spotlight—Closed sales, pending sales, median prices and average prices rose in Florida’s housing market in November, while the inventory of homes and condos for sale shrunk, according to the latest housing data released by Florida REALTORS®. “The sizzle is back,” said 2012 Florida REALTORS® President Summer Greene, describing the state of Florida’s real estate market. “With home sales strongly trending up and the supply of homes for sale drying up, the market is hot. And we expect these trends to continue into 2013 with the jobs market improving, low mortgage rates continuing and consumer confidence getting stronger.”

Oscar award-winning screenwriter Paul Haggis and his wife, actress Deborah Rennard, have sold their home in Santa Monica for its asking price of $5.25 million. The East Coast-inspired traditional house sits on nearly a third of an acre of grounds with mature trees, lawn and formal gardens. The home features skylights, French doors that open to terraces and an outdoor kitchen, two fireplaces, five bedrooms, seven bathrooms and 5,690 square feet of living space.

Nearly three quarters of potential buyers believe home prices will increase in their neighborhood in the next twelve months, twice as many as in the first quarter. Despite forecasts that prices will increase less in 2013 than this year, buyers are more concerned by rising prices than the overall economy. Thirty-three percent of buyers listed rising prices as a major concern in the fourth quarter, up from just 23 percent in the third quarter. Meanwhile, 22 percent said they were concerned with a weak economy, down from 27 percent in the third quarter, according to the Redfin Real-Time Homebuyer Survey. From November 30 to December 2, 2012,

It’s that very special time of the year when many Americans are receiving invitations to their annual office holiday party. If you’re one of them, you’ll probably look forward to the event with great excitement—until you start to recall the blunders of years past. Like the time you ran out of things to say to your CEO and awkwardly asked if his divorce was finalized. Yes, while office holiday parties can be hit or miss, many people find their past experiences fall more often in the “miss” category. Of course, it doesn’t have to be that way, says Andrew Sobel, coauthor along with Jerold Panas of Power Questions: Build Relationships, Win New Business, and Influence Others. He explains that with the right approach, your office holiday party can provide a great opportunity to build relationships and strengthen your position at your company.

When you’re driving, you want to be sure you’re covering all your blind spots in order to stay safe on the road. Well the same goes for fraud. “Just like legitimate businesses, fraudsters are planning ahead for 2013,” says James Gifas, head of RBS Citizens Treasury Solutions. “During and just after the holidays is when many fraud schemes pick up, as more people feel stretched with greater year-end expenses,” he says. “And as we look ahead into 2013,

December is National Write a Business Plan Month - so designated to encourage unhappy employees to become their own satisfied bosses. Whether your goal is to own your own business, become a consultant, a speaker or an author, you'll need to start with a business plan. Even if you launched your business years ago, it's important to revisit and refresh your plan. In recent years, the economy, technology and consumer habits have changed rapidly and dramatically, affecting every aspect of your business. That makes it absolutely vital to re-evaluate your short- and long-term strategies.

After years of coaching successful professionals in a variety of disciplines, I’ve come to see that when conflicts arise, many of us tend to care more about being ‘right’ than we do about finding the best course of action. I’m sure you’ve experienced this in your own life, at the office and perhaps at home too. A disagreement arises, and we’re so afraid of ‘losing’ that we won’t even admit there’s a possibility that there might be more to the situation than we can see. In our determination to ‘win,’ we refuse to acknowledge the other person’s perspective.

From luxury automobiles to high-tech electronics, the phrase "made in Japan" is synonymous with quality and reliability. The Japanese have a well-deserved reputation for their relentless pursuit of excellence, but it wasn't always that way. At the end of WWII, many Japanese cities lay in ruin, its manufacturing base destroyed and its economy devastated. General Douglas McArthur assembled a team of American business consultants to spearhead the rebuilding of the Japanese economic recovery. Dr. W. Edwards Deming, a statistician who worked at the US census bureau, was selected as a member of that distinguished team.

Freddie Mac recently released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing fixed mortgage rates easing slightly and remaining near record lows to keep homebuyer affordability high and attractive to those looking to refinance. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.32 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending December 13, 2012, down from last week when it averaged 3.34 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.94 percent. Additionally, the 15-year FRM this week averaged 2.66 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.67 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.21 percent.

In this hot market the homes moving fastest have two types of increasingly web savvy buyers: First time homebuyers who take advantage of FHA financing and absentee buyers looking for investments. "All-cash purchases and absentee buyers are at nearly twice their historic 12-year averages," says Chris Pollinger, senior vice president of Sales for First Team Real Estate. "At the same time, FHA loans have dropped for another month even though they are still high, which shows that these two different groups are increasingly competing for single family homes in the price range of $225,000 to $400,000."

The U.S. Treasury Department will be making some changes to the HAFA Program in 2013, and as a real estate professional, these changes will affect short sales in your local market. To prepare yourself for the upcoming changes, you can view this live webinar that will take place on December 17th at 4 p.m. ET with Laurie Maggiano, the Treasury's Director of Public Policy and Alex Charfen, CEO and author of the Certified Distressed Property Designation. During this live streaming broadcast, Maggiano and Charfen will discuss how these changes will impact the speed and success of your short sales and the foreclosure inventory that reaches our markets.

Despite continued uncertainty surrounding the fiscal cliff, Americans are showing increased confidence in the housing market and the direction of the economy. According to results from Fannie Mae’s November 2012 National Housing Survey, such improvement bodes especially well for continued strengthening in the housing sector, which in turn is likely to support overall economic growth. “Consumer attitudes toward both the economy and the housing market continue to gather momentum, with many of our 11 key National Housing Survey indicators at or near their two-and-a-half-year highs,” says Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist of Fannie Mae.