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Housing construction passed the psychological mark of one million starts in March coming in at 1.036 million homes, up 7 percent from an upwardly revised February level of 968,000. The surge was due to a 31 percent increase in apartment construction to a level of 417,000 units, the highest since January 2006. Single-family construction fell 4.8 percent to 619,000 from an upwardly revised February level, which was the highest since May 2008. The first quarter single-family average was 628,000 up 6 percent from the fourth quarter 2012. Housing permits were down 3.9 percent but from a February high not seen since July 2008. The first quarter average was 915,000 up 2.6 percent from the fourth quarter. Builders were stock piling permits in February

As the market continues to shift, one industry trend seems to be making continuous waves: vacation homes. With low prices and mortgage rates still available in most parts of the country, affluent buyers—or those who have always dreamed of a cabin on a lake—are making their move and purchasing second homes in exotic locations to be used as vacation getaways. According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), sales of investment and vacation homes jumped in 2011, with the combined marketshare rising to the highest level since 2005. NAR’s 2012 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey, covering existing- and new-home transactions in 2011, showed vacation-home sales rose

While the Federal Housing Administration still faces challenges ahead, the agency has already taken a number of significant steps to mitigate risk and increase the solvency and strength of the mortgage-insurance fund. That’s according to National Association of REALTORS® President Gary Thomas, who testified today before the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity about the future of the FHA. “Realtors® believe that recent increases to premiums, increased down payments for some borrowers and greater risk management controls will help to substantially improve

With tight mortgage lending standards preventing well-qualified home buyers from obtaining home loans and impeding the housing and economic recovery, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) recently expressed support for congressional efforts to reform the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) but urged lawmakers to proceed in a cautious manner to avoid any disruptions to the nation’s housing finance system. Testifying before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, NAHB First Vice Chairman Kevin Kelly, a builder and developer from Wilmington, Del., points out the vital role

Realogy Holdings Corp recently provided preliminary estimates of certain of its financial and operational results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013: • Net revenue is expected to be in the range of $950 million to $960 million, representing an increase of 9 percent to 10 percent compared to first quarter 2012. • Adjusted EBITDA(1) is expected to be in the range of $70 million to $74 million, representing a 32 percent to 40 percent increase from prior year results.

Editor’s Note: This is the second of a seven-part series from Homes.com on how to manage your online reputation. Homes.com has put together a free playbook on the topic, which can be downloaded here. Watch for this series in RISMedia’s Friday Weekly Business Builder e-newsletter. Once you’ve decided to invest in your online reputation, the first thing you need to do is to get your name out there by being listed in as many online business directories as possible. It’s not rocket science; the more places your business is listed, the more

Have you ever bought a product or hired a company and said, “May I have lousy service, please? I’d like to be frustrated by the experience of doing business with you.” Doubtful. We’ve all experienced lousy service – whether that’s due to long lines at the checkout, a botched order at a restaurant, over promises that were under delivered, or just a crummy attitude. Certainly nothing you’d ask for. However, “good” service should be an expectation. And, depending on the product and the price, you have higher and lower definitions of “good.” For example, you do not have the same expectation at a fast food restaurant as you would a fine dining establishment. You pay more and expect more. You pay less and expect less. A real estate transaction is a pretty high priced item, so the expectation

Prudential Real Estate, an HSF Affiliates LLC company, recently released results of its first quarter Consumer Outlook Survey showing that Americans' sentiment toward real estate is growing increasingly favorable. A full 77 percent of consumers feel that the real estate market and property values will recover, representing a four-point improvement from year-end results and seven-point jump over the same period a year ago. According to the national survey, home ownership remains important to 96% of Americans, especially among women

During New Homes Month in April, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is showing home buyers why they can afford a higher-priced home—if it’s new construction. Using data from the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2011 American Housing Survey, NAHB found that buyers can purchase a more expensive newer home and achieve the same annual operating costs as an older, existing home. “Home buyers need to look beyond the initial sales price when considering whether to buy new construction or an existing home,” says NAHB Chairman Rick Judson, a home builder from Charlotte, N.C.

While there is still plenty of room for improvement in our current economic and housing climate, Power Brokers are advancing full speed ahead toward recovery. The door to the downturn has been shut and there’s nowhere to go but up. And based on the record-setting response to our 25th Annual Power Broker Survey, brokers are eager to report their respective tales of recovery. This year’s 1,000 respondents collectively amassed $767,983,687,087 in sales volume for 2012 and 2,985,668 in closed transactions. This represents a more than $158 billion increase in sales volume over 2011.

Let’s say you’re a residential real estate professional with seven listings and are extremely busy. So busy that you’re considering outsourcing the showing scheduling process so you can focus on all the things you want to do to market your listings. With all that on your plate, you may feel like you don’t have time even to research the various appointment center services available, so you may go with what someone else in your office uses. That can be a winning strategy–a referral from someone you know.

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a seven-part series from Homes.com on how to manage your online reputation. Homes.com has put together a free playbook on the topic, which can be downloaded here. Watch for this series in RISMedia’s Friday Weekly Business Builder e-newsletter. Business magnate Warren Buffett once said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” Think about this: In today’s business world, where so much takes place online, your reputation could be ruined in much less than five minutes.

I hear a lot about the Federal Housing Administration, and much of it is simply wrong. “The FHA is the next subprime.” Untrue. “The FHA caused the housing crisis.” Also untrue. There is a lot of misinformation making the rounds, which helps neither brokers nor buyers. Here’s the low-down on what brokers or buyers’ agents need to know. What is FHA? The Federal Housing Administration, which was founded in 1934, is part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The FHA insures loans made by the private market; it does not itself lend money. Its purpose is to provide access to safe, affordable financing when the private market cannot or will not participate. What are the benefits/drawbacks of an FHA loan? Historically, these loans have featured low down payments, closing costs and credit score requirements.

You’ve heard it said that you should “shoot when the ducks are flying,” and that is more true today than ever before. As the market heats up and real estate agents get into the spring selling season, many will stop working on their businesses in order to address the increasing needs of their clients, thus focusing strictly in their businesses. DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU! Even when business is good, we must remain focused on lead generation and other business development activities. If we stop these behaviors, we will experience the peaks and valleys that are all too common in real estate.

CoreLogic® recently released its National Foreclosure Report for February, which provides data on completed U.S. foreclosures and the overall foreclosure inventory. According to CoreLogic, there were 54,000 completed foreclosures in the U.S. in February 2013, down from 67,000 in February 2012, a year-over-year decrease of 19 percent. On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures fell from 58,000* in January 2013 to the February level of 54,000, a decrease of 7 percent.