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Prudential Real Estate, an HSF Affiliates LLC company, has released its end-of-year Outlook Survey, which shows that Millennials and Generation X place a higher importance on and hold more favorable views toward homeownership than older generations. According to the national survey, confidence increased marginally among respondents with 73 percent at least somewhat confident in the recovering real estate market and property values as opposed to 72 percent in Q2.

Have you ever felt that one part of you is "gung-ho" about success and creates all these action steps for you to do each day, while another part of you is resisting, procrastinating and sometimes even rebelling at what you set out to do? That part is called your "inner rebel” or "inner resistance". In fact, that part is your subconscious mind. It’s the part of you that is below the surface and you don't see it. You're like the Titanic, floating along, thinking that all is well when suddenly you hit a iceberg (your subconscious mind) and you start to feel stuck. Have you ever felt that before?

Homeowners looking for the most return on their investment when it comes to remodeling should consider exterior replacement projects. According to the 2013 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report, REALTORS® rated exterior projects among the most valuable home improvement projects. “REALTORS® know that curb appeal projects offer great bang for your buck, because a home’s exterior is the first thing potential buyers see,” says National Association of REALTORS® President Gary Thomas.

Pending home sales declined in December but have stayed above year-ago levels for 20 consecutive months, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. The Pending Home Sales Index,*a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, fell 4.3 percent to 101.7 in December from 106.3 in November but is 6.9 percent higher than December 2011 when it was 95.1. The data reflect contracts but not closings. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says there is an uneven uptrend. "The supply limitation appears to be the main factor holding back contract signings in the past month. Still, contract activity has risen for 20 straight months on a year-over-year basis," he says.

(MCT)—If you’ve put off redoing that kitchen or adding a deck while waiting for the economy to perk up, welcome to the club. Like the rest of the housing market, home improvements and remodeling plunged during the recession as consumers hunkered down. But now that economic conditions are improving, the forecast for home fix-ups is looking up, too. “Future market indicators, which have been lagging a little bit, have jumped up,” said Paul Emrath, a research vice president with the National Association of Home Builders.

The trend of gradual but below-potential economic growth seen in 2012 is expected to carry over through 2013 and into 2014. This modest growth path combined with the real GDP growth rate during the recovery from 2009 to this point of 2.2 percent annualized give credence to claims that the recovery’s slow pace has become the “new normal,” according to Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group. The fiscal cliff and ongoing debt ceiling debate, which are likely to suppress consumer spending in the first half of 2013, continue to present potentially strong headwinds to meaningful growth activity. Overall, a 2 percent growth rate is forecasted for 2013, similar to the subdued pace of 2012. This is despite the fact that the housing sector, which has become a bright spot in the economy since home prices began to rebound in 2012, is expected to provide a rising contribution to GDP in 2013 and in coming years.

A new exhibit, Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers, opened Tuesday at The Museum of the City of New York, and will run through September 2013. Organized in conjunction with Citizens Housing & Planning Council (CHPC), Making Room explores how the rise of New York’s single adult population, in addition to other shifting social, economic, and cultural demographics, is dramatically changing the landscape of urban living. The exhibit focuses on the innovative ways that architecture and design can affect the city’s

(MCT)—Sales of existing homes ticked down in December from the month before, while the total for 2012 hit the highest level in five years, according to data released Tuesday by the National Association of REALTORS®. The pace of sales fell 1 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million, according to NAR. For all of 2012, existing-home sales hit 4.65 million, the highest level since 2007 and up 9.2 percent from 2011. “Record-low mortgage interest rates clearly are helping many home buyers, but tight inventory

The year 2012 was a promising one for housing. With consistent improvements in housing construction and prices, home building is once again contributing to economic growth. And the December housing starts report capped off the year with confirmation of these trends. Per Census data, solid gains in both single-family and multifamily production resulted in nationwide housing starts rising 12.1 percent

Have you ever been to a racetrack and made a modest wager on a horse? Selecting the right short sale listing to buy can be just like picking the right horse to win a race. The more knowledgeable you are, the better your odds of success. Studies on racetrack betting suggest that most small bets are for fun, so bets are placed based on the horse’s name, color, etc.

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® has announced an impressive line-up of speakers for its upcoming Conference Week, February 24-28 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. More than 1,500 people are expected to attend Conference Week, which includes the network’s Annual Conference for brokers and relocation professionals, Performance SUMMIT and Luxury Portfolio SUMMIT for sales associates

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Code of Ethics and Standard of Practice this year, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) continues to lead the way by setting REALTORS® apart from other real estate professionals (nonmembers). The first Code of Ethics was adopted in 1913 to establish standards and encourage professionalism in the real estate industry. This living document has undergone many revisions and updates in the last century to ensure it stays relevant.

Many people who want to create success for the New Year don’t realize that in order to do that, they need to have a blueprint for success. What does that mean specifically? It takes two things to create a blueprint for success. The first thing you have to have is a clear vision of what it is you want to create. The more powerful your vision and the more you can feel your vision, the stronger it is. So for example, if you want to make $500,000.00 in real estate in the year 2013, and you’d like to work maybe 30 hours a week or less

Near the end of 2012, we put out a call to our readers, asking them for the most prevalent real estate topics they want covered in the New Year. This ‘Hot Topics’ contest ran into the first week of January, and we had a storm of terrific entries submitted. Now, we’re going to write about them! Our winner, Claudia Davis, will be receiving an American Express gift card for her entry about pocket listings.

I have made the point over the past couple months that our mobile devices have taken over as the primary consumer search tool for most of us and will take over for the rest of us in the near future. Yes, many of us still have a desktop computer that we use for work, to create documents, presentations and do research. However, when the work day is done, we immediately switch to our mobile devices—smartphones and tablets—for all our consumer-searching needs. Why wouldn’t we? It’s far more convenient and comfortable to sit on our couch, recliner or at our dining room table with our smartphone or tablet than it is to sit at those same places with our laptop. According to Nielsen, a recent study found that 85 percent of smartphone/tablet owners use their device while watching TV