Real Estate Information Archive

FHA Relaxes Anti-Flipping Rule

Beginning Feb. 1, the Federal Housing Administration will provide mortgage insurance for some purchases in which the seller bought the property and held it for fewer than 90 days.

The agency is changing what is known as the “anti-flipping rule” to speed up sales of renovated homes in communities with too many bank-owned and foreclosed homes, says FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens.

Waiving the 90-day rule will encourage private investors to buy vacant properties, fix them up, and quickly sell them to buyers who will be eligible to buy them using FHA financing.

FHA's change "is going to be absolutely terrific" for first-time home buyers hoping to take advantage of the tax credit, says Bobby Taylor, an associate with Coldwell Banker Mountain West Real Estate in Salem, Ore.

Source: Washington Post (01/30/2010)

This will be a short note to bring you up to speed on the market here in Eagle River Alaska.  Nothing spectacular is happening, at least not if your an Eagle River resident, because you already know this.  Eagle River is the "Most livable Community in Alaska".  The homes sales are steady and consistent, kind of boring, right?

Well to those of you that may be moving here or are just curious and stumbled upon this post, may seem incredible.  Our market is very good!  we are not selling hundreds of homes, we're just selling the ones that come on the market.  Less people are moving away from Eagle River and more are moving here.  Good steady, sustainable growth.  If the builders built 20% more homes than is currently underway we could easily fill the residences.  Eagle River residents are proud of their community and remain committed to it.  The first time home buyers tax credit expires in on December 1, 2009.  If you want take advantage of this, you need to move quickly. 

We lets dispense with the rhetoric.  Sales in the last week continue to be steady and stable.  There were 14 new homes listed for sale, and 7 homes went under contract (pended), while 6 homes closed.  The current inventory of homes is 150, just 1 more than last week.  Interest rates continue to be low, last week in the 4% to 5% range depending on the terms chosen.  fourteen (14) of the 150 are not built, and ten (10) are currently under construction.

Well, I'm getting a little long winded here so I'll wrap this up.  The market is good, now is the best time to sell your home, and it is definitely a good time to buy if you can find a good home.  If you can find one, call me we can always build it for you.

What's happening in the Eagle river Market this week?  that is a question I keep getting asked and  I have a great answer, but before I going to the weekly numbers I would like to share with a conversation I had Saturday evening at the Annual Chugiak/Eagle River Chamber of Commerce fund raiser.

I know I'm name dropping, but so would you, and this is Alaska.  My wife and I were looking at all the very cool items in the silent auction and we had the opportunity to speak for several minutes with Senator Mark Begich.  We exchange pleasantries and I asked Senator Begich about is real estate license, he has been a Realtor for many years.  Our conversation revolved around what was going on around the country.  The Senator shared with me information that he had obtained that showed new housing starts around the country were increasing.  He also shared with me what he had seen as he drove across the country on the way back to Alaska. 

The Senator had seen many small towns languishing in this recession, a stark contrast with our local economy.  We are very lucky that our local economy has fared very well in the recent down turn.  I shared the status of our local market and it is good.  It was a great evening and I really enjoyed myself.

Here is what I shared with Senator Begich:

The Eagle River residential market showed healthy signs again last week.  Ten (10) homes went under contract (pended), eight (8) new homes came on the market, and five (5) homes closed.  The average sales price in Eagle River is $330,000 and the average market time of the sold homes is 73 days over the last quarter.  Active homes still on the market show an average of 113 days on the Market (DOM).  With only 157 homes available for sale and 20 of these homes not built, there is a limited supply in most price ranges. 

Chugiak has a little better supply of homes with 57 currently available.  Two (2) homes pended, one (1) new home was listed, and one (1) home closed.  The Chugiak/Peter's Creek area still provides some of the better values for this area with many of the homes situated on larger parcels of land.

Well that it for this week, if you have questions about what going on or would like help in any real estate matters give me a call or send an e-mail.  Remember this, Real Estate is Local, and Locally we have it pretty good.

As we enter into the new construction season and saw dust starts to fly through the air, one wonders will we get back to the growth we saw just a few years ago. 

I believe we will see steady growth in new construction side of real estate.  in Eagle River we will see steady growth.  Powder Ridge is seeing several new homes this year.  Nolan Homes, LLC., LLC is almost finished with a a home and there are open houses there each weekend.

Nolan Homes, LLC. is currently marketing 22 new homes in the Powder Ridge subdivision.  There is a myriad of styles and sizes.  Nolan Homes, LLC. is offering two levels of specifications, a standard level which is still a higher level of building specifications, and a Luxury build specification.  The Luxury level includes upgrades such hardwood flooring, granite counter tops, and many other features withing he home.

New construction is moving forward and Eagle River is growing.  Come to Powder Ridge and see the progress.