New Home Sales Up 2.3% in April

There's more good news for the housing market and new homes in particular.

According to HUD and the US Census Bureau, sales of new, single-family homes rose by 2.3 percent in April. Regionally, new home sales rose 3 percent in the South.

A quote from an article by the National Association of Home Builders reinforces this positive message. “Today’s report is further evidence of the gradual, consistent improvement we have been seeing in housing market conditions over the past year,” noted NAHB Senior Economist Robert Denk. “We’re now about half-way back to what could be considered a full recovery, and we do expect to see continual, solid gains in both starts and sales of new homes going forward.”

Interest rates remain low and house prices are trending upwards and inventory remains tight.  Now is the time to buy!

To read the full article from the National Association of Home Builders please click HERE. 

Hal Von Nessen to appear on the Monday Morning Sales Meeting, from BuilderRadio, Monday, May 20, 2013.

Hal Von Nessen of RESH Marketing will be the featured interview on the national program, Selling New Homes: The Monday Morning Sales Meeting for New Home Sales Professionals presented by BuilderRadio, a division of Selling More Homes Media.

The discussion will address changes in the new home industry and will identify technological innovations available for use in sales centers employed by builders and developers.

RESH Marketing has developed a system utilizing touch screen technology to display the components of the traditional sales center presentations. In addition, software has been written to allow for site plats to be updated and home options to be identified and selected right from the TV monitor in the sales office. The inherent advantages of having an easily transported system precludes the need to make structural changes to model homes used as sales facilities, and capitalizes on the relaxed atmosphere created in the living spaces of model homes.

The interview was conducted by Scott Stroud, who has been involved in new home construction and sales since 1974. His experience as a new home builder/dealer in his hometown of Louisville, KY in the 1980′s provides a keen insight into strategies to sell new homes in the current market. Scott produces BuilderRadio’s many programs, including The Selling More Homes Academy – the first online multimedia learning center and coaching program for housing sales and marketing professionals.

Posted every Monday morning, The Monday Morning Sales Meeting features the premiere experts in the new home industry. The program is provided free of charge and can be accessed at any time convenient to the listener by visiting www.BuilderRadio.com. To be notified of future free programs, listeners can subscribe to the blog on the same page.

South Carolina Economic Snapshot

Dr. Joey Von Nessen recently created and presented an economic snapshot of the South Carolina economy, focusing on key variables affecting the business community

His analysis is available for free on our website.

The snapshot looks at several leading economic indicators including:

• Industry employment
• The unemployment rate
• Housing starts
• House price appreciation

To download the information visit our website and look on the home page for Economic Snapshot.

Dr. Joey Von Nessen is a Research Economist at RESH Marketing. Dr. Von Nessen specializes in economic and marketing research in the home building industry and oversees the research activities of the company. In addition to his full-time duties at RESH, he is also a consultant with the Division of Research in the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, involved in both private sector and academic research.

New...or just "new" to you?

When buyers set out to buy a "new" home, it may not always mean a home that's never been lived in before. The home may just be new to them. But what are the benefits of buying a home that's completely new?  That question is the inspiration behind a recently launched website called "Start Fresh. Buy New".

Since the site launched in March of this year, it's received about 10,000 visitors a day. The goal of the site is to educate homeowners on the benefits of buying a newly constructed home and to help them find new homes in their area.

Some of the highlighted benefits to buying new vs. used are:

• Increased energy efficiency
• New home warranties
• Modern construction techniques and materials
• Higher ceilings
• More closet space
• Modern safety features
• Open floor plan design
• Follows latest trends in flooring, finishes, colors, and cabinetry
• Time/Money saved on home repairs and updates

To visit the site and learn more about the benefits of buying a newly constructed home
CLICK HERE.

What are some of the benefits you see to buying a newly constructed home?

Real Estate Regrets

Trulia released the results of a consumer survey asking homeowners what they regret about their current home purchase or home buying process.

Home buyers this Spring are facing a market with limited inventory and stiff competition for homes. This environment creates the potential for buyers to make rushed decisions that they may later regret. The goal of Trulia's survey is to inform current buyers about the most common regrets in hopes that they can be avoided.

Here are the findings from the survey about top 5 homeowner regrets:

• 34% wish they had chosen a larger home
• 27% wish they had done more remodeling on the home that they did
• 22% wish they had more information on the home before they purchased
• 18% wish they had put more money down for the down payment
• 16% wish they were more financially secure before they made their decision

For a full list of homeowner regrets and analysis by Trulia visit this LINK

What if any regrets do you have from previous home buying experiences?

Recovering Housing Market Boosts Job Creation

David Crowe, Chief Economist for the National Association of Home Builders, released an analysis of the housing market's impact on job creation in the overall economy.

His report points out that as the housing market recovers, the demand for labor in the housing industry grows. This increased demand for labor will boost a slowly recovering national economy.

The overall economic indicators are mixed but the news for the housing market remains positive. According to Crowe, March data showed the count of home builders and residential contractors grew by almost 15,000. In the last six months job growth in this sector increased by almost 74,000.  In addition to these positive numbers, there are over 100,000 unfilled positions in the construction sector - bringing this figure back to a post-Great Recession high.

For the full report from Crowe on the many factors contributing to the current economic outlook visit the NAHB's website at the following link. http://eyeonhousing.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/eye-on-the-economy-as-housing-improves-job-creation-follows/

SC Markets Included in Improving Markets Index

The National Association of Home Builders along with First American tracks housing markets throughout the country that show signs of economic improvement. This index is based on three monthly measures: employment growth, house price growth and single-family housing growth.

The Improving Markets Index (IMI) has increased dramatically and as of this month contains 273 housing metro areas.

Included on this list are the following South Carolina markets:

• Anderson
• Charleston
• Columbia
• Florence
• Greenville
• Spartanburg

This continues to be a positive indicator for the housing industry as a whole and South Carolina in particular. The full article from the NAHB can be found here along with links to the list of all included housing markets.