Real Estate Articles (2015)

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

There's no doubt that Americans, young and old, still believe in the American Dream of homeownership, despite their worry about the economy. A new quarterly consumer survey released by the National Association of REALTORS® reveals although only half of surveyed households believe the economy is currently improving, nearly all young renters eventually want to buy a home, and a convincing majority still view homeownership as part of their American Dream. A new index tracking the financial outlook of households also found that compared to earlier in 2015, an increasing share of households believe their personal financial situation will improve in the months ahead.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

The Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® joins other local and state REALTORS® associations and the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) in praising Congress for passing and the President for signing into law sweeping legislation of more than 2,000 pages to fund the Federal Government for Fiscal Year 2016. The new legislation will put an end to the series of stop-gap funding measures known as "Continuing Resolutions" that have funded the government since the start of FY2016 on October 1, 2015. This new bill will expire in September 2016.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Existing home sales in California fell in November from the previous month and year for the first time in nearly a year, according to the latest state REALTOR® report.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Silicon Valley's real estate community congratulated the Chinese American Real Estate Association (CAREA)'s 2016 leadership team at the association's Dec. 4 installation dinner. Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) president-elect Karen Trolan installed 2016 CAREA president Coco Tan and CAREA's officers and board of directors.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

At the end of each year, the five districts of the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR), select a chair to conduct the district REALTOR® meetings in the upcoming year and represent the district's REALTORS® and the interests of local homeowners at the California Association of REALTORS® meetings as Region 9 directors. On Dec. 9, the local trade association's Los Gatos/Saratoga District passed the gavel on to Suzanne Yost, a broker associate with Alain Pinel Realtors Los Gatos and former SILVAR president.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

California REALTORS® are disappointed that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) decided last month to keep the 2016 maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at $417,000 on one-unit properties in most of the country and the cap of $625,500 in high-cost areas.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Small real estate businesses, agents and their clients are increasingly becoming targets of sophisticated cyber scammers, according to panelists at a risk management forum at the 2015 National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Conference & Expo held last month in San Diego. The panelists discussed potential threats and offered tips for agents to protect themselves, their business, and their clients from cyberattacks.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

After intense pressure from REALTORS® and coalition partners, Congress has removed a proposed new tax on mortgages as part of the highway spending bill. The bill would have included guarantee fees on conforming loans which would have gone to pay for transportation infrastructure. Congress has officially removed it, the Senate has removed it, and President Obama signed H.R. 22, the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 this month.