FRIDAY - NIGHT LIGHTS
A lot of my buyers have been feeling the pinch of rising rental prices. Absorption rates for rental apartments have been generally rising since late 2008 as rental demand increased as a result of the housing downturn. If you're curious, interest rates will have to hit 5.4% in San Jose for it to not make sense to buy if you're still on the fence of renting vs buying. Despite recent volatility in consumer attitudes, housing recovery expected to press on - notably, home price expectations climbed significantly in February – with 50 percent saying home prices will go up in the next year.
Distressed housing market shrinks dramatically since housing downturn of Great Recession due to significant home price appreciation over the past five years, lifting the market value of many underwater homes, and as a result, many homeowners have gained significant equity in their homes, resulting in fewer short sales and foreclosures. Conversely, here's an opinion on how housing policy hurts the middle class - Many buyers decided that the largest-possible house was a better idea than a retirement fund or a child's education.
Lastly, a space I don't really see promoted in real estate advertising, yet one of the hardest working spaces - the mud room. Here are the makings of a mudroom with ideabooks. My favorites being:
Beach Style Entry by Portland Interior Designers & Decorators Garrison Hullinger Interior Design Inc.
I'm curious:
- What size home feels comfortable to you and why?
- What do you pay attention to when you first come home?
PS I'm a night owl by nature. Random search for night lights yielded some interesting finds, specifically night and day differences in exteriors - all the more reason to drive the neighborhood you're interested in at different times of the day.
