Saturday, March 09, 2013
Friday, March 08, 2013
Celebrate International Women’s Day
After more than 100 years, International Women’s Day draws millions to commemorate the advancements made in human rights and to discuss the challenges women continue to face in politics, education, employment, and other areas of daily life.
Here’s the full story from the Christian Science Monitor.
Thursday, March 07, 2013
Pending Home Sales Give a Peek at Spring
This week’s Intero Insider has Gino bringing us a Spring forecast.
By Gino Blefari, President & CEO, Intero Real Estate Services, Inc.
Pending home sales – an indicator of how the market will fare in a few months – tell us today that there’s plenty of momentum going into spring this year.
In a widely distributed report from the National Association of Realtors, pending home sales rose in January, and have improved on an annual basis for 21 months.
NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index tracks contract signings, not closings – making it a fair indicator of number of sales coming down the pike. The index increased 4.5% to 105.9 in January from 101.3 in December and 9.5% from the same month a year ago when it was 96.7.
The index was the highest in January since April 2010, just before the deadline for the federal home buyer tax credit when it hit 110.9.
Also, California released a pending sales index last week, showing pending sales climbed 23% to 101.4 in January from the previous month, according to the California Association of Realtors.
It’s safe to say that the spring buying season will be hot in many markets this year.
In another bit of news, along with sales, asking prices seem to be following. This past week, asking prices of homes for sale that appear on Trulia were up in 90 of the 100 largest U.S. metros in February.
Roughly 4.5 million for-sale and for-rent properties were listed on Trulia through February 28. Asking prices for those homes were up 7% from a year ago, and grew at a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.4% from January to February – the biggest month-over-month gain since the housing downturn began.
Spring historically is one of the hottest periods of the year for home sales. In 2013, we’re gearing up to see one of the most active spring seasons since the recession hit.
This is great news for sellers. For buyers, it could mean a lot more competition in the market – especially for those markets that still struggle with low inventory. My advice is to be prepared with financing so you can move fast when the right home comes along, and be persistent.
Happy spring!
Pending home sales – an indicator of how the market will fare in a few months – tell us today that there’s plenty of momentum going into spring this year.In a widely distributed report from the National Association of Realtors, pending home sales rose in January, and have improved on an annual basis for 21 months.
NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index tracks contract signings, not closings – making it a fair indicator of number of sales coming down the pike. The index increased 4.5% to 105.9 in January from 101.3 in December and 9.5% from the same month a year ago when it was 96.7.
The index was the highest in January since April 2010, just before the deadline for the federal home buyer tax credit when it hit 110.9.
Also, California released a pending sales index last week, showing pending sales climbed 23% to 101.4 in January from the previous month, according to the California Association of Realtors.
It’s safe to say that the spring buying season will be hot in many markets this year.
In another bit of news, along with sales, asking prices seem to be following. This past week, asking prices of homes for sale that appear on Trulia were up in 90 of the 100 largest U.S. metros in February.
Roughly 4.5 million for-sale and for-rent properties were listed on Trulia through February 28. Asking prices for those homes were up 7% from a year ago, and grew at a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.4% from January to February – the biggest month-over-month gain since the housing downturn began.
Spring historically is one of the hottest periods of the year for home sales. In 2013, we’re gearing up to see one of the most active spring seasons since the recession hit.
This is great news for sellers. For buyers, it could mean a lot more competition in the market – especially for those markets that still struggle with low inventory. My advice is to be prepared with financing so you can move fast when the right home comes along, and be persistent.
Happy spring!
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
Tax Filing Reminders–the fun way
These guys, Frank & Brian, are fun. They give out some simple tax filing
advice, but the main message here is that we all have to do taxes, there are
things we need to remember if we’re doing them on our own, and we might as well
make it fun.
advice, but the main message here is that we all have to do taxes, there are
things we need to remember if we’re doing them on our own, and we might as well
make it fun.
Monday, March 04, 2013
Gilroy Today Magazine – Spring Issue JUST RELEASED
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The latest issue of Gilroy Today, our uber local glossy magazine published by J. Chris Mickhartz, is out today. The Spring 2013 issue is the best ever and packed articles and information about local people, places and things. Take a look:
Tonight is Gilroy City Council Meeting
Big happening tonight in Gilroy. It’s the first Gilroy City Council meeting of the month. The action starts at 6 PM. Here’s the info:
The public is encouraged to participate in Gilroy City Council meeting the first and third Monday of each month at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 7351 Rosanna St. If that date falls on a holiday, the meeting is rescheduled for the following Monday. Details: 846-0400 or cityofgilroy.org. Agenda: http://www.cityofgilroy.org/cityofgilroy/city_hall/meetings/default.aspx?MeetingType=2
If you can’t, or don’t want to, attend in person, you can watch the action on your computer. You can watch live-streaming of tonight’s meeting by going here: http://www.cityofgilroy.org/cityofgilroy/online_services/web_casts/council_videos/default.aspx.
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