July 2009

By NICK TIMIRAOS and KELLY EVANS

Home prices in major U.S. cities registered the first monthly gain in nearly three years, according to a new report that provided fresh evidence that the severe U.S. housing downturn could be easing.

Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller index, which tracks home prices in 20 metropolitan areas, rose 0.5% for the three-month period ending in May, compared with the three months ending in April. It marked the index's first increase after 34 straight months of decline, and came after a variety of housing indicators has shown glimmers of hope for the past several months.

Home prices remained down about 17% from a year earlier, according to the index. According to S&P/Case-Schiller's seasonally adjusted numbers, which it

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By ALAN ZIBEL
AP Real Estate Writer

The U.S. housing market has started to recover from the most far-reaching crisis since the Great Depression, data released Thursday show.

Sales of previously occupied homes rose for the third month in a row in June, the National Association of Realtors reported. That hasn't happened since early 2004, during the boom.

"The turnaround in the housing market appears finally to be here and indeed may be gaining some speed," wrote Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors Inc.

Stocks jumped on the news, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising above 9,000 for the first time since early January.

Home sales rose 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million last month, from a

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http://www2.standardandpoors.com/spf/pdf/index/CSHomePrice_Release_072820.pdf

If you are thinking of buying your first home and figured you have plenty of time to take advantage of the government's $8000 tax credit, THINK AGAIN! 

Did you know that you only have until November 30th of this year to CLOSE on your new home?  Did you also know that it will take at LEAST 30 days from the time you enter into a contract till you can close?  That closing time will probably increase substantially as we get closer to the deadline and everybody is rushing to get their homes in on time.  If you think you might need 30-60 days to get pre-approved and then find that perfect home that leaves you about a month till you need to get started.

Please believe me when I say "now is the time" beat the rush and call me for a free consultation.

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Jake Lohser has recently joined forces with downtown real estate agents Mark Lastition and Scott Phillips to open a new downtown real estate office.  This office will continue to take shape over the coming months and has already attracted attention from other highly producing agents who want to take part.

The mission of this office is to take high producing technology driven and like minded agents who believe in all that Greater Cleveland has to offer.  In addition to servicing clients, this business center has the goal of connecting decision maker in Cleveland with those who have big ideas to continue the city's new trends of development.

The team is currently looking for talented agents so please call or email if you feel like you would be right…

by Matthew Bandyk

When you pay a lot of money for something, you hope to get a lot of value in return. Despite the housing downturn and the number of cheap houses it has left in its wake, there is still plenty of expensive land left. According to the Global Property Guide, an online real estate investor's guide, New York might have slipped from the second-most-expensive city in the world in 2008 to the sixth most expensive in 2009, but an average 120-square-meter (373-square-foot) apartment in the central business district will still cost you a hefty $14,898 per square meter.

So why are people willing to pay a fortune to live in certain places? And what are they getting in return for their money? According to a recent working paper from

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