Not only is new construction starting to come back, there is also an upswing in remodeling! According to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, spending for remodeling is expected to climb 20% from September 2012 to September 2013!  House.com says that 53% of homeowners think now is a great time to remodel!  During the worst of the housing market crash most home owners were only doing must do repair work and if possible they did it by themselves to keep the costs down.  Now that home prices are starting to rise people are starting to hire companies to do their remodeling projects. One major difference is that people are tending to pay cash or do their projects in small steps unlike the height of the housing market where everyone financed their remodels and did huge projects all at once. Kitchens and bathrooms are still the top remodeling projects.

What are the top 10 showing no no’s?  Realtor Magazine spoke with over 50 buyers agents to compile this list of the topp 10 worst home showing offences.  If your home is for sale, make sure you avoid these mistakes!

1. Stalking homeowners – these are sellers that don’t leave the home for showings. They make showings very awkward for the buyers and if they try to be helpful it only makes matters worse.
2. Pets – pets that are left to roam the house during a showing can distract buyers especially if the buyers are not animal lovers. Even crated pets create distractions if they whine or bark. Then the cat walking on the kitchen counters can also be a big turn off. If possible remove pets for showings. (more…)

According to numbers released by CoreLogic, about 22.3% of homeowners with mortgages were underwater at the end of the second quarter this year.  This number is still high, but it is down from 23.7% at the end of the first quarter of the year.

On the positive side, 1.3 million borrowers moved to being above water on their mortgages in the first half of the year but still 27% of mortgage holders were considered to be underwater or near underwater at the end of the first half of the year.

Another interesting fact is that people that purchased a home for under $200,000 are the most underwater on their mortgages with 32% while only 17% of people with homes purchased over $200,000 are upside down on their mortgages.

According to CoreLogic, just another 5% increase in home sales prices would dramatically lower the amount of homeowners that are underwater on their mortgages.

Although mortgage rates are at their lowest point in at least 40 years and the current 30 year rate is at about half of the historical average are loan rates boosting the home market?  These low rates are helping to jump start the housing market but there a few problems that are still keeping the market from coming back in full force.

• Many homeowners still cannot sell their homes as they owe more on their home than what they can sell it for so until prices really increase they are stuck where they are.
• Financing guidelines have really tightened up and in many cases banks are requiring higher down payments which many buyers do not have.
• With the tight lending practices, many buyers are unhappy that they cannot qualify for the amount of home they really want to buy.
• Lenders do not refinance loans on homes that are under water, so if you owe more than your home is worth and you cannot afford to make up the difference in cash you cannot refinance.
• The best interest rates are only available to those with excellent credit.

Overall the market is up and is continuing an upward trend but it will take time for everything to be back in balance.