The latest housing numbers seem to tell a mixed story consistent with the bumpy road to recovery we are on. In spite of continued record low mortgage rates, fears of unemployment are keeping many people on the sidelines. People secure in their job situation are waiting for the right property, and well priced quality listings are getting snapped up quickly as overpriced listings languish on the market.

 The latest NAR sales survey shows second quarter price gains in two thirds of the metro areas surveyed. In the Northeast home prices fell 3.2% to $238,000, but existing-home sales jumped 14.9 %, which was 23.6 % above 2009. 

 In Rhode Island, foreclosures accounted for 25.2% of sales in July ranking us 36^th in the nation, but July notices increased 15.6% over June. Nationally, July notices were down 9.7 % from 2009 but up 3.6% from June. Declines in new default notices, down year-over-year for the sixth-straight month in July, do not offset  near-record increases of bank repos.

 This week’s Real Estate Insight:

The end of the tax credit and the increased sales it had affected  has coincided with the normal summer real estate doldrums, so naturally the next few months’ numbers will look less robust. A rebound is possible in the balance of the year, with continued job growth, record low mortgage rates, and improving demographics, but marked improvement will not likely happen until 2011.

This week Rich had Nelson Taylor and Joe Luca on to talk about the state of Commercial Real Estate.  Commercial real estate trends are lagging indicators because shopping centers, offices and schools can take years to build and usually come after an area has the people to support it. While we never had the overdevelopment that other parts of the country experienced during the boom, the recession has created a number of commercial vacancies throughout the state. Lower prices and attractive interest rates are creating great deals in the Commercial sector.

Commercial Real Estate has always been an old boy’s club, and few encourage buyer representation. We formed RPL Commercial to address the needs of our investor clients, and bring them the same level of buyer representation and service that they had grown accustomed to at RPL. Nelson and his team started the RPL Commercial brand and his client base tends to be investors, developers and small businesses working in creative arts, architects, graphic designers, theatres, and non-profits. Joe has been doing Commercial real estate for 20 years now and comes with a wealth of experience in buyer and tenant representation, and specializes in all aspects of Commercial Real Estate.  They both exemplify the type of trusted business advisor and expert Real Estate partner that today’s investors and business people need in their corner.

This week’s Real Estate Insight:

If you are thinking about starting or expanding your business, or have been thinking about getting into investing, now is a great time to negotiate a great lease or purchase a building.