Building permits for single-family homes rose 1.8 percent in December to a rate of 444,000 units compared with November, according to a joint release by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. Single-family housing starts rose 4.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 657,000.
An estimated 611,900 housing units were authorized by building permits in 2011. This is 1.2 percent above the 2010 figure of 604,600. Approximately 606,900 housing units were started in 2011. This is 3.4 percent above the 2010 figure of 586,900.
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The San Francisco Chronicle
Banks may seize more than 1 million U.S. homes this year after legal scrutiny of their foreclosure practices slowed actions against delinquent property owners in 2011, RealtyTrac said.
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/12/BUPF1MOFAU.DTL
- In coming weeks, federal policy makers could roll out pilot programs to further test the concept of renting out single-family homes.
- There are two different types of programs that officials are likely to consider. Under the first, the Federal Housing Administration could sell properties in bulk to investors who agree to rent them out.
- A more likely option for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be to set up pools of properties in which third-party investors would take a stake. Investors could be responsible for handling maintenance and day-to-day operation of the rental pool, with Fannie and Freddie sharing in some of the returns.
Read more about the pilot programs at http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2012/01/12/six-questions-on-foreclosure-to-rental-programs/.
Realtor.com recently announced the beta roll out of its mobile-enabled HyperSocial agent search tools — HyperSocial™ Agent Profile Pages and HyperSocial™ Agent Recommendations. Both tools will be integrated into the Realtor.com Find a REALTOR® (FAR) directory at the beginning of the 2012 home buying season and accessible on the Realtor.com desktop FAR and Showcase Listing Enhancement iPhone, iPad and Android mobile app experiences.
HyperSocial Agent Profile Pages are mobile-enabled pages viewable from desktops and most mobile devices. Through social graphing technology, the HyperSocial Agent Profiles surface mutual connections, extended relationships, and shared interests by layering the social networks of agents and consumers.
HyperSocial Agent Recommendations live within each HyperSocial Agent Profile as an agent branded URL and is an easy way for clients to share a recommendation an agent has earned without any registration requirements. Recommendations are reviewed and approved for display by each agent and can be manually or automatically broadcasted to the agent’s online network from one central hub with one easy click. When the recommendation URL is emailed or texted, users are directed back to the agent’s HyperSocial Agent Profile featuring other key agent information.
Now available in beta for registration by REALTORS® with a valid NRDS number at http://www.socialbios.com, the HyperSocial agent search tools will initially span Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google and FourSquare. Information on how to register can be found at: http://lockbox.realtor.com/realtor-technology/how-to-set-up-a-socialbios-account/.
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Late last year, C.A.R. launched Sucasa.net, a Spanish-language property search website that offers Spanish-speaking home buyers MLS listings based on the California Living Network’s database. Powered by NAR’s REALTOR.com® (www.realtor.com/california), home buyers can search for California homes using common sorting characteristics such as city, price range, and number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Results appear in a list or on a map, and driving directions are available in Spanish. The website also is a useful tool for REALTORS®, allowing agents to forward their clients a link to a specific property in Spanish. To view the site, please visit www.sucasa.net.
