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Investors are picking up shares of appliances, building materials, and even pickup trucks in betting on a widening housing recovery, The Wall Street Journal reports. Investors say that the increase in residential construction and home renovation represents a big opportunity on Wall Street.

The recovery is in "the very early innings," Russell Croft, a portfolio manager at Croft Leominster Inc., told The Wall Street Journal. "[Im trying] to find the secondary or tertiary stocks that might be influenced by housing."

Following a run-up in shares of homebuilder stocks -- like Lennar, KB Home, and Toll Brothers -- investors are now diversifying, looking at such companies like appliance maker Whirlpool (which has surged more than 170 percent since the end of 2011) and Ford Motor Co. for pickup trucks. Investors are looking for anything housing-related, including companies that manufacture related items from roofing and floorboards to drywall and faucets.

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Source: Realtor.org

Rising home prices in many markets may be giving underwater homeowners the determination to stick it out in the hopes of being able to eventually sell at a profit, stunting the continued growth of short sales, data aggregator RealtyTrac reported today.
Foreclosure-related sales sales of homes at some stage in the foreclosure process or already repossessed by lenders were down 18 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013, to 190,121. Thats a 22 percent decline from a year ago.
We expected foreclosure-related sales to be lower given the downward trend in new foreclosure activity nationwide over the past two and a half years, but the decrease in nonforeclosure short sales was a bit of surprise given the 11 million homeowners nationwide still underwater, said RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist in a statement.

- See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/05/29/rising-home-prices-denting-short-sales/#sthash.8Ea31Lv4.dpuf
Source: Inman.com

Moving is a complicated process, but it can be especially difficult for children. By the time we reach adulthood, most of us have lived in a variety of different places. However, for your children, the house and neighborhood you are now moving away from might be the only home they have ever known.

For most, a childhood home represents family, familiarity and a lot of firsts, like the place you made your first friend. It has the park where you learned to ride a bike. You can probably still remember the streets you took to school. Moving away from these familiar things could be particularly stressful for your child.

If youre feeling a bit overwhelmed dont!  In my 13 years as a Realtor, Ive helped dozens of young families find their dream home and, as a result, have gotten a firsthand look at steps many parents have taken to calm their little ones nerves. With summer moving season fast approaching, I wanted to share what Ive seen:

1. Communicate Your Move
Children may like surprise parties or a surprise trip to the zoo, but they will not enjoy a surprise move. After you decide to move, one of the first things you should do is call a family meeting, order your favorite takeout and break the news. Explain to your children why you are moving and how you feel about the move, and encourage them to express themselves.

2. Make Room Plans
Instead of just telling your children that they will be moving, ease their concerns by showing them pictures of their new room and the house. They might get excited to learn they no longer have to share a bedroom or get to pick the color of their next room. Children can be a lot more receptive to moving if they feel included in the process, and they will likely be especially receptive to making plans for their new bedroom.

Read the Full Article HERE

Source: Realtor.com

The first thing that most of us think of is the adage... "location, location, location". While that is certainly very critical, there are many other things to consider when buying real estate. Here are some universal guidelines.

How long you intend to stay in a home. This is an important question to consider because moving is quite expensive. If you're in a temporary job and may soon be relocating to another city or even state, renting rather than owning might be a better option.
While none of us entirely knows how our future will play out, understanding how long you expect to stay in your home allows you the chance to decide how large a home you want. 

Job Market. It's aways a good idea to check the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to see how the employment is in an area that you are considering purchasing a home. Areas with lower unemployment, of curse, are most attractive.

Read entire story here: RealtyTimes.com

With all signs pointing to an ongoing housing recovery, many homeowners across the country are wondering if now is finally the time to sell. The answer is as is so often the case with this recovery It depends.

Market conditions are highly variable, but using realtor.coms site listing data weve identified 5 markets where low median age of inventory combined with rising listing prices give an indication that the answer in these markets may very well be yes.

Read the full article here.

Source: Realtor.com

Housing inventory rose significantly in April, easing a supply shortage that some experts say has constrained home sales.
Meanwhile, existing-home sales edged upwards in April. Still, sales remain hampered due to limited supply and tight credit, according to NAR.
Housing inventory rose 11.9 percent to 2.16 million homes in April, representing a 5.2-month supply of homes at the current rate of home sales. Thats up from 4.7 months in March. But inventory still remained 13.6 recent below a year ago, when there was a 6.6-month stock.
Existing home sales ticked up 0.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million in April from an upwardly revised 4.94 million in March, according to NAR. That put sales at their highest level since November 2009, when a tax credit stimulated purchases, NAR said.
The robust housing market recovery is occurring in spite of tight access to credit and limited inventory.  Without these frictions, existing-home sales easily would be well above the 5-million unit pace, said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. NAR chief economist  Buyer traffic is 31 percent stronger than a year ago, but sales are running only about 10 percent higher.  Its become quite clear that the only way to tame price growth to a manageable, healthy pace is higher levels of new home construction. Source: realtor.org. - See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/home-inventory-rises-sharply-in-april/#sthash.jeoTzhRR.dpuf

There are exceptions to every rule under the sun.  So, even though the current market climate is hot in most places, every neighborhood, town and county has those homes that simply sit on the market for days, weeks, even months longer than average.

These are the outliers.  And being the outlier, in this particular context, is not a fun place to be. When all the other listings seem to be flying off the market and yours seems to be stuck, its easy to delve into fear, panic and even depression.  

Heres a glimmer of hope:  there is a pretty short list of reasons that most slow-to-sell homes lag on the market. Youve probably heard at least a couple of them before, maybe even from your real estate agent. But sometimes hearing things a few times, from different people and at the right moment in time can cause the shift in position that will power a shift in the situations that are keeping your home sale stuck - and your life plans stuck with it.

Continue Reading Here
Source: Trulia.com

Though recent leaps in home prices may stoke fears of another bubble, the housing market is definitely not in one, listing site Trulia said in introducing Trulias Bubble Watch.
Bubble Watch assesses the markets susceptibility to bubble conditions by comparing todays home prices with historical prices, incomes and rents.
Incomes determine how much people can pay for housing, and price increases arent sustainable if they push prices too high relative to incomes, Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko wrote in a blog post. Rents reflect how much people value housing even if they wont benefit from price appreciation (as renters dont, but owners do); the price-to-rent ratio is like the price-earnings (P/E) ratio for stocks.
- See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/05/14/are-we-in-a-housing-bubble-not-even-close-trulia-says/#sthash.A7oTIsUM.dpuf

Online, you can find dozens and dozens of return-on-investment (ROI) calculators which aim to do the math on whether a given home improvement project is worth the money (or not). They tend to focus on how much of the remodeling spend will come back to you in the form of added value when the home is sold.  I submit that this is only one part of the equation, as the primary measurement for many home improvement projects should be tallied up in terms of lifestyle improvement over the years you plan to benefit from the increased comfort, joy or efficiency of your newly-improved home.

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Source: Trulia.com