The housing market is making gradual improvements—home prices are inching up and foreclosures are falling—but the recovery still remains “fragile,” according to the Obama administration’s April Housing Scorecard. The monthly report highlights progress in the main indicators of the housing market.
“The Obama Administration’s efforts to speed the housing recovery are showing continued progress as the April scorecard indicators highlight ongoing improvements throughout the housing market,” said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs Kurt Usowski. “The annual increase in home prices is the highest in nearly seven years and sales of existing and new homes are both up over 10 percent from one year ago. But with so many households still struggling to make ends meet, we have important work ahead.”
Home prices continued to inch up — although very slightly — with the S&P Case-Shiller home price index rising from 146.1 in February to 146.6. However, compared to year-over-year numbers, March’s index is significantly higher than the 134.1 index score a year earlier.
Existing-home sales dropped from 412,500 in February to 410,000 in March, according to data gathered from the National Association of Realtors, U.S. Census Bureau and HUD. This drop is likely due to a stark drop in inventory nationwide.
Despite low inventory, the housing supply did continue to slowly increase, with existing homes rising from a 4.6-month supply to a 4.7-month supply. The supply of new homes for sale remained unchanged at a 4.4-month supply, according to data from NAR.
Click here to read the full report.
It might be old news for many of you but as we all know government considers all data from all over the nation to get their report out. We know the market has turned around and making progress few months ago but government data reassures that with more factual figures boosting confidence among homeowners. For prospective home buyers, it is another report which assures that market is heading in the right path and encouraging them on their decision. Let’s sell more homes…
Riverstone
A Fort Bend area master-planned community where luxurious homes, water features and resort-style amenities define the landscape, Riverstone is one of Fort Bend County’s most desirable addresses. Riverstone residents enjoy an enviable lifestyle with a superb selection of new homes with Sugar Land and Missouri City addresses. Plus, with varied highway access and an array [...]
Sienna Plantation
Sienna Plantation is a comprehensive 7,000-acre master-planned community. Sienna Plantation is more than houses inside one of the top Fort Bend County subdivisions. Neatly tucked between the acclaimed cities of Missouri City and the City of Sugar Land, it is a community in the truest sense of the word. Every effort is made to maintain [...]
Vintage Lakes
Vintage Lakes, located at SH249 and Louetta, is set behind a 50-foot natural tree buffer with a guarded gated entry and two private lakes. Kickerillo is building gorgeous single-family homes around each lake in the community ranging in prices from $550,000 to over $2 million. This spectacular Kickerillo creation is located at 15602 Bristol Lake [...]
Bridgeland
Imagine a place with vast open spaces and spectacular sunsets. An 11,400 acre master-planned community in northwest Houston where flocks of waterfowl glide across natural lakes. A refuge from the chaos of your workday. A place where you can find true balance. The new home community of Bridgeland is such a place. Bridgeland attracts and [...]
Fairfield Community
Fairfield is one of Northwest Houston’s finest new home communities by Friendswood Development Company. As one of the prestigious Friendswood Development Company’s highly-acclaimed communities, Fairfield brings a new kind of community life that Cypress residents share today and for generations to come. Check out more details at visitfairfield.com
Towne Lake – Master Planned Community, Cypress
Towne Lake reflects its Texas-sized appeal in a 300-acre lake, with beautiful views. Lake coves allow neighbors easy access to the water and to the many amenities and destinations throughout, bonding the community together. Towne Lake Charm is all these things and more, reflected in a community steeped in Texas pride. Caldwell Companies has perfected [...]
Cypress Creek Lakes
Cypress Creek Lakes is a beautiful master-planned new home community nestled in the charming Northwest Houston suburb of Cypress, Texas. Mischer Development has carefully designed the 1,600-acre community to respect the natural beauty of the land while developing approximately 2,000 new home sites. Its convenient location on Fry Rd. just off of Highway 290 also [...]
Vintage LifeStyle
The Vintage has become one of Houston’s most exciting master planned mixed-use developments in Houston’s history. In addition to Vintage Park, the announced projects to date contain 537,000 square feet of retail/office space, over 1,600 upscale residences, two apartment communities developed by Sueba, a 123-room hotel as well as the St. Luke’s and Kelsey Seybold [...]
Vintage Park
Vintage Park is a 500,000 square-foot town center style retail center with a Mediterranean feel, including cobblestone -aved streets, stucco buildings, water fountains and gardens at The Vintage, new master development community. It’s a new way of shopping at Vintage Park, Northwest Houston. It is the shopping village created in old french style at Check [...]
Blackhorse Ranch
Blackhorse Ranch is new upcoming community which is starting out with couple of builders with it’s 2 impleccable golf course and plenty of amentities welcomes new home owners. It is conveniently located on the newly expanded Fry road off Hwy 290 and closeby to other upcoming communities like Bridgeland and Townelake. Builders Plantation Homes Ronn [...]
April Housing Scorecard Released – Market making progress…
Must Know: Basics of Home Insurance
It is about I post some basic information about Home/Hazard Insurance which every home owner should have to protect their valuable asset. Whether you’re a current homeowner or yet to be one, it is better to get some understanding about the home insurance. Like we get Auto insurance to protect our depreciating auto’s, it is important to have adequate insurance coverage to protect your residence and its contents. It’s equally important to protect yourself in case an accident on your property causes an injury and results in a personal liability suit. My clients always email me with questions like how much insurance should I get, how much is too much. Let’s look
1. What does a basic Home Insurance policy cover?
A basic Home Insurance policy covers damage caused by disasters such as fire, lightning and hurricanes. Under most basic policies your home is protected from:
- Fire and smoke damage
- Lightning damage
- Damage caused by windstorm or hail
- Damage due to vandalism, malicious mischief, or theft
- Damage from vehicles and aircraft
- Explosions
- Damage caused by a riot or civil commotion
- Glass breakage
- Volcanic eruption
- Personal liability (limits depend on the policy)
2. What’s basic Home Insurance policy doesn’t cover?
While a basic policy covers the cost of repairing the damage caused by a disaster such as a fire or storm, it does not include coverage for earthquakes or flooding. Earthquake coverage is sometimes available in the form of an endorsement to a basic policy – make sure to ask your agent. The federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides flood protection. Always purchase enough flood insurance for both your home and its contents.
You can visit floodsmart.gov and check whether you are in high/low risk flood area and make the decision accordingly. You can also go to “Homeowners and Renters” at the FEMA website and get more information. There is a 30-day waiting period for an NFIP policy to go into effect.
3. How do I determine how much coverage I need for a basic policy?
It’s important to have enough coverage to replace your home and its contents in the event of an insured loss. Since we can’t predict the future, it is difficult to know exactly what this cost will be. Correctly estimating this amount is critical.
Calculating the cost of replacing your home:
Start your estimate by multiplying the square footage of your home by the standard construction cost of $100 – $125 per square foot. The cost of rebuilding a custom home will be higher.
Covering the cost of replacing the contents of your home: Taking an inventory of the contents of your home is the best way to determine its replacement cost. You never know when you’ll need to file a claim under your policy, but you’ll be prepared if you complete a home inventory checklist. Take pictures of the property inventoried to accompany your list. Cell phone pictures work fine, and it’s important to keep your checklist up-to-date. Whenever you purchase something that’s kept in you home, add it to your list.
Know your stuff is a free software provided by the Insurance Information Institute for completing a home inventory. The software makes it easy to create your home inventory and includes free, secure online storage that gives you access to your inventory anywhere, at any time, making it easy to keep it up-to-date. They also have an app for it which you can download and upload documents via smart phones which would much easier. Some credit unions and banks also provide a online file storage where you can store important files and pictures like vault. Check out your bank website and you will surprised.
Hope this information helps you to shed some light about insurance which protects your great asset from nature disasters and man-made ones.
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