Brian Murphy

Sure signs of spring can be seen in the photo above of Park headquarters.

A new National Park Service report shows that approximately 2.2 million visitors to Glacier National Park in 2012 spent $172 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 2,754 jobs in the local area.

“We are honored and proud to welcome visitors from across the country and around the world to Glacier National Park,” said Park Superintendent Jeff Mow. “Glacier is a special place and many times visitors travel to Montana specifically to visit Glacier, and are introduced to the many other wonderful amenities that Montana, and Northwest Montana have to offer.”

National park tourism is a significant driver in the national economy – returning $10 for every $1 invested in the National Park Service. National park tourism is a large factor in the local economy as well. Mow said, “We are fortunate at Glacier National Park to be greatly supported by our partners, neighbors and local communities. We appreciate this partnership and support, and believe the presence of the park helps sustain local communities.”

The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by U.S. Geological Survey economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas and Christopher Huber and Lynne Koontz for the National Park Service. The report shows $14.7 billion of direct spending by 283 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported 243,000 jobs nationally, with 201,000 jobs found in these gateway communities, and had a cumulative benefit to the United States’ economy of $26.75 billion.

According to the report, most visitor spending supports jobs in restaurants, grocery and convenience stores (39 percent), hotels, motels and bed-and-breakfast locations (27 percent), and other amusement and recreation (20 percent).

To download the report, visithttp://www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/economics.cfm.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, today announced a series of changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) in an effort to attract more eligible borrowers who can benefit from refinancing their home mortgage.

HARP is unique in that it is the only refinance program that enables borrowers who owe more than their home is worth to take advantage of low interest rates and other refinancing benefits. Borrowers must have mortgages currently owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

The new program eliminates certain fees for borrowers; removes the current 125 percent Loan-to-Value ceiling for fixed-rate mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; eliminates the need for a new property appraisal; and extends the end date for HARP to December 31, 2013.

An important element of these changes is the encouragement, through elimination of certain risk-based fees, for the borrowers to utilize HARP to refinance into shorter-term mortgages. Borrowers who owe more on their house than the house is worth will be able to reduce the balance owed much faster if they take advantage of today’s low interest rates by shrotening the term of theri mortgage.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plan to issue guidance with operational details about the HARP chanes to mortgage lenders and servicers by November 15. Since industry participation in HARP is not mandatory, implementation schedules will vary as individual lenders, mortgage insurers and other market participants modify their processes.

Just your luck – you have to sell your home in winter, the slowest and dreariest sales season of all. But cheer up. You can use staging, the reduced competition and some seasonal opportunities to your advantage. But before you decide to put your home up for sale, you have to consider that with the winter months approaching, the need for Sugar Land Texas wildlife control is increasing with rats getting in homes and inspection will be required. How you are going to move all of your belonging to your new home once you’ve sold, according to HCC we’ve been serving Seattle business owners for years and pride ourselves in our work. If you still don’t know how you’re going to move, then consider hiring these professional movers.

Here are some tips to lessen the chances your home will languish on the market:

1. Remember the basics, taking care of your property state

To fix those roof leaks commercial roofing experts can give a hand on this, tidying up the yard and touching up the exterior appearance to improve the curb appeal also can make the difference between deal or no deal.
In a slow market, nothing counts more than pricing aggressively.

Taking care of needed maintenance and repairs is obligatory in any season, specially if you have selling plans, you need to find affordable and professional home services available.

2. Think warm and cozy.

Home staging – techniques used to make your house look bigger, brighter, warmer and more appealing with those antique desks you love- takes on a new focus in winter. Rearranging the furniture and applying a fresh coat of paint to any room in need are just as important. But to convey a cozy impression in winter, it may behoove you to turn up the thermostat and have a fire in the fireplace for open houses. It will give you an edge over the many vacant homes on the market. Make your house look super clean with carpet cleaning dublin to get ready to sell faster. Don’t forget the garden either. Just because it’s winter it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t stage the garden and make sure that the outdoor garden furniture is presented nicely.

Staging may in fact be even more important in winter. Leave the heat on and, in a vacant home, if you can leave at least a few pieces of furniture behind, it has more of an impact and make sure everything in the construction is in orde.

Displaying photos of how your property looks in summer is a good idea. Some staging experts also recommend decorating with warm colors such as deep orange or crimson.

3. Neatly shoveled paths make a difference. Keep interior/exterior clean

It might seem obvious to keep the decorative concrete solutions Perth free and clear of ice and snow. But many homeowners who have already vacated their houses either aren’t diligent about that winter duty or don’t do a thorough job. A thorough cleaning and getting rid of clutter are equally essential.It’s important for reasons of safety, aesthetics and, once again, competition, I suggest working with Advantex Gloucester services.

– Pressure Washing on interiors like bathroom, kitchen and garage
– Roof Cleaning on both house and shed (if you have any)
– Window Cleaning

4. Good lighting is essential.

Your home may appear darker due to less daylight. Fight the gloom. Turn on all the lights possible for visitors – this is no time to worry about the electric bill and if you are worried about having a ridiculously high electric bill, then have you considered switching energy providers? You could easily make use of something like this Gexa promo code and get a new electric provider, this way you can save money when you switch (by using the promo code) and save money in the long run.

Get a really good supplier of blinds in Nottingham in the UK then we have used those, and they were really great so you can open blinds, drapes and shutters to let natural light pour in. Make sure to clean any grime off the windows first.

Encourage showings during high-daylight hours. Showing after work in the dark isn’t a great idea. Make sure you have enough outside illumination for drive-by visitors in the evening, however. And keep the place well-lit even when you’re not there. If you don’t have lighting to suit this, it would be worth installing something like barn style lighting to ensure that all areas are well lit throughout the day, as it will make people feel more welcome and safe.

5. Tasteful holiday decorations can help.

The holidays give you an extra chance to make your home stand out. Keep decorations conservative and don’t overdo it on outdoor lighting. You don’t want to put 25,000 lights on the roof like Clark Griswold in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. As sure as he blacked out the neighborhood, you would scare off buyers. But a big red bow on the For Sale sign and some holiday greenery, twinkling lights and elegant decorations inside can help give buyers a dose of seasonal cheer. So take your decorations out of storage, whether it be your garage or somewhere like Boombox Storage solutions.

When Christmas and Hanukkah are over, you can keep the spirit alive. A colorful winter wreath on the front door and colorful poinsettias and holly bushes in the yard will help retain a festive look for January and February, when more house-shoppers start to turn up.

In general, 2013 continued to improve from when the market bottomed at the end of 2011.

The following is a list of some key points:

1. The employment picture continues to improve. Throughout most of 2013 the unemployment rate continued to decrease with a low in September of 5.9%. A key number that I look at is the actual number of people that are employed. In 2013 the average number of people employed was 40,182, which is up from 39,763 in 2012 and 38,750 in 2011. Even with that increase, it is still 3,911 short of the 44,093 that were employed in 2007.

2. Subdivision activity continues near its all-time low, but as the inventory of bank-owned and low priced lots starts to go away, there could be new interest in development. Flathead County reported that there were 108 plated lots and 97 lots created by a certificate of survey. The total number of lots created in the County in 2013 was 205. At this time, there are preliminary plats for 61 lots which will likely be completed in 2014. Get redirected here for supplies of marine.

3. New home construction continues, making sure you have the highest quality wire rope assemblies for your project is the most important thing. Whitefish reported 75 single family residences, six duplexes or townhouses and no multifamily units. Whitefish had 81 building permits and 10 new lots created.

4. The number of residential home sales increased from 2012 and the inventory of homes that are on the market continues to decline. Throughout 2013 the prices started to increase, but this is primarily due to the decrease in the number of foreclosure properties that were on the market. The number of sales continued to increase with a 30% increase in 2012 and another 15.5% increase in 2013. The Whitefish City limits sales represent 14.8% of the overall residential market, 7.1% of the REO sales and 3.4% of the short sales.

5. REO sales showed a substantial decline in 2013 and are likely to continue to decline through 2014. The combination of a decrease in REO listings and subsequent decrease in REO sales continues to indicate that we are working our way out of the local foreclosure problem.

6. Of the County’s sub-markets, the Kalispell and Whitefish areas had the largest increase in the number of sales. 61.8% of the new listing were sold. This is the highest it’s been since 2002 and illustrates a significant increase in demand.

7. The other sub-markets were mixed with both positive and negative signals.

8. The number of land sales had a relatively large increase, but were still far lower than what they were prior to 2007.

9. Since 1984, housing affordability has been closely related to the median home price, then that all changed in 2004 as the housing bubble drove prices above the historic affordability level. In 2011, the median price of $180,000 dropped well below the historic affordability level. In 2012 the median price increased to $187,500 and still below the historic affordability level. In 2013, the affordability index and the median price are nearly the same and both are nearly on top of the historic trend line. What this suggests is that prices are likely to see only minor changes in the next year.

10. The number of foreclosures continued to decrease through 2013 and it appears that trend will continue into 2014. Investors that have been purchasing REO properties are now getting into bidding wars that are driving the prices of REO properties to higher levels.

Read Kelley Appraisal’s complete market report – click here.

The uptrend in existing-home sales continues, with January sales rising for the third consecutive month with a pace that is now above year-ago levels, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

Existing-home sales, including single-family, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops, increased 2.7% last month and are 5.3% above January 2010. This is the first time in seven months that sales activity was higher than a year earlier.

The improvement is good but could be better, said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “The uptrend in home sales is consistent with improvements in the economy and jobs, which are helping boost consumer confidence,” Yun said. “The extremely favorable housing affordability conditions are a big factor, but buyers have been constrained by unnecessarily tight credit. As a result, there are abnormally high levels of all-cash purchases, along with rising investor activity.” Objections in Sales can have an impact on sales, but it is important to understand what it is that stops potential clients from making a decision. But once it is all resolved, the sales can go ahead.

Who’s buying homes?

A separate NAR survey shows first-time buyers purchased 29% of homes in January, down from 33% in December, and 40% in January 2010 when an extended tax credit was in place. This could be explained by the amount of custom homes which are being built. Although not a drastic figure, the amount of people trying to get on the property ladder are also looking to learn more about custom built homes. Most homes will require some moderations to them once bought, and new buyers are understanding this and looking at how much it would cost them to create their dream home rather than modifying an existing home.

Investors accounted for 23% of purchases in January, up from 20% in December and 17% in January 2010. All-cash sales rose to 32% in January from 29% in December and 26% in January 2010.

“Increases in all-cash transactions, the investor market share, and distressed home sales all go hand-in-hand. With tight credit standards, it’s not surprising to see so much activity where cash is king and investors are taking advantage of conditions to purchase undervalued homes, and there are being use for living or offer other services like home care services such as Dementia Care Home Care Assistance 9050 W Olympic Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211 (310) 857-4724, which you can find at https://homecareassistance.com/mn/minnetonka-mn.

All-cash purchases are at the highest level since NAR started measuring these purchases monthly in October 2008, when they accounted for 15% of the market. The average of all-cash deals was 20% in 2009, rising to 28% last year. For those who are interested in buying a house, it can be difficult within the current housing market. Luckily there are companies similar to Saussy Burbank that may be able to support them with new charlotte homes for sale.

Median home price falls slightly

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $158,800 in January, down 3.7% from January 2010.

Distressed homes edged up to a 37% market share in January from 36% in December, but down from the 38% market share of January 2010.

Unusual market factors are dampening the median price, said NAR President Ron Phipps. “Unprecedented levels of all-cash purchases, primarily of distressed homes sold at deep discounts, undoubtedly pulls the median price downward,” Phipps said. “Given the levels of inventory we see today, we believe that traditional homes in good condition have held their value.” Fewer homes on market

Total housing inventory at the end of January fell 5.1% to 3.38 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 7.6-month supply at the current sales pace, down from an 8.2-month supply in December.

The inventory supply is at the lowest level since December 2009 when there was a 7.3-month supply.

Single-family, condo, co-op home sales rise

Single-family home sales rose 2.4% in January and are 4.9% higher than the level in January 2010. The median existing single-family home price was $159,400 in January, down 2.7% from a year ago.

Existing condominium and co-op sales increased 4.7% in January, and are 7.9% above the sales pace one year ago. With options like ILILANI CONDO FOR SALE IN KAKAAKO on the market it makes sense that the rise would continue, due to the attractive nature of the homes. The median existing condo price was $154,900 in January, which is 10.2% below January 2010, modular homes from Weiner Mobile Estates are now in the best value on the market from 2016 to 2019.

Regional home sales

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast fell 4.6% in January from a spike in December and are 1.2% below January 2010. The median price in the Northeast was $236,500, which is 4% below a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest rose 1.8% in January and are 3.6% above a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $126,300, which is 3.2% below January 2010.

In the South, existing-home sales increased 3.6% in January and are 8% higher than January 2010. The median price in the South was $136,600, down 2.1% from a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the West rose 7.9% in January and are 7% above January 2010. The median price in the West was $193,200, down 5.7% from a year ago.