Buyers of New Homes Want These Features, Builders Say

Home builders across the United States are most likely to focus on “convenience, livability and energy efficiency” when constructing a typical single-family home today, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders.

Beyond those big three features, plenty of other “practical and functional” amenities were cited by the builders in the survey as key selling points, so we found examples of some of them.

Scroll through the slideshow to see what’s hot in new homes right now at: http://www.realtor.com/news/features-demand-new-homes/

Higher Inventory a Welcome Sign for Spring Buyers

The spring home buying season is off to a stronger start than at this time last year, with modest price increases and a spike in inventory, according to realtor.com’s National Housing Trend Report for March. 

The number of properties for sale on realtor.com® in March rose 9.5% above March 2013 levels, to 1,841,844 units, according to the report. The median list price of $199,900 was 5.3% higher than in March of last year, and the median age of inventory increased 22.9% above the year-ago figures, to 102 days on the market, the report’s data showed.

These figures suggest that the market is more balanced than it was in 2013, when a shortfall in available supply led to double-digit increases in many markets’ housing prices.

Having more homes on the market may mean more affordable prices for first-time and move-up buyers. Lack of inventory in 2013 led to intense competition, creating another barrier to homeownership.

“Bidding wars in many markets last year frequently elevated offer prices beyond the reach of first-time buyers who could scarcely save for the down payment,” said Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Move, Inc. “While inventory is still low, the continuing annual lift in the number of homes on the market that we’ve seen over the first months of 2014 is an indicator that buying conditions this year may be notably improved from the frenzied pace of last spring.”

Despite the positive signs, home sales activity remains sluggish, and low inventories remain a significant factor in housing market health. The National Association of REALTORS®’ Pending Home Sales Index for February showed a 10.5% decline compared to the same period in 2013, the eighth-straight month of decline for pending sales. However, the number of contracts signed has remained fairly stable over the past three months, and NAR reported that buyer traffic is showing a modest turnaround.

Read full article at: http://www.realtor.com/news/realtor-com-report-higher-inventory-welcome-sign-spring-buyers/

Fixed Mortgage Rates Fall to Lowest Level Since February

Fixed-rate mortgages dropped for the second consecutive week to the lowest levels since February, helping to increase affordability at the onset of the spring home-buying season.

The average for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dipped to 4.27%, down from 4.34% last week, according to the latest survey from mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. A year ago, the 30-year average was 3.41%.

“Mortgage rates continued to ease this week as housing starts [PDF] rose 2.8% in March but not as much as expected,” Frank E. Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, said in a statement. “Also, [building] permits fell 2.4% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 990,000, which followed a slight downward revision of 4,000 permits in February.”

The average rate on a 15-year fixed loan also dropped this week, falling to 3.33% from 3.38% last week. It averaged 2.64% at this time a year ago.

Averages for the two most popular hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages were mixed. The five-year ARM fell to 3.03% after being at 3.09% a week ago. A year ago, it averaged 2.60%. The one-year ARM average was up to 2.44% from 2.41% last week. It was at 2.63% at this time last year.

Read full article at: 

http://www.realtor.com/news/mortgage-rates-fall-lowest-level-since-february/

Why Lutz?

Lutz is a very good place for families to consider for so many reasons. With a desirable combination of good schools, low crime rate, college-educated neighbors, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Lutz really is overflowing with the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise their children. Is Lutz perfect? Of course not, and if you like the nightlife, this is not your cup of tea. Overall you will find  this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live. Lutz is a medium-sized town located in the state of Florida. Nearest metropolitan city is Tampa. With a population of 19,344 people and 16 constituent neighborhoods, Lutz is the 132nd largest community in Florida.

Pro's and Con's - Commuting

Living in Lutz you will find  the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 32.02 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average.

One interesting thing is that relatively large numbers of people work from their home (about: 7.82% of the workforce). Though this number may seem small overall, as a small portion of the total workforce, these numbers are higher than compared to averages in the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions.  Many other at-home workers are self-employed entrepreneurs who operate small businesses out of their homes.

The People Make the Town

The people who call Lutz home illustrate themselves as belonging to a wide variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Lutz residents currently report their race to be White, followed closely by Black or African-American. Lutz also has a sizeable Hispanic population accounting for 12.76% of the towns residents ( those of Hispanic origin can be of any race). Important ancestries of people in Lutz include German, English, Italian, Irish, Scottish and French. You will find both Spanish and English spoken here.

Fun Fact: Lutz has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Mary Zohar is a long-standing member of the Coldwell Banker North Tampa Office and an active member of the Greater Tampa Assoc. of Realtors. Besides having a Bachelor in Science from the University of Florida, she holds: Certified Home Marketing Specialist, Certified Negotiation Specialist, e-Pro, Short Sale and Foreclosure, and Accredited Buyer Representative certifications. And is current in Continuing Education and licensure for the State of Florida.  For more information visit  http://www.home4utampa.com/