MI Earth Day

The MI Earth Day Fest in Rochester, April 23-25, offers a wide variety of fun, informative, healthy and earth-friendly experiences. Throughout the weekend, you'll enjoy over 200 green and wellness exhibits, displays, presentations, networking roundtables, organic food service, entertainment, kids' corner, a farmers market, petting farm, and many special activities including a parade and trail race. On Friday and Saturday evenings, a Party for the Planet organic beer/wine tent will round out the festivities.
Earth Day Fest website

ROLLERCOASTER RIDE!!!

The residential real estate market went on quite a roller-coaster ride in the past decade, rising to mid-decade peaks only to fall into the trough it remains in as of late 2009. While it may seem like real estate prices will never rise again - just like it seemed that they would never stop rising earlier in the decade - the real estate market is, at its heart, cyclical, and what goes down is bound to rise again.

Many experts believe that the market will continue to fall through mid-2010 but will find a bottom by the end of the year. The exception: extremely distressed real estate markets in California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida, which are likely to continue to fall into 2011. In the longer term, a number of factors - including interest rates, foreclosures, currency valuations and unemployment rates - will determine how quickly home prices begin to appreciate again.

BUNNYVILLE AT THE ZOO

Bunnyville at the Detroit Zoo is the perfect way to hop into Spring. The event will take place this year on April 3, 2010 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.Sponsored by Meijer, Bunnyville will feature games and prizes, costumed characters, treats, crafts and plenty of entertainment. Kids and adults will have plenty of opportunities to visit and take pictures with the Easter Bunny at photo stations throughout the zoo. Bunnyville guests are encouraged to bring a canned or other non-perishable food item to be donated to Gleaners Community Food Bank. Admission for guests with a food donation is $5, parking not included. Zoo members are free but are also encouraged to bring a canned food donation. For more information visit the Detroit Zoo's Web site.

Is Home Equity Retirement Value Gone?

Moody's prediction could mean that hundreds of thousands of Americans may find it impossible to sell their houses without making payments to their banks to cover underwater home loans. In many parts of the country, which include large states like New York and Illinois, home prices will not rebound to 2006 levels until 2018 to 2022. In the states where prices have fallen the most values may not rebound until 2024, The prediction, if correct, means that Baby Boomers & even some of their older children may not be able to sell their home to help finance retirement.
Home equity loans will be out of the question. Some homeowners will have to give banks money to get out from under their houses, default because they cannot afford to sell their homes at a loss, or stay in homes that they no longer need. The housing crisis, it seems, still has at least 15 years to go and for some older Americans that is a lifetime.

MOODY'S IS BEARISH ON HOUSING RECOVERY

Moody's Investors Service threw cold water on optimistic projections of a V-shaped recovery in the battered U.S. housing market, predicting it could take more than 10 years to get back to boom-level prices. "For many reasons, the rebound will be disproportionately small compared to the decline," Moody's said this week in its latest outlook on the residential market. "It will take more than a decade to completely recover from the 40% peak-to-trough decline in national home prices."

The housing market is in the third year of the current downturn, one of the worst corrections in U.S. history as a result of the economic recession and the mortgage industry nearly grinding to a halt during the credit crunch.

"The bursting of the housing bubble precipitated a crisis in financial markets the likes of which have not been seen since the Great Depression and plummeted the nation into recession," Moody's said.

"The scars that this downturn will leave on the economy and the housing market will be long lasting and persist in nearly all facets of the housing industry, including the demand for homes, ownership patterns, homebuilding, and house price appreciation," the analysts forecast.
"It will take more than a decade for many measures of housing activity to regain ground that has been lost as a result of the correction: The intense downturn will overcorrect for the excesses in the housing market generated by the boom years," they added.
Complete article at: Moody's is Bearish

LOOKING FORWARD TO AN IMPROVING SPRING MARKET

February has picked up speed, indicating that the tax credits may be having a more significant impact than we had first projected. I am hearing stories of move-up buyers acting as a direct result of the $6,500 credit, which we had not expected. In addition, with inventories shrinking, we are moving towards a balanced market in some price ranges. Behind that good news there still continues an underlying weakness with inventories still in the Buyer's Market range for most price ranges (Months Supply of Inventory moving from 8 months to 4 months under $100,000 and from 24 to 9 months over $100,000 Feb 09' vs. Feb 08').

We still project a slowing market the second half of this year and it will feel even slower than it really is because of comparisons to a very strong second half of 2009.

A new wild card in the process is the implementation of HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program - for loan modifications) and HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative Program - for short sales) in April. These two Federal initiatives are designed to reduce the number of foreclosures and stream line the Short Sale process. Their success will depend on the lenders ability to shift, staff up and train to the new program. We expect it to be a slow start, but, if effective, they do offer the opportunity to help offset the effects of the growing "Shadow Inventory" of delinquent, bank inventory and not yet foreclosed properties.

Although the market is by no means robust, this will be the best spring in the past three years for Sellers and in relative terms the best values in years for Buyers. A rare perfect moment for all parties!

The article is from our real estate company blog: "Lets Talk Real Estate"