MLS Real Estate & Listings Blog

High-value homes tend to decline in value at a steeper rate than lesser-value homes in a declining market, according to an analysis by real estate valuation and marketing company Zillow.

The analysis is based on a review of the company’s estimates of home values over time — the company refers to these estimates as Zestimates. The company broke homes into five categories of home values, each representing 20 percent of the market, to analyze differences in the performance of each market segment.  more…

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In a reversal of past policy, federal regulators say they won’t lower the $417,000 conforming loan limit to keep it in line with falling home prices.

Adopting a stance taken by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the housing downturn of the early 1990s, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has ruled that the conforming loan limit will move in only one direction: up.  more…

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IHOUSE Web Solutions, a real estate technology company, has announced the launch of an online real estate game that allows users to guess at the sale price of for-sale homes. The game features photos and listing descriptions of actual for-sale homes, and awards points based on how a player’s guesses stack up against those of other players.  more…

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U.S. home prices dropped 3 percent in January compared to the same month last year, and fell 1.1 percent compared to December 2007, according to an index released today by the U.S. Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.  more…

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The National Association of Realtors expects the median price of U.S. resale homes to drop 1.2 percent this year, following a 1.4 percent decline in 2007, with sales of resale homes slipping for the third consecutive year.

The forecast report released today also anticipates a 31.1 percent drop in single-family housing starts, a 6.1 percent decline in new-home prices, a rise in housing affordability and a dip in consumer confidence this year compared to 2007.  more…

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