Christina Lazrak Realtor Chelmsford recieves RE/MAX Hall of Fame Award

The Lazrak DuRoss Group, with RE/MAX Prestige in Chelmsford, has recently been presented with the RE/MAX Hall of Fame Award, which honors successful agents who have earned more than $1 million in commissions during their careers with the company. In 2009, only 16 percent of all RE/MAX Affiliates earned this prestigious award.

Press Release Here

Christina Lazrak Newsweek Interview

Thriving in a Down Real Estate Market

It's one of the costs of doing business in what's emerging as the busiest niche in the real-estate industry. The current crisis on Wall Street began, at root, when too many Americans who'd stretched to buy a home began coming up short on mortgage payments. Now, even as the ripple effects have claimed some of Wall Street's oldest companies and threatened to cripple the financial system, foreclosures continue apace. According to RealtyTrac, U.S. banks now own a record 820,000 homes, up from 224,000 at the end of 2006. By the end of this year, says RealtyTrac senior vice president Rick Sharga, banks could own 1.2 million homes, which could constitute one third of U.S. homes for sale.

To sell them, banks turn to a special breed of real estate agent. "REO brokers" (it stands for "real-estate owned," and refers to foreclosed houses now owned by banks) rarely get to watch happy buyers carry spouses over the threshold

The Full Newsweek interview link with Christina Lonigro of RE/MAX New England is here

Contact Christina

Christina Lazrak - Weekly Real Estate News

April 2nd : Are you shopping for an investment home? 

According to this NAR survey, investment home sales  surged an extraordinary 64.5 percent to 1.23 million last year from 749,000 in 2010!

April 3rd: Are credit trends reversing? 

FICO thinks so ! Read more on the survey conducted by FICO for the Professional Risk Manager's International Association (PRIMA ) than at any time since FICO launched its survey in early 2010. Good news for Mortgage Lenders and those ready to buy or refinance?  

Contact me if you are looking for home loan suggestions to work with, I have a network in the Massachusetts area and I am sure they can refer you to someone if you are living in a different state.

Drop in nationwide foreclosures? 

Foreclosure starts fell 15.2 percent month-to-month. Foreclosure sales, the final stage of the process (not sales of already bank-owned properties) fell 19 percent month-to-month, according to a new report from Lender Processing Services. More from CNBC

April 5th: Rent vs Buy ?

I found this article from Fox News to be true based on my experiences in Honolulu, Hawaii. A recent study of residential units in America's most populous 100 metropolitan areas by Trulia, a real estate website, found buying to be less expensive than renting in 98 of the areas -- with Honolulu and San Francisco the exceptions. See photo below I took from Fort DeRussey, Oahu - sunset from paradise! Does it remind you of a scene from LOST? :)

The Wall Street Journal recently found that between January 2011 and January of this year, median rents rose 3 percent, while home values fell 4.6 percent. Another survey of metropolitan areas by real estate website Zillow reported that in 2011 nearly 70 percent of cities saw rental prices increase, while home prices increased in only about 7 percent of cities. And Zillow found a 3 percent rise in rental prices nationwide. 

Oh Canada, Oh Canada

The Royal LePage House Price Survey released today showed the average price of a home in Canada increased between 2.2 and 5.0 per cent in the first quarter of 2012, compared to the previous year. In the first quarter, standard two-storey homes rose 5.0 per cent year-over-year to $398,282, while detached bungalows increased 4.4 per cent to $356,306. Average prices for standard condominiums increased 2.2 per cent to $243,153. More here from Sacramento Bee


Nine-in-10 Ontario residents (90 per cent) say a house or condo is a good investment, leading other Canadian regions surveyed about confidence in real estate, according to the 19^th Annual RBC Homeownership Poll. According to the survey, Ontarians are looking to buy:

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/05/4392687/unprecedented-mortgage-sale-and.html#storylink=cpy

Nine-in-10 Ontario residents (90 per cent) say a house or condo is a good investment, leading other Canadian regions surveyed about confidence in real estate, according to the 19^th Annual RBC Homeownership Poll.
R

• Detached house: 68 per cent (national average: 66 per cent)
• Condo/loft: eight per cent (national average: 11 per cent)
• Semi-detached house: 10 per cent (national average: 10 per cent)
• Townhouse: nine per cent (national average: eight per cent)

Have a Great Easter Weekend ! 

Christina Lazrak - RE/MAX Prestige

ead more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/05/4392687/unprecedented-mortgage-sale-and.html#storylink=cpy

Christina Lazrak part of RE/MAX Prestige Team- #1 in Massachusetts for transaction sides closed!

RE/MAX Prestige pulled ahead of every other real estate firm in Massachusetts making us the #1 Massachusetts  firm on the 2012 Real Trends 500  list for transaction sides closed pulling way ahead of competitors Century 21 Commonwealth at#249, Hammond Residential at #250,  ERA Key #380, Keller Williams Andover #394.  RE/MAX Prestige also beat out NH Based Prudential Verani ranked at #190 and Bean Group ranking at #325. 


Congratulations Stacey Alcorn, Andy Armata, and the RE/MAX Prestige Team !

Click here for Real Trends 500 by volume

The full Press release is here RE/MAX Prestige Highest Ranking Massachusetts Firm on Real Trends 500

Investors Aim to Buy Thousands of Homes to Rent to Tenants - NYTimes.com

Investors Aim to Buy Thousands of Homes to Rent to Tenants - NYTimes.com

Women Empowering women - Christina LoNigro-Lazrak Interview WCAP Boston

Cool Logo WCAP !
Doing my bit here to fuel Empowering women in Business !
Full Interview : 980AM WCAP Lowell

Weekly Summary of US Housing News - Christina LoNigro Lazrak

This is my weekly summary of US National housing market news, sometimes it helps me gain perspective and to balance what I see on the ground in the local real estate markets. This is not investment advice, but a summary of news and musings for real estate investors and stock investors and for my own benefit. Do your own due diligence and contact your realtor , to list and sell your home. Real estate markets are LOCAL, so contact your realtor for a competitive market analysis,CMA. See my previous post on New England home price improvement.


US National Housing market news for last week:
Monday, March 26,The FHA is no longer insuring mortgages for anyone with a credit dispute of more than $1K.
Tuesday, March 27,  Good News on Lennar (LEN): New orders +33% Y/Y to 3,022 homes."We have been able to increase sales prices and have started to reduce sales incentives," says CEO Miller
Also on Tuesday, The decline in the Case-Shiller price index: brings home prices for both the 10 and 20-city composites back to early 2003 levels. Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, and Las Vegas prices are below 2000 levels. Denver, Detroit, and Phoenix are the only cities to post positive Y/Y gains in January, while Miami, Phoenix, and D.C. were the only cities to post monthly gains.
Thursday, March 29,  Pulte Group (PHM ) leads a decline in homebuilders (XHB) after S&P Capital IQ cuts PHM to Strong Sell from Hold. The firm expects foreclosure activity to pick up as the year progresses, adding additional pressure to prices and new home sales, and sees housing growth below consensus. Hovnanian (HOV ) also is cut to Sell
Friday, March 30, Though the overall US housing market remains bleak (or perhaps because of it,your regional market may be different), the rental income generated by U.S. landlords is soaring, and has reached its highest share of GDP since the '70s. that is GOOD news for investors!
Monday, April 2, "All indications suggest that the key spring selling seasonhas gotten off to a solid start," writes Wells Fargo, basing the conclusion mostly on anecdotal data. Of particular interest are sales gains not being dependent on incentives. Holding things back are conservative appraisals and tight underwriting, both of which should subside over the course of the year.


Is the ETF XHB,one year daily chart below,still a 6-12 month leading indicator for real housing prices ? Or is the price index for a collection of home builders looking toppy? For more on the XHB  and its components click here

OH Canada, OH Canada ! Rather oh Vancouver, oh Vancouver?

Snapshot of Vancouver

• During 2005 to 2010, the compound annual growth rate in Greater Vancouver was set at 10% while the 20 year average was 6%.
• The average price of both single and multifamily homes during 2011 was $796,000, however, the CMHC predicts this average to rise during 2012 to $800,000.
• 48% of households own their homes in Vancouver compared to 68% nationally.

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) estimated that the national home sales for both 2012 and 2013 will remain in sync with the 10 year average for annual activity. More here


What is different about the Super Rich in Russia and China ? Well.......
Here is an interesting article from Kasia Moreno, of Forbes on a study she did comparing 1,253 of the biggest fortunes in 12 countries, including Russia and China:

•  Russia and China are among the countries with the highest percentage of self-made fortunes.
•  Russia’s and China’s rich are lone wolves.

Have a great week making a difference out there, and maybe I will see you on one of the social media sites. I don't post much, investing a lot of time with clients-its SPRING !