Tax Exclusion for Forgiven Debt to End
By hdnelson
For several years now there has been a Congressionally approved temporary tax exemption for debt forgiven in a short sale or foreclosure. As described in this article in the Hartford Courant, this exemption ends at the end of the year.
More at http://www.courant.com/business/custom/consumer/hc-ls-foreclosure-taxes-20120114,0,7582703.story?track=rss
Related Articles
By hdnelson
Our March Kitsap real estate market report has been posted. A quick look at the graphs for this month’s market trends shows that home sales are actually climbing, both pending sales and closed sales, that the inventory is turning over more quickly (this is a good thing), that the inventory of listings is lower than at any time since 2007, that the number of closed sales is the 2nd lowest since 2007 (2009 was worse), and that the median closed sales price is nearly $20,000 lower than any other time since 2007. This stark drop in the 3 month moving average of median prices reflects January’s abnormally low median price. Median price actually bounced up nearly 30% in February. See more at http://www.prowserealestate.com/Newsletter
Read Story
By hdnelson
Prowse and Company’s February Waterfront Update is out - see the graphs and download the latest newsletter and stats, as well as our current waterfront listings. Closed waterfront sales fell 30% in January compared to December and were down 36% compared to a year ago. Pending sales are way up - up 56% from December - so we don’t expect this trend in closed sales to continue. January’s listing inventory lags last year by 10% and but rose 17% compared to December. January’s inventory turnover rate was about 20 months. This is still definitely a buyer’s market. If you are looking for a smaller waterfront home with lots of privacy, a great south-facing water and mountain view, and easy beach access, I have a brand new listing at 17160 Angeline Ave South NE, Suquamish priced at only $515,000! This home is very private - gated and fully fenced. It has bulkheaded beach access, a mooring buoy, and davit. More at http://bprowse.com/kitsap_waterfront
Read Story
By hdnelson
Each month we try to compare some reports about the national real estate market to what we see in our local markets. While nationally the blog Calculated Risk reported that short sales increased significantly in the 4th quarter, we only saw 27% (a very modest rise if any) of last year’s short sales close in Q4. There was also a report from Marc Hanson that the percentage of REO (bank owned) sales In December fell in California as an overall percentage of sales in that market. In our market the number of closed sales that were bank owned rose from 38 in November to 43 in December (up 12%). Our market agrees with the article that $200-300k is the new normal for homebuilders. The article shows that the percentage of sales in the west under $300k was 42% in 2007, but is now 65%. In Kitsap County, the percentage of sales under $300k was 54% (1945 of 3615 total sales) in 2007 and in 2011 was 72% (1829 of 2538 total sales). More at http://tinyurl.com/7pljyjx
Read Story
Subscribe to the News
Reader Discussion
Be the first to comment, using the form below.