Realty News Headlines | January

The following headlines and news items were compiled from a number of authoritative sources and industry experts including Freddie Mac, REALTOR® Magazine Online, the National Association of Realtors, Realty Track and the Wall Street Journal. The next news update is scheduled to be released in mid-March 2010.

Living Big in a Small Home

After years of upsizing, Americans are enjoying the benefits of more modest living spaces. With the average home size declining, owners are cleverly doing more with the square footage they have.

Although the average square footage of a new house is still double what it was in 1960, in the last year, it decreased slightly to 2,215 square feet from a high of 2,277 square feet in 2008, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau -- the first drop in housing size since the recession of the early 1980s.

Below are some tips for living well in a smaller sized house.

Assess Furniture Size. Removing clutter is only one aspect of getting a smaller house ready to sell or living in it contentedly. Remove big pieces of furniture that just won’t fit into modestly sized houses.

Eliminate High Contrast Colors and Blend Colors in more Medium Tones The color palette is very important in a smaller house. Loud colors make a space feel smaller because they jump across the room at you. You want the walls and your furniture to appear to recede. Eliminate high contrast colors and replace with medium tones so that the same colors move throughout the house.

Interior decorators suggest installing a single type of flooring throughout the house using the same color carpet or the same hardwood flooring to pull the eye along from room to room and maximize the perception of space.

Lighting Effects. Strategic lighting is another way to create the illusion of more space. Use corner up-lighting and a room will feel much more open. Make sure the house is flooded with as much light as possible. That means trimming bushes or trees that block windows and tie back or remove heavy draperies that close in a room.

Install Covert Storage. Another way to maximize space is to install as much covert storage as possible, such as buying furniture that serves a dual purpose such as buying large wicker baskets that function as coffee tables and storage.

Structural Modifications That Give the Appearance of More Space. Higher ceilings make a room feel larger. In an existing house, building out a small soffit along the edge of the ceiling creates a tray effect, tricking the eye into thinking the center of the room is higher than the edges. Lower the hallway ceilings a few inches to give the appearance of higher ceilings in rooms accessed from the hallways.

Source: Maggie Sieger | February 2010

Freddie Mac's Weekly Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS®)

Freddie Mac's Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) is conducted on Mondays through Wednesdays with results reported on Thursdays. The survey is based on responses from 125 lenders to determine the average rates and points charged by each lender for their 30 and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, 5/1 hybrid amortizing adjustable-rate and 1-year amortizing adjustable rate mortgage products. The mix of lender types used for the survey is approximately proportional to the level of mortgage business that each type of lender commands in the marketplace nationwide. This include thrifts, commercial banks and mortgage lending companies.

The survey is based on conventional conforming mortgages with a loan-to-value ratio of 80 percent for first-lien prime mortgage notes. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) products are indexed to constant-maturity U.S. Treasury rates. Lenders are asked to provide initial coupon rate, points and the margin on ARM products.

Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey is relied upon heavily by the public and mortgage industry in gauging market conditions and has evolved into the most representative and reliable source of regional and national mortgage rate trends.

For a breakdown of U.S. Regional Mortgage Rates, you may wish to visit the Official Freddie Mac website.

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