Bargain-Seeking Home Buyers are on the Hunt

Bargain-Seeking Home Buyers on the Hunt Housing prices across the country are at multi-year lows and mixed with low interest rates bargain hunters are targeting real estate. More investors are heading to the market looking to make cash buys for real estate, investing in second or even a third home, Reuters News reports. "We're starting to get a lot more inquiries and assisting in transactions," says Rocco Papandrea, a senior vice president and wealth management adviser at Merill Lynch in New York. Papandrea says he’s seeing more interest in properties along the West Coast and in Colorado, as well as Florida. Canadian buyers in particular are expected to be looking to purchase U.S. homes. The Bank of Montreal estimates that one-in-five Canadians is considering buying U.S. property. With dropping home prices, more cities are looking to be attractive buys, such as the increasing affordability in popular vacation-home designations along the U.S. Sunbelt. For example, home prices have fallen 44 percent in Tampa, 54 percent in Phoenix, 57 percent in Las Vegas, and 49 percent in Miami, the Bank of Montreal reports. "If the economy keeps clicking along and jobs keep growing, housing will be fine," says Dean Frankel, a portfolio manager at Urdang Capital Markets in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, who oversees around $1.7 billion in real estate equity investments. The economy--and ultimately housing--may then get a boost from the latest unemployment report released Friday. The unemployment rate reached a two-year low of 8.8 percent in March as companies began a brisk wave of hiring, adding employees at the fastest two-month pace since before the recession even started, the Labor Department reports. The unemployment rate has fallen a full percentage point in the last four months, which marks the sharpest drop since 1983. Home Owners See Big Value in Remodeling The do-it-yourself home improvement market has faced a 21 percent drop from 2005-2010, according to the latest research from market researcher Mintel. Yet, that’s not due to lack of will on home owner's part, but more about lack of money, according to the survey. More than a quarter of DIYers surveyed said they would undertake a major home renovation or addition to their home if they had the funds. Nearly 40 percent of DIYers say that making a major home improvement is the best long-term investment they can make. However, with the sagging housing market, many home owners have opted to put off major renovation projects, but forecasters are already seeing signs that is changing. “We forecast growth to accelerate in 2011 and, presuming a stabilization of the housing market, to remain positive through 2015,” says Bill Patterson, senior analyst at Mintel. “Pent-up demand, ongoing need for repair and maintenance, retro-fitting, and renovations from boomers approaching retirement and demand from millennials should all propel DIY spending.”