So much news to share

Wow!  Where has time gone?!?  My baby is 6 1/2 months old now.  Life has been wonderfully full but incredibly busy.
The reason for my long departure from the real estate world is my son had some major surgery on his kidney three weeks ago.  We knew there were some issues before he was born but had no idea how extensive his issues were until after his birth.  Long story short, my son had surgery at Children's Hospital in Milwaukee and is recovering nicely.  There will be a few more hurdles to jump through before he's given the 'all clear' but God has been right by our side all the way through this. 
So with that being said, I decided to wait until after his surgery to head back to work.  I have mixed emotions about coming back.  I wish my son were 100% better but the final 'all clear' is several months off yet.  I keep getting calls to help clients with their real estate needs so I felt it was time.  Maggie has enjoyed her break in blogging but I told her to gear up.  She's currently thinking of clever things to post in the future.
I will leave you with an article from the Realtor's Association from this last month.....good news....finally!

Both Home Sales and Prices Rise in April
By Dave Clark, Economist

MADISON, WI - The strong pace of existing home sales continued with 10 straight months of double-digit sales growth. Home sales rose 19.5 percent in April 2012 compared to April 2011, according to the most recent monthly report by the WRA. Home prices were also up for the second straight month, rising 2.4 percent to $128,000 in April compared to April 2011.

Visit the WRA website to read the full report. To find monthly and quarterly housing data for your county, visit www.wra.org/housingstatistics.

Happy Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for right now.  My mom had a baby boy, Thatcher Jeffrey, on 11-11-11.  We're now a family of five......me, my mom, my dad and sister.....life is good!

No Rise in Home Prices Until 2020: Bankers

Home prices are unlikely to recover before 2020 and mortgage defaults will persist for years, says a survey of bank risk managers out Friday.

Fuse | Getty Images

The survey conducted by the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association for FICO, found that 49 percent of respondents do not expect housing prices to rise back to 2007 levels for another nine years. Only 21 percent of respondents said they would.

The findings, which authors called “a decidedly pessimistic outlook”, are a sharp reversal from cautious optimism the survey respondents expressed late last year and in early 2011.

In addition, 73 percent of surveyed bankers say they expect mortgage defaults to remain elevated for at least another five years. And 46 percent believe mortgage delinquencies will increase over the next six months.

Only 15 percent of respondents expect mortgage delinquencies to decline during that period.

“While the housing sector will almost certainly gain strength during the next nine years, many bankers clearly believe prices will remain depressed for half a generation,” said Andrew Jennings, chief analytics officer at FICO.

Bankers concerns spread beyond the housing market.

A large number of respondents says they also expect to see an uptick in delinquencies on auto loans, credit cards and student loans.

Small businesses are expected to continue face a challenging credit environment. More than one-third of respondents forecast an increase in delinquencies on small business loans.

Bankers also appear to be pessimistic about recovery in consumer spending, with 64 percent of respondents expecting credit card usage to remain below pre-recession levels for at least five more years.

Half of the respondents expect credit card balances to increase over the next six months, due to higher spending by some households and smaller monthly payments by others.

Housing Starts, Permits Slip in July

Reuters

Housing starts fell less than expected in July as builders broke ground on new multifamily units likely to meet demand for rental apartments, while permits for future construction dropped, a government report showed on Tuesday.

The Commerce Department said housing starts slipped 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 604,000 units. June's starts were revised down to a 613,000-unit pace from a previously reported 629,000 unit rate.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast housing starts to slow to a 600,000-unit rate. Compared to July last year, residential construction was up 9.8 percent.

A bloated inventory of unsold homes and a weak economy are weighing down on the housing market, whose collapse was the main catalyst of the 2007-09 recession. A large foreclosure pipeline also is not helping, leaving builders with little incentive to break ground on new projects.

Sentiment among home builders was steady at low levels in August, a survey showed on Monday, but they were pessimistic about sales over the next six months.

But demand for rentals, as Americans shun homeownership because of plummeting home prices and a 9.1 percent jobless rate, is stemming further declines in home construction.

Last month, housing starts for multi-family homes rose 7.8 percent to a 179,000-unit rate, and groundbreaking for projects with five or more units was the highest since January. Single-family home construction -- which accounts for a large portion of the market - dropped 4.9 percent to a 425,000-unit pace.

New building permits fell 3.2 percent to a 597,000-unit pace last month. Economists had expected overall building permits in July to fall to a 605,000-unit pace.

Permits were dragged down by a 10.2 percent drop in the multi-family segment. Permits to build single-family homes rose 0.5 percent.

New home completions increased 11.8 percent to 636,000 units in July, the highest since June 2010.

Oshkosh Neighbor Works Alert

Those of you in the first two targeted areas of the east side — Washington Avenue from Broad to Bowen streets and Mount Vernon Street from Parkway to Oxford avenues — mark Saturday, June 11, on your calendars. It's a "dump day" to get rid of some of the junk in the area and start getting neighbors working together. We hope it goes well and people get behind the effort! Jeff Bollier~Oshkosh Northwestern

Happy Easter

From my family to yours, I hope you have a blessed Easter.
Tifani

Pier Registration Deadline Is April 1, 2011

Waterfront property owners with larger piers must register their piers with the DNR by April 1, 2011 to ensure their piers will be "grandfathered" from new size limits adopted by the State of Wisconsin in 2004.

Generally, a pier will need to be registered if it (a) is wider than 6 ft, but less than 8 ft in width, (b) has a platform at the end of the pier that has a surface area of less than 300 ft (w/ a max. width of 10 feet) and/or (c) more than 2 boat slips for the first 50 feet of shoreline frontage and 1 boat slip for each additional 50 feet of shoreline frontage.
To register a pier, a waterfront property owner must complete and mail a registration form to the DNR. To obtain a copy of the registration form and to find out more information about which piers need to be registered, please visit the DNR's website at:
http://dnr.wi.gov/waterways/recreation/piers.html