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Home Prices in 2012: Best Year-on-Year Gain in Six Years

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Home Prices in 2012: Best Year-on-Year Gain in Six YearsRising Home Prices

Posted By susanne On February 7, 2013 @ 4:09 pm In Business Outlook,Consumer News and Advice, Finance and Economy, Real Estate Information, Real Estate Trends, Today’s Marketplace, Today’s Top Story

CoreLogic, a leading residential property information, analytics and services provider, recently released its December CoreLogic HPI report. Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased on a year-over-year basis by 8.3 percent in December 2012 compared to December 2011. This change represents the biggest increase since May 2006 and the 10th consecutive monthly increase in home prices nationally. On a month-over-month basis, including distressed sales, home prices increased by 0.4 percent in December 2012 compared to November 2012. The HPI analysis shows that all but four states are experiencing year-over-year price gains.

Excluding distressed sales, home prices increased on a year-over-year basis by 7.5 percent in December 2012 compared to December 2011. On a month-over-month basis, excluding distressed sales, home prices increased 0.9 percent in December 2012 compared to November 2012. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

The CoreLogic Pending HPI indicates that January 2013 home prices, including distressed sales, are expected to rise by 7.9 percent on a year-over-year basis from January 2012 and fall by 1 percent on a month-over-month basis from December 2012, reflecting a seasonal winter slowdown. Excluding distressed sales, January 2013 house prices are poised to rise 8.6 percent year over year from January 2012 and by 0.7 percent month over month from December 2012. The CoreLogic Pending HPI is a proprietary and exclusive metric that provides the most current indication of trends in home prices. It is based on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data that measure price changes for the most recent month.

“December marked 10 consecutive months of year-over-year home price improvements, and the strongest growth since

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Renters: Make Sure Your Security Deposit Is Safe

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Renters: Make Sure Your Security Deposit Is Safesecurity deposit

For those of us considering moving out of our rentals, securing your security deposit can be a make-it-or-break it moment for our finances, as you will most likely be needing a security deposit for wherever you’re headed. Unfortunately, many renters never see their security deposit again. Recently, Rent.com surveyed 1,000 U.S. renters, and the results were startling:

  • More than a quarter (26 percent) of all renters have lost their security deposit at some point
  • 37 percent of men and 44 percent of 18-24 year olds said they did not get their deposits back because they moved out early
  • More women (9 percent than men (3 percent) lost a deposit due to pet damage
  • 36 percent of renters who did not get their deposits back said the landlord gave no explanation.
    • This is likely illegal although tenant/landlord laws vary by state but according to several state law sites (ag.ny.gov, ca.gov, oag.state.tx.us, illinoisattorneygeneral.gov, mass.gov) the landlord must return the deposit less any lawful deduction.

If you’re renting, review the following tips—provided by rent.com–for maintaining your apartment

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