Today Show: What You Can Get For Under $400K

Happy Friday all!

We may have just kicked off 2011, but Barbara Corcoran’s back on it, already showing off some vacation digs that may be right up your alley. Have a look!

455 Petaluma Avenue, Sonoma CA 95476

List price: $399,000
2bd | 1ba | 858 square feet
Notes: Wine country. Private front deck with fire pit.

620 Edgecreek Drive, Myrtle Beach SC 29579

List price: $399,900
3bd | 2 full, 1 partial ba
Notes: Vaulted ceilings, dramatic curved fireplace, unusual ceiling details and second floor balcony.

Watch the full segment here:

Watch past segments:

What You Can Get For Under $500K

What You Can Get For $375K to $425K

Do you have a home that would be a great fit for the Today Show? Email it to pr@trulia.com.

Innovate, Accelerate and Celebrate

From day 1 our mission has been to revolutionize the real estate industry.  We have always been focused on creating the best consumer experience and building tools to help consumers make smarter real estate decisions. We believe that the consumer real estate experience will continue to change dramatically and that bringing together local information, community insights and geodata will make your home search a more complete experience.

That’s why we’re excited to announce that we’ve acquired Movity, a stealth startup that surfaces geodata for home buyers and renters like noise, crime, and real estate pricing.  Movity aggregates the geodata from a variety of sources and uses it to provide rich insights into any location.

We are very impressed with Movity’s passion for real estate and their vision which directly matches Trulia’s passion and vision. Movity’s team is extremely talented with strong engineering skills, visualizations specialists and real estate background.  The team includes Eric Wu, co-founder of RentWiki.com, Sha Hwang, design technologist from Stamen Design, Vaughn Koch, engineering manager from Expedia/Bing, and Zain Memon, a contributor to the open-source framework Django. To see a sample of their work, check out tendernoise.movity.com/ and www.weeplaces.com.

I am very excited that they will be joining and contributing to our world class engineering organization.  Integrating our teams will accelerate the consumer experience and that is a reason to celebrate!

U.S. Housing Market Recovery Backtracks with 23% Year-Over-Year Rise in National Price Reductions

Trulia.com’s December price reduction report found that the number of listings with at least one price cut grew nationwide by 23 percent from 22 percent in December 2009 to 27 percent in December 2010. Meanwhile, average reductions remained flat at 11 percent in a year-over-year comparison, although it has risen by 10 percent since last month.

Among the 50 largest U.S. cities, 32 experienced price reduction levels at 30 percent or higher this month compared to just 14 in December 2009. Minneapolis continues to have the highest levels at 44 percent. Moreover, Phoenix, Mesa and Baltimore also exceeded 40 percent – marking the first time four cities have reached this benchmark in a single month since Trulia began tracking price reductions in June 2009. In reevaluating the cities with the highest price reductions last December, only Jacksonville and Columbus showed some signs of improvement with year-over year decreases by 5 percent and 3 percent respectively.

“The homebuyer tax credit successfully created an impactful short-term demand which temporarily stabilized prices, but stopped short of being a quick fix for real estate recovery,” said Pete Flint, co-founder and CEO, Trulia. “As I said in the beginning of the year, job creation will be the strongest indicator that the housing market is turning around. Looking at the latest unemployment rate which rose to 9.8 percent this month, we expect prices will continue to decline between five and seven percent nationally especially in the first of half of 2011.”

“With 10 months’ worth of inventory on the market, homebuyers seem to feel no urgent reason to buy, despite still-low mortgage rates that are rising fast,” said Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Consumer Educator for Trulia. “On top of this massive supply-demand imbalance, sellers know to expect a drop off in already low buyer activity as the holidays approach. As a result, smart sellers know they need to make bold price cuts to create some urgency and sell homes which, otherwise, are simply not moving. ”

• For the full press release, click here.
• For full 50 city data chart of Trulia’s December 2010 and 2009 price reductions, click here.
• To learn more about Trulia’s price reductions and the methodology by which this study was conducted, click here.
• For an infographic visualization of Trulia’s December 2010 price reduction report results, click here.

3 Trulians Make Inman’s 2010 Top 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders List

Today, Inman News announced their 2010 list of the 100 Most Influential Leaders in Real Estate. And, today, I’m proud to announce that not one, not two, but THREE of my esteemed colleagues here at Trulia were named to the list! Trulia Co-Founders Pete Flint, CEO, and Sami Inkinen, COO, were both named amongst the top technology leaders of our industry, and our own Social Media Guru, Rudy Bacharaty, III, was named as one of the top online/blogger and social media masters of real estate.

I’m delighted and proud to call these gents my colleagues, and extend my warm congratulations!

Tara-Nicholle Nelson

Consumer Educator
Manager, PR + Marketing
Trulia.com

http://www.trulia.com/blog/taranelson/

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Today Show: What You Can Get For Under $350K

Today Show: What You Can Get For Under $500K

Today Show: Affordable Homes Across America For Under $200K

For those of you who watched this morning’s segment of the Today Show, we hope you enjoyed the sweet treats. Barb shared some fantastic deals for under $200K! But for those who missed it (shame!), we’ve got your back. Here are 5 homes that’ll leave you wondering what’s in the market in your area! Cheers and happy viewing!

Arlington, TN
8175 White Wing Cove West

$155,000 | 3bd | 2ba
See more Arlington homes for sale

Ogden, UT
1351 Chilly Peak Circle

$166,900 | 5bd | 2ba | 1,656 sqft
See more Ogden homes for sale

Lawrenceville, GA
607 Jules Crest Court

$177,000 | 4bd | 2 full, 1 partial ba | 2,527 sqft
See more homes in Lawrenceville

Killen, AL
144 Briarwood Drive

$182,500 | 3bd | 2ba | 1,940 sqft
See more homes in Killen

Austin, TX
10205 Ozona Drive

$199,900 | 3bd | 2 full, 1 partial ba
See more homes in Austin

Catch the segment here:

Watch past segments:

What You Can Get For $500K

What You Can Get For Under $400K

What You Can Get For $375K to $425K

What You Can Get For $300K to $600K

Do you have a home for the Today Show? Send them to pr@trulia.com.

Thanks!

Price reductions continue to climb, weak summer sales and inflated inventory lead to highest historic levels nationwide

Today, Trulia released our October price reduction report. Price reductions for home listings currently on the market in the U.S. have increased for the fourth consecutive month to an all-time high of 27 percent and account for a total reduction of more than $30.7 billion nationwide. A deeper look into the data shows a continual and dramatic price reduction increase in many cities that began in June 2010.

“We would normally expect to see a seasonal uptick in price reductions between June and October, as motivated sellers whose homes are still on the market after the summer selling season aggressively cut prices in an effort to get their homes sold before the holidays,” said Tara-Nicholle Nelson, consumer educator, Trulia.com. “Comparatively speaking, we’ve found that seasonal considerations combined with a lack of urgency on the part of would-be buyers and continued job market doldrums nationwide have led to more significant reductions during this time period than during the same time frame in 2009.”

Highest Percentage Increase in Price Reductions: June to Oct. 2010

Price Reductions Increasing Across U.S., Highest Among Major Western Cities

Since June 2010, the five largest increases in price reductions have occurred in the Western U.S., with Las Vegas registering the most substantial increase (194 percent). Five major California cities remain beneath the national average in October, but price reduction rates in all seven of California’s largest cities have increased dramatically since June, with San Jose, Fresno, Sacramento and San Diego seeing the largest increases. Only three of America’s largest cities – Miami, Detroit and New York – have seen a decline in price reductions since June.

“As robo-signing news developments and foreclosure freezes create uncertainty about buying bank-owned properties – particularly in cities like Las Vegas where foreclosures have been exorbitant – low interest rates and wide-scale price reductions may give individually-owned homes a real desirability boost in the eyes of buyers in the coming months,” Nelson said. “This might help home sellers who have had a hard time pricing and marketing their homes to compete with distressed properties get their homes sold before the end of the year.”

Price Reductions Increase Beyond Seasonal Expectations: Cities with Largest Year-Over-Year Increases

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Trulia Price Reductions
Trulia is the first and only national real estate site to provide consumers with the ability to use price reductions as a search filter in their quest to find a deal in today’s market across all 50 states. Trulia’s Price Reduction feature can be accessed from the Trulia homepage and is deeply integrated into the existing search experience on the search results page and via the advanced search tab. Detailed information regarding multiple price reductions and prior sold data is now available on each property listing page.

Providing home buyers with access to price reduction data empowers them to make more informed decisions regarding which home to purchase and helps consumers get the most home for their dollar. Price reduction data also helps home sellers price their homes competitively as more homes come onto the market.

Methodology: To view detailed methodology, click here.

Data Chart: October 2010 Price Reductions: top 50 cities based on population – to see data chart featuring all 50 cities, click here.

Today Show: Best homes for under $500K with Barbara Corcoran

OK – for some this might be a bit out of your price range. But, it’s Friday afternoon and everyone could use a little pick me up – so chuck the caffeine crave and check out this eye candy will ya?

On this morning’s “What You Can Get For XX,” Barbara Corcoran shared some great picks that’ll leave you craving for even more eye candy.

Wasilla, AK
5661 East Cherry Circle
3bd | 5ba | 3,0101 square feet

*perks: oversized 2 car garage, huge detached workshop with bath, floatplane access and dock and guest cabin

Indianapolis, IN
6910 West 71st St
4bd | 4 full, 1 partial ba | 4,285 square feet

*perks: overlooks Traders Point Lake, 3 cozy fireplaces, 2 gourmet kitchens and near Eagle Creek

Nevada City, CA
18373 Sages Road
4bd | 4ba | 3,156 square feet

*perks: Gorgeous views (that will steal your breath), 3,000 gallon water storage

Bennington, NE
16002 Vane Street
3bd | 4ba | 4,015 square feet

*perks: Chef’s kitchen, elegant stairway, 2-tier deck, wrap around porch and great landscaping

Check out the full segment here.

Watch past segments:
What You Can Get For Under $400K

What You Can Get For $375K to $425K

What You Can Get For $300K to $600K

Do you have a home for the Today Show? Send them to pr@trulia.com.

Thanks!

Trulia’s Rent vs. Buy Index Reveals Top 10 Cities For Renting, Owning Homes

Check out the results from Trulia’s Rent vs. Buy Index, which tracks whether buying a home or renting is less expensive in America’s 50 largest cities, based on current market conditions. Making sure it was an apples to apples comparison, we calculated the price-to-rent ratio using the average list price compared with the average rent of two-bedroom apartments, condos and townhomes listed on Trulia.com. To create the list, Trulia analyzed the largest 50 U.S. cities by population.

High foreclosure rates, falling home prices and widespread unemployment have led to multiple Florida and Arizona cities reporting homeownership as more affordable than renting; Detroit and Columbus also made the list of Top 10 Cities for homeownership affordability compared with renting for similar reasons. On the other end of the affordability spectrum, owning is significantly more expensive than renting in national and regional job centers like New York, Omaha and Seattle.

“Higher prices of homeownership in cities like Omaha and Seattle reflect the fundamental real estate truth that people want to live where jobs are relatively plentiful,” said Tara-Nicholle Nelson, consumer educator, Trulia. “Workforce demand has kept prices in these cities at a higher level, relative to other large American cities with less healthy job markets – Omaha, for example, has reported unemployment rates significantly lower than national averages.”

The Lone Star State reported interesting complexities with regard to statewide figures for the relative affordability of homeownership, as four Texas cities fell within the top 20 cities where owning is more affordable than renting. In fact, Arlington topped the list of large American cities in which buying is more affordable than renting; El Paso wasn’t far behind at number nine. However, Fort Worth ranked as the nation’s third most rent-favorable city.

Trulia.com Rent vs. Buy Index – Interpretation Key
Price-to-Rent Ratio of 1-15: It is much less expensive to own than to rent a home in this city.
Price-to-Rent Ratio of 16-20: It is more expensive to own a home in this city. The total costs of ownership of a home in this city are greater than the costs of renting, but it might still make financial sense depending on the situation.
Price-to-Rent Ratio of 21+: The total costs of owning a home in this city are much greater than the costs of renting.

Top 10 Cities to Rent vs. Buy

Top 10 Cities to Buy vs. Rent

Download the graphic for above data chart here.

To see how the largest 50 cities in America ranked on this month’s rent vs. buy index, click here.

Methodology

Trulia calculates the price-to-rent ratio for the 50 largest U.S. cities using the average list price compared with the average rent on two-bedroom apartments, condos, townhomes and co-ops listed on Trulia.com. This Index considers both the total cost of home ownership against the total costs of renting (examples of costs for both home ownership and renting outlined below).

Sample Price-to-Rent Ratio Calculation:

Average List Price: $90,445.60

Average Rent: $936.30

Price-to-rent ratio: $90,445.60 ÷ ($936.30 x 12) = 8.05

Definitions:
Total costs of home ownership include mortgage principal and interest, property taxes, hazard insurance, closing costs at time of purchase and ongoing HOA dues and private mortgage insurance, where applicable. Total costs of homeownership include an offset for the tax advantages of homeownership, including mortgage interest, property tax and closing cost deductions.

Total costs of renting include rent and renter’s insurance.

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