10 Real Estate Stats From This Week

Busy week planning your Super Bowl party? Not enough time to catch up on this week’s real estate articles? No worries, I’ve compiled some real estate stats I ran across this week:

1. 18.4 Million – The number of U.S. homes vacant in the 4th quarter of 2010. Of the nearly 131 homes in the U.S., only 112.5 million are occupied. About 75 million of those occupied homes are owned and about 38 million are rented. Furthermore, home ownership fell from 66.9% to 66.5% in the 4th quarter as well.
2. 4.8 % – Average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage. That’s up from 4.74% last week and the second week in a row that rates have risen
3. 2% – Percent increase in contracts signed on U.S. homes in December. This follows a 3.1% increase in November. Every region experienced an increase in contract signings except for the West. The South experienced an 11.5% increase, the Midwest an 8% increase, the Northeast a 1.8%. Contracts signed in the West fell 13.2%. Since June 2010, contract signings are up 24%.
4. $162 Million – The amount in legal fees spent defending Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their former executives. That includes $24 million spent to defend former Fannie executive Franklin Raines.
5. $ 5 Billion – Hedge Fund manager John Paulson’s 2010 payday. Paulson, who made a name for himself in 2007 betting against sub-prime mortgages, made the majority of his money this time around betting on the economy recovering.
6. $22 Million – Listing price on a privately held 4.114 acre island in the middle of San Francisco Bay. That’s correct, for less than a quarter $100 million, the exclusive Red Rocks Island near the Richmond/San Rafael bridge can be all yours.
7. $500,000 – The price of a green card. Through a 20 year-old federal program, a foreign national can obtain a green card by investing at least $500,000 in a U.S. real estate development project.
8. 1.08% – Foreclosure rate in the New York metro area. 1.08% foreclosure rate represents the lowest of any of the top 10 metro areas. Foreclosure rates are low in New York due to the fact that there has only been a 13% drop in value, there are many more renters in New York than most other cities and condo and co-op boards were very selective in approving sales and often required large down payments.
9. 10.88% – Foreclosure rate in the Las Vegas metro area. 10.88% foreclosure  represents the highest of any metro in the U.S.
10. $4683 – Average price for a Super Bowl ticket. Hope everyone enjoys the game.

Related posts:

1. 10 Real Estate Stats from Last Week
2. Review of Real Estate News of the Week – Sunday, May 9, 2010
3. California Dominates National Foreclosure Scene. A Look at the Top 10 Foreclosure Cities.
4. Which Housing Stats to Trust?
5. US Real Estate Crisis Causing Record Economic Distress

Article Author: Douglas Lazovick

Douglas has written 77 articles for us.
Visit Douglas's Website: http://deedstreet.com/

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