http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens RSS Feed for Inq Col Al Heavens en-us Wed, 30 May 2012 11:23:41 GMT 2012-05-30T11:23:41Z en-us http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120527_On_the_House__Economic_recovery_remains_elusive.html Economic recovery is just around the corner. How often in the last four years have we read a report touting that eventuality, and the “bottoming out” of prices that the housing industry has been hoping for? Wed, 30 May 2012 11:23:41 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120527_On_the_House__Economic_recovery_remains_elusive.html 2012-05-30T11:23:41Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120520_On_the_House___Going_mobile.html I don’t know what I’d do without my iPhone, which is kind of funny when you consider that I put off accepting one until three years after it debuted in 2007. Thu, 24 May 2012 19:56:41 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120520_On_the_House___Going_mobile.html 2012-05-24T19:56:41Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120425_Realtors_rsquo__group_poll__Property_taxes_irk_N_J__residents.html If you want to rile a New Jersey resident, two words will do it: property taxes. Most state residents — 89 percent of the 800 registered voters surveyed in early April by the state’s Realtors, according to the poll’s results — maintain that property taxes are too high, but they are less united about proposals to lower them. Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:24:59 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120425_Realtors_rsquo__group_poll__Property_taxes_irk_N_J__residents.html 2012-04-26T00:24:59Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/signs_continue_to_point_to_slow_housing_recovery.html The residential real estate market continues to give off mixed signals — indications of continued, yet gradual, improvement that is well shy of full recovery. Among the current signs: •Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Indexes, which measure home prices nationally, showed year-over-year declines in February. Nine cities, including New York and Chicago, reached post-housing-bubble lows. Prices stand now where they were in late 2002-early 2003. •Single-family home prices in the city of Philadelphia declined 4.6 percent in the first quarter from fourth-quarter 2011 levels, according to Kevin Gillen, a vice president at Econsult Corp. That brings the city’s cumulative price decline since the bubble burst locally in third quarter 2007 to 21.3 percent. To compare, prices in Phoenix are 54.2 percent lower than their peak. •First-quarter sales of previously owned homes in the eight-county Philadelphia region were 9.6 percent higher than levels of the first three months of 2011, according to Prudential Fox & Roach’s HomExpert Market Report. Prices fell 2.6 percent over the year in the region, and were flat from the fourth quarter. City median prices, including condos, were down 6.4 percent quarter to quarter. •March new-home sales nationally declined 7.1 percent from February but were 7.5 percent above year-ago levels, the Census Bureau reported. The median price was $234,500, up 6.3 percent from March 2011. The numbers were based on a small sample, however. Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:50:52 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/signs_continue_to_point_to_slow_housing_recovery.html 2012-04-25T13:50:52Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120427_Rid_your_home_of_toxic_chemicals.html Myron Wentz, a microbiologist, recently wrote a book called The Healthy Home — www.myhealthyhome.com — and offers some ways to create one at your house: Take your shoes off before entering your home. We walk around unwittingly in car oil, pesticides, animal waste, and toxins. Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:34:03 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120427_Rid_your_home_of_toxic_chemicals.html 2012-04-27T16:34:03Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120429_On_the_House__What_makes_up_a_credit_score.html April is Financial Literacy Month, and although the month is almost over I believe it’s wise to be smart about money year-round. This is as good a time as any to talk about it. Specifically, let’s discuss credit scores because they play such an important role in your ability to borrow money. Mortgages are my chief interest, of course. Sun, 29 Apr 2012 09:43:43 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120429_On_the_House__What_makes_up_a_credit_score.html 2012-04-29T09:43:43Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120421_Short_sales_are_anything_but_short.html As the real estate downturn searches for the escape pod that will carry it to upturn, so-called short sales, which might help, are not living up to their name. Short sales are transactions in which the lender agrees to accept less than what the borrower owes on the mortgage. Sat, 21 Apr 2012 11:38:24 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120421_Short_sales_are_anything_but_short.html 2012-04-21T11:38:24Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120420_Sales_of_previously_owned_homes_up_in_region__down_in_U_S_.html Sales of previously owned houses in the eight-county Philadelphia region rose 37 percent in March from February, Prudential Fox & Roach’s HomExpert Market Report said Thursday. Nationally, the sales numbers paled in comparison, with a 2.8 percent drop in March from February’s levels, the National Association of Realtors reported. Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:04:40 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120420_Sales_of_previously_owned_homes_up_in_region__down_in_U_S_.html 2012-04-20T17:04:40Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120420_Home_Economics__Designing_the_ideal__repayable_mortgage.html During the housing boom, a borrower’s ability to exhale appeared to be the chief criterion for obtaining a mortgage. Six years of record foreclosures later, with millions of borrowers owing more than their properties are worth, the housing market continues to tread water. T Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:57:56 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120420_Home_Economics__Designing_the_ideal__repayable_mortgage.html 2012-04-20T13:57:56Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120422_On_the_House__Retirement_worries.html It would make retirement easier if I could reap enough equity when I sell my current house to buy the next, and perhaps last, one with cash. That would reduce my housing expenses to property taxes, insurance, utilities, and maintenance. Since property taxes now account for more than one-third of my monthly mortgage payment, that would mean saying goodbye to New Jersey. Sun, 22 Apr 2012 13:30:19 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/al_heavens/20120422_On_the_House__Retirement_worries.html 2012-04-22T13:30:19Z