Hanley Wood already acts as the nation’s premier media, information, and marketing services company in the real estate industry, but acquiring Metrostudy will no doubt solidify the company’s dominance in market research and analysis as well.

According to statements on BuilderOnline.com, one of Hanley Wood’s most recognizable publications, Metrostudy will be combined with the already existing Hanley Wood Market Intelligence division, but still expected to operate under the Metrostudy brand name. Hanley Wood Market Intelligence is no doubt America’s largest, most trusted source for residential real estate research and analysis, but adding Metrostudy’s resources and research capabilities now gives Hanley Wood an even broader geographic footprint and the ability to provide the most comprehensive, reliable, and sophisticated data analysis in the business.

As the housing market across the country continues to recover and critical investment and business decisions are made by home builders, manufacturers, and various other professionals working in real estate, the need for accurate market research and analytical data has become stronger than ever.

For more information about Hanley Wood’s acquisition of Metrostudy or to learn more about Hanley Wood and Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, check out the following:

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Joe Heath is a graduate of Indiana University and also holds a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Drexel University. After working as a Market Research Associate and writing published Market Snapshots for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence in Chicago, Joe now works as a Web Marketing Specialist and is a managing partner at Real Estate Web Creation, LLC.

Distressed properties include foreclosures and those advertised for sale by the mortgage provider.

Distressed home. Image courtesy of 4.bp.blogspot

While 51% may seem like quite a high figure, it is actually a lot less than other nearby areas. However, even the worst hit areas of California saw improvements in the situation last month.

For instance, San Bernardino County listed 71% of its sales as being distressed properties, down from 76% in February, while in Riverside County 67% of home sales were distressed ones, though this was also down on February’s total of 71%.

As CAR President Beth L. Peerce explained, “Virtually all counties in the state have shown a consistent improvement in the number of distressed sales.”

Distressed properties are those foreclosed or sold by the mortgage provider. Image courtesy of Weekend Outings Inc.

However, she was quick to point out that while the situation is improving, there is still a long way to go. “Distressed sales remain higher than they were this time last year in most counties. This is because it takes time for the market to go through the large amount of troubled mortgages,” added Preece.

The highest percentage of distressed property sales was in Solano County, with 76% in March, while the two counties with the lowest number were Marin County at 28%, and San Diego County at 32%.

“We are seeing more lenders managing to execute short sales before foreclosure is forced upon properties,” said Metrostudy’s Steve Johnson, a senior real estate consultant.

Marin County has the least number of distressed property sales. Image courtesy of Your Piece of Marin

“By letting the bank know you are in difficulties, they are able to market them quickly with short sales. This is often a much more preferable situation for all parties involved.”

Johnson also revealed that investors are behind a large number of distressed property sales.

“Many investors are out there, buying properties, sprucing them up, then re-listing them to make a quick profit,” he said.

Despite last month’s improvement, California still sees more distressed property sales than the national average, which was 40% over the last month, according to Lawrence Yun of the National Association for Realtors.

13% of all homes in the US are vacant, according to a recent census. Image courtesy of Alt.coxnewsweb

And with the national vacancy rate supposedly creeping up to 13%, according to the decennial census report last week, you would be mistaken for thinking things are only going to get worse.

The problem is, “vacant homes equals downward pressure on prices” claims the Metrostudy chief economist Brad Hunter. The state with the most vacancies is Maine, with almost a quarter (22.8%) of its homes empty, followed by Vermont, where a fifth (20.5%) of all housing stands empty.

Holiday homes are also counted as vacant. Image courtesy of Coupon Saver

However, these figures may be deceptive, given the way vacancy rates are calculated in the census. Properties such as beach houses, ski lodges and pied-a-terres are all included in the count, whereas many realtors probably wouldn’t count them. Most of these are actually second homes or summer holiday homes, but are nevertheless included in the data.

“People can only live in one property”, William Chapin of the Census Bureau says. “If you have five homes but spend the majority of the time living in just one, the other four are counted as vacant”.

A truly vacant home. Image courtesy of Santamonicapropertyblog

Some people aren’t happy with their inclusion though. Paul Bishop of the National Association for Realtors argues that they aren’t vacant according to how the average person interprets a vacant home. He says “Vacation homes are hardly the same as foreclosed homes that have been claimed by the banks”.

The figures without vacation homes are wildly different. In Maine, which has 160,000 vacant properties, two thirds of these are said to be vacation homes. Vermont is in a similar situation. Compare these figures with those of the state with the lowest rate of vacancies, Connecticut, where 7.95 of homes are officially vacant. Take out the second homes and Connecticut’s rate drops to just 6.1%, with Maine at 7%. Suddenly the difference isn’t so big anymore.