Despite a market that is tough in many areas, people continue to watch real estate television.
Real-estate programming specialist HGTV's viewership rose 11 percent year-to-year in the first three months of 2008. Nine of its top-10-rated shows among the target 25- to 54-year-olds are real estate based. Property Virgins (Sundays, 10 ET/PT), which premiered last fall with a focus on first-time buyers, has hit peak viewership (about 1.5 million) in the past few weeks.
This summer Bravo will revive Million Dollar Listing and Flipping Out, which did well in their first seasons. "Looking at big, beautiful houses is real-estate porn," says Andy Cohen, Bravo's production chief. "We're wary of the real estate market. But we have the most affluent audience on cable, and we program for them."
TLC has dropped Property Ladder, and Date My House replaces one of the Saturday time slots of Flip That House, whose viewership has dropped significantly from its peak of 1.8 million in fall 2006. TLC plans a late-spring rollout of Your Place or Mine, a novel game show that offers home makeovers.
"People are looking at homes in different ways," says TLC's says chief programmer Brant Pinvidic. "A couple of years ago, selling a house was considered the quickest way to get rich. Now it's, 'How much could I sell it for?' It's more a question mark rather than an exclamation point. We want to be reflective of our audience and continue to adjust. But this is a genre we'll always be in."
Source: USA Today, Gary Strauss (04/18/2008)
Monday, April 21, 2008
Plenty Still Watching Real Estate TV
Despite a market that is tough in many areas, people continue to watch real estate television.
Real-estate programming specialist HGTV's viewership rose 11 percent year-to-year in the first three months of 2008. Nine of its top-10-rated shows among the target 25- to 54-year-olds are real estate based. Property Virgins (Sundays, 10 ET/PT), which premiered last fall with a focus on first-time buyers, has hit peak viewership (about 1.5 million) in the past few weeks.
This summer Bravo will revive Million Dollar Listing and Flipping Out, which did well in their first seasons. "Looking at big, beautiful houses is real-estate porn," says Andy Cohen, Bravo's production chief. "We're wary of the real estate market. But we have the most affluent audience on cable, and we program for them."
TLC has dropped Property Ladder, and Date My House replaces one of the Saturday time slots of Flip That House, whose viewership has dropped significantly from its peak of 1.8 million in fall 2006. TLC plans a late-spring rollout of Your Place or Mine, a novel game show that offers home makeovers.
"People are looking at homes in different ways," says TLC's says chief programmer Brant Pinvidic. "A couple of years ago, selling a house was considered the quickest way to get rich. Now it's, 'How much could I sell it for?' It's more a question mark rather than an exclamation point. We want to be reflective of our audience and continue to adjust. But this is a genre we'll always be in."
Source: USA Today, Gary Strauss (04/18/2008)
Real-estate programming specialist HGTV's viewership rose 11 percent year-to-year in the first three months of 2008. Nine of its top-10-rated shows among the target 25- to 54-year-olds are real estate based. Property Virgins (Sundays, 10 ET/PT), which premiered last fall with a focus on first-time buyers, has hit peak viewership (about 1.5 million) in the past few weeks.
This summer Bravo will revive Million Dollar Listing and Flipping Out, which did well in their first seasons. "Looking at big, beautiful houses is real-estate porn," says Andy Cohen, Bravo's production chief. "We're wary of the real estate market. But we have the most affluent audience on cable, and we program for them."
TLC has dropped Property Ladder, and Date My House replaces one of the Saturday time slots of Flip That House, whose viewership has dropped significantly from its peak of 1.8 million in fall 2006. TLC plans a late-spring rollout of Your Place or Mine, a novel game show that offers home makeovers.
"People are looking at homes in different ways," says TLC's says chief programmer Brant Pinvidic. "A couple of years ago, selling a house was considered the quickest way to get rich. Now it's, 'How much could I sell it for?' It's more a question mark rather than an exclamation point. We want to be reflective of our audience and continue to adjust. But this is a genre we'll always be in."
Source: USA Today, Gary Strauss (04/18/2008)
Mortgage Applications Rise
Mortgage applications rose last week for the second week in a row, up 2.5 percent to 743.4 on a seasonally adjusted basis from 725.6 a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly mortgage applications survey.
On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 2.7 percent compared with the previous week and was up 16.4 percent compared to the same week a year ago.
Most of the increase came from refinances, which increased 5.2 percent from the previous week. Purchases actually decreased 0.8 percent.
The refinance share of mortgage activity was 53.5 percent of total applications, up from 52.2 percent the previous week.
Interest rates decreased slightly.
Source: Mortgage Bankers Association (04/16/2008)
On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 2.7 percent compared with the previous week and was up 16.4 percent compared to the same week a year ago.
Most of the increase came from refinances, which increased 5.2 percent from the previous week. Purchases actually decreased 0.8 percent.
The refinance share of mortgage activity was 53.5 percent of total applications, up from 52.2 percent the previous week.
Interest rates decreased slightly.
- 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.74 percent from 5.78 percent.
- 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.27 percent from 5.39 percent.
- 1-year ARMs decreased to 7.02 percent from 7.06 percent.
Source: Mortgage Bankers Association (04/16/2008)
Renters Face Their Own Woes
For some, it might not seem like a great time to buy a house, but it’s a dreadful time to rent, especially in the western part of the United States.
The average apartment rent through March rose from the previous year in all 19 major Western markets surveyed by the research firm RealFacts,
San Jose, Calif. -- the heart of Silicon Valley -- is now the West's most expensive rental market, with the average apartment leasing for $1,660 per month, up 9.1 percent, $139 per month, from the same time last year. That means a Silicon Valley renter can expect to pay nearly $20,000 to lease an average apartment during the next year.
Tucson, Ariz. offers the West's least expensive apartments, with rents creeping up 2 percent to $668 per month.
Source: The Associated Press, Michael Liedtke (04/16/2008)
The average apartment rent through March rose from the previous year in all 19 major Western markets surveyed by the research firm RealFacts,
San Jose, Calif. -- the heart of Silicon Valley -- is now the West's most expensive rental market, with the average apartment leasing for $1,660 per month, up 9.1 percent, $139 per month, from the same time last year. That means a Silicon Valley renter can expect to pay nearly $20,000 to lease an average apartment during the next year.
Tucson, Ariz. offers the West's least expensive apartments, with rents creeping up 2 percent to $668 per month.
Source: The Associated Press, Michael Liedtke (04/16/2008)
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