Massachusetts Real Estate News You Can Use

- The Warren Group reported last week, the sales of single-family homes jumped 33 percent over last year and that the 2,350 homes sold in Massachusetts was the largest volume sold in February since 2007.

- According to The Wall Street Journal, Bank of America Corp. is launching a pilot program that will allow homeowners at risk of foreclosure to hand over the deeds to their homes and sign leases that will let them rent the houses back from the bank at a market rate. The initial scope of this program is small, but it represents a big change in the way banks may deal with borrowers who cannot afford their mortgages. 

- The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) reports that the sale of investment homes jumped in 2011, with the combined market share rising to the highest level since 2005. The Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey shows that investment-home sales surged 64.5 percent to 1.23 million last year from 749,000 in 2010. Vacation-home sales rose 7 percent to 502,000 in 2011 from 469,000 in 2010. Vacation-home sales accounted for 11 percent of all transactions last year, which is up 10 percent from 2010. Investment-home sales accounted for 27 percent in 2011, which is up from 17 percent in 2010.

Such exciting news, don't you think? Share your comments...and be sure to let me know if you or anyone you know is in the market to buy, rent or sell real estate on Cape Cod and beyond! Visit my website at www.aboutcapecodma.com to set up your own personalized search criteria...