House Hunters Get New Tools:
From GPS to 3-D Xbox Tours

Here's a look at what's new in real-estate markets across the U.S. from around the Web. (Some links may require registration or subscriptions.)

GPS those home listings

Increasingly, new technology and the Web are changing the business of buying and selling a home, says a USAToday.com article published by Yahoo! News. The piece details several new and interesting tools for real-estate buyers and sellers, including a service from Windows Live Local that provides 3-D tours of neighborhoods in 15 cities via an Xbox 360 or other game controller. Apartment.com, the article says, will come out with a feature this month that will let apartment hunters track listings with GPS technology and their cell phones. Consumers using this service will be able to see maps, floor plans and information on properties, USAToday.com says. SmarterAgent.com is planning a similar tool for house hunters, the article says.

Pricing your house

The National Association of Homes Builders has developed a statistical model that can calculate various home amenities' effect on home prices, says a Los Angeles Times article. A top influencer on a home's price is the residence's proximity to waterfront, the Times says. The second-biggest factor on home pricing is public transportation, with the availability of local public transport giving a lift to housing prices, the newspaper says. Factors that could be a drag on a home price include nearby abandoned or industrial buildings, bad roads and sub-par shopping opportunities, the L.A. Times says. For more information on the NAHB House Price Estimator, visit the trade association's Web site.

Pricey pad or better lifestyle?

Homeowners on the East or West Coasts or areas of the Southwest where median home prices are higher than other parts of the country might want to consider cashing out the equity in their homes and moving to a less-expensive locale, according to an article published by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Such a move can especially be helpful for families struggling to make mortgage payments or for those seeking more living space, the article says. Median home prices vary widely across the U.S. -- from $749,400 in San Francisco to about $120,000 in Charleston, W. Va., the article says. Because of home-price disparities, some homeowners may have more home equity than others, the newspaper says. Housing costs are a family's largest expense, so homeowners can improve their lifestyles by selling their expensive digs and buying in less-expensive locations, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer says. The newspaper describes one family who sold their home for $550,000 in California and paid cash for a similar property in rural Georgia. The family paid off some debt and their new home sits on a much larger 15-acre lot, the article says.

Oahu hits 12-month low

On the Hawaiian island of Oahu, the median home price fell in January to its lowest level in 12 months -- $600,000, according to a Star Bulletin article. That's down from $615,000 in January 2006, the article says. Sales of existing homes dropped from 303 in January 2006 to 263 last month, the newspaper says. Meanwhile, the Star Bulletin reports that number of single-family homes on the market exceeded last year's inventory -- rising from 1,578 homes in January 2006 to 1,747 properties last month. Also, the number of condos for sale also increased, from 2,125 in January 2006 to 2,288 last month. Despite the rise in inventory, the median condo price rose 8.5% from January 2006's median price, $295,000, to reach $320,000, the paper says. The outlook for Oahu condos should be favorable this year, the Star Bulletin quotes a local real-estate executive as saying. "Condominium living is still affordable for a lot of folks," he says.

Winter thaw in Baltimore

Spring may have sprung early in Baltimore. In the city and its five surrounding counties, home sales came out of a 16-month slump in January, with the number of units sold increasing 3.75% from January 2006, the Baltimore Sun says. This comes after months of double-digit declines in home sales, with the last year-over-year increase in home sales being in Sept. 2005, the newspaper says. Another positive sign for the area's housing market -- in January, there were approximately 14,800 homes for sale in the area -- approximately the same amount that was seen in December and "significantly below" the levels of previous months, the article says.

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