List prices are heating up in Florida, as recovery takes hold in the Sunshine State. Florida boasts the highest number of cities in the top 10 for largest increases in median list prices in the last year. In Miami alone, median list prices have jumped 32 percent in the last year.
Nationwide, median list prices have inched up 5.03 percent from December 2010 to December 2011, according to Realtor.com data.

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Fed Vows to Keep Rates Low Until 2014

The Federal Reserve announced that short-term interest rates will likely stay near zero for nearly three more years, a move that is expected to spillover to long-term mortgage rates for home buyers and home owners.

In August, the Fed had made a rare move to say it would keep rates near zero until at least mid-2013. The Fed said Wednesday that the economy still needs more help and it will now extend that period to 2014.
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In the third quarter of 2011, homes that were in foreclosure accounted for 20 percent of all residential sales in the country, according to RealtyTrac in its latest Foreclosure Sales Report.
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President Obama announced in his State of the Union address Tuesday the creation of a new task force that will investigate abusive and risky lending that led to the housing crisis. But the new task force may threaten to derail a settlement deal among the nation’s largest banks and government and state officials over alleged foreclosure abuses.
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Wells Fargo, the largest mortgage lender in the U.S., is launching a pilot program in February aimed at clearing the large inventories of foreclosed homes it owns, in a program dubbed “Neighborhood Lift.” The program will first launch in Los Angeles and Atlanta.
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5 Low-Cost Kitchen Updates to Attract Buyers
Considered the heart of a home, the kitchen can be instrumental in selling a property.  Many buyers prefer dwellings with modern kitchens, especially since it’s a room they’ll use every day and a place where they will entertain guests.
Attend open houses in the neighborhood to see how kitchens compare. If all the other homes have new appliances, your sellers will want to do the same or accept a lower price.
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