Coldwell Banker Real Estate and MLB.com Team Up to Give Fans an Exclusive Look Inside the Homes of Baseball's Biggest Stars

Popular Video Series Returns Today with Big Names Showing their Home Base to Viewers of Home Field Advantage

Every baseball fanatic wonders how their favorite players live. For the third consecutive year, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, the original Silicon Valley real estate startup founded in 1906, and MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, have teamed up to give baseball fans an exclusive look inside the homes of baseball's biggest stars in the Home Field Advantage video series. Since the launch of the series in 2014, Coldwell Banker and MLB.com have brought audiences inside the homes of more than 25 of baseball's brightest stars.

"Everyone, including elite professional baseball players, has an emotional connection to their home. The Home Field Advantage series is a way to connect fans with their favorite players on a more personal level by seeing and hearing what home means to them," said Sean Blankenship, chief marketing officer for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. "The partnership with MLB.com three years ago for the inaugural Home Field Advantage series was the first in a long line of partnerships that have allowed our brand to engage with new audiences. Each has fostered high engagement through unique content, especially with people visiting our website for the first time."

 

Home Field Advantage - Joc Pederson, Los Angeles Dodgers

The 11-week series, launching today on the Coldwell Banker® Blue Matter blog, will offer behind-the-scenes videos of 11 baseball star personalities. Each video will feature an exclusive look at the player's home — or their "home away from home," the player's home clubhouse and stadium — along with interviews sharing their home's most awesome amenities and moments. The 2016 video series launches with a look inside the home of Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star outfielder Joc Pederson.

A new player video will debut on the Coldwell Banker Real EstateBlue Matter blog every week through August 30. The series will also be featured on MLB.com and the official website of each player's team at different points throughout the baseball season. Coldwell Banker also has homepage advertising exclusively running on MLB.com today.

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Coldwell Banker Real Estate Announces First-Of-Its-Kind Smart Home Education Curriculum Exclusively For The Coldwell Banker Network

Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, the original Silicon Valley real estate start-up founded in 1906, announced today the launch of a smart home education curriculum available exclusively for the Coldwell Banker® brand and its affiliated franchised brokers and agents. The curriculum, a real estate industry first, was created in partnership with CEDIA, the global trade association for the home technology market, and is available to all members of the Coldwell Banker network. It will be offered by a CEDIA instructor through Coldwell Banker University.

"Smart home technology is becoming a source of convenience, security and comfort in homes across the United States, with almost half of all Americans owning or planning to invest in smart home technology by the end of 2016, according to the Coldwell Banker Smart Home Marketplace Survey," said Budge Huskey, president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate, LLC. "We believe it is our responsibility to ensure that our affiliated agents are the foremost experts in every aspect of the home. As ambassadors to the home, it is imperative for our affiliated agents to learn about smart home products and provide exceptional advice for homebuyers interested in smart home integration."


Developed by CEDIA, the Coldwell Banker curriculum will provide an extensive look into the evolution of home technology and recent rise of the smart home with a focus on how smart home products are changing the way we live in and interact with our homes. This program will equip attendees with the skills needed to advise buyers looking to invest in a smart home and sellers looking to stage and showcase their smart homes. Upon completion of the optional course, the participants will receive a certificate.

"CEDIA is at the forefront of home technology design and installation, so it made sense for us to join forces with the leading smart home real estate company to create this education curriculum," said Vin Bruno, CEDIA CEO. "This curriculum will give Coldwell Banker affiliated agents a tremendous advantage, providing them insight into the most up-to-date smart home developments and how technology can benefit their clients to live their best lives at home. Agents who complete this program will have a better ability to market listings more effectively and provide valuable information to the communities they serve."

About Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC

Since 1906, the Coldwell Banker® organization has been a premier provider of full-service residential and commercial real estate brokerage services. Coldwell Banker Real Estate is the oldest national real estate brand and franchisor in the United States, and today has a global network of approximately 3,000 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 47 countries and territories with almost 85,000 affiliated sales professionals. The Coldwell Banker brand is known for creating innovative consumer services as recently seen by taking a leadership role in the smart home space, being the first national real estate brand with an iPad app, the first to augment its website www.coldwellbanker.com for smart phones, the first to create an iPhone application with international listings, the first to develop an iPad application (CBx) to easily bring big data into home listing presentations, and the first to fully harness the power of video in real estate listings, news and information through its Coldwell Banker On LocationSM YouTube channel. Coldwell Banker is a leader in niche markets such as resort, new homes and luxury properties through its Coldwell Banker Previews International® marketing program delivering exceptional experiences for all consumers served.

About CEDIA

CEDIA members deliver technology solutions that allow people to have their best moments in life from the comfort of their own home. Life lived best at home. CEDIA is the international trade association and central touch point for 3,700 member companies that represents every facet of the ever-evolving technology market. Follow @CEDIA on Twitter, find us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/CEDIA.Region2, or join the CEDIA group on LinkedIn.

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Coldwell Banker Real Estate and CNET Define "The Smart Home"

New definition creates a clear, standardized designation for real estate agents, home buyers and home sellers

Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, the original Silicon Valley real estate start-up founded in 1906, in collaboration with CNET, the world's largest and most trusted online source of consumer technology news and reviews, announced today a joint definition of the term "smart home." The definition is the first of its kind in the real estate industry and will help sales associates, as well as home buyers and sellers, accurately identify smart homes. The definition will provide a clear and unified designation to keep up with rapidly evolving technology in the home. Property listings that meet the definition will be identified with a smart home icon on coldwellbanker.com.

The full smart home definition is below:

Smart Home: A home that is equipped with network-connected products (i.e., "smart products," connected via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or similar protocols) for controlling, automating and optimizing functions such as temperature, lighting, security, safety or entertainment, either remotely by a phone, tablet, computer or a separate system within the home itself.

In order to be categorized as a smart home, the property must have a smart security feature that either controls access or monitors the property or a smart temperature feature, in addition to a reliable Internet connection. It must also include at leasttwo additional features from this list:

• Appliances (smart refrigerators and smart washer / dryers)
• Entertainment (smart TVs and TV streaming services)
• Heating / Cooling (smart HVAC system, smart fans or vents)
• Lighting (smart light bulbs and lighting systems)
• Outdoors (smart plant sensors and watering systems)
• Safety (smart fire / carbon monoxide detectors and nightlights)
• Security (smart locks, smart alarm systems or cameras)
• Temperature (smart thermostats)

Must Have an Internet Connection such as Cable, satellite or DSL


Must Have At Least Three
*One of the categories must be security or temperature

Category	Examples
Appliances	Smart refrigerators, smart washer / dryers
Entertainment	Smart TVs, TV streaming service
Heating / Cooling	Smart HVAC system, smart fans or vents
Lighting	Smart light bulbs, lighting systems
Outdoors	Smart plant sensors, smart watering systems
Safety	Smart fire / carbon monoxide detectors, nightlights
Security*	Smart locks, networked security cameras
Temperature*	Smart thermostats

"With close to five million homes bought and sold in the U.S. each year, it is imperative that there are standardized guidelines for identifying smart homes on the market," said Sean Blankenship, chief marketing officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. "The new smart home definition will allow our network of independent sales associates to educate their home buyers and sellers regarding what defines a smart home and how the technology is making our lives more comfortable and convenient. We worked with CNET and tapped into the findings of their smart home testing facility in order to create a definition that is easy to understand and representative of the best smart home technology."

As demand for smart homes steadily increases, a consistent and clear definition is crucial. The technology experts from CNET and the real estate professionals from Coldwell Banker Real Estate worked together to create a definition that captures the complexities of the rapidly evolving technology landscape and provides clarity for a mass audience. This definition is part of the Coldwell Banker Real Estate initiative to embrace smart home technology through an agent education program, a dedicated online search tool to help home buyers find smart homes, research with CNET and sponsorship of the Smart Home Marketplace at CES.

"Eighty-seven (87) percent of Americans acknowledge the value of smart home technology, but only one in four has this technology in their homes," said Lindsey Turrentine, editor-in-chief of CNET.com. "The term 'smart home' can be intimidating and overwhelming. We want to make it easy for everyone to better understand what a smart home is, in order to simplify the process in helping them choose the right devices for their homes. Smart home technology today is fragmented, much like the PC industry 15 years ago. An official smart home definition for consumers and real estate agents will provide clarity and credibility to the term."

To learn more and to find smart homes near you, visit coldwellbanker.com/smart-home.

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Coldwell Banker Defines Home as "Awesome" in New National Advertising Campaign Featuring User-Generated Content

Consumers Have a Chance to Be Part of the Campaign by Using #HomeIsAwesomeness

Awesomeness. It's a feeling, an emotion. An unsolicited response to the truly amazing. It's the micro-moments people share in their homes that define who they are and who they will become. That's whyColdwell Banker Real Estate LLC, the original Silicon Valley real estate startup founded in 1906, is shining a spotlight on the short but life-changing experiences happening every day in homes around the world by featuring them in a new national advertising campaign titled "Awesomeness."

The new campaign flips the camera onto real people to shine a light on the real moments that make up the true value of our homes through a number of user-generated videos. A couple finding out their daughter is pregnant. A baby's contagious fit of giggles. A bulldog who can't get his giant bone through the doggy door no matter how hard he tries.


"Every day, 2.6 billion people are walking around with built-in video cameras in their pockets," said Sean Blankenship, chief marketing officer for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. "We take out our phones to capture videos of our dogs and hilarious conversations with our children. When we look at how to express true awesomeness in the home, it's nearly impossible to do without showing the real moments themselves. Home is the center of our lives, and people are capturing amazing micro-moments daily, which allows us to create a campaign that expresses the true awesomeness of home."

As a supplement to the campaign, consumers are encouraged to submit videos and photos of the awesome moments in their homes using the hashtag #HomeIsAwesomeness for a chance to be featured in the national advertising campaign. The hashtag will also serve as a home for the thousands of poignant, funny and awesome moments people share throughout the campaign.

The campaign's four user-generated ad spots highlight various aspects of what make home awesome:
Pregnancy announcement
In advance of Mother's Day, this spot celebrates the joy of a new mother and grandmother to be.
Laughing Baby
The infectious laughter of this baby took the Internet by storm in 2011.
Sleeping Baby
Struggling to keep your eyes open after a long day? From the perspective of an adorable baby, this ad highlights a moment we can all relate to.
Bulldog
This spot highlights the mighty struggle of fitting a bone through a door for one English bulldog.

In addition to these 15- and 30-second spots, Coldwell Banker Real Estate is releasing a 60-second compilation spot with three soundtrack options (Welcome Home, No Place I'd Rather Be, The House We Call Home), asking consumers to vote for their favorite on the campaign's landing page. Coldwell Banker also used the Awesomeness theme in releasing a new X-Men spot in partnership with 20th Century Fox for the upcoming summer movie event, "X-Men: Apocalypse." The ads will run on NBC and various digital channels like Hulu and YouTube.

The Awesomeness ad spots were conceived by Siltanen & Partners, the national advertising agency for Coldwell Banker Real Estate, under the direction of Executive Creative Director Rob Siltanen. All of the ad spots are available atwww.coldwellbanker.com/brand-experience.

Texas home sales jump in first quarter of 2016, inventory drops to all-time low

Texas Association of Realtors releases 2016-Q1 edition of the Texas Quarterly Housing Report

Texas home sales rose significantly in the first quarter of 2016, while housing inventory fell to an all-time low, according to the 2016-Q1 Texas Quarterly Housing Report released today by the Texas Association of Realtors.

"Despite the economic downturn in some parts of the state, home sales continue to be strong, indicating the enduring demand of Texas real estate," said Leslie Rouda Smith, chairman of the Texas Association of Realtors. "Our state continues to be a hub for relocation activity, business development and job growth."


According to the report, 65,265 homes were sold in Texas in the first quarter of 2016, a 7.8 percent increase from the same quarter of 2015. Home prices continued to rise as well, with the median price for Texas homes increasing 5.4 percent year-over-year to $195,000.

Jim Gaines, Ph.D., economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, added, "The Texas economy is experiencing a cooling off period after a five-year boom, so the Texas housing market's strong gains despite the current uneasiness in the state economy are remarkable. It will be interesting to see how Texas real estate activity performs in the next two quarters, typically the strongest quarters for home sales every year. That performance will show the full strength of the Texas housing market in 2016."

Housing inventory fell to an all-time low of 2.8 months in 2016-Q1, a decline of 0.6 months from the first quarter of 2015. The Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University estimates that a monthly housing inventory between 6.0 and 6.5 months is a level at which the supply and demand for homes is balanced.

Active listings also fell sharply in 2016-Q1, dropping 11.9 percent year-over-year to 74,276 active listings. Texas homes also continued to spend less time on the market. In 2016-Q1, Texas homes spent an average of 64 days on the market, a decrease of three days compared to the same quarter of the prior year.

Chairman Smith concluded, "Housing inventory remains extremely limited in Texas. Low housing inventory combined with rising property values is making housing affordability a challenge, not just in Texas's metro areas but across the state. This could become a larger problem if there is not greater balance between supply and demand in the future."

Pending Home Sales Maintain Momentum in March

Pending home sales increased slightly in March for the second consecutive month and reached their highest level in almost a year, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Only the West region saw a decline in contract activity last month.

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, climbed 1.4 percent to 110.5 in March from an downwardly revised 109.0 in February and is now 1.4 percent above March 2015 (109.0). After last month's slight gain, the index has increased year-over-year for 19 consecutive months and is at its highest reading since May 2015 (111.0).

In the short-term, the healthy labor market and favorable borrowing costs should lead to sustained buyer demand and a durable pace of sales. However, Yun says the consequences from a failure to construct more single-family homes in recent years are starting to impact some top job producing markets, where endless supply shortages continue to limit choices for buyers and are driving up prices beyond what a growing share of households can comfortably afford.Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says last month's pending sales increase signals a solid beginning to the spring buying season. "Despite supply deficiencies in plenty of areas, contract activity was fairly strong in a majority of markets in March," he said. "This spring's surprisingly low mortgage rates are easing some of the affordability pressures potential buyers are experiencing and are taking away some of the sting from home prices that are still rising too fast and above wage growth."  

"Demand is starting to weaken in some areas, particularly in the West, where the median home price has risen an astonishing 38 percent in the past three years," adds Yun. "As a result, pending sales in the region have now declined in four of the last five months and are lower than one year ago for the third month in a row. Closed sales in the region in March were also below last year's pace."

The PHSI in the Northeast increased 3.2 percent to 97.0 in March, and is now 18.4 percent above a year ago. In the Midwest the index inched up 0.2 percent to 112.8 in March, and is now 4.0 percent above March 2015.

Pending home sales in the South rose 3.0 percent to an index of 125.4 in March but are still 0.6 percent lower than last March. The index in the West declined 1.8 percent in March to 95.3, and is now 7.9 percent below a year ago.