RealEstateEconomyWatch.com

Luxury Prices Lag Lower Price Tiers

For nearly two months, through the heart of the spring buying season, the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing's Market Action Index has stayed stuck at 29, one point below the official level designating a seller's market.

Ratio of Sold to List Prices Shows Inventory Shortages Driving Price Hikes

The Sold-to-List Price Ratio, one of the leading market indicators for predicting home prices, is helping analysts predict home prices in markets with varying economic condition, shortages of available housing inventory and its impact on home prices. Pro Teck Valuation Services' May Home Value Forecast (HVF) Update analyzes the Honolulu, Tucson, San Francisco, and Chicago metro areas to determine how the indicator has been useful from a historical perspective and in current market conditions.

Hedge Funds Drive up Atlanta Prices

A new analysis of institutional investor purchases in Atlanta over the past year found that hedge funds are driving up prices and depleting inventories, yet they are still able to buy properties for less than the market rate.

Despite Sellers’ Markets, Seventy-one Percent Still Say it’s a Good Time to Buy

Home prices are rising at double digit rates. Inventories are at historic lows. Two out of five applicants for a purchase mortgage are rejected. Yet nearly three quarters of Americans say it's a good time to buy a home.

Home Prices Reach 2003 Levels; Every Case-Shiller Market Posts Yearly Gain

Data through February 2013, released today by S&P Dow Jones Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, showed average home prices increased 8.6 percent and 9.3 percent for the 10- and 20-City Composites in the 12 months ending in February 2013. The 10- and 20-City Composites rose 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent from January to February.

Renters Fade as Recovery Takes Hold

With home sales reaching multi-year highs and prices outpacing expectations in the first quarter, the housing recovery is restoring public confidence in homeownership and raising questions about the future demand for expansion of single and multi-family rental capacity.

Major Metros are Now Sellers’ Markets

Most sellers are getting as much or more than they are asking for their homes in eight out of 24 major metros tracked by a new market report released yesterday, a sign that the metros have crossed over from buyers' to sellers' markets.

How to Find Secret Homes for Sale

The number of homes listed for sale today is lower than it's been in a decade. Home buyers are scouring Web sites for property listings and when they find a home they like, they often find themselves in an expensive, stressful bidding war. What they don't know is that they're not seeing as many as 15 to 20 percent of the homes for sale in their markets.

Case-Shiller: 2012 Price Hikes Matched the Boom Years

Home prices increased more in 2012 than they have since have since the summer of 2006 in both of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

Michigan, Florida Markets Top List of Most Dangerous for Investors

Thirty-eight real estate markets have been tagged as "dangerous" for investors looking to make money on buying homes as rental properties in new quarterly data compiled by HomeVestors of America (known as the "We Buy Ugly Houses®" company) and Local Market Monitor.

Movoto: Big Drop in Days on Market

Just as the clock ticks down on the launch of the 2013 buying season, the Movoto mega site reports that in February days on market has dropped dramatically in its market footprint, which is heavily dominated by California markets.

Falling Inventories are Hitting the Brakes

At long last, there are signs that the unprecedented year-long decline in for-sale inventories are slowing, though continuing to fall, just in time for the spring home buying season. But inventories may continue to decline through 2013.

Home Prices Expected to Rise at least 3.3 Percent Annually though 2017

The housing recovery is expected to grow at an annualized rate 0.6 percent through the third quarter of this year, then gain momentum and prices are projected to grow 3.7 percent between the third quarters of 2013 and 2014 until settling down to 3.3 percent annual increases over the next three years according to Fiserv, a financial services technology provider using data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

It’s Official! Prices Increased a Lot Last Year

The major national home price reports agree on trends but never agree on numbers because their data comes from different places and are manipulated differently to create the most accurate results. Yesterday S&P Case-Shiller announced 20012's gain was 7.3 percent. The federal government's index showed a 5.5 percent gain.

January Inventories Fell 25 Percent Below 2012

How far can inventories fall? The latest existing home data suggests we have yet to find out because they are still in freefall just two months before the spring buying season nears. Will sellers warm up in time to populate the MLSs with enough listings to get buyers excited? Or will the inventory drought drive buyers away at the most important time of the year for housing markets?

Luxury Sales Approach Sellers’ Market

Top tier properties are getting close to ending their multi-year buyers' market and quickly reaching a more equal balance between buyers and sellers, catching up with less expensive homes.

Real Estate News Turns Positive

For the first time in years, the American public is hearing more good news than bad news about real estate values first time, as many say they are hearing mostly good news (25%) as bad news (24%) about real estate values.

Luxury Sellers Hang Tough on Prices

Even though the time it takes to sell a luxury property has increased to as long as 260 days in Chicago, 287 in Miami and 197 nationally, fewer sellers are cutting prices.

Biggest Losers are Now the Biggest Winners

Markets that fell hardest during the housing crash five years ago today are racking up the biggest year over year gains as the prices in the nation as a whole through October exceeded analysts' forecasts. Housing markets that were on their knees just a year or so ago from foreclosures and low employment today are seeing prides rise much faster than cities that never felt the housing crash, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

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List Prices Flatten Despite Sinking Inventory

Inventories continued to fall to record lows in November and the age of the nation's listings inventory declined, but asking prices failed to rise as housing markets prepared for their annual wintertime hibernation.

Freddie Mac Economist Sees New Households Outpacing Apartment Boom

In his 2013 forecast, Freddie Mac's chief economist, Frank Nothaft, sees more than a million new households bolstering housing starts, driving apartment vacancy rates down to ten year lows and outpacing the boom in new apartment construction.

The Graying of Homeownership: Tight Credit is Tough on Younger, Single Buyers

High lending standards that make it virtually impossible for millions of younger, single home buyers to get a mortgage are creating an older, more married and wealthier population of homeowners.

October Prices Lag in the Midwest

Price growth was strong in every region in October, including the Northeast where prices rose more than any other region. However, Midwest prices continued to trail the nation as the recovery is still fragile in the nation's heartland.

Has the Homeownership Rate Bottomed Out?

After falling to a 15-year low in the first quarter of the year, then rising by one tenth of a percent in the second quarter, the nation's homeownership rate didn't change at all in the third, suggesting that the rate's seven year slide may be ending as home sales pick up and the recovery sets in.

Five Year Forecast: Prices Will Rise 8.5 to 22 Percent

Nominal house prices will continue to rise for the UFA 100, a broad based composite index of 100 US cities. Under current economic conditions commonly used house price indices will rise between 8.5 and 22 percent cumulatively over the next five years, but recovery will be slow for the larger metro areas in the Case-Shiller 10 city composite.

Subprime Mortgages Rise from the Grave

Like a Hallowe'en zombie rising from its grave, lucrative subprime mortgage lending is poised to make a comeback with the help of a forgiving secondary market, an improving housing market and new tools to assess risk.

Rustbelt Markets are Missing the Recovery

Not all is going smoothly with the housing recovery as the summer ends. August data from Realtor.com shows that, though inventories are still falling, more and more markets are seeing prices go in the wrong direction, dropping below levels of a year ago.

Entry Level Wars Erupt

Inventories overall have fallen 20 percent but the supply of lower tier, entry level properties is tighter than that as bidding wars erupt in markets across the country that until very recently were choked with foreclosures and short sales.

California is Leading the Recovery

The state that gave America Alt-A loans, Countrywide, the first tidal wave of foreclosures, the highest prices during the boom and the fastest fall during the bust now is leading the nation out of the six-year housing depression.

“Normal” Home Sales Soar Despite Obstacles

While sales of distressed properties-foreclosures and short sales- have shrunk since the first of the year, a surge in sales of "normal" non-distressed properties has pushed total home sales through June 4.5 percent higher than last year even though buyers face by tight credit and low inventories.

Housing Recovery Starts to Move on Up

Evidence is mounting that the steadily strengthening housing recovery is moving beyond lower priced homes, where the lack of inventory is greatest, into mid-tier and even luxury housing, according to the first market report on July sales.

Tight Inventories Almost Bypass Luxury Market

It's still a buyer's market for properties selling for more than half a million as tight inventories driven by negative equity and slow foreclosure processing and rising prices are having much less impact on luxury homes than on less expensive homes.

Less Expensive Homes Appreciate Three Times Faster

Tighter market conditions caused by negative equity and a higher level of distress sales are driving up prices three times faster among lower priced homes than expensive ones.

Mortgage Credit Lags Rebound in Consumer Credit

Credit is opening up for autos and other consumer purchases but purchase mortgages account for only a small percentage of the improving picture despite the fact that mortgage delinquencies are down 37 percent among first mortgages since January 2010.

Multiple Offers Return as Buyers are Back but Sellers are Not

Record tight inventories are making it increasingly difficult for growing numbers of buyers, who are creating multiple bid environments in markets that haven't seen buyers battle over homes in six years

Higher Rents Don’t Faze Tenants

Even though 92 percent of property managers report rents are rising or the same as they were a year ago, property managers are attracting residents more easily than a year ago.

Did Phoenix Overshoot the Downside?

True to its name, Phoenix has risen from the ashes of its foreclosure-ridded real estate market to lead the nation in year-over-year price increases, up 32.63 percent year over year in Realtor.com's May data.

Listing Inventories are Down 20 Percent

Key market indicators for May 2012 suggest that the housing market is steadily moving along a path of stabilization and gradual recovery, reports Realtor.com.

Risk of Mortgage Default Falls to Multi-year Low

Under current economic conditions, the risk of defaults on mortgages currently being originated is only 20 percent higher than the average of similar loans originated in the 1990s and much less than in 2006-2008 period

Sellers Close in on Reality

In the first quarter, sellers slowly inched closer to reality when pricing their homes for sale, but they still have a very long way to go, according to a survey of real estate professionals.

Real Estate Investment Outlook

It is becoming increasingly clear that the U.S. economy is improving, creating a more favorable backdrop for residential real estate investment.

Which Remodeling Projects Pay Off?

For the first time in three years, not one project makes a profit in the latest annual national survey of remodeling and repair project costs versus resale values. The average return on remodeling expenditures is lower than last year.

First-time Buyers Ended 2011 on New Low

First-time home buyers are an ever-shrinking segment of the real estate market. In December, The percentage of first-time buyers tied the lowest level ever recorded in the National Assocition of Realtors' Realtors Confidence Index this year at 31 percent of the market.

Outlook 2012: Ingo Winzer Sees Tale of Two Cities

This year will be a tale of two cities. Local employment created by economic growth will drive housing market recoveries, and those markets that create more jobs will see property values and rents improve faster than others that don't.

Delinquencies Deteriorated in November

The steady decline in new delinquencies stopped in November and progress in reducing the volume of future foreclosures has hit a wall.

December Freezes Luxury Sales

Even though the weather was mild across most of the nation in the last week of December, sales of luxury homes entered a deep freeze and time on market soared for homes. As the new year begins, inventories are lower and time on market is higher than they were during all of 2011.

October Prices Sink 3.9 Percent Below 2010

Home prices have declined steadily over the past three months and now trail last year by 3.9 percent, according to the latest CoreLogic Home Price Index.

Austin Spells Relief: J-o-b-s

With an unemployment rate of only 7.3 percent in August, it's no secret why Austin is on everyone's list of top recovering housing markets.

Old Rules No Longer Apply

Never before have housing markets experienced low interest rates, high unemployment, and a glut of inventory hiding in the shadow.

RE/MAX Faults Lenders, Appraisals

Strict lending standards, bad appraisals and concern about the economy all contributed to lower than normal sales in July.

Fannie Finally Mandates Consistency

After more than 3.5 million families have lost their homes to foreclosure over the past five years, Fannie Mae has issued new standards requiring servicers to take a consistent approach for handling delinquent mortgages.

Congress Doubles Funding for Troubled USDA Housing Loans

While slashing funds for disability, elderly, homelessness and Native American housing programs, Congress has doubled the funding for a USDA housing program that may cost the government $4 billion in defaulting loans because over a third of the government-guaranteed rural home loans in its portfolio may be ineligible for the program.

Home Sales Seen Eking Out an Increase

Though deteriorating home price expectations among consumers could cause some potential homebuyers to remain on the sidelines this spring, leading indicators suggest that home sales will manage to eke out a slight rise from last year's record lows.

Bargains Beckon Canadians South

Lower prices and the strong Canadian dollar are encouraging one in five Canadians to buy U.S. property today, according to a new survey of by the Bank of Montreal.

Is There Light at the End of the Foreclosure Tunnel?

Not so long ago, foreclosures were rare and mortgage-backed securities were considered sleepy, conservative, super low risk investments.  In fact, there is reason to hope that the end of the multi-year foreclosure nightmare is finally in sight. The flow of future foreclosures has steadily slowed over the past year. Delinquency and default rates have been falling consistently.

Economists See Slower Housing Recovery

The recovery of housing prices will take at least four more years, according to a monthly survey of 110 leading economists and real estate experts, significantly longer than previously estimated.

Gloomy Fannie Sees a Flat Fall

Fannie Mae's economists see 2.5 percent overall growth in the second half of 2010 but forecast housing will be flat for the remainder of the year due to a greater than expected number of sales being pulled forward into the second quarter by the homebuyer tax credit.

Low Prices Warm Up Investors but Freeze Move-up Buyers

According to a new Move, Inc., survey released yesterday, interest in real estate as an investment has more than tripled in the past year.

Florida Study: Simple Answers Don’t Explain Foreclosures

A study seeking in-depth information on the causes of foreclosures in Florida sponsored by Florida Realtors found that most foreclosures are the result of a combination of factors: living costs, depressed income, health issues and other factors, not a single cause like unemployment or risky loans. Among the most important findings of the Face of Foreclosure [...]

Fear Seen Driving Prices Lower than Last 20 Years

Most metro areas will see prices fall below the lowest levels of the last 20 years, according to the latest forecast from University Financial Associates of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Massive Florida Mortgage Fraud Case Unfolding

A two year FBI investigation into Sarasota house flipping is turning into what may be the largest case of mortgage fraud in Florida's history.

Real Estate Goes Back to Print

Newspaper real estate ad spending is projected to rise 16 percent in 2010, to $4.4 billion, after falling 34 percent last year.

Lenders Modified Loans for 680,000 Homeowners

National bank and thrift servicers implemented more than 680,000 home loan modifications and payment plans in the third quarter.

Foreclosures Overwhelm Rural Communities

 Like suburban areas, rural communities also are suffering the devastating impact of negative equity on their housing markets.

Find the Right Mortgage

Finding the mortgage that is right for you is a very important decision

Mortgage Lending Business Expected to Sink Next Year

The mortgage lending business is expected to take a turn for the worse in 2010 according to the industry’s leading trade group. Mortgage origination volume is expected to plunge by almost 21 percent to $1.56 trillion next year compared to an estimated $1.96 trillion in originations in 2009 according to a new forecast released yesterday by [...]

Is a Reverse Mortgage Right for You?

  Reverse mortgages, the kind of loans marketed by aging celebrities to seniors interested in converting the equity in their homes into cash, aren’t the safe haven they are portrayed by marketers,

How to Protect Yourself Against Mortgage Fraud

During this time of financial crisis, an epidemic of mortgage rescue schemes is sweeping the country.  They prey upon families who are facing foreclosure in exploding numbers. Fraudulent mortgage rescue scams raise false hopes and cruelly exploit people who can ill afford it.

How to Obtain the Right Mortgage

Going into debt for fifteen or thirty years can be a scary process-which is exactly why you should make every effort to learn about mortgages, put your finance in shape so that you qualify for the best possible terms, determine what you can afford and then shop hard for the right mortgage for you.

Housing Organizations Predict Expansion in 2010

The consensus forecast among major real estate organizations is for the housing downturn to come to a close in 2009 and for the expansion to begin in 2010.   THE NEW HOUSING FORECASTS ARE AVAILABLE NOW!   http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2009/10/market-forecastindustry-forecast/

Housing Turning Corner and Helping Economy

Both the economy and the housing markets have displayed concrete signs of improvement during the past several months.

FHA is Now Running on Empty Says Noted Housing Economist

The Federal Housing Administration took the right steps last week to bring the agency's lending standards in line with private industry practices, but with the loss of its excess reserves, FHA is now essentially running on empty and the jury is out on whether the agency has adequate capital reserves to weather projected losses from defaults and foreclosures, said a noted housing economist who first raised concerns about FHA's financial condition in an article in Real Estate Economy Watch last June (Can FHA Dodge the Bullet?).

Home Prices Continue to Decline but at a Slower Pace

Home values continue to drop across the nation but at an increasingly slower pace according to new price data released by Zillow.com. The news was an encouraging sign for the housing sector.

Analyst Sees Further Upside to Homebuilder Stock Rally

J.P. Morgan analyst Michael Rehaut on Friday elevated his outlook on the homebuilding industry, stating that the housing sector has made it through the worst of the correction.

Opposition Grows to First-Time Homebuyer Credit

Time is quickly running out on the first-time homebuyer tax credit, due to expire December 1 and despite an all-out lobbying campaign, the housing industry faces a battle to extend and expand it.

Housing Recovery: Built on Bricks or Sticks?

Recent housing indicators such as existing home sales, new home sales and housing starts, suggest a recovery is underway in the nation's housing sector. But is the recovery sustainable?

Wells Fires Executive for Partying in Malibu Foreclosure

Wells Fargo yesterday fired a senior vice president in charge of managing foreclosed commercial properties for holding parties in a foreclosed home  in an exclusive Malibu community whose previous owners were financially devastated in Bernard Madoff's massive fraud scheme.

Will Inflation Rear Its Ugly Head?

Eventually, the piper has to get paid. Excessive government spending and money supply growth have left an aftermath of conditions that portend unfavorably for the inflation outlook. 

Foreclosed Homes Spawn Violent Crime Wave

Record numbers of foreclosed homes, often empty and abandoned for months before they are resold, have become spawning grounds for violent crime-including assault, rape and even murder.

Home Sales Up; Home Prices Down

It is becoming increasingly clear that a two-headed housing recovery is underway. Unfortunately, unlike Siamese twins, the heads will not be arriving at the same time.

How to Find Your Next Home Online

If you're like nine out of ten home buyers today, you are using the Internet to look for a home.  Why not?  The Internet has transformed the way people buy and sell houses.  Real estate search sites make it easy for buyers to check out hundreds of properties in a matter of minutes and for sellers to reach thousands of buyers that they could never reach before.

How to Understand Your Housing Market

 “All real estate is local” is an industry dictum that’s not only obvious, it’s very true.  When you hear on the news that home sales or prices are up or down, chances are that those are national reports that may have little or nothing to do with conditions where you live.

How to Find Your Next Home Online

 If you're like nine out of ten home buyers today, you are using the Internet to look for a home.  Why not?  The Internet has transformed the way people buy and sell houses.  Real estate search sites make it easy for buyers to check out hundreds of properties in a matter of minutes and for sellers to reach thousands of buyers that they could never reach before. 

The Incredible Shrinking Housing Market

Nearly three and a half years into a spiraling downturn, our nation's housing sector looks like a mere shadow of itself.  It is a housing market that has shrunk by almost 40 percent in home sales during the past several years and has partly closed its door on low income and minority households.

Don’t Judge the Housing Market by its Cover

A cursory glance at the U.S. housing markets suggests that the worst is over and the recovery is on its way. But before we declare victory, we must consider the possibility of a false start.

Financial Regulatory Reform is Necessary for Economic Recovery

Even though recent economic reports have indicated that the worst may be over, the U.S. economy and housing markets remain in a fragile state. Recovery is tenuous at best and reform of our financial system is a necessary ingredient for a successful economic recovery.

The Bumpy Road to Recovery

Investors are anticipating a recovery for the economy in the second half of this year as evidenced by recent upward pressures on long term interest rates and advances in equity values. But the road to recovery is anything but smooth.

HUD Tweaks First-Timer Credit

HUD announced last week it has found a creative way to made the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers even more useful than it was when passed by Congress last February.

A Shadow Threatens Home Values

It's called the "shadow inventory" and it's scarier than a ghost because it is very real.  It's hanging over your local real estate market ready to ambush property values at the first sign of a rebound.

Difficult Housing Recovery Ahead

Recent data suggest the worst may be over for the  housing markets. But only when home values stabilize will there be a true recovery in housing.

Major Lenders Implement “Making Home Affordable”

Making Home Affordable, the Administration's program to reduce foreclosures through refinancing, modification of loans held by borrowers in trouble, and lowered interest rates, is finally moving ahead with critical loan modifications after hitting a snag over how to handle secondary liens.

Housing Recovery May Be in Sight

There are more than subtle signs that the housing markets may be recovering and the worst may be over. Recent data releases support this notion.

Rising Mortgage Rates May Be Good for Housing

The economy is showing signs of improving and that may help an anemic housing sector recover.

Lenders Tighten Standards on Prime Mortgages

Even though demand is up, home buyers will find it tougher to get a mortgage today than last fall, even if they qualify for a prime mortgage.

First-timer Tax Credit is Working

Looks like last year's first-time homebuyer tax credit-the one the housing industry pooh-poohed because it required buyers to pay it back over 15 years-is doing a lot better than most people expected.

Raising Your Real Estate IQ

Bottom, Bottom, Wherefore Art Thou, Bottom?

The Web is littered with predictions, forecasts, hunches and wild guesses about the long anticipated housing bottom, but only two things are certain.  The first is that almost all of today’s bottom diviners will be wrong.  The second is that no one will know for sure whether we have reached bottom of the real estate depression until it is past and we are into a period of recovery.

AmeriDream, Nehemiah Lobby for their Lives

Was the ban on seller-financed down payment assis­tance passed by Congress last July a death warrant to down payment assistance groups like AmeriDream and the Nehemiah Corporation and a blow to builders like Lennar Corporation, who at one point relied on down payment assistance for a third of all the mortgages it originated?

No End to REOs

Selling foreclosed properties after lenders have taken possession—known in the business as REOs or real es­tate owned properties—is not for everyone. Prices are lower than market values, reducing commissions. Then there’s the cost and stress of cleaning up and main­taining properties that are usually ill-maintained if not outright trashed. Finally, collecting money from slow-paying banks is a pain.

Lending Standards Ease Slightly

Slightly fewer banks reported tightening their lending standards for prime mortgages during the third quar­ter of 2008, according to the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Survey on Bank Lending Practices. The number of banks tightening standards decreased from 75 to 70 percent, the first time the survey has shown a net decrease since banks started [...]

Commercial Real Estate Headed for Downturn

Commercial real estate is finally joining the party. Even though there has been no meaningful overbuilding in commercial real estate, the outlook for the industry has seriously dimmed. The retail and office sectors have turned down with vacancies rising. And the industrial sector is not far behind. A tightened credit market and a slumping economy are to blame.