WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose more than expected in March, a trade group said on Wednesday, suggesting the housing market's downward trend may be close to hitting a bottom.
The National Association of Realtors said sales rose 3.7 percent month over month to an annual rate of 5.10 million units after an upwardly revised 4.92 million unit pace in February.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected sales to rise 2.5 percent to a 5.0 million-unit pace from the previously reported 4.88 million unit rate. Sales have now risen in six of the past eight months.
"It's slow, steady progress, but you cannot not be disturbed by the slow pace of recovery," said Pierre Ellis, an economist at Decision Economics in New York. "Demand is rising even with higher mortgage rates so that's encouraging."
The housing market is struggling to find its footing as a wave of foreclosed properties keeps supply elevated and prices depressed.
Last month, foreclosures and short sales, which typically occur at about 20 percent below market value, accounted for 40 percent of transactions. That was the highest since April 2009 and was up from 39 percent in February.
The median home price fell 5.9 percent in March from a year earlier to $159,600. Compared with March last year, sales were down 6.3 percent.
"A sustained turnaround in the housing market is still far off based on earlier-released depressed readings for housing starts, building permits and builders' confidence indices," said Krishen Rangasamy an economist at CIBC World Markets in Toronto.
MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS UP
A separate report on Wednesday showed demand for home loans rose last week, as interest rates eased and purchase activity picked up. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its purchase index rose 10 percent to 210.8, the highest since early December.
Last month, all-cash purchases made up a record 35 percent of sales in March and the NAR said the lower and upper ends of the market were showing strong activity, with the middle part -- which accounts for the existing housing market -- remaining sluggish.
Sales last month rose across the board, with multifamily dwellings rising 1.6 percent and single-family home units advancing 4 percent.
At March's sales pace, the supply of existing homes on the market slipped to 8.4 months' worth from 8.5 months in February. However, the number of previously owned homes on the market rose 1.5 percent to 3.55 million.
A supply of between six and seven months is generally considered ideal, with higher readings pointing to lower house prices.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Neil Stempleman)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Existing home sales rise, prices fall - Yahoo! News
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Housing starts, permits rebound in March - Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Housing starts and permits for future home construction rose more than expected in March, snapping back from the prior month's winter weather depressed levels, government data showed on Tuesday.
The Commerce Department said housing starts rose 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 549,000 units. February's starts were revised up to a 512,000-unit pace from the previously reported rate of 479,000 units.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast housing starts rising to a 520,000-unit rate. Compared to March last year, residential construction was down 13.4 percent.
Still, the bounce back in residential construction does not signal recovery as an over- supply of homes continues to discourage builders from embarking on new projects.
"It's mainly a rebound from previous month's decline. We still think the housing market is very weak, and the high inventory is still depressing sales and prices," said Sireen Harajli, an economist at Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank in New York.
"We hope to see some signs of improvement toward the end of the year, but we won't see substantial improvement until 2012."
Stock index futures were steady at higher levels, while government debt prices were steady at lower levels. The dollar held at lower levels versus the euro.
Home builders' sentiment slipped a notch in April, the National Association of Home Builders said on Monday, with builders viewing sales conditions now and in the next six months as unfavorable.
Residential construction was likely a drag on economic growth in the first quarter after making a modest contribution in the last three months of 2010. Home building accounts for about 2.4 percent of gross domestic product.
Groundbreaking last month was lifted by a 5.8 percent rise in volatile multifamily homes. Single-family home construction increased 7.7 percent.
New building permits advanced 11.2 percent to a 594,000-unit pace last month, rebounding from February's record low 534,000 units. Economist had expected overall building permits to rise to a 540,000-unit pace in March.
Permits were propped up last month by a 25.2 percent jump in the multifamily segment. Permits to construct buildings with five or more units rose to their highest level since January 2009 -- likely reflecting growing demand for rental properties.
Permits to build single-family homes rose 5.7 percent. However, new home completions dropped 14.2 percent to a record low 509,000 units in March
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani, editing by Neil Stempleman)
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
New home sales plunge to record low in February - Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New single-family home sales unexpectedly fell in February to hit a record low and prices were the lowest since December 2003, showing the housing market slide was deepening.
The Commerce Department said on Wednesday sales dropped 16.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted 250,000 unit annual rate, the lowest since records began in 1963, after an upwardly revised 301,000-unit pace in January.
Sales plunged to all-time lows in three of the four regions last month. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales edging up to a 290,000-unit pace last month from a previously reported 284,000 unit rate.
"It's been a disappointing February for home sales and there are no signs of a turnaround," said Kurt Karl, chief U.S. economist at Swiss Re in New York.
"We're going to have a continuing slowdown in the next few months, but people will start to feel better in the second half of the year and construction and sales should do better later this year and into next year."
U.S. stock indexes fell on the data, while government debt prices rose marginally. The dollar was little changed.
Compared to February last year sales were down 28 percent.
An oversupply of homes exacerbated by an increasing flood of properties falling into foreclosure is frustrating recovery in the housing market. Data on Monday showed a steep drop in sales of previously owned homes in February, with prices tumbling to a near nine-year low.
HOUSE PRICES PLUNGE
The median sales price for a new home plunged 13.9 percent last month to $202,100, the lowest since December 2003. Compared with February last year, the median price fell 8.9 percent. Persistent price declines could dampen hopes of a pick-up in sales during spring.
In the face of stiff competition from foreclosed properties, which typically sell well below market value, builders are holding back on new construction.
At February's sales pace, the supply of new homes on the market rose to 8.9 months' worth, the highest since August, from 7.4 months' worth in January.
There were 186,000 new homes available for sale last month, matching the prior month's inventory. That was still the smallest supply of home since 1967.
Despite lean inventories, new home sales will likely continue to bounce along the bottom for a while until the glut of previously owned homes is whittled down. New home sales account for less than 10 percent of overall sales.
According to the National Association of Realtors, new home prices have been running 45 percent higher than existing home prices, a premium that is historically about 15 percent, indicating previously owned homes are selling well below the cost of construction.
Separately, the Mortgage Bankers Association said applications for home loans rebounded 2.7 percent last week.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Additional reporting by Ellen Freilich in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
The housing market continues to be a drag on the recovery.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Home sales dive, prices near 9-year low - Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales of previously owned U.S. homes plunged in February and prices hit their lowest level in nearly nine years, implying a housing market recovery was still a long way off.
The National Association of Realtors said on Monday sales fell 9.6 percent month over month to an annual rate of 4.88 million units, snapping three straight months of gains. The percentage decline was the largest since July.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected February sales to fall 4.0 percent to a 5.15 million-unit pace from the previously reported 5.36 million unit rate in January. January's pace was revised up slightly to 5.40 million.
"This is a frustrating number. The U.S. residential real estate market doesn't seem to want to turn around despite better affordability," said David Carter, chief investment officer at Lenox Advisors in New York.
Financial markets largely ignored the data. U.S. stocks were up sharply in early trade, partly on news of a bid by AT&T for Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA and growing hopes Japan would get its nuclear crisis under control.
U.S. debt prices extended losses as the U.S. Treasury said it would begin selling off $142 billion in mortgage-backed securities it had acquired to help tame the financial crisis, while the dollar rose against the yen on intervention worries.
The Realtors' group said the median home price dropped 5.2 percent in February from a year earlier to $156,100, the lowest since April 2002, a sign of the relentless downward pressure on prices from a market flooded with foreclosure sales.
"If the price declines persist, even with the job market recovery, that could hamper recovery in the housing market," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.
A glut of homes on the market and the flood of foreclosure properties are holding back a recovery in the housing sector, whose collapse helped to tip the U.S. economy into its worst recession since the 1930s.
Foreclosures and short sales, which typically occur below market value, accounted for 39 percent of transactions in February, up from 37 percent the prior month, the trade group said. All-cash purchases made up a record 33 percent of transactions in February.
Sales fell across the board, with multifamily dwellings declining 10 percent and single-family home units dropping 9.6 percent. Compared with February last year, overall sales were down 2.8 percent.
At February's sales pace, the supply of existing homes on the market rose to 8.6 months' worth from 7.5 in January. A supply of between six and seven months is generally considered ideal, with higher readings pointing to lower house prices.
(Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Housing starts see biggest drop since 1984 - Yahoo! Finance
Housing starts see biggest drop since 1984
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Housing starts posted their biggest decline in 27 years in February while building permits dropped to their lowest level on record, suggesting the beleaguered real estate sector has yet to rebound from its deepest slump in modern history.
Groundbreaking on new construction dropped 22.5 percent last month to an annual rate of 479,000 units, according to Commerce Department data released on Wednesday. This was just above a record low set in April 2009 and way below the estimates of economists, who had been looking for a smaller drop to 570,000.
January's figure was revised up to 618,000 units from 596,000. But that did not change the tenor of the report, which confirmed that the sector is failing to recover despite interest rates near record lows.
Building permits, a hint of future construction demand, fell to a record low of 517,000 units from a revised 563,000, and were down by about 20 percent from levels seen in February 2010.
Housing was at the epicenter of the financial crisis of 2007-2009.
One key impediment to the sector's recovery is a vast backlog of unsold inventory, while a shaky job market has also made consumers reluctant to embark on any major new financial commitments. Making matters worse, a glut of foreclosures, stalled in recent months by revelations of improper loan documentation, is depressing the market.
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Underwater mortgages rise as home prices fall - Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON – The number of Americans who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth rose at the end of last year, preventing many people from selling their homes in an already weak housing market.
CoreLogic says about 11.1 million households, or 23.1 percent of all mortgaged homes, were underwater in the October-December quarter. That's up from 22.5 percent, or 10.8 million households, in the July-September quarter.
The number of underwater mortgages had fallen in the previous three quarters, but that was mostly because more homes had fallen into foreclosure.
Underwater mortgages typically rise when home prices fall. Home prices in December hit their lowest point since the housing bust in 11 of 20 major U.S. metro areas. In a healthy housing market, about 5 percent of homeowners are underwater.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Home prices hit post-bust lows in most big cities - Yahoo! Finance
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Home prices in a majority of major U.S. cities tracked by a private trade group have fallen to their lowest levels since the housing bubble burst, and analysts expect further declines this year.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index fell 1 percent in December from November. Prices fell in all but one of the metropolitan markets tracked.
The only city to see a gain was Washington, where hiring by the federal government has helped boost the region's job market.
Eleven of the markets hit their lowest point since the housing bust, in 2006 and 2007: Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Portland, Ore., Seattle and Tampa, Fla.
The housing sector is struggling even while the rest of the economy is showing signs of a slow but steady recovery. The latest evidence of this divide came Tuesday when the Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index rose in February to its highest point in three years. The index surveys how people feel about hiring and income, and how they see that changing over the next six months.
By contrast, the outlook for housing in 2011 is not promising. Construction of new homes has fallen to a rate of about 600,000 homes built per year. In a healthy economy, builders expect to construct about 1 million homes each year. Homeowner vacancy rates are near record highs and the creation of new households in the United States is at its lowest point in four decades.
"Despite improvements in the overall economy, housing continues to drift lower and weaker," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's.
The damage from the real estate bubble has spread well beyond the Sun Belt, where new homes cropped up at a frantic pace during the mid-2000s. In many places, prices are expected to keep falling for at least the next six months and several analysts said they expect prices to fall at least another 5 percent.
Some of the worst declines are in cities hit hardest by foreclosures and high unemployment, including Detroit, Phoenix and Tampa. A home that sold for $250,000 in the Motor City in 2000 now sells for roughly $163,150, according to the housing report. Homes in Las Vegas and Cleveland now sell, on average, for less than they of what they did a decade ago. Many people are holding off buying or selling homes because they fear the market hasn't hit bottom yet.
A large number of homes that aren't selling are contributing to a second wave of price declines since the boom years. Many of them have been vacant for months.
In December, prices fell for the sixth straight month and for the eighth time in the past 11 months. Foreclosures are also expected to increase as the year goes forward.
"There's just way too many homes out there relative to demand and we're not going to see that change anytime soon," said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist for MFR Inc.
The housing recovery is uneven across the United States. Coastal cities in California and the Northeast are faring much better than the Midwest and Southeast. That's mainly because they benefit from expensive and somewhat recession-proof housing markets buoyed by low unemployment and limited new construction.
The Case-Shiller report measures home price increases and decreases relative to prices in January 2000 and gives an updated three-month average for the metropolitan areas it looks at.
Friday, October 08, 2010
BofA Halts All Foreclosures - WSJ.com
Bank of America Corp. is placing a moratorium on all foreclosure proceedings and sales across the U.S. amid political pressure on U.S. banks to examine foreclosure-documentation problems.
The nation's largest bank by assets is the first financial institution to stop all foreclosure actions amid revelations that the banking industry had used "robo-signers," people who sign hundreds of documents a day without reviewing their contents, when foreclosing on homes. Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Ally Financial Inc. last week postponed foreclosures in 23 states where a court's approval is required to foreclosure on a home.
This is HUGE news.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Renters in Foreclosed Properties Do Not Lose Their Leases
These rules changed dramatically on May 20, 2009, when President Obama signed the "Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009." This legislation provided that leases would survive a foreclosure -- meaning the tenant could stay at least until the end of the lease, and that month-to-month tenants would be entitled to 90 days' notice before having to move out (this notice period is longer than any state's non-foreclosure notice period, a real boon to tenants).
An exception was carved out for the buyer who intends to live on the property -- this buyer may terminate a lease with 90 days' notice. Importantly, the law provides that any state legislation that is more generous to tenants will not be preempted by the federal law. These protections apply to Section 8 tenants, too.
Importantly, tenants who live in cities with rent control "just cause" eviction protection are also protected from terminations at the hands of an acquiring bank or new owner. These tenants can rely on their ordinance's list of allowable, or "just causes," for termination. Because a change of ownership, without more, does not justify a termination, the fact that the change occurred through foreclosure will not justify a termination.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
BofA to start reducing mortgage principal - Yahoo! News
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Bank of America Corp. is giving some of its most troubled mortgage borrowers relief from the threat of foreclosure.
The bank, the largest mortgage servicer in the country, said Wednesday it will forgive up to 30 percent of some customers' total mortgage balance. The homeowners must be at least 60 days delinquent on their loans and owe more than 120 percent of their homes' value.
The plan is part of an agreement the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank reached 18 months ago with state attorneys general to settle charges over high-risk loans made by Countrywide Financial Corp. The loans were made before Bank of America acquired the mortgage lender in mid-2008. Bank of America has since stopped making those loans.
Although the motivation for Bank of America's announcement was to resolve legal problems, it has the potential of setting a precedent for other banks to also start forgiving principal on loans that are in danger of failing. Bank of America is the nation's largest bank, and it's among the first to take a systematic approach to reducing mortgage principal when home values drop well below the amount owed.
Millions of homes have gone into foreclosure since the housing market collapsed in late 2007. The loans affected by Bank of America's announcement include certain subprime and option adjustable rate mortgages. Option ARMs allow borrowers to start with minimal monthly payments that actually increase the loan's balance.
The borrowers who can take advantage of the Bank of America program must also qualify for the Obama administration's $75 billion mortgage loan modification program.
Bank of America estimates that about 45,000 customers will qualify for its plan.
The offer will cut total reduced principal by about $3 billion. That could lower the bank's earnings, which have already been hurt by consumers' continuing defaults on mortgage and credit card loans. Bank of America was among the hardest hit by the credit crisis and recession.
Even so, "the move helps create the best prospect of avoiding a further downward home price spiral, which would result in even deeper losses" for the bank, said Howard Glaser, a mortgage industry consultant, in an e-mail.
Investors appeared pleased with the news, sending Bank of America shares up 36 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $17.49 in afternoon trading.
According to new plan, which begins in May, Bank of America will first offer to set aside a portion of the principal balance, interest free. That principal can be forgiven over five years, if homeowners don't miss any payments. The maximum decrease in principal will be 30 percent.
The forgiveness allows a homeowner to bring a mortgage balance back down to 100 percent of the home's value, the bank said.
Glaser said the program could lead the Obama administration to launch a similar effort for the entire industry. That, he wrote, would be a "major shift in loan modification efforts."
Lenders including Bank of America have been criticized for not helping enough borrowers to complete the Obama administration's $75 billion loan modification program, which is widely viewed as a disappointment. Only 170,000 homeowners have completed the program so far.
As of last month, Bank of America had completed modifications for about 22,000 homeowners, or about 8 percent of those signed up. That compares with about 12 percent for Wells Fargo & Co. and 11 percent for both JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc.
The Treasury Department estimates that 1.5 million to 2 million homeowners will complete the program by the end of 2012, about half of the original goal. A report issued late Tuesday by Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, says numerous changes to government guidelines "caused confusion and delay" and said the government did not do enough to advertise the program.
___
AP Real Estate Writer Alan Zibel in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Wow, never thought I would see this. How many people will stop making payments now?
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
New home sales hit record low in January - Yahoo! Finance
Friday, February 12, 2010
Current Stats for 85018 - 02/12/2010
Current Stats for 85018
All Property Types
ALL Distressed Distressed PPSF Not Distressed Not Distressed PPSF % Distressed Active 416 117 146.26 299 308.72 28.13 In Escrow 108 78 147.25 30 224.16 72.22 Closed - MTD 13 3 112.99 10 206.14 23.08 Closed - 01/2010 36 22 141.54 14 167.80 61.11
Months of inventory for Not Distressed properties = 21.4
Months of inventory for Distressed properties = 5.3
LBPOST.com: Foreclosure Up-Tick May Signal Impending Flood
January foreclosure numbers are exhibiting a pattern very similar to a year ago: a double-digit percentage jump in December foreclosure activity followed by a 10% drop in January,” James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, said in a statement. “If history repeats itself we will see a surge in the numbers over the next few months as lenders foreclose on delinquent loans where neither the existing loan modification programs or the new short sale and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure alternatives works.
Interesting article. I am not sure why the coming influx of foreclosures is not getting more attention.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
New program to make short sales easier
The federal government is launching a program April 5th to increase and streamline short sales. It's called Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA). The program aims to standardize short sale regulations and paperwork. All servicers participating in HAMP, the federal Home Affordable Modification Program, are contractually obligated to consider those ineligible for modifications for a foreclosure alternative. Read the whole article at azcentral.com
As an agent, I hope that this makes things better, however, I do not hold out too much hope because of the huge volume of short sales still to come.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Are you ready to pay more taxes in 2011??
Friday, January 29, 2010
Foreclosure Trends for 85018
<img src='http://www.foreclosureradar.com/webservices/chart/chart.php?LocationValue=85018&ChartTitle=85018%20-%20Filings&FLXID=4af2d85e3423e&ChartType=1&LocationType=Zip&LocationState=AZ&TimeUnits=month&EndDate=2010-01-01&ChartSize=4' alt="85018 - Filings" />
<img src='http://www.foreclosureradar.com/webservices/chart/chart.php?LocationValue=85018&ChartTitle=85018%20-%20Outcomes&FLXID=4af2d85e3423e&ChartType=2&LocationType=Zip&LocationState=CA&TimeUnits=month&ChartSize=4' alt="85018 - Outcomes" />
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Las Vegas, California Cities Top Foreclosure List in 2009 - BusinessWeek
Las Vegas homeowners had the highest U.S. foreclosure rate last year, and California and Florida cities accounted for 17 of the nation’s 20 worst markets as unemployment extended the housing recession.
The article goes on to say that things are looking to get worse before they get better. A significant increase in foreclosures is expected and if the economy continue to sputter home prices that gained in the past six months will falter again.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
New home sales fall 7.6% in December
As long as there are distressed properties on the market in any sizable quantity the new home sales figures will be horrible.
Monday, January 25, 2010
December home sales down nearly 17 percent - Yahoo! News
Unfortunately, they do not mention the inventory that is currently being held by as Bank Owned will at some point hit the market and potentially cause the months supply to jump. We know that B of A is already getting ready to release bank owned properties into the Las Vegas market... It is only a matter of time until this happens throughout the country.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Foreclosure - New Winter Olympic Game??!!
If you have a few extra bucks socked away you may be able to pick up a ski resort on the cheap.
Crazy times! Read the article here
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