By Tony at MSN Real Estate
In April, homebuying season begins in earnest for most regions, and
last month was no exception: Existing-home sales increased 3.4% in April
from March, hitting a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million,
the National Association of Realtors said. That was 10% higher than in April 2011.
Meanwhile,
the median sale price for existing homes increased 3.1% in April from
March to $177,400; that was a 10.1% jump from April 2011. Coupled with
March's price increase, this marks the first two-month period of
back-to-back year-to-year price increases since mid-2010, the NAR says.
Earlier this month, the NAR reported
that 74 of the 146 largest U.S. metropolitan areas showed a price
increase from the first quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of this
year.
The most encouraging news, however, could come in the breakdown of who's paying for these homes.
Post continues below
First-time
buyers accounted for 35% of purchases in April, up from 33% in March
and near April 2011's level. All-cash sales decreased to 29% of
transactions, from 32% in March. Investors accounted for 20% of sales,
nearly the same as in March and in April 2011.
On
one hand, in a healthy market, first-time buyers represent 40% to 45%
of the market, BMO Capital Markets economist Jennifer Lee told The Associated Press
— and typically, a stable month includes 6 million home sales. But
Lawrence Yun, the NAR's chief economist, cheered April's news as
evidence that real buyers — or folks buying homes to live in them,
rather than to rent or flip them — are coming back to the market. That
is good for many reasons.
"A return of normal homebuying
for occupancy is helping home sales across all price points, and now
the recovery appears to be extending to home prices," he said in a press
release. "The general downtrend in both listed and shadow inventory has
shifted from a buyers market to one that is much more balanced, but in
some areas it has become a sellers market."
#realestateallaround
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Buying a Home Won't Get Much Cheaper
By Les Christie
Buying a home may never get any cheaper than this. Several housing experts are predicting that this year will be the last chance for bargain hunters to cash in on the best deals of the weak housing market.
With home prices down 34% nationally since 2006 and mortgage rates at historic lows, homes have never been more affordable -- but it won't stay this way for much longer.
Stuart Hoffman, chief economist for PNC Financial Services, said he expects home prices to flatten out by the third quarter and start climbing by next year.
A number of factors will help bolster the housing market, he said, including a decline in the number of foreclosures and continued job growth. In addition, homebuyers will have better access to mortgages as they get their finances in order and improve their credit scores.
"This is a strong indicator that we will start seeing home price indexes, like the S&P/Case-Shiller, start to report home price increases this summer," he said.
Prospective homebuyers who've been sitting on the fence shouldn't worry if they aren't quite ready to make the leap. Analysts are predicting that the initial price gains will be modest, at least, in most markets. #realestateallaround
Buying a home may never get any cheaper than this. Several housing experts are predicting that this year will be the last chance for bargain hunters to cash in on the best deals of the weak housing market.
With home prices down 34% nationally since 2006 and mortgage rates at historic lows, homes have never been more affordable -- but it won't stay this way for much longer.
Stuart Hoffman, chief economist for PNC Financial Services, said he expects home prices to flatten out by the third quarter and start climbing by next year.
A number of factors will help bolster the housing market, he said, including a decline in the number of foreclosures and continued job growth. In addition, homebuyers will have better access to mortgages as they get their finances in order and improve their credit scores.
"This is a strong indicator that we will start seeing home price indexes, like the S&P/Case-Shiller, start to report home price increases this summer," he said.
Prospective homebuyers who've been sitting on the fence shouldn't worry if they aren't quite ready to make the leap. Analysts are predicting that the initial price gains will be modest, at least, in most markets. #realestateallaround
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
INCREASES IN HOME SALES VOLUME, TEXAS 2012
Increases in home sales volume, price indicate momentum for Texas real estate in 2012
May 1, 2012
The Texas real estate market gained positive
momentum in the first quarter of 2012, according to the 2012-Q1 edition
of the Texas Quarterly Housing Report issued today by the Texas
Association of REALTORS®. The volume of single-family home sales in
Texas was 12% higher than the same quarter of 2011 and the median price
increased by almost 3% over the same time frame.
“The watchword for Texas real estate in 2011
was ‘consistency,’ in both sales volume and price. That allowed us to
emerge from last year with stable sales volumes and strong property
values,” said Joe Stewart, chairman of the Texas Association of
REALTORS. “Now, in 2012’s first-quarter results, we see a strong
increase in sales volume and a meaningful increase in the median price.
That indicates positive momentum for the year ahead.”
For the period of January through March 2012,
the volume of single-family home sales in Texas was 45,502, 12% more
than the same quarter in 2011. The median price for Texas homes during
the quarter was $147,100, 2.7% more than 2011-Q1.
Jim Gaines, Ph.D., an economist with the Real
Estate Center at Texas A&M University, expanded on the report: “We
believe several factors are driving the strong performance of the first
quarter, including continued job growth in Texas and some increased
access to credit for homebuyers. Most of all, we’re starting to see a
shift in Texans’ attitudes toward real estate. Essentially, buyers and
sellers have higher expectations for the market, so they’re beginning to
take action and we’re starting to see the impacts.”
Looking ahead, the “months inventory”
calculation can provide insight into future demand for homes and that
figure decreased from 7.6 months in 2011-Q1 to 6.0 months in the first
quarter of this year. “Months inventory” is an indicator of the balance
between demand for homes and supply in the market and the Real Estate
Center at Texas A&M University cites 6.5 months of inventory as a
balanced market.
Gaines continued, “In Texas, our inventory of
homes for sale has been decreasing for about six months now. That’s due
in part to the fact that some homeowners who don’t have to sell have
chosen to wait for prices to improve before selling their homes. In
addition, the slower processing of foreclosures and fewer distressed
properties may reduce the number of listings. However, a decrease of
more than 20% in the inventory of homes compared to the same quarter
last year is significant and may be an indication of price increases in
the future.”
Chairman Stewart concluded, “If all the
indicators play out as we expect, the Texas real estate market is in for
a busy spring and summer.”
The Texas Quarterly Housing Report is issued
four times per year by the Texas Association of REALTORS® with multiple
listing service data compiled and analyzed by the Real Estate Center at
Texas A&M University. #realestateallaround
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