Tag Archives: Home Prices

Radar Logic's composite to measure home prices may show monthly and yearly gains, but contrary to other reports, the analytics company argues that the increases don't mean prices have hit bottom. Radar Logic's CEO Michael Feder said people who look at current results and call a bottom are being dangerously short-sighted. The company contends the increases are due to temporary forces, such as the warm winter weather, and appreciation may not be consistent for the entire year based on previous trends.

Limited inventory and increased competition helped push June's average home sales-to-listing price ratio above 95 percent, according to the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. HousingPulse attributed the boost to increased competition for the falling inventory of non-distressed property listings, as well as particularly strong home purchase activity in California, Nevada, and Arizona.

For the first time since 2007, home values saw a year-over-year gain in the second quarter of 2012, according to the Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). The index showed homes increased in value by 0.2 percent to $149,300 from last year's second quarter. Adding to the gain in value, foreclosures decreased again in June, with 5.8 out of every 10,000 homes counted as a foreclosure. Foreclosures have been on the decline since January, when 7.9 out of every 10,000 homes were foreclosed on.

A weakened second quarter may indicate a slowdown in economic activity for the rest of the year, Fannie Mae reported Monday. The GSE's Economic & Strategic Research Group revealed that it may have been too optimistic in its original 2012 GDP growth projection of 2.2 percent, revising its growth rate estimate to 2.0 percent. The group attributed the waning economic growth to drops in consumer confidence and employment opportunities.

Home sales and prices picked up for Florida in June, according to housing data released by Florida Realtors. The organization's report shows a 5.3 percent year-over-year increase in closed single-family home sales in the Sunshine State, while pending sales jumped up 31 percent. Year-to-date, closed and pending sales are up from 2011 by 2.3 percent and 19.3 percent, respectively.

According to the firm's U.S. Housing report, single-family housing starts are expected to trend upward, matching the strength of multi-family starts that has driven the housing recovery over the past year. Barclays also anticipates that home price indices will close out the year strong, suggesting a broadening and lasting recovery. Based on improved affordability, increased demand, and falling inventory, the firm projected a year-over-year home price increase of 2.9 percent by the end of 2012.

DS News recently caught up with RealtyTrac VP Daren Blomquist to talk to him about short sales. Although data shows the alternative to foreclosure is becoming more widely used, anecdotal evidence points to frustration and difficulty when pursuing a short sale. So, we decided to have a conversation with Daren about the obstacles that get in the way of short sales, what can be done, and what the upcoming trends might be.

The median price of an existing single family home rose in June to the highest level since almost four years, the fifth straight month-month gain, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Thursday.. The median price was up 7.9 percent from June 2011. Existing home sales dropped to 4.37 million in June to the lowest level since last October, the NAR said. It was the fourth drop in the last five months. Economists had expected the sales pace to increase to 4.65 million from 4.62 million in May.

Increased home sales continue to help the United States out of its Great Recession, but uneven job growth is stunting recovery, according to Freddie Mac's U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for July. The report, released Wednesday, showed that record-breaking low mortgage rates and refinances through HARP 2.0 drove up housing demand, leading to increases in housing starts, home sales, and prices in many markets. However, flagging job growth was a major issue.

Rising home prices and sales signal that the housing recovery may finally be underway, according to RE/MAX. The real estate company released a housing report Tuesday that found closed transactions up 2.1 percent from May and 5 percent from June year-over-year. These figures made June the twelfth straight month for higher transactions. Of 53 metro areas surveyed by the company, 31 offered up increases for both sales and prices. Available homes for sale fell 5 percent from May and 27.4 percent from June last year.