Market Studies

The California Association of Realtors (CAR) reported Friday that home sales and prices both showed strong gains in July, with the sales pace showing year-over-year growth for the fourth straight month and the median price reaching a four-year high. Leslie Appleton-Young, CAR VP and chief economist, said the gains in the last few months reflect a market shift toward higher-priced homes.

A working paper released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta suggests that foreclosures may not negatively impact nearby property prices as much as originally thought. The paper examines and refutes the argument long used by experts that mortgage foreclosures greatly reduce the sale prices of properties in the area. The study actually found while neighboring home prices do tend to sink when a property becomes distressed, the effect is only minor.

There are some things we tend to take as fundamental truths. Nowadays, people may add to their roster the idea that home buyers and sellers seem to downright dislike their real estate companies. According to a recent report by J.D. Power and Associates, home buyer satisfaction with national real estate companies fell to its lowest level in the history of the five-year-old survey, a record low on par with mortgage rates.

A study released Thursday by Ellie Mae found that community bankers see increasing regulations as the biggest immediate challenge to their mortgage businesses. More than half of community bank executives (51 percent) said that handling changing compliance standards is the most significant challenge for their banks. They specifically spoke of regulations created by the Dodd-Frank Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Freddie Mac released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) Thursday, showing that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) inched up to 3.62 percent (0.6 point) for the week ending August 16. The 30-year fixed averaged 3.59 percent the previous week. The 15-year FRM also increased, rising to 2.88 percent (0.6 point) from 2.84 percent previously.

First time claims for unemployment insurance edged up 2,000 for the week ended Aug. 11 to 366,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 365,000 initial claims. The prior week's total was revised up to 364,000 from the originally reported 361,000.

Despite continuing improvement in builder confidence, housing starts slipped in July to 746,000, with single-family starts accounting for decline, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Thursday. On the other hand, housing permits improved to 812,000, the highest level in almost four years. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected 750,000 starts and 766,000 permits in July.

Mortgage applications decreased 4.5 percent over the week last week with most of the decrease occurring among refinance applications, according to the latest survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association. (MBA). Refinance activity fell 5 percent compared to the previous week, while purchase activity declined 2 percent.

Builder confidence improved two points in August to 37, its highest level since February 2007, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported Wednesday. Economists had expected the index to remain flat at 35. The improvement in the index in August marked the fourth straight month-month gain. The overall index has gained 22 points in the last year, the largest one-year gain since February 1992. The August reading also marked the third straight month the index was more than double what it had been one year earlier.

Despite a dip from June, July marked the seventh straight month for year-over-year increases in home sales in Southern California, DataQuick reported Tuesday. A total of 20,588 new and resale houses and condos sold in the region during the month, down 6.7 percent from June up 13.8 percent from July 2011. The month's sales were 19.4 percent lower than the average July total since 1988, when DataQuick's statistics begin.