Market Studies

With low mortgage rates as a driving factor, sales of existing single-family homes and condos in Florida surged in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to a recent report by the Florida Association of Realtors. Increased sales of existing homes were reported in 18 of Florida's metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), and all of the Sunshine State's MSAs showed gains in condo sales.

In yet another sign of stabilization within the residential real estate market, strong gains in existing-home sales were the predominant pattern in most states during the fourth quarter of 2009, according to a survey released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Affordability has helped boost sales. The trade group reported that the national median price for an existing single-family home in Q4 was down 4.1 percent from a year earlier, but noted that it was the smallest price decline in over two years.

Down from 44 percent in December, just over 40 percent of available homes for sale had reduced prices in January, according to a monthly survey of home listings in 27 markets conducted by the national real estate brokerage ZipRealty. January marked the fifth consecutive month of fewer price-reduced homes on the market.

The relentless wave of foreclosures that has swelled and battered the housing industry for a good three years seems to have retreated in January, but it's not enough to mean the storm has passed. New data released by RealtyTrac Thursday shows that foreclosure filings were reported on 315,716 U.S. properties during the month, a decrease of nearly 10 percent from December. It's a pattern we've already seen this time last year, and RealtyTrac says if history repeats itself, there will be another flood over the next few months.

National home prices fell 0.7 percent in December, according to the latest numbers from Denver-based Integrated Asset Services, LLC (IAS). Save for a brief rally throughout last summer, the company's benchmark for U.S. housing values was down nearly all of 2009. Now more than 22 percent below its high-water mark set in July 2007, the index has dropped to a level last seen in mid-2004, IAS said.

Despite what seemed to be a flattening - and in some cases even a reversal - of home price declines last year, there are signs that the dreaded ""double dip"" is developing in as many as one in five markets, Zillow says. While residential values in some markets appear to have found their bottom, the company has observed prices in such large metros as Boston, Atlanta, and San Diego to have leveled or begun to decrease again after consecutive monthly increases - early signs of what could become a second period of prolonged declines.

Despite low and stable interest rates, mortgage applications fell for the week ending February 5, 2010, according to the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 1.2 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis from the prior week.

Delinquencies on prime jumbo loans continue to climb, and Fitch Ratings says they could reach 10 percent as early as next month. Loan performance among high-end mortgages within private residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) showed further weakness in January, as serious delinquencies rose for the 32nd consecutive month. Meanwhile, sales of seven-figure homes last year in California hit their lowest count since 2002.

Not even the nation's most recognized and iconic home can escape the deterioration that typifies today's real estate landscape. The value of the White House fell 5.1 percent last year, according to the online real estate marketplace Zillow.com. In January 2008, the company put the value of the White House at $308 million. Twelve months later, and the 132-room mansion built in 1792 is worth $292.5 million.

With foreclosures still rising and potential homebuyers still reluctant to get into the market, homeownership in the United States has hit a 10-year low. According to the Census Bureau, the homeownership rate fell to 67.2 percent at the end of last year. Homeownership has been on a steady downward slope since 2006, when housing woes began to eat away at the government's long-time push to make the American Dream a reality for anyone that wanted it.