Tag Archives: Home Prices

Data shows that the onset of the housing crisis brought with it an increase in students taking out loans for higher education. Since the third quarter of 2008, student loan debt has increased by 47.9 percent ($293 million). This increase is attributed to the drop in the availability of home equity loans, which are often used by homeowning parents to finance their children's education. While student loan debt has risen, NAHB's analysis dismissed speculation that loan delinquency could spell disaster for housing and the economy.

U.S. home prices averaged $200,000 in April 2012, posting a monthly gain, but still down from a year ago, Lender Processing Services revealed in a preliminary release. According to the analytics company's Home Price Index (HPI), which reports on price changes based on residential real estate transactions occurring in April 2012, prices increased 1.1 percent from the month before and decreased by 0.1 percent from April 2011. The states, including the District of Columbia, which posted the greatest monthly increases were Alaska (2.6 percent), D.C. (2.4 percent), and Georgia (2.2 percent).

The drop in existing home sales reported by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Thursday likely stemmed from a lack of distressed properties on the market, according to IHS Global Insight. In May, existing-home sales made a fall of 1.5 percent from the month before. The share of investor purchases also declined, which IHS economist Patrick Newport said is likely due to a drop in the number of distressed homes. According to the NAR report, investor purchases made up 17 percent of homes sales in May, down from 20 percent in April and 19 percent in May 2011.

Existing home sales dropped to 4.55 million in May while the median price of an existing home rose to $182,600, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. Distressed homes accounted for 25 percent of May sales (15 percent were foreclosures and 10 percent were short sales), down from 28 percent in April and 31 percent in May 2011, the NAR said. Foreclosures sold for an average discount of 19 percent below market value in May, while short sales were discounted 14 percent.

The recent softening of economic activity will not stop the country's housing market recovery, Capital Economics said in a report Wednesday. The US Housing Market Analyst for Q2 2012 speculated that modest recovery in the housing market will not only continue for the rest of the year, it will spread and cause an increase in house prices. With the modest upturn in home sales going on, Capital Economics revised its house price forecast to show gains of 2 percent in 2012 and 5 percent in 2013.

Optimism is good for the recovery, but too much optimism can lead us back on the path to the next housing bubble, said Trulia Chief Economist Jed Kolko during a conference call Wednesday. Although home prices are rising, renters might be overconfident, with 58 percent of respondents expecting home prices to return to peak in the next 10 years. In this case, Kolko said optimism is outpacing reality, and it is very unlikely that prices in those hardest hit markets will return to the peaks in the next 10 years. As for the rental market, Kolko said there is no danger of a bubble and if anything, we are in danger of the rental market becoming extremely tight in some markets.

Home values rose in May month-over-month, marking the third consecutive month of increases, but fell on a yearly basis, according to Zillow's Real Estate Market Reports. Prices moved upwards by 0.5 percent from the month before in April to $148,100, but home values continued their downward fall on a yearly basis, dropping 0.9 percent from May 2011. The upside to the yearly decline is it's the smallest year-over-year drop since October 2007, according to the Zillow's Home Value Index. Rent prices also hiked up month-over-month in May by 1.8 percent and year-over-year by 4.6 percent.

Analysts said Tuesday that a reduction in homicide rates by 10 percent would likely lead to a 0.83 percent increase in housing values and a 2.1 percent increase in housing prices in residential and metropolitan areas around the nation. The Center for American Progress surveyed 8 major metropolitan areas to tally up the costs of violent crime - including homicide, rape, and aggravated robbery - for residents, cities, and state and municipal governments. According to the study, the results weigh heavily on residential property values and home prices.

While other experts and analysts have concluded home prices are on the rise and the recovery is under way, Radar Logic released a report challenging the upbeat viewpoint. The analytics firm stated in a report that it believes the oversupply of homes relative to demand will prevent sustained home price gains for some time. The argument made is that as buyers absorb the supply of homes for sale in certain markets and prices start to stabilize as a result, home owners who have been waiting on the sidelines to sell will do so once price start to improve. This will increase supply once again, and home prices will stop appreciating as supply exceeds demand.

For the fourth consecutive month, the RE/MAX National Housing Report found an overall increase in median home price across the country. In May, the national median home price was $166,500, a 6.1 percent increase year-over-year and a 4.1 increase month-over-month. Of the 53 metros surveyed, a record 46 showed rises in median home price, with nine seeing double-digit increases. Closed transactions across the United States also rose in May, with markets showing an overall increase of 12.6 percent from April and 12.8 percent from May 2011. May 2012 marked the 11th straight month of year-over-year home sales gains.