Tag Archives: Home Prices

Data released this week by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) show purchase prices of homes backing mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rose 1.0 percent between October and November. The agency's index has recorded sporadic ups and downs throughout the year. For the 12 months ending in November, the net effect is a decline in property values of 1.8 percent. FHFA says prices are now roughly the same as in February 2004.

Foreclosure homes sold for 34 percent less than the average price of a non-distressed home during the third quarter of 2011, according to new data released by RealtyTrac Thursday. The average sales price of homes in the process of foreclosure or bank-owned was $165,322 over the July-to-September period last year. RealtyTrac says third parties purchased a total of 221,536 residential properties classified as foreclosures or REO during the third quarter of 2011, representing just 20 percent of all residential sales during that timeframe.

Capital Economics expects the housing crisis to end this year, according to a report released Tuesday. One of the reasons: loosening credit. The analytics firm notes the average credit score required to attain a mortgage loan is 700. While this is higher than scores required prior to the crisis, it is constant with requirements one year ago. Banks are also loosening loan-to-value ratios (LTV), which Capital Economics denotes ""the clearest sign yet of an improvement in mortgage credit conditions.""

At the national level, the inventory of for-sale single-family homes dropped by 22.29 percent over the last year, according to new statistics released by Realtor.com. The site concludes that at the close of 2011, there were 1.89 million single-family homes on the market, down 6 percent from just one month prior. Realtor.com views the development as a positive sign the market is holding its own at the national level, but notes that the weight of foreclosures is keeping the market in a fragile state.

Homebuyers with enough cash in hand to cover their offer price in full are able to bid significantly lower on properties and according to a new industry report released Monday, because they offer a shorter and more reliable closing timeline without the impediments of a mortgage, they often win out with that lower bid. The study found that this low-bid-winning dynamic is particularly true for distressed properties because mortgage servicers selling foreclosed or REO homes generally prefer transactions that can settle within 30 days.

The long-awaited housing recovery is beginning to blossom, according to industry experts taking a look at recent existing-home sales data. While admitting home sales are ""still very low,"" the chief economist at Capital Economics says it is clear the housing recovery is now well underway. The evidence: home sales have been on the rise for the past three months, posting a 5 percent increase in December, according to the latest market study released by the National Association of Realtors.

CoreLogic's chief economist Mark Fleming says 2012 may be the year the housing market begins to turn the corner. He notes that housing is an industry with long business cycles. Regional housing recessions typically take three to five years to find their bottom, and the national housing recession has behaved similarly in that it has bounced along a bottom for the past two years. But Fleming says he's seeing some positive indicators - both existing-home sales and single-family housing starts have begun to increase, and affordability is at an all-time high.

Freddie Mac expects a 2 percent to 5 percent increase in home sales in 2012 amid moderate economic growth over the year, according to the GSE's U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for January. Approaching the year with ""cautious optimism,"" Freddie Mac's chief economist Frank Nothaft says there are some positive signs in the job market and consumer confidence levels, and even housing is starting to raise hopes for a continuing, gradual economic recovery.

The overall median sales price of existing homes in Orlando, Florida, was $115,000 in November, up 9.52 percent from a year earlier. The Orlando Regional Realtor Association attributes the gain to an increase in short sales, which are now changing hands with smaller discounts. The number of short sale transactions in November 2011 jumped 39.38 percent compared to November 2010, while the median price of short sales improved by 7.07 percent to $106,000.

Despite a decade-long trend making winter the slowest homebuying season for the Las Vegas area, the region saw an increase in existing home sales for the month of December, finishing the year strong enough to break the metro's yearly existing-home sale record from 2009, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. The 2009 record was set with the sale of 46,879 homes, and 2011 surpassed this milestone with 48,186 sales. REOs made up 46 percent of December's transactions. Short sales accounted for nearly 27 percent.