Tag Archives: Home Prices

Home prices in the U.S. decreased 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in October, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) House Price Index released Thursday. On a yearly basis, prices were down 2.8 percent. The drop brings prices to levels seen in February 2004. Current prices are about 19.2 percent below their peak in April 2007. FHFA also revised the previous month's index, lowering the 0.9 percent increase reported for September to a 0.4 percent increase.

As 2011 comes to a close, Zillow anticipates home value declines for the year will total more than $681 billion. The rate of depreciation, however, is slowing, the company says. This year's decline is 35 percent less than last year's $1.1 trillion drop in value. Additionally, much of this year's decline occurred during the first half of the year. In terms of dollar value, the sharpest decline in 2011 was seen in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, followed by New York and Chicago.

Existing-home sales rose again last month, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). That assessment, however, is coming off of lower sales numbers than previously thought, reflecting revisions to NAR's data going back to 2007. The trade group has adjusted sales and inventory figures for the last four years downward by 14.3 percent. NAR's November report shows sales of previously owned homes up 4.0 percent to an annual rate of 4.42 million from 4.25 million in October, and 12.2 percent above the 3.94 million-unit pace a year earlier.

Homebuyer demand appears to be intensifying, especially among lower-priced REO properties, according to an industry study released Tuesday. Time-on-market for move-in ready REO was just 10.1 weeks in November, the lowest in 15 months, according to the HousingPulse survey. Time-on-market for damaged REO was even lower at 9.0 weeks, also the lowest in 15 months. The HousingPulse survey polls approximately 2,500 real estate agents nationwide each month to assess market trends surrounding homes sales.

StreetLinks Lender Solutions has announced the launch of StreetLinks LVR, a new liquidation valuation report developed for mortgage servicers and asset management firms which is compliant with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). LVRs are performed by StreetLinks' nationwide panel of licensed appraisers, taking into account property condition, comparables, and local market trends. The company says its approach will provide an objective analysis of a distressed property's liquidation price within a 90-day marketing window.

The ongoing turmoil still gripping housing markets across the country has manifested itself in the Federal Reserve's macro assessment of household wealth and capital flow. With foreclosure stripping millions of Americans of their largest asset and potential homebuyers still watching for the market bottom, the total sum of home mortgage debt in the U.S. has dropped to its lowest level in nearly five years. Outstanding mortgage debt contracted by 1.8 percent over the third-quarter period to $9.88 trillion.

Low property valuations and steep sales discounts reduce the proceeds from liquidated loans by almost a third, according to Moody's Investors Service. As home prices drop, equity erosion drives most of the losses incurred on defaulted loans, but Moody's says in today's environment that's not the whole story. The agency's analysis of 46,000 loans liquidated since 2007 found that on average, a foreclosed property will be valued about 18 percent lower than average home prices, and will be subject to an additional sales discount of about 15 percent.

Citing data from Lender Processing Services estimating more than 2 million properties in some state of foreclosure, Fitch Ratings says REO sales - both single-property and bulk sales - will be an integral component of the housing market over the next two years. However, the timing and method of disposition will have significant implications for home prices, according to Fitch. The agency notes that distressed properties generally sell at a substantial discount, further exacerbated by the presence of excess inventory.

While home values are continuing to decline, they are beginning to stabilize as the market nears the bottom, according to the Zillow Real Estate Market Report released Tuesday. On a yearly basis, the average home price fell 5.1 percent in October, arriving at $147,000. However, on a monthly basis, the drop was just 0.3 percent, demonstrating a deceleration from recent declines. In addition to stabilizing prices, Zillow reported another positive sign for the market, with the foreclosure liquidation rate slipping to 8.1 out of every 10,000 homes.

There's been much debate over the root causes of the housing meltdown that catapulted the nation into the worst financial crisis in 80 years. A new report from the Federal Reserve focuses on the sharp run-up and subsequent collapse in housing prices during the 2000s. It concludes that real estate investors who used mortgage credit to purchase multiple properties played a larger role in fueling the housing bubble than previously recognized, pushing prices up during the boom and then defaulting in large numbers when prices began to head south.