Tag Archives: Home Prices

The Federal Reserve released a new rendition of its market-gauging Beige Book Wednesday, which provides an assessment of regional conditions from those outside the Fed system and in the field. Reports from the 12 districts indicate that overall economic activity continued to expand in September. On the real estate front, though, home sales remained weak with prices either flat or declining across the entire country. Although commercial construction increased at a slow pace, that sector too was described as ""weak.""

GMAC Mortgage has teamed up with the Loan Value Group, LLC on a pilot program that provides financial incentives for borrowers with VA loans to remain current. GMAC is offering Loan Value Group's Responsible Homeowner (RH) Reward program to a group of Veterans Administration (VA) customers who are current on their mortgage payments but have seen a significant decline in the value of their homes. The program returns a portion of their lost equity in exchange for continued, timely mortgage payments.

The analysts at Barclays Capital say a ""triple-dip"" in home prices will likely materialize by early next year. The term ""triple-dip"" emerged in a Clear Capital report a couple of weeks ago, and Barclays says its analysis corroborates the idea. The research firm warns that home prices will likely slip another 6 to 7 percent over the coming winter months. That would put median prices at a new low for this cycle, in fact 3 percent below the double-dip measurement of last spring.

With the release Tuesday of the Zillow Real Estate Market Report, which recorded a 0.1 percent increase in home values from July to August, the company's chief economist issued his forecast for home prices heading into next year. Dr. Stan Humphries says prices have yet to find their trough. He doesn't expect a definitive bottom to be reached until 2012 at the earliest. Zillow's report also showed that foreclosure liquidation rates are still lower than they were before the robo-signing controversy - now more than a year since the news broke.

Pro Teck Valuation Services and Collateral Analytics have teamed up to launch Home Value Forecast (HVF). The inaugural edition of the monthly HVF was released Monday. The two partnering companies describe it as bringing ""a unique perspective on the U.S. housing market."" The goal of the new forecasting solution is to highlight the fact that all real estate is local. HVF employs a unique ranking system for the largest metros to highlight the best and worst markets with regard to a number of real estate indicators.

Markets in North Dakota and Hawaii show the strongest potential for home price appreciation over the next year, according to Veros Real Estate Solutions. At the other end of the spectrum, the company sees continued weakness in some of the hardest hit markets of California, Nevada, and Florida, although price depreciation is expected to slow dramatically from the free-fall days of earlier in the downturn. Veros' national home price index continues to show stability in its quarterly results, holding fairly constant at -1.7 percent.

The national homeownership rate fell by 1.1 percentage points between 2000 and 2010. The U.S. Census Bureau says it's the steepest drop since the period from 1930 to 1940. Housing woes are, without question, taking a bite out of the American Dream. Unprecedented levels of foreclosures have forced more than 3 million homeowners out of their homes over the past four years. And with $7 trillion in home equity wiped out since 2005, many are leery of putting their hard-earned dollars toward an investment that is still depreciating.

The analysts at Fitch Ratings warn that before the housing market pulls out of this downturn, half of prime borrowers could wind up underwater on their mortgage. Data released last month by CoreLogic shows that one in five of all residential mortgages in the U.S. is in a negative equity position. But segment out just those homeowners with prime mortgages, and Fitch says one in three currently owe more on their mortgage than the home is worth.

Home prices in the U.S. slipped 0.4 percent between July and August, CoreLogic reported Thursday. It marks the first time in four months the company's index has recorded a decline. Based on CoreLogic's assessment, national home prices were down 4.4 percent in August when compared to a year earlier. That figure includes distressed sales, such as short sales and REO transactions. Take the distress factor out, and prices are down by just 0.7 percent year-over-year.

Clear Capital has released its forecast for home prices heading into the first part of next year. The company says the market is flirting with a ""triple-dip"" by next spring. Last spring prices did a double-dip, dropping below this cycle's previous low point. While prices have ticked up in recent months, Clear Capital is projecting a drop of 1.6 percent over the last three months of this year, and another 3.2 percent by next April, moving prices dangerously close to the levels seen at the end of the first quarter of 2011.