Tag Archives: Home Prices

For the second month since recording an official double-dip in home prices, the S&P/Case-Shiller index has posted an uptick. Data released Tuesday by Standard & Poor's shows that 16 of the 20 metros included in the study and both composites reported positive monthly increases. The 10- and 20-city composites were up 1.1 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively, in May over April. Detroit, Las Vegas, and Tampa were down over the month and Phoenix was unchanged.

Home prices, which have been sputtering along for much of the year, are likely to dip further by the end of 2011, according to the results of a nationwide industry survey of real estate agents. Factors cited as driving an expected decline include restricted financing for real estate investors, a large gap between the supply of distressed properties and demand from first-time homebuyers, and the shadow inventory of both foreclosed and short sale properties.

Despite the usual tendency for increases in the spring season - with highest increases occurring in May - Radar Logic's May RPX Composite Price remained almost identical to its rate in January. The RPX Composite Price did increase month-over-month in both April and May. However, the slight increases were not enough to offset January's more substantial decline. The report revealed a 5.9 percent decrease year-over-year in May, the largest year-over-year decrease since September 2009.

Home prices in the U.S. rose in May, marking the second consecutive monthly increase, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported Thursday. Before the string of two-month gains, FHFA's market gauge had recorded declines in property prices for 10 straight months. The agency's monthly House Price Index (HPI) is calculated using purchase prices of homes backing mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It rose 0.4 percent from April to May.

For the second quarter of 2011, California homes entering the foreclosure process decreased to their lowest rate in four years, according to DataQuick, a San Diego-based company that tracks nationwide real estate activity. The number of notices of default decreased 17 percent from April to June when compared with the previous quarter and 19.2 percent when compared with the second quarter of last year. It was the lowest rate reported since the second quarter of 2007.

Foreclosures and short sales made up 30 percent of all existing-home sales in June, according to the National Association of Realtors. Overall sales volume slipped in June along with the share of distressed properties. Total existing-home sales declined 0.8 percent to an annual rate of 4.77 million, the trade group's lowest reading since last November. Without a strong rebound in the months ahead, 2011 is on pace to be the fourth time in the last five years where home sales have declined on an annual basis.

For some borrowers, negative equity can become their rationale to stop making mortgage payments. The risk of such strategic default is rising among loans that have ""always performed,"" according to the credit analysts at Moody's Analytics. The agency found that these always-performing loans tend to be concentrated in robust housing markets that have held home values above the national average, but it's these areas where we may soon see a renewed increase in strategic defaults.

Five years into the housing slump, and home sales remain weak with prices falling again in many parts of the country as foreclosures and short sales are ramping up. Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics, says while it certainly won't be the popular move, it may be time for the government to step up temporary support for the housing market. Zandi underscores three policy recommendations that he believes could help ensure housing stays on course.

At current the current sales pace, Orlando has a 4.37-month supply of homes. This is the lowest rate reported since December 2005. The average home sold in Orlando in June sold for 95.15 percent of its listing price.

June marks the fourth straight month of increasing home prices while also showing a rise in sales transactions, according to RE/MAX's National Housing Report for June 2011. While demonstrating a 4.9 percent drop in prices on a year-over-year basis, the drop was smaller than it has been the previous three months. Closed transactions in June rose 7.4 percent from May but showed a year-over-year decline of 10.6 percent. The median sales price in June 2011 was $193,791, while the June 2010 median was $203,887.