Tag Archives: Home Prices

Las Vegas region home sales held at a five-year high in March amid strong activity from investors and cash buyers focusing on foreclosures. Due to the large number of discounted, foreclosure properties on the resale market, the median sales price fell in the area. According to figures from DataQuick, the median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Las Vegas metro area in March was $117,000, it's lowest mark since January 1996.

The national home price index from Clear Capital has officially entered double-dip territory. The company says data through the end of April has pushed its reading of national home prices 0.7 percent below the prior low recorded in March 2009, as markets have become saturated with bank-owned properties. Clear Capital's report shows prices have fallen 11.5 percent over the previous nine-month period. A rate of decline this rapid has not been seen since 2008.

Texas continues to perform noticeably better than other states in the real estate market, local Realtors say, by avoiding an excess supply of foreclosures and other distressed properties. Economists say the state has managed to maintain balance between home inventory and demand, and this, combined with the fact that Texas has maintained strong property values, indicates the market is absorbing foreclosed and other distressed properties.

PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. is seeing signs of strengthening in markets the firm classifies as ""distressed,"" enough so that the private mortgage insurer is relaxing its requirements for loan-to-value (LTV) ratios and minimum credit scores. PMI also announced that it has removed four markets from its ""Distressed Markets List,"" however the mortgage insurer plans to add the entire states of Arizona and Florida to the list in July. The company's analysts have also updated their forecast for sales of existing homes and price projections.

Home sales in the Phoenix metro are heating up thanks to the popular foreclosure market, according to ForeclosureDeals.com. The site reports that there were more than 10,000 home sales in the Phoenix area in March with nearly 1,500 of those sales foreclosure homes. The company says foreclosure properties there offer discounts from traditional home prices as high as 50 percent or more, making them popular with buyers. Lenders also report higher than normal turnout at foreclosure sales and auctions in Arizona as a whole.

With all the news of still-declining home prices, most buyers are keeping their feet firmly planted on the sidelines unless they're sure they're getting a bargain. At the same time agents and banks are battling (mis)perceptions in their local markets, where property values may not be on such a slippery slope. Add to the equation a distressed property, and finding an agreeable short sale price while still covering enough of the mortgage debt to win over the lender can be a challenge. It's a nasty tug-of-war, with neither buyers or sellers feeling like they're gaining any ground.

Data released by Standard & Poor's Tuesday show that home prices are continuing to slip across the country, with residential property values just slightly above their April 2009 bottom. The 20-city composite reading of the latest S&P/Case-Shiller home price index fell another 1.1 percent in February 2011 when compared to the previous month. It's down 3.3 percent from the February 2010 level. Washington D.C. was the only market to post a year-over-year gain with an annual growth rate of 2.7 percent.

While the share of distressed sales - REOs and short sales - is on the rise when tallying numbers nationwide, it's falling in California. The California Association of Realtors reports that the total ratio of all distressed property types sold statewide declined in March to 51 percent, down from 56 percent in February. REOs sold last month went for 88 percent less than non-distressed properties, while short sales had a median discount of 41 percent.

The New Democratic Coalition has added the nation's housing finance system to its list of things to ""modernize."" They've outlined principles for following through with the wind-down of Fannie and Freddie while maintaining a limited government role to ensure access to the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. But the debate is intense over whether the 30-year mortgage should stick around. With or without it, one research group says the numbers prove government guarantees aren't necessary to entice private investors.

Data released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Thursday shows further declines in residential property values. Home prices in the United States declined 1.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from January to February, according to FHFA's latest monthly house price index. FHFA's index is calculated using purchase prices of houses backing conventional mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and FHFA says it is now at the same level seen in February 2004.