Tag Archives: Home Prices

Greg Rand, a 20-year real estate veteran and CEO of OwnAmerica, says now is the time to invest in real estate. Rand compares the current market to the years following the Great Depression when market conditions sparked a boom that sustained 65 years of appreciation in real estate. ""It is true that this is a once-in-a-generation crisis. It is also true that this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. It's time to focus on the other side of the coin,"" according to Rand.

The National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that sales of previously owned homes rose 3.7 percent last month, following the 9.6 drop recorded in February. The results were slightly better than forecast, but reaction was mixed after the release of the report. One economist says sales have now stabilized at a level no higher than that seen during the recession, and with so many forced foreclosed sales, a recovery is not even on the horizon. But another points out that it's distressed properties that are helping to elevate sales activity as investors line up for a bargain.

Distressed homes - typically REOs and short sales - accounted for 40 percent of the existing homes sold in March, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Wednesday. The trade group notes that these properties generally sell at discounts in the vicinity of 20 percent. Their large market share served to dampen the median existing-home price. For all housing types, it came in at $159,600 in March, down 5.9 percent from March 2010. Overall, sales of previously owned homes rose 3.7 percent last month as the spring buying season began to take hold.

Foreclosure sales accounted for roughly 43 percent of home sale closings in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota last month, and 40 percent of pending home sales contracts. While those market shares are in line with recent trends, Brad Fisher, president of the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, says they're still higher than what he'd like to see. While overall purchase activity in March was down 17 percent, the foreclosure segment saw a 30 percent jump in closed sales.

Analysis of home prices through the end of February by CoreLogic shows a year-over-year decline of 6.7 percent when distressed properties - REO and pre-foreclosure short sales - are included in the numbers. February's drop marked the seventh straight month that CoreLogic has recorded a decline in its national home price index. But take out the distressed factor, and the company says home prices are showing signs of stability, down just 0.1 percent from a year ago.

Clear Capital reports home prices in the western part of the country are sliding again, down 4.3 percent over the first three months of this year. The company says the West region, taken on the whole, has now officially entered double-dip territory, with home values hitting lows not seen since 2001. Across the rest of the U.S., though, Clear Capital says negative forecasts have been ""overstated,"" as prices in the other three regions have managed to find a bottom in the midst of ongoing foreclosure pressures and the traditionally slow winter season.

Data released Tuesday morning by Standard & Poor's show that home prices are continuing to trend downwards. The 20-city composite reading of the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index fell 1.0 percent in January 2011 when compared to the previous month. The 20-city composite is down 3.1 percent from its January 2010 level. San Diego and Washington D.C. were the only two markets to record positive year-over-year changes, while 11 cities posted new cycle lows during the first month of this year.

Radar Logic's latest RPX Composite, which tracks home prices in 25 major metros, declined to $179.50 per square foot in January, its lowest level since 2007. The company says the rapid decline suggests weak market fundamentals, including a high supply of homes coupled with high rates of mortgage defaults. The report also notes that sales of foreclosed homes by financial institutions, or ""motivated sales,"" made up 35 percent of all home sales as of January 20, the second highest share of motivated sales that Radar Logic has observed.

Almost half of the 111 economists and real estate experts polled this month by MacroMarkets are forecasting a double-dip in home prices to happen this year, and not a single panelist expects property values to recover to the pre-bubble trend for at least the next five years. MacroMarkets was founded by Robert Shiller, namesake of the closely-watched Case-Shiller Home Price Index. He says the deteriorating outlook among panel members has been influenced by the unabated foreclosure crisis and persistently weak market fundamentals.

Existing-home sales fell in February following three straight monthly increases, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Monday. Sales of previously owned homes dropped 9.6 percent last month to an annual rate of 4.88 million. The latest figures came in much lower than analysts were expecting. NAR attributed the February results to the twin headwinds of tight credit and appraisal problems that resulted in contract cancellations. Distressed homes accounted for nearly 40 percent of the pre-owned sales volume in February.