Tag Archives: Home Prices

Home prices dropped in 76 of the 155 metropolitan areas tracked by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) during the third quarter, following a sharp decline in sales after the federal government's homebuyer tax credit passed. Seventy-seven metro areas held their ground in the post-credit months and recorded higher median prices on existing homes compared to a year ago. NAR points to the numbers as improvement, considering only 30 metros experienced annual price gains this time last year.

Inventories of homes listed for sale are dwindling across the country, in some markets, significantly, according to Altos Research. Of the 26 major markets the company tracks, only three showed increases in inventory during the month of October - Las Vegas, Phoenix, and San Diego - and Altos described their increases as ""slight."" Washington, D.C. had the biggest decline in its supply of listed homes. While, typically, decreases in inventory are evidence of a leveling off, Altos says the potential impact of the so-called shadow inventory looms large.

The number of homeowners with a mortgage that were underwater on their loan rose to nearly one-quarter - or 23.2 percent - in the third quarter, according to figures released Wednesday by the real estate data provider Zillow. With home values nationally 25 percent below their June 2006 peak, the current housing downturn is approaching Great Depression-era declines, when home values fell 25.9 percent in five years (between 1929 and 1933).

Residential property values fell 0.2 percent at the national level during the third quarter, according to Integrated Asset Services (IAS). In front of a seasonal slow-down in home sales, IAS says the data foreshadow ""particularly difficult times ahead"" for the housing market and for the U.S. economy. The company's report confirms that the nation's most devastated counties are showing no signs of bottoming. The robo-signing controversy is expected to slow the housing correction even further as banks hold back foreclosures.

Home prices continue to plunge across much of the U.S., according to Clear Capital, but the company says it's seeing trends at the micro-market level which give credence to the old adage that real estate is local. Clear Capital's home price report released Tuesday shows that residential values at the national level are down 5 percent for the three months ending in October. Several markets in the East are bucking the national trend and posting gains, but Clear Capital also names six markets that have already entered double dip territory.

The turbulent financial crisis sparked overwhelming support by Americans for Congress to enact financial legislation to prevent future bailouts. But according to the findings of an academia study, the landmark Dodd-Frank Act failed to meet consumer expectations. Only 12 percent of survey respondents declared they were satisfied with the reform bill, while 54 percent of Americans were dissatisfied. Sentiment about real estate pricing and strategic defaults were also examined in the quarterly study.

Single-family home sales in Connecticut fell 14.25 percent in September from a year earlier, according to a new report by the Warren Group. It's the first month since February that the number of home sales has dropped below the 2,000 mark. Condominium sales in the state also fell sharply by 23 percent to the lowest level recorded in September in more than two decades.

Fitch Ratings puts the industry's shadow inventory - meaning loans that are seriously delinquent, in foreclosure, or REO - at 7 million homes. The agency says based on recent liquidation trends, it will take more than 40 months to clear this distressed inventory. While the volume of newly delinquent mortgages has begun to improve, liquidation rates have been constrained by weak demand and initiatives to modify loans. On top of that, Fitch says the recent discovery of defects in the foreclosure process is prolonging the housing correction.

The analysts at Capital Economics say that dreaded double-dip is already underway, in both housing activity and residential property prices. The research firm is forecasting home prices in the United States to steadily decline over the next 12 months and have fallen back by over 5 percent by the end of next year, taking them to a new cycle low. The company's analysts say there are currently about 1.5 million too many homes up for sale, and that excess supply will likely grow by another 4.9 million due to elevated foreclosure activity.

Home loan production is expected to come in below $1 trillion for the 2011 calendar year, according to figures released this week by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). If the trade group's projections pan out, it will be the industry's lowest level of home lending volume in 14 years. MBA's economists say next year's drop will be driven by a decline in refinance originations as mortgage rates head higher, but the industry will see an increase in purchase originations.