Tag Archives: Home Prices

RealtyTrac observed 100 large metro areas across the country for evidence of recovery based on seven indicators, including unemployment rate, the rate of underwater homeowners, the change in foreclosure activity from its peak, the change in median home price from its trough, the percentage of distressed sales, the share of sales to institutional investors, and the share of cash sales. Rochester, New York, topped the index with several positive indicators, including low unemployment, low underwater rates, low distressed sales, rising home prices, and a large drop in foreclosures.

The positive indicators seen in housing markets across the country are not a mirage but a true recovery, according to RealtyTrac VP Daren Blomquist and a panel of six real estate professionals who spoke during a roundtable discussion Friday. RealtyTrac ranked 100 markets in terms of recovery and found a smattering of markets from all regions in the top 20. Blomquist said the defining factors for where a market landed on the ranks were location and employment.

The second quarter saw modest gains in home sales in Connecticut, according to the Warren Group. Second-quarter sales of single-family homes totaled 6,898, a nearly 1 percent increase over Q2 2012. In June alone, home sales were up 0.4 percent (the second straight month of increases) to a total of 2,602.

Over the past four years since the recession ended, GDP has grown only 9 percent, Freddie Mac revealed in a recent analysis. At the current rate, the ""U.S. has experienced the weakest economic recovery coming out of a recession in the Post-War era,"" said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac VP and chief economist. Despite the ""frustratingly slow"" growth rate, the GSE expects the housing sector to aid the sluggish economic recovery in three ways.

With the home price recovery moving along faster than income growth, many workers across the country are finding hard work is not enough to pay the bills, according to the 2013 Paycheck to Paycheck report from the Center for Housing Policy (CHP). After exploring housing affordability for mid-career professionals in travel and tourism, the report found only flight attendants could afford rent for a two-bedroom unit at fair market value in the 207 metros examined. On the other hand, housekeepers and wait staff could not afford a two-bedroom unit in any of the 207 metros.

According to Redfin's Real-Time Demand Pulse for August (using July data), the brokerage's agents continue to report declines in both the number of customers touring homes and the number of signed offers. Both metrics have been on a downward slope since peaking in April. ""Although there are finally more homes for sale to satisfy pent-up demand after months of historically low inventory, buyers are not responding,"" said data analyst Tommy Unger, who attributed the decline to buyer fatigue following a cutthroat spring season.

Having been historically high for the past few years, affordability dipped somewhat in the second quarter of this year, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity index. Increasing prices and mortgage rates ""contributed to affordability slipping to the lowest level in four years,"" said David Crowe, chief economist at NAHB. Affordability fell from 73.7 percent in this year's first quarter to 69.3 percent--meaning 69.3 percent of Americans earning the national median income could afford a home sold during the quarter.

The pace of inventory declines appears to be slowing, which may in turn slow price appreciation in some markets, according to Realtor.com. ""Dramatic national year-over-year inventory declines have evaporated,"" Realtor.com said in its National Housing Trend Report released Tuesday. National housing inventory declined 5.24 percent year-over-year in July, which is a slowdown from the 16.47 percent year-over-year decline reported in January. At the same time, the number of markets with declining inventory year-over-year decreased to 118 in July, down from 125 markets in June.

During a Bipartisan Policy Center forum Tuesday, experts generally agreed the housing market is on the path to recovery, but the strength of the national recovery remained in question. According to Douglas G. Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae, we may be in a recovery, but it has been the ""weakest recovery since World War II"" when considering income growth. Richard Smith, CEO and president of Realogy, took a more optimistic approach and stated we are in the early stages of a ""fairly strong recovery,"" with prices reacting to inadequate supply.

As the housing industry mends, younger Americans are expressing greater confidence in the market, according to results from Prudential Real Estate's Q2 outlook survey. Of the 2,600 millennials surveyed in Q2, 71 percent said their perception of the housing market is favorable, up from 65 percent in Q1. In 2011, only 52 percent of Americans aged 25 to 34 held a favorable perception of the real estate market.