Tag Archives: Home Prices

Gains in home prices and sales surged in May, while inventory increased for the second straight month, according to Redfin. In May, home prices surged 17.4 percent year-over-year, while prices in all 19 markets tracked showed yearly gains. At the same time, home sales climbed by 15.8 percent from April to May, reaching their highest level since January 2010. Although for-sale housing inventory decreased 21.9 percent year-over-year, Redfin reported inventory inched up by 4.3 percent from April to May.

In May, the median price for a home in California rose year-over-year for the 15th straight month, climbing to highest level since April 2008, DataQuick reported. At $340,000, the median price was up 4.9 percent from April and up 25.9 percent from May 2012.

The recovery should pick up the pace as it heads into the year's second half, according to Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group. Based on data for Q1 and predicted numbers for Q2, Fannie Mae expects gross domestic product (GDP) to grow at an average 1.8 percent for the first half of the year. GDP growth is then expected to push past 2.5 percent in 2014, ""boosted largely by tailwinds from the strengthening housing market,"" said Doug Duncan, chief economist for Fannie Mae.

As long as short sales remain a common strategy to handle distressed properties, related fraudulent activity should also be expected. To help lenders, servicers, and investors develop tactics to combat the more common occurrence of short sale fraud, DataQuick outlined five solutions as starting points. The first is to understand activity levels to pinpoint markets with the greatest potential for fraud. Over the past two years, DataQuick identified 205,177 short sales in 14 of the largest counties.

Competition for homes eased in May due to a monthly increase in inventory, according to Redfin's latest bidding war report. Although 69.5 percent of offers that came from Redfin agents faced competition last month, the share is down from 73.3 percent in April. Competition was the most heated in California markets. In San Francisco, 87.9 percent of offers faced multiple bids in May, the most out of the 21 major markets tracked.

Reports of strong home price gains drove confidence in the housing market up to record levels in May, Fannie Mae reported. According to the GSE's May 2013 National Housing Survey, Americans expressed record confidence in price gains, with 55 percent--a survey high--saying they believe prices will go up in the next year. In addition, the average 12-month home price change expectation was 3.9 percent, the highest level in the survey's history and a leap over April's 2.7 percent forecast.

The pace at which home prices are rising should moderate later this year, with home prices forecast to rise by 8 percent this year then increase by another 4 percent in 2014, according to an analysis from Capital Economics. Although the research firm agrees with analysts who have warned recent home price gains are not sustainable, housing bubble concerns were described as ""premature."" Unlike other projections, the firm also doesn't expect to see a swift increase in mortgage rates over the next year.

A little more than half of American renters believe owning a home is a more sensible choice than living in rental housing, according to a research study from Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group. At 57 percent, young renters (ages 18-34) were more likely to answer that owning is the better choice. Out of those who would prefer to own, many find themselves blocked by a number of hurdles. The most commonly cited problem was a lack of assets; 67 percent of aspiring owners have less than $10,000 in assets.

In the Obama administration's overall assessment on housing, the market was described as showing ""important progress across many key indicators"" but the millions of underwater homeowners still call for a need to provide homeowner assistance, according to the May housing scorecard released jointly by Treasury and HUD. For example, homeowners' equity grew by more than $815 billion in the first quarter of 2013. ""Despite the positive news, we have important work ahead since there are so many families and individuals still ‘underwater' with mortgage balances higher than their home's value,"" said Kurt Usowski, HUD deputy assistant secretary for economic affairs.

After falling in April and May, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) resumed its upward trend in June, NAHB reported. According to the association, the number of U.S. housing markets showing sustained growth in housing permits, home prices, and employment rose to 263 in June, five more than May's total. The index grew for several months to a record high of 274 in March before falling to 273 in April and then 258 in May.