Tag Archives: Home Prices

Serious delinquencies for U.S. RMBS improved across all sectors in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to a new mortgage market index from Fitch Ratings. Furthermore, the agency expects RMBS delinquencies to continue declining this year. According to Fitch, the improvement ""reflects positive selection in the remaining pools, loan modification efforts by servicers, and positive home price trends.""

U.S. home values in 2012 rose 5.9 percent over 2011, according to data in Zillow's latest Home Value Index (HVI). The 5.9 percent appreciation rate is the largest annual gain since August 2006, near the peak of the housing bubble. As home values rose throughout 2012's fourth quarter, foreclosure activity declined, with 5.22 out of every 10,000 homes nationwide facing foreclosure in December.

As home prices continue to climb, real estate agents and homebuyers are maintaining a positive outlook for home values in 2013, a recent survey found. The survey, which was jointly released by Point2Homes and PropertyShark, reported 71 percent of survey respondents predicted home prices will go up or maintain their current level in 2013. The survey included nearly 1,500 real estate professionals and homebuyers.

The housing market finished 2012 strong with year-over-year gains in home sales and prices, according to RE/MAX's December National Housing Report. The report, which covers 52 metro markets, shows a broad recovery all across the country, with both sales and prices rising almost every month in 2012. The biggest issue leftover from 2012 is inventory, which in December saw its 30th straight monthly decline.

Amid concurring opinions from industry analysts that the housing market hit bottom last year and is now in gradual recovery mode, the nation's debt ceiling debate brings unwelcome uncertainty. The Center for American Progress (CAP) argues vehemently that neglecting to raise the debt ceiling would be detrimental to the housing recovery and the nation's economy as a whole. ""Not raising the debt ceiling quickly and unconditionally is economic malpractice that could derail a modest economic and jobs recovery,"" said Christian E. Weller, senior fellow at CAP.

As home prices continue to increase, spectators and analysts have concluded the housing market is now in recovery mode. But, one analytics firm has remained unconvinced and expects to see a trend where prices rise and fall periodically as investor demand waxes and wanes. ""Some commentators suggest that investor-driven home price appreciation could spur demand among housing consumers, which will in turn bring about a broad-based and sustainable recovery in the nation's housing markets,"" wrote Quinn W. Eddins, director of research at Radar Logic. ""Maybe, but we are skeptical of this theory.""

Consistent with 2012 trends, Realtor.com found Florida, California, and Arizona, ""markets that were once the epicenter of the housing crisis,"" are improving, while markets in the Midwest and Northeast continue to struggle. List prices increased in 66 of the 146 markets Realtor.com observes. Prices remained unchanged in 31 markets and decreased in 49. One trend that remained relatively consistent across most markets was inventory, which declined in 145 of the 146 markets observed.

The housing market in California's Southland region closed out 2012 with the highest number of December home sales in three years, real estate information company DataQuick reports. According to DataQuick, a total of 20,274 new and resale homes and condos were sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino, and Orange counties in December. The month's total was 5.1 percent up from November and 5.3 percent up from December 2011.

As home prices increase, more borrowers are rising out of negative equity. Recent data from CoreLogic revealed about 100,000 borrowers moved out of negative equity during the third quarter of 2012, bringing the total number of homeowners who transitioned from negative to positive territory in 2012 to 1.4 million so far.

RE/MAX co-founder and chairman Dave Liniger says he expects the national housing market's rebound in 2012 to not only continue into 2013, but he also thinks the year could be the best the industry has seen in a very long time. Liniger also offered his top 10 predictions for the year in a video presentation. According to the RE/MAX research team, Liniger's predictions for 2012 were 85 percent accurate.