Tag Archives: Home Sales

First-time homebuyers continued to desert the housing market in July, according to a new industry study released Monday. Campbell Surveys says first-time homebuyers accounted for only 39 percent of the home purchase market last month. That's down from a peak of 48 percent as recently as March. The research firm, though, reported that short sales remain one of the few bright spots in the housing market. Time-on-market for short sales continued to decline, from an average of 20.5 weeks in February to 15.8 weeks in July.

One in four real estate professionals polled by Clear Capital said the BP oil spill has brought home sales to a halt and is pushing already depressed property values lower along the Gulf Coast, with the impact even spreading beyond the coastal region to nearby areas that have seen no physical damage from the environmental catastrophe. Areas of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle are reporting an estimated 5-15 percent decline in home values and a drop in sales volume in June ranging from 25 percent to 33 percent.

Altos Research says its newest housing market report confirms what the company has been saying for some time: the mini-boom of this spring was created by seasonal demand, with some extra help from the federal homebuyer tax credits, but now that those dynamics are gone, ""buyer activity has all but come to a standstill,"" the company says. The analysts at the California-based firm warn that the industry should brace for rapidly rising inventory and continued home price pressures in August and into the fall of 2010.

According to the latest housing statistics from Florida Realtors, statewide sales in existing-home and condo markets have increased for the seventh consecutive quarter compared to year-ago levels. The association's report cites a total of 51,564 existing homes sold statewide in the second quarter of 2010, up 21 percent from the same period last year. Condo sales improved by 45 percent with 20,986 units sold compared to Q2 2009. Median sales prices, though, were not as positive.

Mortgage interest rates have been hovering at their lowest levels in decades, but that's done little to sway consumers to buy a home or refinance their mortgage to take advantage of the interest savings. The economists at Freddie Mac point to several reasons for the ""missing"" originations, which they trace back to deteriorating home values. Many borrowers' home equity is so badly eroded that they don't qualify for a refinance, and potential buyers remain nervous about investing in a home absent big incentives.

Sales of Miami and surrounding area homes increased sharply in June, according to MDA DataQuick. During the month, 9,296 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties, up 18.3 percent from May and more than 20 percent higher than a year ago.

The nation's REO stock fell 0.6 percent in May to 524,000 properties, according to Barclays Capital. In addition, the research firm estimates that housing's shadow inventory - which Barclays defines as the supply of homes nearing REO status - declined by 2.3 percent to 4.02 million properties. A separate study released by Clear Capital supports the assumption that indeed, there are fewer REOs influencing the market. The company says the percentage of bank-owned homes sold as compared to all properties sold dropped 22.7 percent during the May-July period.

Home sales in the Lone Star State are on the rise. According to the latest Texas Quarterly Housing Report released Monday by the Texas Association of Realtors, a total of 66,079 existing single-family homes were sold during the second quarter of this year, soaring 14 percent from the same quarter last year. This marked the third consecutive quarter of year-over-year increases.

The residential real estate market in Massachusetts seems to be on the mend. According to a recent report by the Warren Group, a provider of real estate data in New England, the Bay State saw year-over-year increases in both sales and prices of single-family homes and condos in June and in the second quarter.

Multiple bank closures have become commonplace on Friday evenings, but last week, regulators shut the doors on just one institution-1st American State Bank of Minnesota. The bank operated two local branches in Hancock, with $16.3 million in deposits and $18.2 million in total assets. It was acquired by Community Development Bank, also in Minnesota.