Tag Archives: Home Sales

Home sales continue to seesaw--while levels increased from the previous year, they dipped from the previous month in October, according to the latest market report from RE/MAX. Following historic seasonal trends, October home sales edged 2.8 percent lower than September, but still pushed 2.2 percent higher than sales in October 2012. At the same time, median home prices were 11.9 percent above prices seen last October.

Rising home sales and declining foreclosures drove Q3 home prices to the highest three-month increase since the national housing recovery began, FNC Inc. reports. The company says national home prices have risen 11 percent since the beginning of the recovery, a timestamp that FNC considers to be the start of 2012. Continuing to lead the way are the markets that saw the highest levels of distress in 2008 and 2009.

Though the slow rate of household formation among millenials--those born after 1980--has been cause for alarm among some economists, analysts at Moody's Investors Service say reports of a lost generation of homebuyers are overblown. The Census Bureau released its homeownership rate report for the third quarter in early November, revealing homeownership in the 35 and younger age group is growing at a sluggish pace, with 31.6 percent still living with their parents.

Speaking at the 2013 Realtors Conference & Expo, National Association of Realtors (NAR) chief economist Lawrence Yun predicted steadiness in existing-home sales over the next year as prices continue to ascend. Yun expects existing-home sales to rise by about 10 percent in 2013 to reach 5.13 million. The national median existing-home price is projected to end this year at about $197,000, 11 percent higher than in 2012.

Homebuyers shook off their fears and returned to the market in force following the re-opening of the government in October, according to data presented by Redfin's Research Center. The online brokerage reported a 58 percent annual increase in the number of interested buyers reaching out to its agents in the week immediately following the resolution of the partial federal government shutdown. The number of clients touring homes and those making offers also grew.

Member firms of Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA) issued a combined 37,501 new mortgage insurance policies with a dollar volume of $9.6 billion in September. Private mortgage insurers' new business for the month represents a drop from the 46,051 new policies issued in August and tracks a drop in August application volume of more than 5,000.

After taking a break in the summer, home price growth got back up to strength in September, according to statistics reported by DataQuick in the company's Property Intelligence Report. DataQuick reported price growth ""resumed at a rapid rate in September and spread to all"" of its 42 reporting counties on a monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis. Other metrics, such as sales, weakened, however.

Seventy-one percent of single-family homes in the United States were built before 1990, according to a new industry report. So far this year, 60 percent of residential transactions involved homes built prior to 1990. This older housing stock comes with less competition from other buyers and lower price points, and the Federal Housing Administration's 203(k) program allows owner-occupants to roll the cost of minor and major renovations into the financing for a home purchase or a mortgage refinancing.

Both large institutional and smaller ""mom and pop"" investors have been very active purchasing homes at a steep discount, primarily in housing-bust markets. Industry reports attribute anywhere from 33 to 49 percent of September's home purchases to investors. Whether one-third or nearly one-half of the market, investors are the key force driving home prices, which could signal volatility in coming quarters.

Over the past year, home prices have risen 16 percent and mortgage rates have climbed from 3.7 percent to 4.43 percent, all while incomes have risen by just 3 percent, according to Bankrate's Interest.com website. These diverging trends have led to a decline in affordability across the nation. In all of the nation's 25 largest metros, it's less likely buyers can afford a home this year compared to last year.