Tag Archives: Home Sales

Home prices have rebounded so rapidly that industry data show 8.3 million borrowers who've been underwater are on track to have enough equity to sell their home within the next 15 months--without resorting to a short sale. Metro markets that boast the highest percentage of homes with resurfacing equity include Omaha; Colorado Springs; Tulsa; Little Rock; and Raleigh, North Carolina.

Home sales in Massachusetts remained strong in July despite rising interest rates, data from The Warren Group revealed. Sales for single-family homes rose 18 percent compared to July 2012 to 5,941--the highest level since June 2006, the Warren Group reported.

While higher mortgage rates have been blamed for the slowdown in pending home sales, they may be contributing to an increase in cash purchases, RealtyTrac suggested in a recent report. In July, about 40 percent of residential property sales were all-cash transactions. The share presents an increase from 35 percent in June and 31 percent compared to July 2012. Short sales also accounted for a bigger share of sales in July, increasing to 14 percent, up from 13 percent in the prior month and 9 percent from a year ago.

The first two phases of the recovery began in 2009 and 2012, respectively, according to Trulia's monthly Housing Barometer. The milestone marking the first phase was when sales and construction first started to pick up. The second phase began when home prices reached bottom and began to increase. The third phase began this spring after housing inventory bottomed out and both inventory and mortgage rates began to climb, according to Trulia. What we're waiting on now, according to Trulia, is the fourth phase, in which ""young adults finally start moving out of their parents' homes.""

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) slipped 1.3 percent in July, the steepest decline this year, to 109.5, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday. Economists had expected the index for July would drop to 109.8, which would have been a 1.0 percent decline from June's 110.9. The June index was unchanged. NAR economist Lawrence Yun cited higher prices as affecting new contracts. ""Higher mortgage interest rates and rising home prices are impacting monthly contract activity in the high-cost regions of the Northeast and the West,"" Yun offered as an explanation for the drop in the PHSI.

According to Redfin, ""this July saw a healthy jump in homes sold throughout most of the 19 markets covered in this report,"" improving 3 percent month-over-month and 17.6 percent year-over-year from a rather disappointing July 2012. In fact, Redfin found July 2013 experienced the highest number of homes sold in the past four years, with the 19 markets together seeing about 94,000 sales. While sales numbers picked up, Redfin believes the gains won't last. At the same time, reports on home price growth and inventory were less positive in July.

Homes are selling quickly with multiple offers and favorable prices, according to the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey released Friday. The survey tracked time on market, number of offers, and sales-to-list-price ratio for non-distressed sales in July. California performed exceptionally well in all three categories, while parts of the Midwest underperformed. The average number of weeks a home spent on the market in the three-month period ending in July was 8.6 weeks, down from 9.2 weeks in May.

Despite improving builder confidence, sales of new single-family homes dropped to their lowest level since last October, the Census Bureau and HUD reported Friday. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales dropped a stunning 13.4 percent to 394,000 in July. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected June sales to drop to 487,000 from June's originally reported 497,000. June sales were revised to 455,000.

In July, sales of single-family homes and condominiums in Illinois reached 16,012--the highest level since August 2006, the Illinois Association of Realtors reported. The total represents a 28.5 percent increase from July 2012. The median price of a home in Illinois also shot up, increasing 14.2 percent year-over-year to $169,000, IAR reported.

Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research group expects economic growth to gain momentum in the later half of the year following a slow start. Looking ahead, the group expects GDP growth will average 2.0 percent for the year, accelerating to 2.6 percent in 2014 as fiscal drags peel away and the housing recovery continues. According to Fannie Mae chief economist Doug Duncan, ""[t]he biggest risk to this forecast is the expected reduction in the Federal Reserve's asset purchases.""