Tag Archives: Home Sales

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.""

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.

Economic activity expanded in the closing weeks of 2012, the Federal Reserve said in its periodic Beige Book released Wednesday, reflecting a slow but steadily declining unemployment rate and low rates of inflation--conditions the Fed said would have to be met before it raises interest rates. According to the Beige Book, districts reported stronger consumer spending--about 70 percent of the nation's GDP--with holiday sales ""modestly higher"" than in 2011. At the same time, the report said business contacts were ""citing concerns that consumers will spend cautiously due to ongoing fiscal uncertainty.""

Builder confidence stalled in January as the Housing Market Index (HMI) stood at 47, remaining at its highest level since April 2006, the National Association of Home Builders reported Wednesday. Economists had expected the index to tick up to 48.

Redfin, a Seattle-based real estate broker driven by technology, is finding some of the nation's top emerging markets in what the broker says are unlikely places. Redfin studied 48 emerging neighborhoods located within 16 major metro areas across the country to determine which neighborhoods showed the most promise in terms of price growth this year. Seven of the top 10 neighborhoods are located in California. The top neighborhood is Highland Park, located in Los Angeles.

REO sales no longer play the dominant role they once did in real estate transactions. The recent decline in REO sales, along with the decrease in inventory, is helping the market see an improvement in prices, according to a report from Corelogic. REO sales showed a 35 percent year-over-year decline in October 2012 and a 60 percent decrease from the April 2009 peak, CoreLogic revealed. Meanwhile, overall home sales increased 6 percent in 2012 to 4.2 million, with non-distressed sales seeing an 11 percent increase, CoreLogic reported.

Redfin's Price Tracker, a monthly report on prices, sales, and inventory across 19 U.S. markets, is based on local multiple listing services. According to the data for December, all three of the indicators tracked took a plunge during the holidays. According to Redfin, listings were down 11.5 percent from November and 33 percent from December 2011. The lack of selection proved to have a hindering effect on sales, which declined 4.1 percent from November to reach the lowest level in 10 months, Redfin reports.

The year 2012 is on its way to becoming the most affordable year housing has seen since recordkeeping began in 1970, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). In November, the NAR's Housing Affordability Index reached 198.2, down 2.5 index points from October, but up 1.5 points from a year ago. Based on data up to November, NAR also projects the index will set a record high of 194 in 2012, beating the high of 186 in 2011.