Tag Archives: Home Sales

In October, home prices and sales increased compared to 2011 levels, while inventory remained a concern, RE/MAX revealed in a recent report. The median sales price in October 2012 stood at $158,900, a 3.7 percent decrease from September but a 2.1 percent increase from October 2011. Home sales managed to post increases both yearly and monthly in October, which RE/MAX says is ""an impressive performance since seasonal patterns typically see a slight drop from September to October.""

Agents who sell HomeSteps homes, or Freddie Mac-owned residences, are eligible for winter bonuses. Freddie Mac announced it will pay a $1,000 bonus to a selling agent and $500 to listing agents as part of a winter promotion. The promotion lasts until February 28, 2013 and is applicable in 20 states. HomeSteps.com is the official site for GSE’s REOs.

The housing market is slowly but surely getting back up to speed, but don't expect it to recover to peak levels, Freddie Mac says in its latest U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook. In the November outlook, Freddie Mac takes into account recent trends, housing indicators, shifting demographic patterns to put together a picture of what makes a ""healthy"" housing market.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) offered market projections into 2014 during a forum at the 2012 Realtors Conference and Expo. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun says he expects the market share of distressed sales to fall from about 25 percent in 2012 to 8 percent in 2014, according to a release on the forum. The housing recovery was expected to continue so long as credit does not further tighten and a fiscal cliff is avoided.

The state of the housing market continues to improve though recovery remains ""fragile,"" according to the October Housing Scorecard released Friday by the Obama administration. Along with the scorecard, the administration released special instructions for those administering the Making Home Affordable Program in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. In areas directly impacted by Hurricane Sandy, servicers must offer at least three months forbearance to any homeowners eligible for Making Home Affordable who request forbearance.

A lower supply of inventory and fewer distressed sales led to stronger home price gains across the country, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revealed in a recent report. The median price for existing single-family homes increased 7.6 percent to $186,100 in the third quarter of this year compared to last year. NAR says the annual gain is the strongest since the first quarter of 2006 when the median price was up 9.4 percent. Total existing-home sales rose 3.2 percent quarter-over-quarter to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million.

The positive outlook on home prices was further strengthened in Fannie Mae's most recent housing survey. In the October survey, respondents raised their expectation for home price growth in the next 12 months to 1.7 percent, up from 1.5 percent in September. In October 2011, consumers expected prices to fall by 0.3 percent. In addition, only 10 percent of respondents expect home prices to drop during the same one-year period.

In a slow recovery, Freddie Mac expects to see further growth in the multifamily sector, while the homeownership rate is projected to tick down from its already historically low rate. According to the GSE's multifamily demand forecast, the homeownership rate will descend by one or two percentage points to around the 65 percent level, which implies more than half of total new households will transition into rental units. On the other hand, the multifamily market is expected to reap somewhere around 1.7 million new renter households from 2011 to 2015. The projection is based on the assumption that the recovery is continuing at a slow pace.

The inventory of new homes for sale has fallen dramatically since 2008 to 4.5 months, closing in on its lowest level in 50 years, according to the most recent Home Value Forecast report. ""In recent years, new housing supply has been running at the lowest levels since the 1960's due to the slow down in new home construction, the size of homes being built, and the complicated process for selling/buying distressed properties,"" said Pro Teck Valuations CEO Tom O'Grady.

In September, home prices improved in nearly all of the largest counties throughout the United States as tracked by DataQuick. According to the company's new Property Intelligence Report (PIR), home prices grew in 40 out of 42 counties month-over-month, while prices improved in all 42 counties from the previous quarter and over the last year. DataQuick suggested the PIR is displaying evidence the recovery in housing is underway, but the PIR found an uneven recovery, with some areas facing risk factors, such as high REO inventory.