Tag Archives: Housing Supply

Competition for homes eased in May due to a monthly increase in inventory, according to Redfin's latest bidding war report. Although 69.5 percent of offers that came from Redfin agents faced competition last month, the share is down from 73.3 percent in April. Competition was the most heated in California markets. In San Francisco, 87.9 percent of offers faced multiple bids in May, the most out of the 21 major markets tracked.

Fixer-upper homes might be the solution for potential buyers who are having trouble with snagging a good deal in this low-inventory environment. According RealtyTrac's estimate, there are more than 51,000 of these discounted properties. To help buyers narrow down their search, RealtyTrac ranked the top 15 cities for fixer-uppers. Detroit, Michigan reigned as the best city to buy a fixer-upper. In the Motor City, RealtyTrac found there are 3,773 banked-owned properties built before 1960 that cost under $100,000.

The nation's economy grew at a ""modest to moderate pace"" from early April through the end of May, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday in its periodic Beige Book. From late February through early April, the last Beige Book released described economic growth simply as ""moderate."" The sole bright spot in Wednesday's report was in the Dallas Federal Reserve District, which had ""strong economic growth."" The Beige Book reported slowdowns as a result of federal budget sequestration, which forced a mandatory cutback in spending.

Home prices climbed higher for the 14th straight month and displayed another impressive double-digit annual gain, according to CoreLogic's Home Price Index (HPI) report. When including distressed sales, prices were up 12.1 percent in April compared to a year ago CoreLogic reported the increase in April marks the biggest annual gain since February 2006. From March to April, home prices ticked up by 3.2 percent.

Despite improvements in home values, Radar Logic continues to contend the factors underpinning the recovery will not lead to sustainable price gains. In March, Radar Logic's home price index, which tracks 25 metro areas, showed a 13.1 percent year-over-year gain. Even with the double-digit gain, the data and analytics firm touched on several points to explain why the trend won't last, with the main one being the temporary issue of limited supply. Demand is also not expected to last since it is driven by low mortgage rates and institutional investors.

Recent reports from the National Association of Realtors and the Census Bureau/HUD showed sharp increases in unit sales and prices, as well as increases in the inventory of homes for sale for April. Has housing turned the corner? Look again. Sales up, prices up, what's wrong with this picture? The last time both prices and sales of new homes increased in the same month was last September. In all of 2012, sales and prices moved in opposite directions in seven of the 12 months. What of course is missing from the two data sets is any indication of demand.

Existing-home sales rose 0.6 percent in April to an annual sales rate of 4.97 million, the highest level since November 2009, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday. The median price of an existing single-family home jumped $8,900 in the month to $192,800, the highest since August 2008. The inventory of homes for sale rose to 2.16 million--its highest level since last September. The supply of homes for sale rose to 5.2 months, the highest since October. Inventory has been a persistent concern to NAR, which says the low supply of homes for sale has reduced the number of transactions.

Last year, some analysts were speculating the large supply of REOs and shadow inventory would keep the market depressed, but instead, the market is dealing with a lack of inventory available for sale, ProTeck Valuation Services noted in its May Home Value Forecast (HVF). ""[I]n reality the shortage of housing inventory has led buyers to bid more competitively against one another leading to significant home price increases and tighter housing conditions,"" said Tom O'Grady, CEO of Pro Teck.

Fiscal drags such as the sequester may have weakened economic momentum, but the economy should ""reaccelerate"" in the second half of this year as financial and housing conditions improve, according to Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group. ""Employment numbers are getting better, albeit it at a relatively slow pace, and the April employment picture should help boost consumer sentiment toward the economy overall,"" said Doug Duncan, chief economist for Fannie Mae.

The housing market came out of April in a particularly strong position, according to Redfin's latest Real-Time Price Tracker, with prices, sales, and inventory posting gains across the country. Redfin's monthly report--based on home prices, sales, and inventory across 19 U.S. markets--shows prices rose 4.9 percent in April on a monthly basis and 16.1 percent on a yearly basis. Meanwhile, the number of homes for sale increased 6.4 percent from March to April.