Tag Archives: Housing Supply

A working paper released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta suggests that foreclosures may not negatively impact nearby property prices as much as originally thought. The paper examines and refutes the argument long used by experts that mortgage foreclosures greatly reduce the sale prices of properties in the area. The study actually found while neighboring home prices do tend to sink when a property becomes distressed, the effect is only minor.

Despite continuing improvement in builder confidence, housing starts slipped in July to 746,000, with single-family starts accounting for decline, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Thursday. On the other hand, housing permits improved to 812,000, the highest level in almost four years. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected 750,000 starts and 766,000 permits in July.

Despite a dip from June, July marked the seventh straight month for year-over-year increases in home sales in Southern California, DataQuick reported Tuesday. A total of 20,588 new and resale houses and condos sold in the region during the month, down 6.7 percent from June up 13.8 percent from July 2011. The month's sales were 19.4 percent lower than the average July total since 1988, when DataQuick's statistics begin.

Limited inventory may be boosting home prices, but buyer choices are stifled in an increasing number of markets, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Thursday. The association's latest quarterly report showed distressed homes accounted for 26 percent of Q2 sales, down from 33 percent in Q2 2011. NAR president Moe Veissi what is needed now is additional inventory in the lower price ranges, so the association hopes banks will be releasing more foreclosure inventory into the market.

The GSE released its U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for August on Wednesday, examining recent trends in home price indices and speculating on the impact of shadow inventory on home prices. While prices have shown positive growth in many states through this year, concerns about shadow inventory-the stock of single-family loans that are seriously delinquent-- have some experts worried about prices taking another tumble.

Shrinking inventory and shifts in sales composition have provided a foothold for housing prices to start climbing, according to Fiserv, Inc. The company released its Case-Shiller Home Price Insights Monday, showing that after six years of decline, home prices are finally starting to stabilize. Prices increased in 40 percent of the surveyed 384 metro areas in the first quarter of 2012, and the report showed that it's actually cheaper to buy than rent in many U.S. markets.

The nation’s homeownership rate rose to 65.5 percent in the second quarter, the Census Bureau reported Friday. The Census Bureau though revised downward the homeownership rate for the first quarter to 65.4 percent (from the originally reported 65.5 percent), the lowest since the first quarter of 1997 when the rate was also 65.4 percent. The Census Bureau also reported the homeowner vacancy rate fell to 2.1 percent nationwide, down from 2.2 percent in the first quarter and 2.5 percent one year ago. The homeowner vacancy rate is at its lowest level since the first quarter of 2006.

In recent months, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, Freddie Mac, Bankrate, and other firms has shown mortgage rates steadily falling, hitting new lows week after week in some measures. However, Capital Economics contends that there is actually little evidence to suggest that this activity is translating into heavier demand. While the Federal Reserve's Senior Loan Officer Survey reported rising demand for mortgage finance in the past three quarters, this increase in demand hasn't shown up in mortgage applications for home purchase, which have remained relatively flat.

In another sign the housing sector may be languishing again —the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) dipped 1.4 percent in June to 99.3 from a downwardly revised 100.7 in May, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. Economists had expected a 0.9 percent increase to 101.6. Prior to the recent drops, the PHSI had been rising steadily until April. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, blamed a lack of inventory for the drop in the index.

With foreclosure starts up in the second quarter of 2012, RealtyTrac listed the top 10 metros to buy or invest in foreclosures for the remainder of 2012. Overall, 132 out of 212 metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more posted increases in foreclosure starts from the previous quarter, according to RealtyTrac. The bump in starts marks a 60 percent gain and means more foreclosure inventory for those markets. RealtyTrac's list includes metros where the average foreclosure sales price is increasing on an annual basis, average foreclosure sale discounts are still 15 percent or higher, and the unsold inventory of REOs represents a supply of 20 months or fewer.