Tag Archives: Housing Supply

Data in Barclays' newest Securitization Products Weekly suggests that distressed markets are outperforming others in home appreciation and paving the way for a broad-based housing recovery. Barclays waved off concerns about shadow inventory, saying it is more of a symptom than a cause of depreciation and speculated that the share of distressed homes is a more significant factor keeping home prices down. An increased REO stock should actually be taken as a positive sign for non-distressed prices, Barclays said.

New home sales fell to a five-month low, 350,000, in June, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Wednesday. Economists had expected sales to inch up slightly from the preliminary sales report in May. May sales were revised up to 382,000 from the originally reported 369,000.

Limited inventory and increased competition helped push June's average home sales-to-listing price ratio above 95 percent, according to the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. HousingPulse attributed the boost to increased competition for the falling inventory of non-distressed property listings, as well as particularly strong home purchase activity in California, Nevada, and Arizona.

Home sales and prices picked up for Florida in June, according to housing data released by Florida Realtors. The organization's report shows a 5.3 percent year-over-year increase in closed single-family home sales in the Sunshine State, while pending sales jumped up 31 percent. Year-to-date, closed and pending sales are up from 2011 by 2.3 percent and 19.3 percent, respectively.

According to the firm's U.S. Housing report, single-family housing starts are expected to trend upward, matching the strength of multi-family starts that has driven the housing recovery over the past year. Barclays also anticipates that home price indices will close out the year strong, suggesting a broadening and lasting recovery. Based on improved affordability, increased demand, and falling inventory, the firm projected a year-over-year home price increase of 2.9 percent by the end of 2012.

The median price of an existing single family home rose in June to the highest level since almost four years, the fifth straight month-month gain, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Thursday.. The median price was up 7.9 percent from June 2011. Existing home sales dropped to 4.37 million in June to the lowest level since last October, the NAR said. It was the fourth drop in the last five months. Economists had expected the sales pace to increase to 4.65 million from 4.62 million in May.

DataQuick reported that home sales in Southern California increased year-over-year for the sixth straight month in June, attributing the increase to ""robust investor demand and significant sales gains for mid- to high-end homes."" In addition, fewer foreclosure re-sales and greater activity in the more expensive coastal counties helped boost the region's median sale price to a two-year high.

Real estate broker Redfin released the June results of its Real-Time Home Price Tracker showing home price increases in nearly all 19 major U.S. markets. The tracker showed an average year-over-year price gain of 3 percent across all major markets and a monthly gain of 2.6 percent. Sales volumes also rose year-over-year (a 7.4 percent increase) but fell 1.1 percent month-over-month. Overall inventory levels declined, falling 25.3 percent from June 2011 and 2.4 percent from May this year.

ForeclosureRadar issued its Foreclosure Report for June on Wednesday, revealing that foreclosure sales fell significantly in the three largest foreclosure states in the company's coverage area. According to the report, foreclosure sales in California were down 13.4 percent over May and 48.8 percent over June 2011. Arizona and Nevada also saw a downturn in sales, showing month-over-month decreases of 18.5 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively. Year-over-year, Arizona's foreclosure sales were down 42.1 percent, while Nevada's sales fell 72.1 percent.

Housing activity is going strong in Southwestern Pennsylvania, according to a report released by West Penn Multi-List, Inc., on Thursday.