DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
The number of mortgage applications filed in the U.S. last week rose 9.3% from the prior week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday, as interest rates continued to slide following the Federal Reserve's latest stimulus measure.
Refinance activity climbed 11%, according to the MBA's weekly survey, which covers more than three-quarters of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications. Purchasing grew by a seasonally adjusted 2.6% during the week ended Friday.
Borrowers have reacted cautiously to extremely low interest rates over the past few months, while tighter lending requirements continue to pressure new applications. But mortgage activity picked up last week after the Fed's latest move, dubbed Operation Twist, helped push rates even lower. The move was designed to help lower long-term interest rates by buying up more mortgage-backed securities.
The share of applications filed to refinance an existing mortgage rose to 79.7% of total applications from 78.3% the previous week. It was the highest share since the survey changed its benchmark in January.
The four-week moving average for all mortgage applications is up 1.96%.
Adjustable-rate mortgages made up 6.1% of activity last week, down from 6.7% a week earlier.
The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances edged down to 4.25% from 4.29%, while rates on similar mortgages with jumbo loan balances decreased to 4.51% from 4.55%. The average rate on FHA-backed 30-year fixed-rate mortgages slipped to 4.05% from 4.07%.
Meanwhile, the average for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages ticked up to 3.47% from 3.46%. The 5/1 ARM average decreased to 2.95% from 2.96%.
-By Drew FitzGerald, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2909; Andrew.FitzGerald@dowjones.com
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Bright Spots in Real Estate.
LOWESREALTORBENEFITS.COM LOWES MOVING LOWES.COM INMAN.COM
DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS
September 14, 2011
5 bright spots in real estate recession
Mood of the Market
By Tara-Nicholle Nelson
Inman News™
Share ThisThe real estate market meltdown was much more severe and has lasted much longer than even the most bearish housing market observer would ever have predicted. Rather than values taking a dip, they've taken a double dip in many places; and the housing sector drama has infected the job market and the entire world's economy.
Yet, there are some very shiny silver linings to this whole mess -- a handful of ways in which our mindsets, habits, behaviors and approaches to money, mortgage and even life decision-making -- have been changed by this real estate market debacle. As I see it, here are the five best things about this otherwise terrible housing recession:
People now buy for the long term. Even Jeff Lewis, that reality TV house flipper extraordinaire, has declared that he's tapped out of the flipping business for the foreseeable future, trading in his real estate wheeling and dealing for the design business.
Recently, he mentioned having lost six homes in the real estate market crash. While Lewis flipped homes as his business, just five years ago, many Americans -- homeowners and investors alike -- took a short-term view on their homes, buying them with the idea that they could count on refinancing, pulling cash out or even reselling them anytime they wanted, at a profit.
Reality check -- those days are gone. Now, buyers know they'd better be prepared to stay put for somewhere between seven and 10 years (shorter in strong local markets, longer in foreclosure hot spots) before they buy if they want to break even. And this is causing them to take mortgages they can afford over time, and make smarter, longer-term choices about the homes they buy.
Dysfunctional properties are being weeded out and creatively reused. Municipalities like Detroit and Cleveland are demolishing blighted and decrepit properties in dead neighborhoods en masse, intentionally shrinking their cities to match their shrinking populations. These efforts are also eliminating breeding grounds for crime, and focusing resources on the neighborhoods that have a better chance of surviving and thriving in the long term.
In the so-called "slumburbias" of central California, Nevada and Arizona, McMansions are being repurposed into affordable housing for groups of seniors, artist communities and group homes.
American housing stock is getting an energy-efficient upgrade. The news would have you believe that every American has lost his or her home, walked away from it, or is now renting by choice. In fact, the vast majority of homeowners have simply decided to stay put.
Instead of selling and moving on up, homeowners are improving the homes they now plan to stay in for a long(er) haul. And this generation of remodeling is focused less on granite and stainless steel, and more on lowering the costs of "operating" the home and taking advantage of tax credits for installing energy-efficient doors, windows, water heaters and more. And while the first-time homebuyer tax credit is a thing of the past, the homeowner tax credits for energy-optimizing upgrades are in effect until the end of this year.
People are making more responsible mortgage decisions, and building financial good habits in the process. Buyers are buying far below the maximum purchase prices for which they are approved. They are reading their loan disclosures and documents before they sign them. And, thanks to the stingy mortgage market, they are spending months, even years, in the planning and preparation phases before they buy: paying down their debt; saving up for a down payment (and a cash cushion, so that a job loss wouldn't be disastrous); being responsible and sparing in their use of credit to optimize their FICO scores; and creating strong financial habits in one fell swoop.
Our feelings about debt and equity have been reformed. Americans no longer use their homes like ATM machines, to pull out cash, pay off their credit cards and then start the whole overspending cycle over again. Many can't, because their homes are upside down and cannot be refinanced in any event -- much less to pull cash out.
Others have been reality-checked by the recession, and are dealing with their non-mortgage debt the old fashioned way: by ceasing the pattern of spending more than they make, and applying the self-discipline it takes to pay their bills off.
Home equity, in general, is no longer viewed as an inexhaustible source of cash. Rather, we see it as a fluctuating asset to be protected and increased -- not so much through the vagaries of the market, but through the hard work of paying the principal balance down. Many of those refinancing into today's lower rates aren't doing it to pull cash out, as was the norm at the top of the market; instead, they are refinancing into 15-year loans to pay their homes off sooner than planned, or reducing their required payment so their extra savings can be applied to principal.
Of course, it remains to be seen how lasting these changes will be if and when home prices go up and mortgage guidelines loosen up. But since neither of these things look likely to happen in the short term, hopefully there's a chance that these behavior shifts will become part of a permanent mindset reset for American housing consumers.
Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of "The Savvy Woman's Homebuying Handbook" and "Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions." Tara is also the Consumer Ambassador and Educator for real estate listings search site Trulia.com. Ask her a real estate question online or visit her website, www.rethinkrealestate.com.
Contact Tara-Nicholle Nelson:
Facebook Twitter Email Letter to the Editor
Copyright 2011 Tara-Nicholle Nelson
Top
About Inman News™
Agents and brokers around the world turn to Inman News first for accurate, innovative and timely information about the industry. Known for its award-winning journalism, cutting-edge technology coverage and forward-thinking conferences, Inman News is the leading independent source of real estate news, education and insight.
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Lowe's Customer Care(CON8) 1065 Curtis Bridge Rd. Wilkesboro, NC 28698.
© 2011 by Lowe's®. All rights reserved. Lowe's and the gable design are registered trademarks of LF, LLC.
DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS
September 14, 2011
5 bright spots in real estate recession
Mood of the Market
By Tara-Nicholle Nelson
Inman News™
Share ThisThe real estate market meltdown was much more severe and has lasted much longer than even the most bearish housing market observer would ever have predicted. Rather than values taking a dip, they've taken a double dip in many places; and the housing sector drama has infected the job market and the entire world's economy.
Yet, there are some very shiny silver linings to this whole mess -- a handful of ways in which our mindsets, habits, behaviors and approaches to money, mortgage and even life decision-making -- have been changed by this real estate market debacle. As I see it, here are the five best things about this otherwise terrible housing recession:
People now buy for the long term. Even Jeff Lewis, that reality TV house flipper extraordinaire, has declared that he's tapped out of the flipping business for the foreseeable future, trading in his real estate wheeling and dealing for the design business.
Recently, he mentioned having lost six homes in the real estate market crash. While Lewis flipped homes as his business, just five years ago, many Americans -- homeowners and investors alike -- took a short-term view on their homes, buying them with the idea that they could count on refinancing, pulling cash out or even reselling them anytime they wanted, at a profit.
Reality check -- those days are gone. Now, buyers know they'd better be prepared to stay put for somewhere between seven and 10 years (shorter in strong local markets, longer in foreclosure hot spots) before they buy if they want to break even. And this is causing them to take mortgages they can afford over time, and make smarter, longer-term choices about the homes they buy.
Dysfunctional properties are being weeded out and creatively reused. Municipalities like Detroit and Cleveland are demolishing blighted and decrepit properties in dead neighborhoods en masse, intentionally shrinking their cities to match their shrinking populations. These efforts are also eliminating breeding grounds for crime, and focusing resources on the neighborhoods that have a better chance of surviving and thriving in the long term.
In the so-called "slumburbias" of central California, Nevada and Arizona, McMansions are being repurposed into affordable housing for groups of seniors, artist communities and group homes.
American housing stock is getting an energy-efficient upgrade. The news would have you believe that every American has lost his or her home, walked away from it, or is now renting by choice. In fact, the vast majority of homeowners have simply decided to stay put.
Instead of selling and moving on up, homeowners are improving the homes they now plan to stay in for a long(er) haul. And this generation of remodeling is focused less on granite and stainless steel, and more on lowering the costs of "operating" the home and taking advantage of tax credits for installing energy-efficient doors, windows, water heaters and more. And while the first-time homebuyer tax credit is a thing of the past, the homeowner tax credits for energy-optimizing upgrades are in effect until the end of this year.
People are making more responsible mortgage decisions, and building financial good habits in the process. Buyers are buying far below the maximum purchase prices for which they are approved. They are reading their loan disclosures and documents before they sign them. And, thanks to the stingy mortgage market, they are spending months, even years, in the planning and preparation phases before they buy: paying down their debt; saving up for a down payment (and a cash cushion, so that a job loss wouldn't be disastrous); being responsible and sparing in their use of credit to optimize their FICO scores; and creating strong financial habits in one fell swoop.
Our feelings about debt and equity have been reformed. Americans no longer use their homes like ATM machines, to pull out cash, pay off their credit cards and then start the whole overspending cycle over again. Many can't, because their homes are upside down and cannot be refinanced in any event -- much less to pull cash out.
Others have been reality-checked by the recession, and are dealing with their non-mortgage debt the old fashioned way: by ceasing the pattern of spending more than they make, and applying the self-discipline it takes to pay their bills off.
Home equity, in general, is no longer viewed as an inexhaustible source of cash. Rather, we see it as a fluctuating asset to be protected and increased -- not so much through the vagaries of the market, but through the hard work of paying the principal balance down. Many of those refinancing into today's lower rates aren't doing it to pull cash out, as was the norm at the top of the market; instead, they are refinancing into 15-year loans to pay their homes off sooner than planned, or reducing their required payment so their extra savings can be applied to principal.
Of course, it remains to be seen how lasting these changes will be if and when home prices go up and mortgage guidelines loosen up. But since neither of these things look likely to happen in the short term, hopefully there's a chance that these behavior shifts will become part of a permanent mindset reset for American housing consumers.
Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of "The Savvy Woman's Homebuying Handbook" and "Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions." Tara is also the Consumer Ambassador and Educator for real estate listings search site Trulia.com. Ask her a real estate question online or visit her website, www.rethinkrealestate.com.
Contact Tara-Nicholle Nelson:
Facebook Twitter Email Letter to the Editor
Copyright 2011 Tara-Nicholle Nelson
Top
About Inman News™
Agents and brokers around the world turn to Inman News first for accurate, innovative and timely information about the industry. Known for its award-winning journalism, cutting-edge technology coverage and forward-thinking conferences, Inman News is the leading independent source of real estate news, education and insight.
customerservice@inman.com - 800-775-4662 - www.inman.com
Lowe's Customer Care(CON8) 1065 Curtis Bridge Rd. Wilkesboro, NC 28698.
© 2011 by Lowe's®. All rights reserved. Lowe's and the gable design are registered trademarks of LF, LLC.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Time to buy a home?
I started my career in home construction and real estate in 1978. Home sales were brisk until the early 1980's when mortgage interest went up to as high as 18%. Talk about a challenge, try convincing someone that 18% was a good rate to pay for a home loan. Hign interest rates, high unemployment, and high inflation eventually bought the real estate market to a grinding halt.
Consider mortgage rates today, 9-13-11. You can get a 15 year mortgage for 3.33% if you have good credit. In North Carolina you can get a new 2000 square foot home for 200,000. If you borrowed $180,000 for 15 years at 3.33%, your payments, principle and interest, would be around $1271.81. You could rent a home for a comparable amount so which way should you go?
In my opinion, if you are going to be in a home only 2 or 3 years you might want to rent. Any longer buying might be the better option as we all know long term real estate will go up. It might be a few more years before the sub prime meltdown plays out but it will eventually work out and home prices will start to rise again.
Consider mortgage rates today, 9-13-11. You can get a 15 year mortgage for 3.33% if you have good credit. In North Carolina you can get a new 2000 square foot home for 200,000. If you borrowed $180,000 for 15 years at 3.33%, your payments, principle and interest, would be around $1271.81. You could rent a home for a comparable amount so which way should you go?
In my opinion, if you are going to be in a home only 2 or 3 years you might want to rent. Any longer buying might be the better option as we all know long term real estate will go up. It might be a few more years before the sub prime meltdown plays out but it will eventually work out and home prices will start to rise again.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Stupid Low interest rates
As someone that has been in the Real Estate business for over 30 years never thought I would see these interest rates.
Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey®
Avg. Fees & Points
Copyright 2011, Freddie Mac. Averages are for conforming mortgages with 20% down.
30YR FRM 4.12 0.7
15YR FRM 3.33 0.6
5YR ARM 2.96 0.6
1YR ARM 2.84 0.6
Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey®
Avg. Fees & Points
Copyright 2011, Freddie Mac. Averages are for conforming mortgages with 20% down.
30YR FRM 4.12 0.7
15YR FRM 3.33 0.6
5YR ARM 2.96 0.6
1YR ARM 2.84 0.6
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Interesting read on housing
RISMEDIA, July 29, 2011—(MCT)—Home prices in major U.S. cities increased in May for the second consecutive month, according to a closely watched index, although experts dismissed the uptick as seasonal while separate reports provided fresh evidence of a weak housing market.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas rose 1 percent from April to May when left unadjusted for seasonal variations.
Prices often rise in spring because of changes in the types of homes selling: Foreclosures make up a higher proportion of sales during the winter as families take a break from home shopping and cash-rich investors dominate the market. Higher sales volumes also push up prices.
But compared with May 2010, home prices slid 4.5 percent, according to the index released Tuesday.
“Year-over-year, prices continue to deteriorate, although there has been a seasonal uptick over recent months,” says Stuart Gabriel, director of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at the University of California-Los Angeles. “This reflects a market that continues to be in search of a bottom.”
Chris G. Christopher Jr., an economist with consulting firm IHS Global Insight, said in a research note that the seasonal kick in prices will probably fade by October.
“Things do not look very favorable on the housing front since the employment situation has taken a turn for the worse in May and June,” he wrote. “The unemployment rate now stands at 9.2 percent, and consumer confidence is at depressed levels. Going forward, the Case-Shiller indexes are likely to post increases during the home-buying season, and then turn down again.”
The housing market began a renewed decline last year after the expiration of federal tax credits and has been limping along ever since. In March, home prices fell below their recession-era low, hit in April 2009, confirming a much-expected double-dip. Values have ticked up slightly since then.
One factor keeping housing weak is the high number of homes in foreclosure or headed into the foreclosure process. Then there’s the stalled jobs market, weak consumer confidence in the economy’s direction and the significant number of people saddled with mortgage debt that exceeds the value of their homes.
A separate report released Tuesday by Santa Ana, Calif., research firm CoreLogic indicated that the nation’s housing market is hampering the broader U.S. economic recovery. The report said that while several temporary factors have contributed to a slowing recovery, including high gas prices, U.S. floods and fading stimulus programs, “fundamentally, the recent slower economic growth illustrates that as the housing market goes, so does the economy.”
Housing influences the economy directly through residential construction, which typically gives a recovery a key boost. But with stiff competition from foreclosures, sales of new homes have been very weak for more than a year.
(c) 2011, Los Angeles Times.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas rose 1 percent from April to May when left unadjusted for seasonal variations.
Prices often rise in spring because of changes in the types of homes selling: Foreclosures make up a higher proportion of sales during the winter as families take a break from home shopping and cash-rich investors dominate the market. Higher sales volumes also push up prices.
But compared with May 2010, home prices slid 4.5 percent, according to the index released Tuesday.
“Year-over-year, prices continue to deteriorate, although there has been a seasonal uptick over recent months,” says Stuart Gabriel, director of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at the University of California-Los Angeles. “This reflects a market that continues to be in search of a bottom.”
Chris G. Christopher Jr., an economist with consulting firm IHS Global Insight, said in a research note that the seasonal kick in prices will probably fade by October.
“Things do not look very favorable on the housing front since the employment situation has taken a turn for the worse in May and June,” he wrote. “The unemployment rate now stands at 9.2 percent, and consumer confidence is at depressed levels. Going forward, the Case-Shiller indexes are likely to post increases during the home-buying season, and then turn down again.”
The housing market began a renewed decline last year after the expiration of federal tax credits and has been limping along ever since. In March, home prices fell below their recession-era low, hit in April 2009, confirming a much-expected double-dip. Values have ticked up slightly since then.
One factor keeping housing weak is the high number of homes in foreclosure or headed into the foreclosure process. Then there’s the stalled jobs market, weak consumer confidence in the economy’s direction and the significant number of people saddled with mortgage debt that exceeds the value of their homes.
A separate report released Tuesday by Santa Ana, Calif., research firm CoreLogic indicated that the nation’s housing market is hampering the broader U.S. economic recovery. The report said that while several temporary factors have contributed to a slowing recovery, including high gas prices, U.S. floods and fading stimulus programs, “fundamentally, the recent slower economic growth illustrates that as the housing market goes, so does the economy.”
Housing influences the economy directly through residential construction, which typically gives a recovery a key boost. But with stiff competition from foreclosures, sales of new homes have been very weak for more than a year.
(c) 2011, Los Angeles Times.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Foreclosures
Foreclosure filings in the U.S. tumbled last month to the lowest in almost four years as banks weighed down by an increasing inventory of seized homes delayed processing defaults, according to RealtyTrac Inc.
A total of 214,927 properties received default, auction or repossession notices in May, the fewest since November 2007, the Irvine, California-based data company said today in a statement. Filings dropped 33 percent from a year earlier and 2 percent from April. One in 605 households got a notice.
Foreclosure filings have fallen for eight straight months on a year-over-year basis as banks rework their documentation procedures following claims they improperly repossessed homes. Weak demand from buyers is making it difficult for lenders to sell the properties that they already have on their books, known as real estate owned, or REOs, according to RealtyTrac.
“Foreclosure processing delays continue to mask the true face of the foreclosure situation,” James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac’s chief executive officer, said in the statement. “Even at a significantly lower level than a year ago, the new supply of REOs exceeds the amount being sold each month.”
Unemployment and falling home values are limiting property sales and have pushed about 28 percent of mortgage holders underwater on their loans, meaning they owe more than the home is worth, according to Zillow Inc. The U.S. jobless rate rose to 9.1 percent in May from 9 percent the previous month, the Labor Department reported June 3.
Eight-Year Low
Home prices slid 3.6 percent in the first quarter to the lowest level since 2003 in the S&P/Case-Shiller index of values in 20 U.S. cities. Confidence among builders in June was at the weakest in nine months, as executives expressed pessimism about the prospect of higher sales, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index showed yesterday.
The inventory of distressed homes nationwide stands at 1.8 million, which would take about three years to sell at the current pace, Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac’s communications manager, said in a telephone interview.
Default notices were filed on 58,797 U.S. properties last month, the lowest in more than four years and a 39 percent decline from a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac.
Auctions were scheduled for 89,251 properties, down 33 percent from May 2010. Lenders seized 66,879 homes, a 29 percent decrease from a year earlier.
States where courts oversee foreclosures showed a 45 percent decrease in filings from a year earlier, while non- judicial states had a 25 percent decline and accounted for almost two-thirds of the national total, RealtyTrac said.
Nevada, Arizona
Nevada had the highest rate of foreclosure filings per household for the 53rd straight month, with one in 103 getting a notice. Arizona had the second-highest rate at one in 210 and California was third at one in 259. Michigan, Utah, Georgia, Idaho, Florida, Illinois and Colorado also ranked in top 10.
Five states accounted for more than half of the U.S. filing total, led by California’s 51,906. Florida was second at 19,192 and Michigan third at 14,614. Arizona, Nevada, Illinois, Georgia, Texas, Ohio and Wisconsin rounded out the top 10.
RealtyTrac sells default data from more than 2,200 counties representing 90 percent of the U.S. population.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Levy in San Francisco at dlevy13@bloomberg.net
A total of 214,927 properties received default, auction or repossession notices in May, the fewest since November 2007, the Irvine, California-based data company said today in a statement. Filings dropped 33 percent from a year earlier and 2 percent from April. One in 605 households got a notice.
Foreclosure filings have fallen for eight straight months on a year-over-year basis as banks rework their documentation procedures following claims they improperly repossessed homes. Weak demand from buyers is making it difficult for lenders to sell the properties that they already have on their books, known as real estate owned, or REOs, according to RealtyTrac.
“Foreclosure processing delays continue to mask the true face of the foreclosure situation,” James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac’s chief executive officer, said in the statement. “Even at a significantly lower level than a year ago, the new supply of REOs exceeds the amount being sold each month.”
Unemployment and falling home values are limiting property sales and have pushed about 28 percent of mortgage holders underwater on their loans, meaning they owe more than the home is worth, according to Zillow Inc. The U.S. jobless rate rose to 9.1 percent in May from 9 percent the previous month, the Labor Department reported June 3.
Eight-Year Low
Home prices slid 3.6 percent in the first quarter to the lowest level since 2003 in the S&P/Case-Shiller index of values in 20 U.S. cities. Confidence among builders in June was at the weakest in nine months, as executives expressed pessimism about the prospect of higher sales, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index showed yesterday.
The inventory of distressed homes nationwide stands at 1.8 million, which would take about three years to sell at the current pace, Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac’s communications manager, said in a telephone interview.
Default notices were filed on 58,797 U.S. properties last month, the lowest in more than four years and a 39 percent decline from a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac.
Auctions were scheduled for 89,251 properties, down 33 percent from May 2010. Lenders seized 66,879 homes, a 29 percent decrease from a year earlier.
States where courts oversee foreclosures showed a 45 percent decrease in filings from a year earlier, while non- judicial states had a 25 percent decline and accounted for almost two-thirds of the national total, RealtyTrac said.
Nevada, Arizona
Nevada had the highest rate of foreclosure filings per household for the 53rd straight month, with one in 103 getting a notice. Arizona had the second-highest rate at one in 210 and California was third at one in 259. Michigan, Utah, Georgia, Idaho, Florida, Illinois and Colorado also ranked in top 10.
Five states accounted for more than half of the U.S. filing total, led by California’s 51,906. Florida was second at 19,192 and Michigan third at 14,614. Arizona, Nevada, Illinois, Georgia, Texas, Ohio and Wisconsin rounded out the top 10.
RealtyTrac sells default data from more than 2,200 counties representing 90 percent of the U.S. population.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Levy in San Francisco at dlevy13@bloomberg.net
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Real Estate Reports
Timely, local real estate data trumps national reports
Perspective: A call for more useful real estate statistics
By David Charron, Tuesday, June 14, 2011.
Inman News™
Broad housing market reports are a dime a dozen these days, and if you ask me, that's a good approximation of their worth. Markets are sliced and diced and compared across the board, drawing multiple -- and often conflicting -- conclusions with shaky, obsolete data. The market's up, or maybe it's down. It's good, it's bad, and it's confusing.
For most people, even with access to all this information the results are more inconsistent than ever, often dated and out of context. But they don't have to be.
Timely and accurate information, provided on a local level with a real-world perspective, is the real estate market's most important commodity -- and the ability of the public, government, financial institutions, investors and real estate professionals to make informed decisions on local housing markets is the cornerstone of an eventual housing recovery.
Isn't it time we stop trying to drive by, looking in the rear-view mirror, and insist on seeing just the facts, clearly, as they unfold?
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Considering the critical role that real estate statistics play in just about every housing-related decision, it is time for our industry to rally around better data. We owe it to ourselves, our clients and our profession to insist on timeliness and clarity while delving into the motivations and methodologies of every metric we disseminate.
The most recent Case-Shiller Home Price Index of May 31 is a perfect example: It noted, of all the U.S. markets it tracks, the Washington, D.C., metro area as the only market to experience an increase in housing prices for the first quarter of 2011.
While this index may be useful for Wall Street, it hardly constitutes breaking news. Improving market conditions were reported three weeks earlier in an index produced by an MRIS subsidiary.
Metric discrepancies are about more than selling products or securing a reputation in the marketplace -- they go to the heart of how we think about information. The one real estate mantra that has remained unequivocally true through some of the most tumultuous years in the history of our profession is that all real estate is local.
By focusing on broad market-to-market comparisons instead of individual markets, we undercut our value as real estate professionals. Instead of chasing fleeting affirmations that change day in and day out, we should ensure that real estate professionals know how to read and apply local data.
Let's focus more on whether single-family homes or condos are more prevalent in a single area, the variance of seasonal market shifts, or the changes in sales activity that often precede major trends.
Let's talk about the facts as they stand today and refrain from basing decisions on reports that are already five to seven months behind the market when they hit newsstands.
We're never going to move forward as a profession by basing decisions on old data, and we'll never overcome paralysis if we compare our local markets to every other market in the country without considering the context of local driving forces.
Most people won't buy stocks today based solely on six-month-old research, nor will they decide what to wear today based on the average temperature in New York. Why don't the same principles apply to real estate?
David Charron is president and CEO of MRIS, the largest multiple listing service in the nation. MRIS facilitates more than $100 million a day in real estate transactions in the mid-Atlantic region.
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Submitted by Leon d'Ancona, B.T.L., M.T.L. on June 14, 2011 - 1:29pm.
Mr. Charron is very correct. Case-Shiller is a rather narrow index based on the principal variable used for index calculation of the price change between two arms-length sales of the same single-family home. For each sales transaction, a search is conducted to acquire information on any previous sale of the same property. If an earlier transaction is found, the two are paired and considered a “repeat sales transaction”.
In the last 25 years I have found its results very rarely reflect true small city or neighborhood values.
To dispel some of the negativity of this benchmark have a look at www.happyrenews.com a free service we provide to negate the poor press of real estate values.
Leon d'Ancona, B.T.L.,M.T.L.
President/CEO IMS Incorporated
WWW.Realestatestatistics.com
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Submitted by Keith Byrd on June 14, 2011 - 1:53pm.
Consumers want facts. Our industry's image has taken a hit from all the "now is a good time to buy" comments from agents that don't have a clue what's going on in their local market. Guess it's the difference between being a Sales person that will say anything to sell a home vs. providing a Service.
In my area, the local paper writes about the local real estate market using a single piece of data from a stats company. This value is county-wide and lumps all residential properties in one bucket and is missing any foreclosure info. In my county, foreclosure rates of sold properties in cities range from 0% to 60%.
I've been reporting statistics on my website for years but it was a tedious process to gather and report the info. I recently developed an interactive tool that displays detailed info about the local market for the last 11 years. There are over 20,000 graphs of info that I now make available to consumers in an easy-to-use presentation that's updated every month.
Check em' out here:
http://www.slocountyhomes.com/dashboard.html
Keith Byrd
SloCountyHomes.com
San Luis Obispo, CA
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Submitted by C.H. Naamad on June 14, 2011 - 2:32pm.
I agree with you a 100%!!!
C.H. Naamad
Boston Luxury Residential
Cell: 617-407-9740
Ch@blrboston.com
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Submitted by Travis Wright on June 14, 2011 - 2:54pm.
Well put, David. I have seen the impressive data reports coming out of ARMLS and I bet yours are awesome, too. Here's hoping your wisdom sinks in to all MLS'. T.
Travis In Texas
travis-wright@comcast.net
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Submitted by Albert Clark on June 15, 2011 - 3:10am.
Tagging on Tip O/Neils line, All Politics is Local we know "All RealEstate is Local" We provide a unique e-newsletter service to agents and see many agents adding their local market data that is fresh and usually zip code specific. I can attest that the local data is the most widely clicked on feature in the newsletters. Everyone wants to know what's going on in their marketplace. Long and Foster provides very attractive and useful Market Minute Reports. MRIS agents (David's area) is really Amp'ing up the availability of local stats with www.rbintel.com. We show agents how to use this data as they become advocates for their clients and prospects. Local stats, at the zip and neighborhood are a powerful marketing and retention tool
Albert Clark
Home Actions Relationship Platform
Scranton, PA
570 510 3507
aclark@homeactions.net
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Perspective: A call for more useful real estate statistics
By David Charron, Tuesday, June 14, 2011.
Inman News™
Broad housing market reports are a dime a dozen these days, and if you ask me, that's a good approximation of their worth. Markets are sliced and diced and compared across the board, drawing multiple -- and often conflicting -- conclusions with shaky, obsolete data. The market's up, or maybe it's down. It's good, it's bad, and it's confusing.
For most people, even with access to all this information the results are more inconsistent than ever, often dated and out of context. But they don't have to be.
Timely and accurate information, provided on a local level with a real-world perspective, is the real estate market's most important commodity -- and the ability of the public, government, financial institutions, investors and real estate professionals to make informed decisions on local housing markets is the cornerstone of an eventual housing recovery.
Isn't it time we stop trying to drive by, looking in the rear-view mirror, and insist on seeing just the facts, clearly, as they unfold?
Article continues below
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Considering the critical role that real estate statistics play in just about every housing-related decision, it is time for our industry to rally around better data. We owe it to ourselves, our clients and our profession to insist on timeliness and clarity while delving into the motivations and methodologies of every metric we disseminate.
The most recent Case-Shiller Home Price Index of May 31 is a perfect example: It noted, of all the U.S. markets it tracks, the Washington, D.C., metro area as the only market to experience an increase in housing prices for the first quarter of 2011.
While this index may be useful for Wall Street, it hardly constitutes breaking news. Improving market conditions were reported three weeks earlier in an index produced by an MRIS subsidiary.
Metric discrepancies are about more than selling products or securing a reputation in the marketplace -- they go to the heart of how we think about information. The one real estate mantra that has remained unequivocally true through some of the most tumultuous years in the history of our profession is that all real estate is local.
By focusing on broad market-to-market comparisons instead of individual markets, we undercut our value as real estate professionals. Instead of chasing fleeting affirmations that change day in and day out, we should ensure that real estate professionals know how to read and apply local data.
Let's focus more on whether single-family homes or condos are more prevalent in a single area, the variance of seasonal market shifts, or the changes in sales activity that often precede major trends.
Let's talk about the facts as they stand today and refrain from basing decisions on reports that are already five to seven months behind the market when they hit newsstands.
We're never going to move forward as a profession by basing decisions on old data, and we'll never overcome paralysis if we compare our local markets to every other market in the country without considering the context of local driving forces.
Most people won't buy stocks today based solely on six-month-old research, nor will they decide what to wear today based on the average temperature in New York. Why don't the same principles apply to real estate?
David Charron is president and CEO of MRIS, the largest multiple listing service in the nation. MRIS facilitates more than $100 million a day in real estate transactions in the mid-Atlantic region.
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Submitted by Leon d'Ancona, B.T.L., M.T.L. on June 14, 2011 - 1:29pm.
Mr. Charron is very correct. Case-Shiller is a rather narrow index based on the principal variable used for index calculation of the price change between two arms-length sales of the same single-family home. For each sales transaction, a search is conducted to acquire information on any previous sale of the same property. If an earlier transaction is found, the two are paired and considered a “repeat sales transaction”.
In the last 25 years I have found its results very rarely reflect true small city or neighborhood values.
To dispel some of the negativity of this benchmark have a look at www.happyrenews.com a free service we provide to negate the poor press of real estate values.
Leon d'Ancona, B.T.L.,M.T.L.
President/CEO IMS Incorporated
WWW.Realestatestatistics.com
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Submitted by Keith Byrd on June 14, 2011 - 1:53pm.
Consumers want facts. Our industry's image has taken a hit from all the "now is a good time to buy" comments from agents that don't have a clue what's going on in their local market. Guess it's the difference between being a Sales person that will say anything to sell a home vs. providing a Service.
In my area, the local paper writes about the local real estate market using a single piece of data from a stats company. This value is county-wide and lumps all residential properties in one bucket and is missing any foreclosure info. In my county, foreclosure rates of sold properties in cities range from 0% to 60%.
I've been reporting statistics on my website for years but it was a tedious process to gather and report the info. I recently developed an interactive tool that displays detailed info about the local market for the last 11 years. There are over 20,000 graphs of info that I now make available to consumers in an easy-to-use presentation that's updated every month.
Check em' out here:
http://www.slocountyhomes.com/dashboard.html
Keith Byrd
SloCountyHomes.com
San Luis Obispo, CA
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Submitted by C.H. Naamad on June 14, 2011 - 2:32pm.
I agree with you a 100%!!!
C.H. Naamad
Boston Luxury Residential
Cell: 617-407-9740
Ch@blrboston.com
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Submitted by Travis Wright on June 14, 2011 - 2:54pm.
Well put, David. I have seen the impressive data reports coming out of ARMLS and I bet yours are awesome, too. Here's hoping your wisdom sinks in to all MLS'. T.
Travis In Texas
travis-wright@comcast.net
Login or register to post comments
Submitted by Albert Clark on June 15, 2011 - 3:10am.
Tagging on Tip O/Neils line, All Politics is Local we know "All RealEstate is Local" We provide a unique e-newsletter service to agents and see many agents adding their local market data that is fresh and usually zip code specific. I can attest that the local data is the most widely clicked on feature in the newsletters. Everyone wants to know what's going on in their marketplace. Long and Foster provides very attractive and useful Market Minute Reports. MRIS agents (David's area) is really Amp'ing up the availability of local stats with www.rbintel.com. We show agents how to use this data as they become advocates for their clients and prospects. Local stats, at the zip and neighborhood are a powerful marketing and retention tool
Albert Clark
Home Actions Relationship Platform
Scranton, PA
570 510 3507
aclark@homeactions.net
Login or register to post comments
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My first 3-digit commission check5 smart tech tools for real estate agentsWashington short-sale brokers could lose l...Timely, local real estate data trumps nati...40% of underwater borrowers took cash out...NAR objects to 'Today' show report on sale...Your Facebook business page is worthlessHourly rate: The solution to low real esta...U.S. real estate prices see slight monthly...Google +1: a social solution for search gi...Most Emailed
Washington short-sale brokers could lose l...10 Best Markets for Real Estate InvestorsReal estate pricing tips for sellersHarvard: Real estate recovery hinges on re...Staying positive in today's real estate cl...Timely, local real estate data trumps nati...Late to peak, Portland real estate market...Ultra-high-end home has motivated sellerMajor changes likely to 'qualified residen...Decoding real estate buyer preferencesCategories
Agent adviceBuying & SellingHome ImprovementInvestingInvesting & Perso...Markets & EconomyMortgagesReal Estate & Per...Real estate broke...Real estate techn...RentalsInternationalSimilar
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Foreclosures drag down Atlanta real estate prices
News Archive
June 2011
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Thursday, May 26, 2011
From Steve Tyson-concerned citizen
Bob and Carol Mattocks have put over $1 million of their own money into the Tryon Palace in the last few years. The letter below was written by Bob Mattocks and was sent to the County County Board of Commission today. To the many that believe the Tryon Palace is a irreplaceable part of New Bern and Craven County, I say if we go down lets go down fighting! Call the folks listed below and let them know the facts.
You may have heard by now that the North Carolina Senate Budget will both seriously compromise Tryon Palace’s operation beginning July 1, 2011 – as well as its very survival in 2012. In all, Tryon Palace’s appropriation will be cut over $1.5 million effective July 1, 2011 and nearly $3.7 million effective July 1, 2012.
Immediate action is needed if we are going have any chance of saving the Tryon Palace that we know and love.* This budget is expected to come up for a vote in the state senate as early as next week.
The budget cuts mean that for the new fiscal year beginnings a month from now, Tryon Palace will shut down most of the majority of its services to the public and close most of the recently opened North Carolina History Center. And, with the proposed 88.8% cut, all of Tryon Palace will close on or before July 1, 2012.
Tryon Palace does not have a source of funding to make up for these draconian cuts. We cannot raise ticket prices enough to recover 88.8% of our budget. Reducing public programs and services and closing exhibition buildings means our admission receipts and private contributions will decline at an alarming and unprecedented rate with the steep decrease in visitor attendance. Any suggestion that we can sustain higher ticket prices is tantamount to suggesting the dismantling of Tryon Palace – and it will mean the end of an investment in North Carolina that the administration of ten governors and hundreds of state legislators of both parties have supported and promoted since 1959.
This is a sad moment in the history of Tryon Palace and North Carolina. For more than 50 years, Tryon Palace has operated as a very successful public-private partnership between the citizens of North Carolina and their government. We are an important state asset in every meaning of the word. We are caretakers of 15 historic buildings and a collection of over approximately 7,000 priceless objects that belong to each and every North Carolinian. Private donors have contributed more than $136.5 million in private funds and earned income over 60 years. We are stewards of North Carolina values and the heritage they represent.
To the citizens of North Carolina, Tryon Palace represents the heart of our state’s cultural patrimony and the financial commitment made by their government to its preservation. To the 30,000 school children that pass through our doors each year, Tryon Palace is a beacon of engaging and stimulating history education – of a kind that is alarmingly missing from American classrooms today. To the more than 140,000 tourists and visitors from around the country and around the world who this year will come to learn about and explore our sites, we are ambassadors for North Carolina and for its greater role in our country’s legacy. To the many small business owners – the shopkeepers, hotel and restaurant owners in our greater community of Eastern North Carolina – the visitation generated by Tryon Palace represents a key part of a $41 million economic engine that enables them to remain in business and keep employing our fellow North Carolinians.
The proposed cuts to Tryon Palace are not targeting spending that is wasteful or expendable; they are unraveling the very fabric of North Carolina’s cultural and historic identity – and we will be paying both a moral and fiscal price for it. When we are forced to close the North Carolina History Center this June, we will not only be abandoning the cutting-edge exhibits and technology that are helping make the state of North Carolina a leader in 21st-century history education outside the classroom, we will be squandering an important investment of $42.7 million in state funds and a promise made to the citizens of our state to preserve their heritage and tell the stories of the deeds and courage of past North Carolinians. When we are forced to shut down Tryon Palace in 2012, we will be abandoning the challenge of passing on to a new generation our state’s history and, along with it, an understanding of the patriotic values that history represents. It is ironic and sad that our legislators seem to be turning against what they so adamantly profess to protect. There are indeed promises to keep and not all of them can be – or should be – measured by dollar signs.
You will find attached a short news release. Please watch your email for detailed talking points coming soon for your use in getting the word out.
*The Senate will vote on the budget next week so there is not much time left for response. I urge you to speak out against these cuts to our state’s heritage and our children’s patrimony. The State budget is on a fast track and it is imperative to contact your local senator and representatives and key House and Senate leadership as soon as possible to voice your position on this far-reaching budget reduction.
Key senators include:
Sen. Phil Berger (Guilford, Rockingham), President Pro Tempore, (919) 733-5708
Sen. Peter Brunstetter (Forsyth), Appropriations Co-Chair, (919) 733-7850
Sen. Neal Hunt (Wake), Appropriations Co-Chair, (919) 733-5850
Sen. Richard Stevens (Wake), Appropriations Co-Chair, (919) 733-5653
Sen. Tom Apodaca (Buncombe, Henderson, Polk), Appropriations Vice Chair, (919) 733-5745
Sen. Linda Garrou (Forsyth), Appropriations Vice Chair, (919) 733-5620
Sen. Don East (Alleghany, Stokes, Surry, Yadkin), NER Appropriations Co-Chair, (919 733-5743
Sen. David Rouzer (Johnston, Wayne), NER Appropriations Co-Chair, (919) 733-5748
Sen. Harry Brown (Jones, Onslow), Majority Leader, (919) 715-3034
Sen. Jean Preston (Craven), Caucus Liaison, (919) 733-5706
Key House members include:
Rep. Thom Tillis (Mecklenberg), Speaker, (919) 733-3451
Rep. Paul Stam (Wake), Majority Leader, (919) 733-2962
Rep. Dale Folwell (Forsyth), Speaker Pro Tempore, (919) 733-5787
Rep. Harold Brubaker (Randolph), Appropriations Chair, (919) 715-4946
Rep. Linda Johnson (Cabarrus), Appropriations Co-Chair, (919) 733-5861
Rep. Jeff Barnhart (Cabarrus), Appropriations Co-Chair, (919) 715-2009
Rep. Normal W. Sanderson (Craven), Craven County Local Representative, (919) 733-5853
Rep. William Wainwright (Craven), Deputy Minority Leader, (919) 733-5995
Every morning when the Palace gates swing open, the voices of generations of great leaders who built this state are heard again. Please, don’t let them be silenced.
Sincerely,
Bob Mattocks
Chairman
The Tryon Palace Commission
You may have heard by now that the North Carolina Senate Budget will both seriously compromise Tryon Palace’s operation beginning July 1, 2011 – as well as its very survival in 2012. In all, Tryon Palace’s appropriation will be cut over $1.5 million effective July 1, 2011 and nearly $3.7 million effective July 1, 2012.
Immediate action is needed if we are going have any chance of saving the Tryon Palace that we know and love.* This budget is expected to come up for a vote in the state senate as early as next week.
The budget cuts mean that for the new fiscal year beginnings a month from now, Tryon Palace will shut down most of the majority of its services to the public and close most of the recently opened North Carolina History Center. And, with the proposed 88.8% cut, all of Tryon Palace will close on or before July 1, 2012.
Tryon Palace does not have a source of funding to make up for these draconian cuts. We cannot raise ticket prices enough to recover 88.8% of our budget. Reducing public programs and services and closing exhibition buildings means our admission receipts and private contributions will decline at an alarming and unprecedented rate with the steep decrease in visitor attendance. Any suggestion that we can sustain higher ticket prices is tantamount to suggesting the dismantling of Tryon Palace – and it will mean the end of an investment in North Carolina that the administration of ten governors and hundreds of state legislators of both parties have supported and promoted since 1959.
This is a sad moment in the history of Tryon Palace and North Carolina. For more than 50 years, Tryon Palace has operated as a very successful public-private partnership between the citizens of North Carolina and their government. We are an important state asset in every meaning of the word. We are caretakers of 15 historic buildings and a collection of over approximately 7,000 priceless objects that belong to each and every North Carolinian. Private donors have contributed more than $136.5 million in private funds and earned income over 60 years. We are stewards of North Carolina values and the heritage they represent.
To the citizens of North Carolina, Tryon Palace represents the heart of our state’s cultural patrimony and the financial commitment made by their government to its preservation. To the 30,000 school children that pass through our doors each year, Tryon Palace is a beacon of engaging and stimulating history education – of a kind that is alarmingly missing from American classrooms today. To the more than 140,000 tourists and visitors from around the country and around the world who this year will come to learn about and explore our sites, we are ambassadors for North Carolina and for its greater role in our country’s legacy. To the many small business owners – the shopkeepers, hotel and restaurant owners in our greater community of Eastern North Carolina – the visitation generated by Tryon Palace represents a key part of a $41 million economic engine that enables them to remain in business and keep employing our fellow North Carolinians.
The proposed cuts to Tryon Palace are not targeting spending that is wasteful or expendable; they are unraveling the very fabric of North Carolina’s cultural and historic identity – and we will be paying both a moral and fiscal price for it. When we are forced to close the North Carolina History Center this June, we will not only be abandoning the cutting-edge exhibits and technology that are helping make the state of North Carolina a leader in 21st-century history education outside the classroom, we will be squandering an important investment of $42.7 million in state funds and a promise made to the citizens of our state to preserve their heritage and tell the stories of the deeds and courage of past North Carolinians. When we are forced to shut down Tryon Palace in 2012, we will be abandoning the challenge of passing on to a new generation our state’s history and, along with it, an understanding of the patriotic values that history represents. It is ironic and sad that our legislators seem to be turning against what they so adamantly profess to protect. There are indeed promises to keep and not all of them can be – or should be – measured by dollar signs.
You will find attached a short news release. Please watch your email for detailed talking points coming soon for your use in getting the word out.
*The Senate will vote on the budget next week so there is not much time left for response. I urge you to speak out against these cuts to our state’s heritage and our children’s patrimony. The State budget is on a fast track and it is imperative to contact your local senator and representatives and key House and Senate leadership as soon as possible to voice your position on this far-reaching budget reduction.
Key senators include:
Sen. Phil Berger (Guilford, Rockingham), President Pro Tempore, (919) 733-5708
Sen. Peter Brunstetter (Forsyth), Appropriations Co-Chair, (919) 733-7850
Sen. Neal Hunt (Wake), Appropriations Co-Chair, (919) 733-5850
Sen. Richard Stevens (Wake), Appropriations Co-Chair, (919) 733-5653
Sen. Tom Apodaca (Buncombe, Henderson, Polk), Appropriations Vice Chair, (919) 733-5745
Sen. Linda Garrou (Forsyth), Appropriations Vice Chair, (919) 733-5620
Sen. Don East (Alleghany, Stokes, Surry, Yadkin), NER Appropriations Co-Chair, (919 733-5743
Sen. David Rouzer (Johnston, Wayne), NER Appropriations Co-Chair, (919) 733-5748
Sen. Harry Brown (Jones, Onslow), Majority Leader, (919) 715-3034
Sen. Jean Preston (Craven), Caucus Liaison, (919) 733-5706
Key House members include:
Rep. Thom Tillis (Mecklenberg), Speaker, (919) 733-3451
Rep. Paul Stam (Wake), Majority Leader, (919) 733-2962
Rep. Dale Folwell (Forsyth), Speaker Pro Tempore, (919) 733-5787
Rep. Harold Brubaker (Randolph), Appropriations Chair, (919) 715-4946
Rep. Linda Johnson (Cabarrus), Appropriations Co-Chair, (919) 733-5861
Rep. Jeff Barnhart (Cabarrus), Appropriations Co-Chair, (919) 715-2009
Rep. Normal W. Sanderson (Craven), Craven County Local Representative, (919) 733-5853
Rep. William Wainwright (Craven), Deputy Minority Leader, (919) 733-5995
Every morning when the Palace gates swing open, the voices of generations of great leaders who built this state are heard again. Please, don’t let them be silenced.
Sincerely,
Bob Mattocks
Chairman
The Tryon Palace Commission
Sunday, May 15, 2011
New Bern Home Sales
The Tyson Group Realtors-Steve and Jana J. Tyson want to thank you for the opportunity to market your property for sale. As part of this process, we are keeping you up to date with the current market trends. The tables below represent the closed sales in this market in the last 30 days; sales since the beginning of the year; and current inventory levels.
You will note that since the beginning of the year 87% of the homes sold in this market are under 250K and in the last 30 days 91% of the sales were under 250K.
It is definitely a buyer’s market and quite competitive. And, if you have a home over 250K, it is far more competitive. Sales over 250K represent between 10-11% of the total sales and 33.6% of the inventory. Positioning your home to outperform competitive properties is crucial, no matter what price range of home. As an example, look at sales in the last 30 days and compare to the data in the second table which represents the total percentage of inventory by price range.
Homes Sold in the 400-500K range represented 2% of total sales and 5.6% of total inventory. For that price range it is especially important to outperform the competition in order to get your home sold. The best price range compared to inventory levels is the 150-200K range with only 19.6% of the inventory and 30% of the sales.
It is also important to look at absorption rates. Looking at the best performing price range of 150K-200k, you will note that 30 units sold in the last 30 days and there are currently 312 units on the market. This represents a 10.4 month supply of inventory. This is calculated by taking 312 units on the market for that price range ÷ 30 units sold in a month. Keep in mind this is an average supply. The better-positioned properties might sell in two months while others may take 2 years. So, even in the best performing price-range, it is important to be competitive.
We want your listing to be one of those that sells quickly. Price it better than your competitors, make any necessary repairs, paint it, clean it, declutter it and stage it and we will get it sold!
We hope you find this information to be useful and ask that you compare where you stand in the market. Please call with any questions,
Steve and Jana J. Tyson
252-675-9595
PRICE-RANGES 1588 TOTAL Homes On Market 5/15/11 % of Current Inventory
0-100K 196 12.3%
101-150K 335 21.0%
151-200K 312 19.6%
201-250K 207 13.0%
251-300K 161 10.0%
301-350K 75 4.7%
351-400K 85 5.3%
401-500K 89 5.6%
501-600k 57 3.5%
601-700K 28 1.8%
701K & Over 43 2.7%
You will note that since the beginning of the year 87% of the homes sold in this market are under 250K and in the last 30 days 91% of the sales were under 250K.
It is definitely a buyer’s market and quite competitive. And, if you have a home over 250K, it is far more competitive. Sales over 250K represent between 10-11% of the total sales and 33.6% of the inventory. Positioning your home to outperform competitive properties is crucial, no matter what price range of home. As an example, look at sales in the last 30 days and compare to the data in the second table which represents the total percentage of inventory by price range.
Homes Sold in the 400-500K range represented 2% of total sales and 5.6% of total inventory. For that price range it is especially important to outperform the competition in order to get your home sold. The best price range compared to inventory levels is the 150-200K range with only 19.6% of the inventory and 30% of the sales.
It is also important to look at absorption rates. Looking at the best performing price range of 150K-200k, you will note that 30 units sold in the last 30 days and there are currently 312 units on the market. This represents a 10.4 month supply of inventory. This is calculated by taking 312 units on the market for that price range ÷ 30 units sold in a month. Keep in mind this is an average supply. The better-positioned properties might sell in two months while others may take 2 years. So, even in the best performing price-range, it is important to be competitive.
We want your listing to be one of those that sells quickly. Price it better than your competitors, make any necessary repairs, paint it, clean it, declutter it and stage it and we will get it sold!
We hope you find this information to be useful and ask that you compare where you stand in the market. Please call with any questions,
Steve and Jana J. Tyson
252-675-9595
PRICE-RANGES 1588 TOTAL Homes On Market 5/15/11 % of Current Inventory
0-100K 196 12.3%
101-150K 335 21.0%
151-200K 312 19.6%
201-250K 207 13.0%
251-300K 161 10.0%
301-350K 75 4.7%
351-400K 85 5.3%
401-500K 89 5.6%
501-600k 57 3.5%
601-700K 28 1.8%
701K & Over 43 2.7%
Monday, May 09, 2011
Home Prices
By NICK TIMIRAOS And DAWN WOTAPKA
Home values posted the largest decline in the first quarter since late 2008, prompting many economists to push back their estimates of when the housing market will hit a bottom.
.Home values fell 3% in the first quarter from the previous quarter and 1.1% in March from the previous month, pushed down by an abundance of foreclosed homes on the market, according to data to be released Monday by real-estate website Zillow.com. Prices have now fallen for 57 consecutive months, according to Zillow.
Last year, the housing market showed signs of improving as price depreciation slowed in some markets and stabilized in others. In response, a number of economists began forecasting that housing would hit a bottom in late 2011, then begin to recover. But the improvements, spurred by federal programs that gave buyers up to $8,000 in tax credits, proved fleeting. Sales collapsed when the credits expired last summer, and prices in many markets have been falling ever since.
While most economists expected sales to decline after tax credits expired, the drag on the market has been greater than many anticipated. "We expected December and January to be bad" as the market reeled from the after-effects of the tax credit, said Stan Humphries, Zillow's chief economist. But monthly declines for February and March were "really staggering," he said. They indicate "a reflection of the true underlying demand, which is now apparent because most of the tax credit is out of the system, and it's being completely overwhelmed by supply."
Mr. Humphries now believes prices won't hit bottom before next year and expects they will fall by another 7% to 9%. Other economists revised their forecasts. In April, the chief economist at mortgage company Fannie Mae, Doug Duncan, said home prices in the second quarter would be 5.3% lower than the previous-year period, down from his earlier estimate of a 2.6% decline.
Associated Press
An abundance of foreclosed homes on the market are pushing down home values.
.The estimates, which are based on data from the mid-1990s on, come from a proprietary computer program that takes into account sale prices for nearby homes that appear comparable, the size and other physical attributes of the home, its sales history and tax-assessment data, Mr. Humphries says.
Prices are decelerating in large part because the many foreclosed properties that often sell at a discount force other sellers to lower their prices. Mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have sold more than 94,000 foreclosed homes during the first quarter, a new high that represented a 23% increase from the previous quarter. More could be on the way: They held another 218,000 properties at the end of March, a 33% increase from a year ago.
The companies are bracing for more bad news: On Friday, Fannie reported a $6.5 billion net loss, largely as it boosted loan-loss reserves in anticipation of falling home prices.
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.Paul Dales, a senior U.S. economist with Capital Economics, says prices could fall by as much as 10%, down from his previous forecasts of around 5%. A March survey of more than 100 economists by MacroMarkets LLC forecasts a 1.4% drop in prices this year, down from the December estimate of a 0.2% decline.
Other home-price indexes also show weakness. The widely followed Case-Shiller index published by Standard & Poor's showed that prices climbed from April 2009 until last summer, when they started declining as tax credits expired. Today, prices are on the verge of reaching new lows, the index shows. The Case-Shiller index tracks repeat sales of previously owned homes using a three-month moving average.
According to the Zillow index, a handful of California markets and Washington, D.C., saw price appreciation last year, but that has since reversed. Mr. Humphries attributes the "double dip" in those markets, which include Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, to the way in which the tax credit stimulated demand from buyers. When the tax credit went away, markets were left with rising supply from foreclosures but with less demand from buyers.
Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis posted the largest declines during the first quarter of the top 25 metro areas tracked by Zillow, while Pittsburgh, Dallas and Washington posted the smallest declines.
To be sure, steep declines in home prices along with mortgage rates near their lowest levels in decades have helped make housing more affordable than at any time in the past 30 years, according to Zillow. Markets that have lower levels of foreclosures, such as Dallas, and those with better job-growth prospects, such as Washington, are faring better.
However, credit standards remain tight, posing another challenge for the housing market. Just as many unqualified borrowers received loans during the boom, "there are people today who probably could afford loans but can't get them," says David Berson, chief economist at PMI Group Inc. The average credit score on loans backed by Fannie Mae stood at 762 in the first quarter, up from an average of 718 for the 2001-2004 period.
Joe Sullivan, a real-estate agent in Stockton, Calif., is worried that more traditional buyers are seeing their loan applications canceled late in the process as lenders change qualification terms. If mortgage standards continue tightening, prices are "going to drop down to where only investors can get them, people with cash money," he said. Sales to absentee buyers, primarily investors, accounted for 47% of all Phoenix-area home sales in March, the highest level for any month in more than a decade, according to DataQuick, a real-estate research firm.
Christine Rice spent two years looking to buy a home in Los Angeles but found herself continually losing out to bids from investors offering to pay in cash. In September, she finally made a winning bid, paying $275,000 for a two-bedroom home. The prospect of falling prices "doesn't keep me up at night, but only because it was so cheap," says the 43-year-old tailor, who says she and her husband needed to move to have more space for their family. Her mortgage payments plus taxes are less than the rent she had been paying. "If it had been a stretch, then maybe I'd be worried," she says.
Buyers who qualify for mortgages are demanding bigger discounts as added insurance against further declines in values. Sellers, meanwhile, are balking. "More often, they don't want to take the first offer," says Jeffrey Otteau, president of Otteau Valuation Group, an East Brunswick, N.J., appraisal firm. "What they don't realize is, in an oversupplied market, the next offer is for less."
While some analysts have argued that home prices need to fall to "clearing prices" that will attract more buyers, price declines could also complicate any recovery by pushing more borrowers under water. Zillow estimates that more than 28% of borrowers owe more than their homes are worth nationally. Those numbers are much higher in hard-hit markets such as Phoenix, where more than two-thirds of borrowers owe more than their homes are worth.
Home values posted the largest decline in the first quarter since late 2008, prompting many economists to push back their estimates of when the housing market will hit a bottom.
.Home values fell 3% in the first quarter from the previous quarter and 1.1% in March from the previous month, pushed down by an abundance of foreclosed homes on the market, according to data to be released Monday by real-estate website Zillow.com. Prices have now fallen for 57 consecutive months, according to Zillow.
Last year, the housing market showed signs of improving as price depreciation slowed in some markets and stabilized in others. In response, a number of economists began forecasting that housing would hit a bottom in late 2011, then begin to recover. But the improvements, spurred by federal programs that gave buyers up to $8,000 in tax credits, proved fleeting. Sales collapsed when the credits expired last summer, and prices in many markets have been falling ever since.
While most economists expected sales to decline after tax credits expired, the drag on the market has been greater than many anticipated. "We expected December and January to be bad" as the market reeled from the after-effects of the tax credit, said Stan Humphries, Zillow's chief economist. But monthly declines for February and March were "really staggering," he said. They indicate "a reflection of the true underlying demand, which is now apparent because most of the tax credit is out of the system, and it's being completely overwhelmed by supply."
Mr. Humphries now believes prices won't hit bottom before next year and expects they will fall by another 7% to 9%. Other economists revised their forecasts. In April, the chief economist at mortgage company Fannie Mae, Doug Duncan, said home prices in the second quarter would be 5.3% lower than the previous-year period, down from his earlier estimate of a 2.6% decline.
Associated Press
An abundance of foreclosed homes on the market are pushing down home values.
.The estimates, which are based on data from the mid-1990s on, come from a proprietary computer program that takes into account sale prices for nearby homes that appear comparable, the size and other physical attributes of the home, its sales history and tax-assessment data, Mr. Humphries says.
Prices are decelerating in large part because the many foreclosed properties that often sell at a discount force other sellers to lower their prices. Mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have sold more than 94,000 foreclosed homes during the first quarter, a new high that represented a 23% increase from the previous quarter. More could be on the way: They held another 218,000 properties at the end of March, a 33% increase from a year ago.
The companies are bracing for more bad news: On Friday, Fannie reported a $6.5 billion net loss, largely as it boosted loan-loss reserves in anticipation of falling home prices.
View Full Image
.Paul Dales, a senior U.S. economist with Capital Economics, says prices could fall by as much as 10%, down from his previous forecasts of around 5%. A March survey of more than 100 economists by MacroMarkets LLC forecasts a 1.4% drop in prices this year, down from the December estimate of a 0.2% decline.
Other home-price indexes also show weakness. The widely followed Case-Shiller index published by Standard & Poor's showed that prices climbed from April 2009 until last summer, when they started declining as tax credits expired. Today, prices are on the verge of reaching new lows, the index shows. The Case-Shiller index tracks repeat sales of previously owned homes using a three-month moving average.
According to the Zillow index, a handful of California markets and Washington, D.C., saw price appreciation last year, but that has since reversed. Mr. Humphries attributes the "double dip" in those markets, which include Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, to the way in which the tax credit stimulated demand from buyers. When the tax credit went away, markets were left with rising supply from foreclosures but with less demand from buyers.
Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis posted the largest declines during the first quarter of the top 25 metro areas tracked by Zillow, while Pittsburgh, Dallas and Washington posted the smallest declines.
To be sure, steep declines in home prices along with mortgage rates near their lowest levels in decades have helped make housing more affordable than at any time in the past 30 years, according to Zillow. Markets that have lower levels of foreclosures, such as Dallas, and those with better job-growth prospects, such as Washington, are faring better.
However, credit standards remain tight, posing another challenge for the housing market. Just as many unqualified borrowers received loans during the boom, "there are people today who probably could afford loans but can't get them," says David Berson, chief economist at PMI Group Inc. The average credit score on loans backed by Fannie Mae stood at 762 in the first quarter, up from an average of 718 for the 2001-2004 period.
Joe Sullivan, a real-estate agent in Stockton, Calif., is worried that more traditional buyers are seeing their loan applications canceled late in the process as lenders change qualification terms. If mortgage standards continue tightening, prices are "going to drop down to where only investors can get them, people with cash money," he said. Sales to absentee buyers, primarily investors, accounted for 47% of all Phoenix-area home sales in March, the highest level for any month in more than a decade, according to DataQuick, a real-estate research firm.
Christine Rice spent two years looking to buy a home in Los Angeles but found herself continually losing out to bids from investors offering to pay in cash. In September, she finally made a winning bid, paying $275,000 for a two-bedroom home. The prospect of falling prices "doesn't keep me up at night, but only because it was so cheap," says the 43-year-old tailor, who says she and her husband needed to move to have more space for their family. Her mortgage payments plus taxes are less than the rent she had been paying. "If it had been a stretch, then maybe I'd be worried," she says.
Buyers who qualify for mortgages are demanding bigger discounts as added insurance against further declines in values. Sellers, meanwhile, are balking. "More often, they don't want to take the first offer," says Jeffrey Otteau, president of Otteau Valuation Group, an East Brunswick, N.J., appraisal firm. "What they don't realize is, in an oversupplied market, the next offer is for less."
While some analysts have argued that home prices need to fall to "clearing prices" that will attract more buyers, price declines could also complicate any recovery by pushing more borrowers under water. Zillow estimates that more than 28% of borrowers owe more than their homes are worth nationally. Those numbers are much higher in hard-hit markets such as Phoenix, where more than two-thirds of borrowers owe more than their homes are worth.
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