Today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in April were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.62 million units which is a increase of 3.4 percent from the month before and an increase of 10.0 percent from a year ago. The actual number of homes sold in April was 400,000 which is an increase of 11.1 percent from the month before and an increase of 6.7 percent from a year ago when there were 375,000 homes sold. Continue Reading →
The mortgage delinquency rate (the percentage of home loans 30 or more days past due) increased in April 0.4 percent from the month before according to the latest “First Watch Report” from Lenders Processing Services (LPS). While this is a modest increase, it temporarily reverses the trend we have seen for the past 9 months of declining mortgage delinquency rates. The mortgage delinquency rate in April, at 7.12 percent of all loans, is down 10.6 percent from a year ago however. The foreclosure rate for April was 4.14 percent, the same as the month before as well as the year before so, at least the foreclosure rate is remaining flat and not increasing. Continue Reading →
By now almost everyone has probably heard a story about (or experienced themselves) the laborious, time-consuming and mind numbing process of trying to buy (or sell) a home on a short sale or, in other words, for less than is owed on the home with the lenders blessing. Unfortunately the lenders blessing, in many cases, has taken many weeks or even many months to get causing many buyers and sellers to give up along the way. Now though, thanks to a recent rule change by Fannie Mae, this process will be improved greatly and happen within 30 days in most instances. Continue Reading →
motivation for the move is warmer weather, not a job. Wow, I can relate to that….. In fact, according to the report, most long distance house hunters are looking in markets with higher unemployment and slower job growth than where they currently live. Fro example, as you can see in the chart below, 3 times as many people in Minneaplolis – St Paul (with 6.2 percent unemployment) are looking for homes in Phoenix (where unemployment is 8.5) than vice versa. Continue Reading →
The St. Louis real estate market has increased activity and is showing signs of St Louis home prices stabilizing. Get this and much more up to date information on St Louis Real Estate from an experienced St Louis Realtor in this informative video update. Continue Reading →
This morning, RealtyTrac released their U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for April 2012 which shows that foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions) we’re reported on 1,793 properties in St. Louis during the month, a 0.33 percent decrease from the previous month and an increase of 28.53 percent from April 2011. During the month, 1 out of every 696 homes in St. Louis had a foreclosure filing. Continue Reading →
According to a new report, The Shifting Nature of U.S. Housing Demand, by The Demand Institute, average home prices will increase by up to 1 percent in the second half of 2012. By 2014, home prices will increase by as much as 2.5 percent. From 2015 to 2017, the study projects annual increases between 3 and 4 percent. This recovery will not be uniform across the country, and the strongest markets could capture average gains of 5 percent or more in the coming years. Continue Reading →
The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for April 2012 showing an increase in single-family home building permits from the month before of 1.9 percent and a 18.5 percent increase in new home starts compared to the year before. Continue Reading →
Before you go getting too excited over my headline, I should point out that, even though Fed Reserve Board Governor Duke’s presentation today at the National Association of REALTORS mid-year meeting in Washington D.C. was titled “Prescriptions for Housing Recovery”, Governor Duke opened her remarks with “I wish I had such a prescription”. She went on to say that it is difficult to think of a single thing that, by itself will generate a sustainable recovery in housing. She did say, however, that she saw some policies that will help reduce the shadow inventory of houses in the foreclosure pipeline as well as improve the availability of financing to potential home buyers. Continue Reading →
The collapse of the real estate market, along with a down economy has created a fertile environment for fraudsters to attempt to advantage of the many desperate homeowners that are out there. Their methods vary from foreclosure “rescue” schemes, mortgage assistance scams and other scams that generally offer to lower your payments or debt, prevent foreclosure, etc. Below is a list of tips the Department of Justice published this week to help consumers prevent themselves from becoming a victim of fraudsters.
More good news on the housing market! The national mortgage delinquency rate (borrowers that are 60 or more days past due) declined for the first 3 months of 2012, coming in at 5.78 percent according to a report issued by TransUnion. This is after increases in the delinquency rate in the prior 2 quarters and is the lowest rate since the 1st quarter of 2009. Continue Reading →
Finally, after several years of writing depressing things about the real estate market and housing industry, I’m getting to write some positive things lately! Well, to keep the party going, today I have a list of 10 towns in the U.S. that are leading the U.S. in terms of a housing market recovery according to the “Top Turnaround Town Report” from REALTOR.com. Seven of the top ten markets are in Florida, but the number 1 turnaround town in the U.S. according to the report is Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona where the inventory of homes for sale has fallen almost 50 percent in the past year while prices increased almost 27 percent during the same period. Continue Reading →
A report released this morning by CoreLogic, one of the nations leading providers of property information shows that home prices in the U.S. fell in March 0.6 percent from the year before and increased by 0.6 percent from the month before. Excluding distressed sales, month-over-month home prices increased for the third month in a row. If we take distressed sales out of the picture then the year-over-year home prices increased 0.9 percent. According to the report, St. Louis home prices declined by 3.4 percent in March 2012 compared to March 2011. Excluding distressed sales, year-over-year prices increased by 1.7 percent in March 2012 compared to March 2011. Continue Reading →
In a report released by Trulia, which looks at changes in asking prices on homes that are for sale as a leading indicator of where the market is headed, asking prices on homes for sale, on a year over year basis, were up 0.2 percent nationally. Here in St. Louis, as the chart below shows, we can see that year–over-year asking prices in the St. Louis MSA are up almost 1 percent, or almost 5 times the national average but still far from the ten MSA’s in the U.S. with the highest price increases (see table below). Continue Reading →
As the chart below shows, St Louis Home Prices appear to have hit bottom back around April 2011 then were headed back down in the last half of the year but have been on the rise since (chart includes data through today) so, unless things change course, I would say St Louis home prices have bottomed out. Don’t worry, if you’re one of the many, many people out there that have been waiting for the “bottom” to buy, you haven’t missed out yet…prices are still low. Our newsletter has charts like below for each county in the St Louis area so you can see how your county is doing. Sign up for it here. Continue Reading →
Clear Capital just released it’s Home Data Index™ (HDI) for April, which reveals that REO’s, which have been a drag on the market for several years now by bringing home prices down, are actually help bolster prices as a result of investor demand for REO’s for rentals. REO home price gains (on a price per foot basis) are “vastly outpacing fair market prices on a national level” according to the report. Continue Reading →
The latest housing market report by RadarLogic showed home prices in the 25 major metropolitan areas it tracks increased 1.9 percent in February from the month before (in contrast to the Case Shiller home price index which showed home prices fell a little under 1 percent from the month before) however was 3.18 percent lower than a year ago. Continue Reading →
The National Association of REALTORS released it’s Pending Home Sales Index for March today showing an increase of 4.1 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and an 12.8 percent increase from a year ago and is now at the highest level it’s been since April 2010 Continue Reading →
Home prices fall to lowest levels in almost 10 years; 20-city case shiller lowest since October 2002
This morning, the S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for February was released which showed both the 10-city and 20-city composites, after both hitting record low levels in the two prior months, fell further in February. The 10-city and 20-city composites saw annual price decline of 3.6 percent and 3.5 percent respectively and both saw price declines of 0.8 percent in February from January. Continue Reading →
Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data forMarch 2012 showing a decrease of 7.1 percent from the month before, and an increase of 7.5 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for March was 328,000 homes, down from a revised rate of 353,000 homes the month before. It’s worth noting that February’s sales were originally reported by the Commerce Department to be 313,000, so the revision to 353,000 was significant. So, in the end, March may not look so bad either if the revised numbers follow suit with the month before. Continue Reading →
The Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri just released their single family building permit data for March 2012 which shows an increase in activity from March 2011 for most of the St. Louis area. St. Louis City and County both saw declines in permit activity with 6 permits fewer issued total for the two than the year before, but this was more than made up for by St. Charles County increase of 38 permits which helped bring the total permits for the 7 St. Louis Counties covered by the HBA report to 260 for the month, an Continue Reading →
Today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows U.S. existing home sales in March decreased 2.6 percent from the month before but the Midwest region saw sales activity remain steady coming in at the same rate as the month before. Here in St Louis the story is even better as home sales for the St Louis five-county core (City of St Louis and counties of St Louis, St Charles, Jefferson and Franklin) increased 22.5 percent from the month before and increased 12.4 percent from a year ago. (not seasonally adjusted – see chart below). Continue Reading →
Yesterday, MarketWatch published their list of the 10 best cities in the U.S. for real estate investors and St. Louis made the list! Coming in at #10, St. Louis was included in spite of the fact that home prices are still falling in St. Louis and MarketWatch says the St. Louis rental market is softer than the rest of the country. Citing a median list price of $159,000, the site says St Louis houses can still be bought at bargain prices and are recommending the St Louis market “for long-term investors interested in a conservative market that will promise annual appreciation as the market improves.” Continue Reading →
The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for March 2012 showing a decrease in single-family home building permits from the month before of 3.5 percent and a 17.9 percent increase in new home starts compared to the year before. Continue Reading →
FICO, a provider of analytics and decision management technology to the banking industry, today announced results from its latest quarterly survey of bank risk professionals which showed that almost half (46 percent) expect the volume of strategic defaults in 2012 to surpass 2011 levels as a result of more than 25 percent of U.S. homeowners owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. Continue Reading →
This morning, RealtyTrac released their U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for the first quarter of 2012 which shows that foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions) we’re reported on 572,928 properties in the U.S. during the quarter, a 2 percent decrease from the previous quarter and a decrease of 16 percent from the first quarter of 2011. During the month, 1 out of every 230 homes in the U.S. had a foreclosure filing. Continue Reading →
Over forty years ago Congress passed Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 known as “The Fair Housing Act”. This act prohibits discrimination in public and private housing markets that is based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability or familial status. At that time, the most common type of discrimination in housing was based upon race or color. Today, according to a recent report by HUD, the majority of housing discrimination complaints filed are based on disability discrimination. Continue Reading →
According to the LendingTree Monthly Mortgage Review, average mortgage rates inched up in March, with more borrowers than ever taking advantage of low Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan rates which averaged just 3.85 percent on a 30 year loan, almost 1/2 of one percent less than a conventional mortgage. However, according to the report, this may change soon as a result of the FHA adjusting its loan program guidelines and insurance premium structure which will cause the cost of a loan for future FHA borrowers to most likely increase. Continue Reading →
Below is a video update on the St. Louis Real Estate Market that I prepare monthly. In this video I do a quick recap of the news in the St Louis real estate market for the month as well as an overview of the St Louis housing market itself. The update includes charts with up to the date data on the St Louis housing market including St Louis home prices, average time to sell a home in the St Louis area as well as other data and charts to show where the St Louis real estate market is and where it is headed. (Check out all our market update videos on our YouTube Channel – click here. Continue Reading →
Clear Capital just released it’s Home Data Index™ (HDI) for March, which includes their forecast that home prices in many cities in the U.S. will increase by year end 1.2 percent while St Louis home prices are projected to decline another 0.2 percent by the end of 2012. The report predicts home price increase of about 1.3 percent by year end in the Northeast, and home price increases of 1.6 percent in the South by year end. At the lower end of the spectrum, the West is projected to see price increases of about 1 percent by year end and the Midwest is expected to see less than 1 percent price increase by December (0.7 percent). Continue Reading →