Radarlogic, real estate data and analytics company that frequently disagrees with the National Association of REALTORS® view of the housing market, released their RPX Monthly Housing Market Report for May 2011 yesterday and in it had a scorecard showing how their rather bleak predictions they made at the end of 2010 for the 2011 housing market were holding up. Unfortunately, as you will see below, it seems many of their predictions have been accurate and the housing market is performing as poorly as they expected in many areas.
|
|||
|
Over the last few months, I have had a few inquiries from parents of college-bound children about investment properties. The combination of low home prices, low interest rates, and a large inventory of foreclosure and short-sale homes have made buying much more attractive for parents of college-bound children. The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for June 2011 showing a very slight increase in single-family home building permits from the month before (0.2 percent), and a 9.4 percent increase in new home starts compared to the month before. RealtyTrac released their Midyear 2011 foreclosure report this morning showing a total of 1,170,402 U.S. properties received foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled foreclosures and bank REO’s) in the first six months of 2011, a 25 percent decrease from the prior six months and a 29 percent decrease from the first half of 2010. Typically from early spring until late summer is a busy season for the real estate market with increased home sales as people try to make their move without fighting winter and in time to have their kids in place before the new school year. Now, thanks to a report by Intersections, Inc., a company that provides address monitoring and credit monitoring services, I realize that it is also a season of increased identify theft. They say the risk of identity theft during a move is a result of personally identifiable information being shuffled around from one home to the next Continue Reading → Would you like to buy one of those foreclosure or REO bargains, but don’t have the cash to have the necessary work done? There’s a new rehab loan program in St. Louis that will help homeowners do just this! This program allows buyers to buy Bank Owned or Foreclosed Property (let’s call them “distressed homes”) and also borrow funds for the rehabilitation of these properties. Recently, I heard a radio commercial on the radio about “special” financing for certain veterans. The ad continues to imply this “special” loan is available for a limited time only. The good news is that the VA offers loans to members of the armed forces who have generally served for two years in peace time, or 90 days during conflict. Members of the National Guard or Reserves who have served for six years are eligible along with widows of veterans if the veteran died in a service-related incident. There are special circumstances for some veterans regarding eligibility. A report issued yesterday by Equifax reveals just how severe the impact of shadow inventory (homes that have been, or should be, foreclosed on but have not been put back on the market for sale yet) and REO’s (properties owned by lenders after acquiring through foreclosure) are on a housing market recovery. A report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, shows that while mortgage delinquencies continue to decline, lenders are taking longer to foreclose resulting in a drop in foreclosure sales. In fact, there are still significantly fewer foreclosure sales than there were before foreclosure moratoriums were put into place, and foreclosure sales are declining. Dennis Norman The St. Louis foreclosure rate in April was 1.66 percent, down slightly from 1.71 percent the prior month, but up almost 17 percent from a year ago, according to a report published by CoreLogic. The report shows that the St. Louis Mortgage Delinquency rate (Serious delinquency, 90+ days delinquent) decreased to 4.72 percent in April, down from 4.83 percent the month before and down 13.4 percent from a year ago. Last week I got to hear a presentation by Brendan Lowney of Economic Advisors, aptly titled “Groping Toward a Housing Recovery“, which I think is a perfect way of describing our current housing market, so perfect, I borrowed it for the title of this article. Mr. Lowney began his presentation with a very sobering statement, saying “it’s really hard to overestimate the severity of the downturn that we’re in. This is much worse than anything we saw in the ’70s or the early ’80s, if people remember, and it’s really akin in many ways to the Great Depression, and within Continue Reading → A “first-look” report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, shows mortgage delinquencies decreased 0.1 percent in May from the month before and down over 18 percent from the year before. Other good news in the report is the U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate declined 0.7 percent from the month before. A report released this morning by CoreLogic shows that the current residential “shadow” inventory as of April 2011 declined to 1.7 million units, down from 1.9 million units a year ago. This current shadow inventory represents a 5 month supply, same as the supply a year ago. The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for May 2011 showing a 2.5 percent increase in single-family home building permits from the month before, and a 3.7 percent increase in new home starts compared to the month before. RealtyTrac released their foreclosure report this morning for May 2011 which shows foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled foreclosures and bank REO’s) were reported on 214,927 homes in May which is a 2 percent decrease from the month before and a 33 percent decrease from May 2010. The “State of the Nation’s Housing“ Report for 2011 by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University does not paint a very pretty picture of the housing market, nor does it give us a whole lot to look forward to with regard to the near-term future of the U.S. housing market. A report released today by CoreLogic shows that 17.10 percent (97,772) of all St. Louis homeowners with a mortgage were in a negative equity position in the first quarter of 2011, up slightly from 17.0 percent the prior quarter. Negative equity is also referred to as being “underwater” or “upside down” and refers to homeowners that owe more on their mortgages than the current value of their home. Dennis Norman The St. Louis foreclosure rate in March was 1.73 percent, down slightly from 1.78 percent the prior month, but up over 21 percent from a year ago, according to a report published by CoreLogic. The report shows that the St. Louis Mortgage Delinquency rate (Serious delinquency, 90+ days delinquent) decreased to 4.83 percent in March, down from 5.1 percent the month before and down 14 percent from a year ago. This is the first month the St Louis Mortgage Delinquency rate was below 5 percent since August 2009. There is a lot of talk in the media today about the poor housing market and how an increase in employment would help bring the housing market back. However, the question is, will a recovery in the job market bring the housing market back, or will a recovery in the housing market bring the job market back? A report released this morning by CoreLogic shows home prices in the St. Louis declined in April 2011 by 9.70 percent from the year before which is a larger decline than the month before when St Louis home prices were down 9.44 percent from the year before. If we take “distressed sales” (foreclosures, REO’s and short-sales) out then home prices declined by 3.53 percent in April from the year before. RealtyTrac released their foreclosure report this morning for the first quarter of 2011 showing that foreclosure homes (sales of bank-owned homes and those in some stage of foreclosure) accounted for 28 percent of all U.S. residential sales during the quarter. This is up slightly from 27 percent the prior quarter and the highest percentage since the first quarter of 2010, when 29 percent of all sales were foreclosure sales. A “first-look” report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, shows mortgage delinquencies increased 2.4 percent in April, changing the downward trend we have seen in the prior few months. The good news in this report is that the U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate declined 1.6 percent from the month before. According to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Trulia and RealtyTrac, 45 percent of American adults say the government is not doing enough to prevent foreclosures. Only 17 percent think the government is doing too much and 16 percent say just the right amount is being done. Negative equity is the dominant factor driving the real estate market according to CoreLogic in it’s “U.S. Housing and Market Trends” report that was released today. According to the report, as of the 4th quarter of 2010, over 11 million (23 percent) of U.S. homeowners with a mortgage were in a negative equity position, meaning they owe more on their mortgages than the current value of their home. The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for April 2011 showing a 1.8 percent decrease in single-family home building permits from the month before, and a 5.1 percent decrease in new home starts compared to the month before. HomeSteps, the home-sale division of Freddie Mac, announced today it is launching a nationwide sales promotion on it’s inventory of foreclosed homes starting today. The promotion, titled “The HomeSteps Summer Sales Promotion”, is offering up to pay buyer’s closing costs, up to 3.5 percent of the sales price and a bonus to the selling agent for offers on Freddie Mac homes originated between today and July 31st and that close by September 30, 2011. The St. Louis Foreclosure Rate declined over 23 percent in April from the prior month and was down almost 39 percent from a year ago, according to a report released this morning by RealtyTrac. Granted, some of this decline for April was no doubt due to the severe storms that hit the area April 19th triggering a moratorium on foreclosures for many (as I wrote about yesterday) but even without that, I ‘m sure the rate would still be down, which is good. Spring storms in April caused 8 areas of the U.S. to be declared a National Disaster area, and another 9 more so far in May. As a result of tornadoes, severe storms and flooding on April 19th, five counties in Missouri, Butler County, Mississippi County, New Madrid County, Saint Louis County, and Taney County, were declared a National Disaster areas on May 9th, making homeowners eligible for assistance, including possible mortgage payment relief and/or protection from foreclosure. Dennis Norman The St. Louis foreclosure rate in February was 1.78 percent, an increase of over 26 percent from a year ago, and just a slight decrease from January’s rate of 1.79 percent, according to a report published by CoreLogic. On a positive note, the report shows that the St. Louis Mortgage Delinquency rate (Serious delinquency, 90+ days delinquent) decreased slightly to 5.09 percent in February from 5.16 percent the month before and down over 13 percent from a year ago. A report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, shows that while mortgage delinquencies continue to decline, an enormous backlog of foreclosures still exists and is expected to continue for some time. As of the end of March, foreclosure inventory levels stand at 8 times historical “norms”. |
   |
||
|
St Louis Real Estate Search® St Louis Home Values St. Louis Real Estate News Contact Us Copyright © 2025 Missouri Online Real Estate, Inc. - All Rights Reserved St Louis Real Estate News is a Trademark of Missouri Online Real Estate, Inc. Missouri Online Real Estate, Inc. 3636 South Geyer Road - Suite 100, St Louis, MO 63127 314-414-6000 - Licensed Real Estate Broker in Missouri The owner and authors this site are providing the information on this web site for general informational purposes only and make no representations, warranties (expressed or implied) or guarantees of any kind whatsoever, as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or of any information found by following any link on this site. Furthermore, the owner and authors of this site will not be liable in any manner whatsoever for any errors or omissions in information on this site, nor for the availability of this information. Additionally the owner and authors of this site will not be liable for for any losses, injuries or damages in any way from the display or use of this information or as the result of following external links displayed on this site, or by responding to advertisements displayed, or contained, on this site
In using this site, users acknowledge and agree that the information on this site does not constitute the provision of legal advice, tax advice, accounting services, investment advice, or professional consulting of any kind nor should it be construed as such. The information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional tax, accounting, legal, or other competent advisers. Before making any decision or taking any action on this information, you should consult a qualified professional adviser to whom you have provided all of the facts applicable to your particular situation or question. None of the tax information on this web site is intended to be used nor can it be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer. |
|||