By Dennis Norman, on February 15th, 2011 Much has been written (including by me) about the negative impact foreclosures and other distress sales have on home prices so this is no new issue. In fact, most readers have probably seen (or felt) the impact of this in their own neighborhood.
The charts below which show the percentage of mortgages that were 90 days or more past due and in foreclosure for 2007 through 2010 illustrate well just how ugly this issue is. In the lower left hand corner of each chart is depicted the national house-price index through the period and it is easy to see that Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on February 14th, 2011 This past Friday Federal Reserve Board Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin spoke at the 2011 Midwinter Housing Finance Conference about the powerful impact the housing and mortgage markets have had on the nation’s economy recovery.
Governor Raskin began by point out that, “speaking strictly in an economic sense, the recession that emerged in 2008 is over.” She then followed by saying “I know that the millions of Americans still looking for work, living in cars or motels, or trying to keep their businesses out of bankruptcy would beg to disagree.” Gov Raskin went on to state that our economy is in Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on February 8th, 2011 Today, CoreLogic released its December Home Price Index (HPI) showing that home prices in the U.S. declined for the fifth-straight month. The report shows home prices declined by 5.46 percent in December 2010 compared with December 2009.
St. Louis home prices fell by 8.74 percent in December 2010 compared with December 2009, a decline of over 60 percent higher than the national home price decline. Home prices for the state of Missouri fell 8.82 percent during the period, slightly higher than St. Louis and high enough to put Missouri at number 5 in the country for home price declines for Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on February 4th, 2011 Today Richard W. Northcutt, a California real estate investor, pleaded guilty to conspiring with a group of real estate speculators who agreed not to bid against each other at certain public real estate foreclosure auctions in San Joaquin County. According to the court documents the primary purpose of the conspiracy was to suppress and restrain competition and to obtain selected real estate offered at these foreclosure auctions at non-competitive prices.
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By Dennis Norman, on January 31st, 2011 The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced the temporary waiver of the “anti-flipping” rule has been extended through December 31, 2011. In my opinion the “anti-flipping” rule was a bad idea to start with and in the current housing market the last thing we need is anything to discourage investors from buying homes so this is a good move by FHA.
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By Dennis Norman, on January 27th, 2011 Dennis Norman
The National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index for December shows an increase of 2.0 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and a 4.2 percent decrease from a year ago.
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By Dennis Norman, on January 26th, 2011 Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for December 2010 showing an increase of 17.5 percent from the month before, but a decrease of 7.6 percent from a year ago.
The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for December was 329,000 homes, a 17.5 percent increase from November’s revised rate of 280,000 homes. The supply of new homes on the market decreased from an adjusted 8.4 month supply in November to a 6.9 month supply in December. The median new home price increased for the month to $241,500 whopping 12.0 Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on January 25th, 2011 Dennis Norman
Today the S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for November was released and confirms concerns that I have discussed previously that the housing market is headed for a double dip in home prices.
The report revealed that home prices decreased in 19 or the 20 metro areas covered by the report from their October levels and only four of the metro’s showed a year-over-year price gain in November.Furthermore, nine metros – Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, Portland (OR), Seattle and Tampa – hit their lowest levels since home prices started to fall in 2006 and 2007.
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By Dennis Norman, on January 20th, 2011 Today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS(R) shows St. Louis area existing home sales for December were 3.1 percent higher than a year ago and St. Louis area home prices in December were 7.8 percent higher than the year before.
Nationally, existing home sales in December were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 5.28 million units which is an increase of 12.3 percent from November and is a decline of 2.9 percent from a year ago. Preliminary numbers for 2010 show 4,908,000 existing homes sold which is a decrease of 4.8 percent from 2009 when Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on January 14th, 2011 You finally reach a deal with a buyer to sell your house, or strike a deal with the seller of your dream home, only to see the deal fall apart later when the house doesn’t appraise for the price that has been agreed upon…what are you to do? This is a plight that has become all too common today for many buyers and sellers. Why? Several reasons….appraisers have, after being blamed by many for causing or contributing to the downfall of the housing market, understandably so become cautious and somewhat conservative when putting a value on a home today. Not Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on January 11th, 2011 Today, CoreLogic released its November Home Price Index (HPI) showing that home prices in the U.S. declined for the fourth-straight month. The report shows home prices declined by 5.07 percent in November 2010 compared with November 2009.
St. Louis home prices fell by 7.57 percent in November 2010 compared with November 2009, right at 50 percent more than the national home price decline.
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By Dennis Norman, on January 7th, 2011 The real estate market has not been very nice to us over the past 3 years or so and we are all anxious to see the light at the end of the tunnel. With that in mind, and 2011 in front of us, where is the real estate market headed in 2011? Before I take my humble stab at answering this question I need to remind you I am not an economist nor do I have a PhD behind my name, in fact I have nothing behind my name. All I can offer is a whole lot of experience “in Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on December 31st, 2010 As 2010 quickly comes to an end I sat here early this morning pondering the real estate market and reading reports on the housing industry. One thing that caught my attention was an article titled “The Mortgage Interest Deduction and Negative Equity” by Ted Gayer, the co-director of economic studies at the Brookings Institute (and occasional contributor to this blog). Ted’s article made some interesting points related to the mortgage interest deduction, negative equity and home-ownership rates in the U.S.
In his article Ted states “It seems semantically incorrect to call someone who owes more on an asset than it’s Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on December 29th, 2010 Dennis Norman
Yesterday the S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for October was released and was filled with bad news on the housing market. The report revealed that home prices decreased in all 20 metro areas covered by the report from their September levels and only four of the metro’s showed a year-over-year price gain in October.Furthermore, six metros – Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Portland (OR), Seattle and Tampa – hit their lowest levels since home prices started to fall in 2006 and 2007.
This news comes at a time when we have seen a couple of bits of positive news on Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on December 28th, 2010 It seems we always need to find someone to blame for our problems…
When it comes to the meltdown in the housing market that has taken place over the past three years there has been no lack of finger pointing by many inside and outside the industry as to factors that either caused or contributed to the collapse of the housing market. Sub-prime lending, Wall Street, mortgage fraud, the mortgage industry, banks, community reinvestment act, real estate brokers and agents, fannie mae, freddie mac, federal government over-regulation, federal government under-regulation, appraisers, unemployment, the economy in general, “flipping”, sellers, buyers and Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on December 23rd, 2010 Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for November 2010 showing an increase of 5.50 percent from the month before, but a decrease of 21.2 percent from a year ago.
The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for November was 290,000 homes, a 5.5 percent increase from October’s revised rate of 275,000 homes. The supply of new homes on the market decreased from an adjusted 8.8 month supply in October to a 8.2 month supply in November. The median new home price increased for the month to $213,000 from $197,200 Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on December 22nd, 2010 Today’s existing home sales report from theNational Association of REALTORS(R) shows existing home sales in November were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.68 million units which is an increase of 5.6 percent from October and is a decline of 27.9 percent from a year ago.
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By Dennis Norman, on December 21st, 2010 Ah, it is so much fun to be able to write something positive about the real estate market!
According to an economic outlook report just issued by Fannie Mae, our country’s economy should “kick into higher gear” by the second quarter of 2011. This positive outlook is the result of improvements in consumer spending, consumer confidence, increased demand for goods and services and falling unemployment claims.
For 2011, Fannie Mae, in their December 2010 forecast, is forecasting growth of 3.4 percent which is an improvement from the 2.9 percent growth in 2011 they previously forecast. The big caveat is that Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on December 16th, 2010 A new report release by Trulia reveals that, in December, the number of listings with at least one price cut grew to 27 percent which is a 23 percent increase from December 2009 when 22 percent of the listings had at least one price cut. In terms of the size of the price cut, that has remained about the same at 11 percent.
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By Dennis Norman, on December 14th, 2010 A survey conducted by Harris Interactive, for Lending Tree, shows that consumers do not comparison shop when it comes to their home mortgage, instead borrowers often “lock in” their first home loan offer. The survey shows 96 percent of consumers compare prices when shopping for anything, but nearly 40 percent obtain just one home loan quote. An interesting comparison given was when shopping for a home computer, consumers check out and research an average of 3.1 models before making a purchase. This probably helps explain why, according to the survey, only 28 percent of borrowers stated they were “very confident” Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on December 9th, 2010 Settlement Provides $2 Million to African-American Borrowers Who Paid Higher Interest Rates
PrimeLending, a national mortgage lender with 168 offices in 32 states at the end of 2009, has agreed to pay $2 million to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African-American borrowers between 2006 and 2009.
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By Dennis Norman, on November 30th, 2010 Dennis Norman
This morning S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for the third quarter or this year was released showing home prices declined 2.0 percent in the third quarter after having risen 4.7 percent in the second quarter.
Nationally, home prices are 1.5 percent below where they were a year ago. In September, 18 of the 20 metro areas covered by the report had declines in the home price index.
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By Dennis Norman, on November 23rd, 2010 Today’s existing home sales report from theNational Association of REALTORS(R) shows existing home sales in October were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.43 million units which is a decrease of 2.2 percent from September and is a decline of 25.9 percent from a year ago.
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By Dennis Norman, on November 23rd, 2010 A report released today by CoreLogic shows that, while the overall inventory of homes for sale has remained the same in the past year at 4.2 million new and existing homes for sale as of August, the number of homes in “shadow inventory” has grown from 6.1 million a year before to 6.3 million as of August, 2010.
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By Dennis Norman, on November 18th, 2010 According to a survey just released by Transunion, Landlord’s and Property managers appear to be making it through the Great Recession and are seeing improvement in the market from their perspective. In fact, seven out of 10 property managers said their rental properties have no vacancies, an increase of almost 17 percent from a year ago. Only 39 percent of respondents said they’re having difficulty finding residents in today’s economic climate. Additionally, more than 3 out of 4 respondents (76 percent) said rental prices have either remained the same or increased since last year.
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By Dennis Norman, on November 17th, 2010
Price Reductions Surpass Highest Historical Levels in 15 U.S. Cities, Remain Flat Nationwide
According to a report released this morning by Trulia.com, 27 percent of the homes for sale in November have experienced at least one price cut. Following four-consecutive months of increases, this rate has now flattened out nationwide. However, locally the story is different as 15 major cities hit an all-time high for price reductions in November.
“Price reduction increases in many large U.S. cities can be attributed to the basic principle of supply and demand –– on that score, buyers clearly have the advantage this Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 12th, 2010 Dennis Norman
A study by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC shows that this fall as parents said goodbye to their college-bound kids, fewer of those kids were heading to dorms or apartments that are typically associated with college housing but instead will be heading to homes their parents bought for them to live in. In fact, 64 percent of real estate professionals in college towns surveyed said they had seen a significant number of “parent investors” buying homes for their kids to live in while attending college.
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By Dennis Norman, on November 5th, 2010 Dennis Norman
At the National Association of REALTORS® Conference and Expo in New Orleans today, “a slow, steady recovery” was predicted for the housing market despite ongoing challenges.
Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors® chief economist, said that he expects “continuing improvement of underlying fundamentals of the current market in coming years.”
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By News Desk, on November 4th, 2010 Five questions every potential buyer should ask when deciding whether to rent or buy a home
First time homebuyers have a lot to consider this summer when making the decision to rent or buy a home: interest rates are at all-time lows, there’s still plenty of housing stock and prices are at or near their lowest in years. Still, deciding whether to buy a home or rent an apartment can be a complicated decision. How do you know what’s right for you? Potential buyers should ask themselves several key questions before making this important decision.
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By Dennis Norman, on November 1st, 2010 Dennis Norman
Finally, some more good news about the housing market! TransUnion released a study of mortgage delinquency “roll rates” (when delinquent borrowers move to a more delinquent status, say from 30 days late to 60 days late, then 90 and so on) which showed that mortgage delinquency roll rates peaked in the summer of 2009. According to the study, approximately 24.4 percent of consumers who were 30 days past due on their mortgage payments in June 2009 became 60 days past due in July 2009 and nearly 37.6 percent of consumers 60 days delinquent on their mortgage Continue Reading →
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