A report was just published by RadarLogic which said that, even though home prices in the 25 cities covered by their RPX composite index appeared to have increased in the past year, that this was the result of a large decline in the number of distressed sales at bargain prices and not an increase in home prices. Continue Reading →
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Since the appraised value of home is a key element when considering a purchase or refinance, the following are the top four most common questions about appraisals asked by sellers: Continue Reading → Over the past few months I have talked a lot about whether St Louis home prices have hit bottom yet and, in an article about 3 months ago said it appeared they bottomed out last year. When writing on the topic have stressed that, by the time we see solid proof of the bottom we will be past it and home prices will already be on the rise. Today’s pending home sales from the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) supports this notion and shows signs that increasing demand and decreasing supply is putting a damper on the rate of recovery of home sales and will also lead to higher home prices. Yesterday I wrote about home prices in the U.S. increasing 6.9 percent in the 2nd quarter (according to the Case-Shiller index) and increasing over 5 percent during the same period here in St. Louis. Continue Reading → I have good news for homeowners that are underwater on the mortgage and need to do a short sale, or for buyers looking to buy a short sale. The Federal Housing Financing Agency just issued new guidelines to lenders that service Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans that are intended to “offer a streamlined short sale approach” which will be music to the ears of anyone that has been through the process. I don’t always agree with the actions of the FHFA but I think this is a good move and will help the market. The new guidelines, which go into effect November 1, 2012, include: Continue Reading → What are sellers’ concessions? A seller concession can be any negotiation where the seller, builder, developer, salesperson or any interested party gives a credit to the borrower at closing. The seller concession can help lower or eliminate the amount of money a borrower is required to bring to the closing table. Continue Reading → FHA remains to be a great alternative for buyers with limited resources for a down payment and closing costs or past credit problems. Underwriting guidelines are more lenient than conventional guidelines. Continue Reading → The National Association of REALTORS released it’s Pending Home Sales Index for June today showing a decrease of 1.4 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted) and a 9.5 percent increase from a year ago. However, here in the Midwest, the numbers are better with pending home sales decreasing just 0.4 percent from May, the smallest decrease for the month of all the regions, and Midwest pending home sales in June increased 17.3 percent from a year ago, which is the highest year-over-year increase of all regions in the U.S. Continue Reading → Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for June 2012 and while the rest of the country reels from a decrease of 8.4 percent in the new home sales rate from the month before (seasonally adjusted), here in the Midwest we can celebrate an increase of almost 15 percent in the new home sales rate to 55,000 (seasonally adjusted annual rate) from 48,000 the month before and an increase of 50 percent in actual new home sales in June in the Midwest to 6,000 new homes sold from 4,000 the month before. Continue Reading → Yesterday’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in June were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.37 million units which is a decrease of 5.4 percent from the month before, and a 4.5 percent increase from the year before and is at the lowest level since October 2011. Continue Reading → Here’s some good news to end our week with: In St. Louis the number of homeowners that are underwater on their mortgage (owe more than their home is worth), otherwise known as being in a “negative equity” position, dropped to 90,196 homeowners, or 16.1 percent of all St. Louis homeowners with a mortgage, in the first quarter of this year, down from 101,829 St Louis homeowners, or 18.1 percent during the prior quarter, according to a report just released by Corelogic. Continue Reading → A report released today by CoreLogic, one of the nations leading providers of property information, shows that U.S. home prices increased in May by 2.0percent from the year before and increased by 1.8 percent from the month before marking the third-consecutive month U.S. home prices have increased on both a year-over-year as well as month-over-month basis. St. Louis home prices, on the other hand, moved opposite the U.S. trend with St. Louis home prices decreasing in May by 2.2 percent from the year before and St. Louis home prices in May decreased 1.7 percent from April, according to the report. Continue Reading → The sale price for a house is $200,000, but the appraisal comes back at $190,000. Should the borrower still try to purchase this property or just leave it be? This is not unusual circumstance common in today’s real estate market; appraisals are coming in conservatively. What action should the borrower take when there is a mismatch between the seller’s asking price and the home’s appraised value? Remember, the maximum loan amount is based upon the lower of the sale price or the appraised value, whichever is less. Continue Reading → he National Association of REALTORS released it’s Pending Home Sales Index for May today showing an increase of 5.9 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), a 13.3 percent increase from a year ago and is now at the highest level it’s been since April 2010. Continue Reading → Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for May 2012 showing an increase of 7.6 percent from the month before, and an increase of 19.8 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for May was 369,000 homes, up from a revised rate of 343,000 homes the month before. The supply of new homes on the market decreased to a 4.7 month supply from a revised 5.0 months the month before. The median new home price decreased slightly to $234,500 from a revised median price of $236,000 the month before and increased 5.6 percent from a year ago when the median new home price was $222,000. Continue Reading → Yesterday’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in May were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.55 million units which is a decrease of 1.5 percent from the month before, however, here in the Midwest we bucked the trend coming in with home sales at an annual rate of 1.04 million units, up 1.0 percent from the month before. The Midwest was the only region in May that saw an increase in the rate of home sales in May from the month before, all regions saw an increase from a year ago however. Home prices in the Midwest didn’t fare as well as the rest of the country however, coming in at 147,700 which is an increase of 6.4 percent from a year ago, less than the 7.9 percent increase seen at the national level, however the month over month increase of 5.6 percent in the Midwest did top the 5.1 percent month over month increase at the national level. Continue Reading → This morning, RealtyTrac released their U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for May 2012 which shows that foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions) we’re reported on 1,872 properties in St. Louis during the month, a 4.41 percent increase from the previous month and an increase of 16.71 percent from May 2011. During the month, 1 out of every 667 homes in St. Louis had a foreclosure filing. Continue Reading → The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of the Treasury released their May Housing Scorecard, which collects key market data and tracks the administration’s recovery efforts. According to the May scorecard, recent market data contains a number of promising indicators and increasing signs of stability. In April, sales of existing homes increased in every region of the country and the number of new homes rose for the first time since 2007. Continue Reading → My family is definitely a beach-loving family! Most of the trips and vacations our family has been on over the years have included beaches and both of our children’s first trips as infants were to the beach. So, I guess it is safe to say our family loves beaches and we are not alone! Even though beach property has suffered during the real estate bust, there seems to always be demand for homes in beach communities. Some areas, like Sarasota, Florida, are already seeing prices increase on homes located on or near the beach. Did you wait too late to buy that second home or vacation home in a beach community? Well, according to a report just released by RealtyTrac, there are still some bargains to be found out there! Continue Reading → CoreLogic released its April Home Price Index (HPI) report showing home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased on a year-over-year basis by 1.1 percent in April 2012 compared to April 2011. This is the second consecutive month with year-over-year increases, and the first time two consecutive increases have occurred since June 2010. On a month-over-month basis, home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 2.2 percent in April 2012. This marks the second consecutive month-over-month increase this year. Continue Reading → Trulia today released the latest findings from the Trulia Price Monitor and the Trulia Rent Monitor, the earliest leading indicators available of trends in home prices and rents. Based on the for-sale homes and rentalslisted on Trulia, these monitors take into account changes in the mix of listed homes and reflect trends in prices and rents for similar homes in similar neighborhoods through May 31, 2012. Continue Reading → This morning RealtyTrac® released its U.S. Foreclosure Sales Report™ for the first quarter of 2012, which shows that sales of homes that were in some stage of foreclosure or bank owned accounted for 24 percent of all St. Louis metro area home sales during the first quarter — up from 17 percent of all St Louis home sales in the fourth quarter and the same as the first quarter of 2011. The report also shows that, during the quarter, over 10 percent (10.36) of St Louis metro home sales were short-sales, an increase from 5.85 percent the previous quarter and an increase from 7.46 percent from the first quarter of 2011. Continue Reading → Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for April 2012 showing an increase of 3.3 percent from the month before, and an increase of 9.9 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for April was 343,000 homes, up from a revised rate of 332,000 homes the month before. The supply of new homes on the market decreased to a 5.1 month supply from a revised 5.2 months the month before. The median new home price increased slightly to $235,700 from a revised median price of $234,000 the month before and increased 4.4 percent from a year ago when the median new home price was $224,700. Continue Reading → 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 → 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 → 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 → 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 → 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 → 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 → For the second month in a row, home prices have risen higher than a year ago. Median prices in March were an impressive 5.8% higher than March 2011 in the 53 metro areas surveyed for the RE/MAX National Housing Report. February marked the first time in 18 months that home prices rose higher than the previous year, and year-to-year price increases haven’t occurred in two consecutive months since August 2010. Home sales in March were 25.4% higher than February and 1.5% higher than March last year. For the last 9 months, sales have reached a level higher than the same month in the previous year. Following these trends, the spring and summer months should experience increased activity. With falling inventory and many markets witnessing multiple offers with bidding competitions, prices are likely to continue to rise in many areas. Continue Reading → |
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