New home construction activity picking up

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for January 2012 showing an increase in single-family home building permits from the month before of 0.9 percent and a 1.0 percent decrease in new home starts compared to the month before. Continue Reading →

New homes sales fall in December and make 2011 worst year on record

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for December 2011 showing a decrease of 2.2 percent from the month before, and a decrease of 7.3 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for December was 307,000 homes, down from an adjusted rate of 314,000 homes the month before.  This is the first month new home sales have declined in four months and unfortunately ends the year with the lowest number of new homes sold since the Commerce Department began keeping track of sales in 1963.

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New Home Starts in 2011 Set All-Time Record Low

The last couple of months I have said that, “unless something changes dramatically, 2011 will hit a new record low of new home starts. Unfortunately, nothing dramatic happened, and 2011 has ended with only 428,600 new home starts setting a new record low and significantly below the prior all-time low of 445,200 starts in 2009. Continue Reading →

New home construction in November inches up;  Curent pace slightly ahead of record-low

The last couple of months I have said that, “unless something changes dramatically, 2011 will hit a new record low of new home starts. Well, the actual numbers this year will still most likely be a record low, but at least the rate of new home starts for November has now inched above the record low New home starts in November were up 2.3 percent from the prior month with the seasonally adjusted annual rate inching its way up to 447,000 homes, just slightly above the all-time low of 445,200 new home starts in 2009. Continue Reading →

St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update; The Benefits of ARM’s

Even though over the past few years, ARM’s (adjustable rate mortgages) have received somewhat of a “bad name”, there are truly benefits to them including: Continue Reading →

New home sales tick up slightly in October;   still on track for worst year ever

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for October 2011 showing an increase of 1.3 percent from the month before, and an increase of 8.9 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for October was 307,000 homes, up from an adjusted rate of 303,000 homes the month before (originally reported at 313,000 homes). Unfortunately, even with the increase in the rate of new home sales, the current rate of new home sales is still on track to make 2011 new home sales the lowest since the Commerce Department began keeping track of sales in 1963. Continue Reading →

New home permits and construction increase in October; Still at record low pace for year

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for October 2011 showing an increase in single-family home building permits from the month before of 5.1percent and a 3.9 percent increase in new home starts compared to the month before. Continue Reading →

New home sales tick up in September but still on track to be worst year ever

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for September 2011 showing an increase of 5.7 percent from the month before, and a decrease of 0.9 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for September was 313,000 homes, up from an adjusted rate of 296,000 the month before. Unfortunately, even with the increase in the rate of new home sales, the current rate of new home sales is still on track to make 2011 new home sales the lowest since the Commerce Department began keeping track of sales in 1963. Continue Reading →

New home construction increases slightly; still on pace for record-low year

The last couple of months I have said that, “unless something changes dramatically, 2011 will hit a new record low of new home starts. Well, unfortunately, even though the report for September shows an increase of 1.7 percent in housing starts, the seasonally adjusted annual rate is still at just 425,000 homes and still on track for 2011 to be a record low year for housing starts. Continue Reading →

New home sales drops in August and remains on track to finish year at record low

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for August 2011 showing a decrease of 2.3 percent from the month before, and an increase of 6.1 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for August was 295,000 homes, down from an adjusted rate of 302,000 the month before and is a rate that if we finish 2011 at will make 2011 new home sales the lowest since the Commerce Department began keeping track of sales in 1963.

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New home construction continues at record low pace for the year

Last month I talked about how in 1959 the census bureau first started keeping track of new home construction activity and reported that there were 1.5 million new homes started that year and that, “unless something changes dramatically, 2011 will hit a new record low of new home starts. Well, unfortunately, the report for August paints a pretty bleak picture as well and in fact, shows new home starts are at an even lower rate than last month dropping from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 423,000 homes the prior month to 417,000 homes in August.

The U.S. Census Continue Reading →

HUD Report says housing market continues to remain fragile

HUD released its U.S. Housing Market Conditions report for the 2nd quarter of 2011 which stated “housing data for the second quarter of 2011 indicate that the recovery in the housing market continues to remain fragile.” This did not come as a surprise, but what I did find a little surprising was the report showed that the market for new homes performed better than that for existing homes. The number of new homes sold rose in the second quarter and the year-over-year median sales price of new homes was up slightly. In contrast, the number of existing homes sold in Continue Reading →

New home sales drop again in July; 2011 new home sales continue on track to be worst year ever

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for July 2011 showing a decrease of 0.7 percent from the month before, and an increase of 6.8 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for July was 298,000 homes, down from an adjusted rate of 300,000 the month before and is a rate that if we finish 2011 at will make 2011 new home sales the lowest since the Commerce Department began keeping track of sales in 1963.

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New Home Construction On Pace For Record Low in 2011

In 1959 the census bureau first started keeping track of new home construction activity and reported that there were 1.5 million new homes started that year. In 2005 a record high 1.7 million new homes were started and in 2009 a record low 445,100 new homes. In 2010 there was a little improvement as there were 471,200 new homes started and things were looking up a bit, however, unless something changes dramatically, 2011 will hit a new record low of new home starts.

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report Continue Reading →

New home sales drop in June; 2011 new home sales on track to be worst year ever

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for June 2011 showing a decrease of 1.0 percent from the month before, and an increase of 1.6 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for June was 312,000 homes, down from 315,000 the month before and is a rate that if we finish 2011 at will make 2011 new home sales the lowest since the Commerce Department began keeping track of sales in 1963.

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New home permits and starts increase in May; New home shortage coming?

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.

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Groping Toward a Housing Recovery

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 →

New home sales decline in May; Up over 15 percent from year before

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for May 2011 showing a decrease of 2.1 percent from the month before, and an increase of 13.5 percent from a year ago.

The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for May was 319,000 homes, down from 326,000 the month before. The supply of new homes on the market decreased from an adjusted 6.3 month supply the month before to a 6.2 month supply in May. The median new home price increased for the month to $222,600, a 2.6 percent increase from a Continue Reading →

New home construction increases in May; outpacing new home sales by 60 percent

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.

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Robert Shiller on the Housing Boom and Bust and where home prices are headed

Robert Shiller

I’m doing this article as I attend a presentation by Robert Shiller, Yale Economics Professor and Co-Founder of the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices at the S&P Housing Summit 2011, as he discussed “Unusual Factors Influencing the Outlook for the U.S. Housing Market. So it may be a little choppy, but here are the highlights of his presentation “live”:

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Will jobs fix the housing market or will housing fix the job market?

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?

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New home sales and prices increase in April; still down over 23 percent from a year ago

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for April 2011 showing an increase of 7.3 percent from the month before, and a decrease of 23.1 percent from a year ago.

The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for April was 323,000 homes. The supply of new homes on the market decreased from an adjusted 7.2 month supply the month before to a 6.5 month supply in April. The median new home price increased for the month to $217,900, a 1.6 percent increase from a revised median price of $214,500 the Continue Reading →

New Home Construction Declines in April; No Recovery in Site for Builders

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.

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Housing and Economic Forecasts Point to Rising Activity and Flat Home Prices

Speaking yesterday at a forum at a meeting of the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), several industry “experts” had reasonably optimistic opinions of the housing market and expect home sales to continue on an uptrend through 2012.

Among the experts at the forum was, of course, Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for NAR, who said he felt existing home sales would improve gradually, but unevenly. “If we just hold at the first-quarter sales pace of 5.1 million (home sales), sales this year would rise 4 percent, but the remainder of the year looks better,” Yun said. “We expect 5.3 million Continue Reading →

New home sales and prices increase in March

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for March 2011 showing an increase of 11.1 percent from the month before, and a decrease of 21.9 percent from a year ago.

The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for March was 300,000 homes. The supply of new homes on the market decreased from an adjusted 8.2 month supply the month before to a 7.3 month supply in March. The median new home price increased for the month to $213,800, a 2.9 percent increase from a revised median price of $207,700 the Continue Reading →

New Home Construction Activity Increases in March

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for March 2011 showing a 5.7 percent increase in single-family home building permits from the month before, and a 7.7 percent increase in new home starts compared to the month before. This comes on the heels of new home construction sinking to a 25 year low last month.

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New home sales plummet in February, prices fall as well

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for February 2011 showing a decrease of 16.9 percent from the month before, and a decrease of 28.0 percent from a year ago.

The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for February was 250,000 homes. The supply of new homes on the market increased from an adjusted 7.4 month supply the month before to a 8.9 month supply in February. The median new home price decreased for the month to $202,100, a 13.9 percent decrease from a revised median price of $234,800 the Continue Reading →

New home construction sinks to 25 year low

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for February 2011 showing a 9.3 percent decrease in single-family home building permits from January, and a 27.0 percent decrease in new home starts compared to the year before.

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An overview of the 2010 Housing Market

HUD just released it’s “2010 Overview of U.S. Housing Market Conditions which gave a recap of the housing market for 2010. I’ve previously reported on most of the data and information that HUD included in the report however I thought this report did a good job of giving a complete and concise look at the market for the year so I wanted to share it.

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2010 Census data disappointing for St. Louis; what is effect on the St. Louis Real Estate market?

It’s hard to miss the fact that the US Census Bureau just released some of the results of the 2010 census for our area.  It’s been all over the media about St. Charles County’s population surpassing the City of St. Louis and moving it into the spot of the third largest county in the State.

Being the data junkie I’ve become I decided to tear into the numbers and see how the 2010 data compared with the 2000 data to see what changes have taken place in the last decade and see what I could glean from the data to Continue Reading →