A Page Turns on The Housing Market

Hi All,
   Well, it finally happened. Finally. The hype and the media coverage about it's imminent return have all been fulfilled. The U.S. Housing Market has finally began crawling back up from the bottom.

   It's been a long time, about 7 years, and a lot of ugly things have happened during that time, but most of the home price indices are starting to head back up in the right direction. In a recent WSJ article by David Wessel titled, "Housing Passes a Milestone". David Blitzer of S&P stated that "We finally saw some rising home prices", and reported the first monthly increase in prices after seven months of declines.

   Aside from prices, we all know the impact of housing inventory. It's simple Supply and Demand Economics. In what was called a surprise, the inventory of existing homes for sale has fallen "close to the normal level of six months' worth despite all the foreclosed homes that lenders own", per this article, and adds two additional key points, which are that a fraction of homes that are vacant is "at its lowest level since 2006", and that the amount of existing homes that were sold in May 2012 was 10% higher that those sold in May 2011. Wessel notes that many of these homes were purchased by investors "who plan to rent them for now and sell them later", which he infers to as "an important sign of an inflection point". We can surmise from our angle that the amount of homes being sold via Rent to Own is trending upwards from what we are seeing from our Rent to Own Homes website.

But can this just be a statistical aberration?

   Wessel provides an additional reason why this seems to be the real deal. Aside from the reduced inventory of homes that will support the higher prices, he also points to the increase in construction of single-family homes. Comparing May 2012 to May 2011, "Builders began work on 26% more single-family homes in May 2012" than the previous time last year.

   There is still a long way to go. Wessel mentioned some things that we should not forget: Single-family housing starts are still 60% below the 2002 "pre-bubble pace", Americans' equity in homes 25%, less than it was in 2002, and more than one in every four mortgage borrowers "still has a loan bigger than the value of the house". But "the housing bust is over", which for many of us, is music to our ears.

   Have you seen any signs of the Housing Market turning around by you? We'd love to hear.

Would You Like Our Blog Posts Sent Directly to your E-mail? Here's How:

1. Locate the "Subscribe by E-mail" box on the Right Side of your Screen.
2. Type your E-mail address in the box, and click "Submit"
3. Check Your E-mail and Confirm Your Subscription...it's That Simple !

Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Regards,
Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com

TAGS: #HousingMarket #homeprices #housinginventory #foreclosedhomes #existinghomes #builders #singlefamilyhomes #renttoown #mortgage #investors

Home Builder Ingenuity

Hi All,
   Welcome back!

   On the heels of my post this past Wednesday, titled, "Buy it, Build it, or None of the Above?", where we looked at the New Residential Construction Figures vs. Existing Home Sales, and the results showed the clear winner as Existing Homes, we have a new spin with perfect timing

   "Builders generally seem to agree that their stiffest competition is coming not from within their ranks but from the resale housing market and its foreclosed houses and from houses sold for less than their mortgages as short sales." Ironic, isn't it? This comes from a story on the Press-Enterprise site, and it leads us to the following question: For the Builders that are on the short end of the New Residential Construction figures, how can they get people to buy more New Homes and thus, generate more Building Permits, Housing Starts, and Housing Completions? To add some irony, the name of the story I quoted from above is titled, "Builders band together to showcase homes".

   This very well-timed and aptly named article says that for the first time in memory, "home builders who historically compete for buyers are launching a joint promotion to draw consumers to their sales offices". These free seminars, presented by the Building Industry Association of Southern California and the Greater Sales and Marketing Council, range from topics such as interior design trends, energy efficiency and barbecuing techniques.

   I think this is a great idea to strike up business for Builders and for New Construction (the purpose of the seminars is to show off homes and "whip up business").

  "Ingenuity 101"...it's what keeps us going and growing in light of difficult Economic conditions. What do you think?

Would You Like Our Blog Posts Directly to your E-mail? Here's How:
1. Locate the "Follow this Blog by Email" box on the Right Side of your Screen.
2. Type your E-mail address in the box, and click "Submit"
3. Check Your E-mail and Confirm Your Subscription...it's That Simple !

Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
Regards,
Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com

TAGS: #Construction #ExistingHomes #homebuilders #resalehousing #California

Realtors And Existing Homes...What It All Means

Hi Everyone,

   I might be shot on the spot for this, but perhaps I won't be...when we think of Realtors, we often think of the Realtors that sell Existing homes...in other words...ones that are already built and are not new construction. If we go with that thought, seeing the clout that Realtors have in the Housing market, we realize how important an indicator the "Existing Homes Sales" figures are (released by the National Association of Realtors®, or "NAR").

   The figures for May were just released, and sales dropped 3.8% from April, but 15.3% from a year ago (when the tax credit deadline was approaching). The figures are the "completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops", per the NAR.

   "There is still lots of pain in many US markets. Foreclosures and short sales, declining prices and tougher lending standards are prohibiting new buyers from getting in the market", says Barak Dunayer, founder of Barak Realty in New York City. He points to some bright spots, such as properties priced below $100,000, along with some "deeply discounted properties" scooped up by investors. He does offer some hope in his local market, and says that in some areas, as in the case of NY City, "the sales of certain properties in specific submarkets have been robust and even back to 2006-2007 levels.", and reminds us of a very valuable lesson: "As real estate is a local market NOT a national market, one must look closely at local market conditions prior to making sound buying and selling decisions."

   This is some sound advice. On Wednesday, the FHFA Monthly House Price Index will be released, followed by the New Residential Sales figures for May on Thursday. What do you think will be the result of those two releases? We'd love to hear your opinion.

Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
Regards,
Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Website http://www.lease2buy.com

TAGS: #Realtor #housingmarket #existinghomes

The Connection Between The Producer Price Index And Housing

Hi Folks,
   As another week draws to a close, we take a look at an indicator that we have not discussed here, and that is the Producer Price Index (PPI), which basically looks at goods in varying stages of production. The Producer Price Index for finished goods rose 0.2% in May (following increases of 0.8% in April and 0.7% in March), so it appears things are headed in the right direction, however, what does this mean for the Housing Market?

   "On the surface the Housing Market should have the potential of having a large impact on PPI since it represents a large portion of the U.S. economic engine", says Lynn Grantham of St. Johns, FL. Grantham points to the "lack of strength in the Housing Market since 2008", and says that the remaining inventory of unsold homes, "including the large number of foreclosed properties that lenders are still sitting on should translate into a dampening impact on the PPI."

   Another point, which was raised by Barry of Alvic Management, is that higher producer prices, "increase the cost of construction materials and should slow new construction, which may make existing homes more valuable because it's harder to recreate them."

   What is your view on this index? How inter-related is it to the Housing Market and the Real Estate Industry? We'd love to hear your opinion.

Have a Great Weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
Regards,
Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes Blog http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Website http://www.lease2buy.com

TAGS: #PPI #realestate #foreclosed #construction