January 2012 Home Sales - New vs. Existing

Hi Folks,
   Welcome Back !

   In a report this week from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (The "HUD"), sales of new single-family homes from December to January were down almost 1% (3.5% above January 2011), and during the same period of time, Existing Home Sales were up 4.3%, which marked 3 gains in the past 4 months, per the National Association of Realtors (or, "NAR").

   Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, attributed the strong gains in recent contract activity to buyers that are responding to "very favorable market conditions". Yun said that the "uptrend in home sales is in line with all of the underlying fundamentals", and Yun names a few of them, such as "pent-up household formation, record-low mortgage interest rates, bargain home prices, sustained job creation and rising rents.”

   Taking a deeper look at the figures for Existing-home sales, the West jumped 8.8% during the short term, and Distressed homes, which includes "foreclosures and short sales which sell at deep discounts", were at 35% in January, up from 32% in December.

   A conversation on Housing would be incomplete without discussing inventory. According to the NAR, inventories continued to improve, and more specifically, total unsold listed inventory has trended down from a 2007 record, and is down a 20.6% below a year ago. (NRS) The report just released for the New Residential Sales, the HUD listed a supply of 5.6 months at the current sales rate.

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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: #HUD #NAR #singlefamilyhouses #Realtors #householdformation #mortgageinterestrates #homeprices #risingrents #residentialsales #inventories #existinghomesales

Confusion Stemming From New Residential Sales Figures

Good Morning,

   Happy mid-week to everyone.

   This past Monday, the figures were released for New Residential Sales for March, and the numbers showed us better than an 11% surge from February, but almost a 22% drop from March of 2010.

   Do these numbers confuse you? If so, you're not alone.

   Katie Severance of RE/MAX Village Square, thinks that the sales figures are, "confusing to both buyers and sellers who are trying to gauge where the market is.". She adds that, "on the one hand, they reflect that home prices have continued to fall. But, on the other hand, they show that the "pace' of home sales is actually up."

   Severance says that, "What they actually reflect are two things", which she says, "All sales figures are spotty depending on the region. Whether numbers are slightly up or down, we continue to "skip along the bottom and if we are not yet at the bottom, we're not too far off." The second item piece is that, as she says, "The pace of sales are up because sellers are pricing more realistically and motivated buyers know that mortgage interest rates will climb and that waiting for prices to fall lower may just offset the rise in interest rates - making the timing of their purchase a 'wash'. If they wait too long, interest rates will climb high enough where - at a certain point - they can actually afford less house than they can today."

   "While the increase in March, from February, is nice, it is still well below last year", says L Lane Bailey of Diamond Dwellings Realty, and adds that, "Last year was somewhat of a bump because of tax incentives in the market, but the real bump in closed sales wasn't until closer to the May/June time frame last year. Before we can call an end to the housing slump, we need to see a few months of strong sales strung together."

   Bailey says that their market area, which is Gwinnett County, Georgia, is, "seeing some pockets and price ranges that are reasonably strong, but others are still lagging." Bailey says that, "Luxury housing is still quite weak, with most of the sales prices considerably lower than a couple of years ago, and down 25% from what they might have fetched even a year ago."

   Alexis A. Moore, Vice President of Town Center Realty Group, says that, "Borrowers still find it difficult to obtain loans and sellers are still faced with difficult times when selling their homes. Those of us in the real estate industry know that working in this climate and closing a deal is no piece of cake", and adds that, ""The market is still very soft at least here in Northern California"

   "With the low rates, first time home-buyers can have a heyday in the market. Investors are also snapping up rental properties at very favorable prices. Some homes are selling at a 40% discount compared to recent tax appraisals.", says Bailey. Moore says that, "Any positive change is a good one and I always try to stay positive finding new ways to work with my buyers and sellers."

   What are your thoughts on the New Residential Sales figures?

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