Young Inventory Translates To Quick Markets

Good Morning Folks,

   As we all know, there are a wide variety of measures and indices that gauge the health of the Real Estate market. One of the most important of there are the New Residential Sales figures, which incidentally, were up 6.8% from July 2010 to July of this year.

   Another such measure, and quite an interesting one, is one that was recently discussed in an article on Inman News ("11 fastest-moving real estate markets in July"). As described in the article, "Realtor.com released a list of metros with the lowest median age of inventory at the site -- a measurement of how long a property from a given metro area typically spends on the site". Essentially, the logic is that if homes are not sitting in inventory for too long while waiting to be sold, this indicates quick turnover, and thus, a fast-moving market.

   The biggest winner in this category, per the Realtor.com site, was Denver (median age of inventory was 32 days, which was the lowest among the Metros). Additionally, 6 California metros appeared in the list, and Detroit made the list, which is a good sign for their struggling Housing Market.

   Now, the converse of this measure would be the Metros with the highest median age of inventory, thus, slow-moving markets. The slowest one? Naples, Florida, with the highest median age of 153 days. Naples was not lonely in the list, as 7 of the 10 Metros tagged as the slowest-moving markets were in Florida.

   Inventory data is definitely not a new concept, but when it is examined from this perspective, it certainly paints a picture of the markets that are moving, shaking, and in some cases, sleeping.

   What are your thoughts/comments on this?

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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: #RealEstate #NewResidentialSales #inventory #Realtor #California #Detroit #Florida

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

Existing Home Sales, New Residential Sales, and Home Prices. Ouch!

Hi Folks,
   Hope your week went better than the recent Housing Market numbers!

   On that sour intro, NAR Existing Home Sales were released this week, and they showed us an almost 10% drop from January to February, and nearly a 3% drop from a year earlier. New Residential Sales were even worse, with almost a 17% drop from January to February, and, get ready for this...a 28% drop from exactly one year earlier.

   The Home Price Index that is tallied by FHFA did not fair any better. We saw home prices drop 0.3% from December 2010 to January 2011, but for the 12 months ending in January, prices fell 3.9%. To put these numbers in perspective, the U.S. index is 16.5% below its April 2007 peak.

   So, how was your week...?

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

Bring a Shovel...It's Getting Deep Out Here !

Good Morning,


   Welcome back, my friends ! Hope you had a joyous Christmas, if you celebrated the Holiday this past weekend. By the way, does anyone have a shovel? We are looking at about 2 feet of snow here in Metro NY...Ho Ho Ho !

   Since this tends to be one of the quietest weeks of the year, I hope you have time to reflect on the past year. Let's reflect today on some housing numbers that came out last week, and I think a visual breakdown will help you see where we've been and possibly where we are headed.

   Last week, the numbers were released for NAR Existing Home Sales, New Residential Sales, and FHFA Monthly House Price Index. Here is how things shaped up:

                                            Change From 10/10           Change From 11/09
NAR Existing Home Sales               +5.6%                                    -27.9%
New Residential Sales                     +5.5%                                    -21.2%

   The National Association of Realtors' Existing-Home Sales index (completed transactions including single-family, town homes, condominiums and co-ops) was up in November after bottoming out in July, and New Residential Sales (sales of new single-family houses) reflected similar numbers. Finally, the FHFA Monthly House Price Index (Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index) showed that U.S. house prices rose almost 3/4 of a percent from September to October.

   We are certainly making strides, as 2010 draws to a close, but we are still well below where we were in 2009. It's going to take considerably more time to get things back up to a speed that is more comforting to the market, however, I think we're off to a good start.

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

Do the Housing Numbers Make You Dizzy?

Hi Folks,


   Hope you've had a great short week, and you're ready for the Feast !

   As we discussed on Monday, there were quite a bit of pivotal numbers coming out, and I wanted to take a look at them together with you. Whether this will aid in your digestion tomorrow will remain to be seen.

   New Residential Sales: October came in at 8.1% below September and 28.5% below October 2009, and compared to the same numbers released last month, which showed a 6.6 percent short term increase, but was also substantially below the previous year (21.5 percent decrease). What happened to another short-term increase? Where did that go?

   Existing-Home Sales: The figures for October came in 2.2% below September, and 25.9% below October 2009, reflecting, of course, the tax credit frenzy during that period of time.

   FHFA Quarterly Index: This purchase-only FHFA house price index showed a 1.6% drop from the 2nd Quarter to the 3rd Quarter, and a 3.2% drop from the same period in 2009. The biggest movers were the Mountain Division of the US, which was down 4%, while the New England Division rose 0.9%

   We still have a long way to go until we start seeing rock-solid numbers coming out with every new release, and it certainly will, as we cannot create more land, just more houses!

   As a final note, we will be doing a very informative piece on Friday, which will cover the topic of Bank REOs and Foreclosures, so be sure to tune-in (and digest).

Have a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving
...and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
HomeRun Homes Blog http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Website http://www.lease2buy.com