Author: Paul Wheeler

Here’s another sign that the tide has turned on the national real estate market: US homes entering the foreclosure process fell to their lowest levels in 7 years during the 3rd quarter of 2013.

This is tremendous news for interested home sellers because foreclosures have been pulling down median sales prices all across the country for the last few years.

What’s more, the drop in foreclosures signals that fewer homeowners are falling behind on mortgage payments, which is yet another indication that the market is in fact improving.

And that’s good news for everyone!

More National Housing Market Trends

According to a recent Associated Press article, lenders started the foreclosure process on 174,366 homes between July and September, which is the lowest level since the second quarter of 2006.

Here are some more recent trends that experts are seeing on the national real estate market:

• Foreclosure starts fell 13 percent from the previous quarter
• What’s more, foreclosure starts were down 39 percent from the third quarter last year.
• During the third quarter 2013, foreclosure starts saw year-over-year decreases in 38 states, including Colorado, Arizona, California and Illinois.
• Meanwhile, there were year-over-year increases in foreclosure starts in 11 states, including Maryland, Oregon, New Jersey and Connecticut.
• Although there were fewer homes entering the foreclosure process, lenders actually increased their home repossessions. Thus, data shows there was actually a quarterly increase in homes lost to foreclosure.
• Completed foreclosures increased 7 percent between the second and third quarter.
• Still, completed foreclosures were down 24 percent year-over-year during the third quarter
• 119,485 homes were taken back by lenders during the third quarter. Experts project that the country will complete about 507,497 foreclosures by the end of the year, which is actually down about 24 percent from 2012′s total.
• Foreclosures peaked in 2010 with 1.05 million. They have been decreasing since then.
• The total number of homes taken back by banks increased between the second and third quarter in 26 states, including New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Virginia
• During the third quarter, it took an average of 551 days between the time a home began the foreclosure process to the time it was completed repossessed. This is an increase from the average number of days this process took in the second quarter, which was 526 days.
• New York had the longest foreclosure processing time with an average of 1,037 days, or almost three years. Meanwhile, Maine had the shortest foreclosure processing time with 160 days.
• Florida continues to have the highest rate of foreclosures, with a rate that is more than twice the national average during the third quarter.
• The other states that made the Top 10 List for Highest Foreclosure Rates in the 3rd Quarter were: Nevada, Maryland, Illinois, Ohio, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, Indiana and South Carolina.

Keeping Our Eyes on Real Estate Trends for You

While we just shared with you a ton of real estate data, the bottom line is that the drop in overall foreclosure starts is an indication that the US housing market is continuing to improve.

This improvement is being aided by steady job growth, more reliable loans and rising home prices.

Check back soon for more updates on US housing market trends!

Home prices in both the United States and Canada have steadily been increasing over the last several months, according to recent housing market data.

Evidently, CoreLogic Home Price Index recently reported that U.S. home prices have increased in nearly all major cities, and were up 12.4 percent year-over-year in August.

Meanwhile, in Canada, home prices are showing their own gains in terms of home prices!

This is encouraging news for anyone hoping to sell their home soon.

U.S., Canada Home Prices Are On the Rise!

Here are three encouraging signs for both the US housing market and Canadian housing market:

• Home prices increased month-over-month throughout the summer
• The proportion of distressed homes on local markets has been declining
• Home values are seeing year-over-year gains

More specifically, here’s a look at recent activity on the U.S. housing market:

• Home prices increased 1.8 percent between June and July.
• August saw a 0.9 percent increase in home prices
• Nevada saw the largest increase in home prices, with a 25.9 percent year-over-year home price increase.
• Nevada was followed by California, Arizona, Utah and Florida respectively in terms of home price appreciation.
• For metropolitan areas, San Bernandino and Los Angeles in California saw more than a 20 percent year-over-year increase in August. That makes them some of the highest jumpers in price appreciation.
• Out of the 100 largest cities, Akron, Ohio, was the only one to see prices decrease.
• New Mexico had the smallest appreciation, with just a 1.54 percent increase, followed by Vermont, Delaware, West Virginia and Kentucky. Those states had between a 2 and 3 percent increase.
• All of the above statistics factored in distressed sales. But if you take those out, home prices increased by 11.2 percent year-over-year in August 2013
• Still, home prices remain 17.1 percent below their peak in April 2006. 
• Analysts remain optimistic about the future, predicting a 12.7 percent price hike for September.

And here’s a look at what Canadians are seeing in terms of home prices:

• Canadian home prices increased by 0.1 percent between July and August
• Home prices were also 1.8 percent higher than a year earlier

Your National Real Estate Experts

The summer home-buying season ended on a positive note in most markets in Canada and the United States, which is sure to please home sellers everywhere!

And given that analysts are expecting this upward trend to continue, home owners can feel optimistic when they ultimately decide to list their properties!

Check back here soon for updates on housing market trends that may affect you!

The national housing market continues to show great gains lately, according to recent data from the Standard & Poor’s Case/Shiller home price index and other national sources.

Despite some setbacks like rising mortgage rates, the housing market is on an upward swing.

Just Consider These 3 Indicators:

1.) more sellers are listing their homes
2.) more lenders are approving loans
3.) more builders are constructing new developments

This is great news for the entire economy but particularly for interested home sellers!

U.S. Homes for Sale

Here’s an overview of the recent data released by several housing market experts, as originally reported by the New York Times:

• Home values increased 12.4 percent from July 2012 to July 2013
• Year-over-year home prices were up in all 20 cities tracked by Case/Shiller, varying from 3.5 percent in New York to 27.5 percent in Las Vegas.
• Month-to-month home increases were only 0.6 percent, a slowdown from the 1.7 percent increase in April and the 0.9 percent increase in May and June.
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported an 8.8 percent gain in home prices year-over-year.
• Meanwhile, Lennar and KB Home reported plenty of growth and profits in the third quarter, with Lennar seeing a 39 percent increase in 3rd quarter earning year-over-year and KB seeing its profit increase by 7 times year-over-year!
• The number of mortgage applications for home purchases has increased by 7 percent over the last year, although refinance requests have actually decreased 70 percent since early May.
• 2.5 million households regained equity in their homes during the second quarter, according to CoreLogic.

Experts credit the improvements on the housing market to an array of reasons, including people rushing to invest in property before prices continue to rise, lenders gradually relaxing their lending standards, an increase in overall housing inventory, a small inventory of foreclosures on the market and mass home purchasing by investors.

The recent activity on the housing market is sure to benefit the entire country, even if residents aren’t planning on buying or selling a house.

That’s because when the housing market improves, people tend to feel wealthier and thus are more likely to spend money.

This in turn bolsters the greater U.S. economy as a whole!

Still, it should be noted that rising mortgage rates may cool off the housing market slightly in the next few months. Rates have increased from 3.4 percent in January for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to 4.4 percent in July.

But these rates are well below what they’ve been in recent decades!

National Housing Market News that Affects You

As you can see, our national housing market is getting stronger everyday – which is good news for all of us!

Check back here soon for more updates on the current state of the national housing market and how it may affect your home buying and selling efforts.

The housing market is on the mend and is not as grossly out of whack as it has been in years past, according to a recent USA Today article.

Evidently, housing markets across the country are reporting that more homes are coming on the market and asking prices are leveling out.

This all means that the housing market is becoming increasingly stable, instead of an extreme buyer’s or seller’s market.

More Trends To Be Aware of on National Housing Market

Here’s an overview of recent real estate activity on the national housing market:

• Through June 2013, U.S. home values increased by 10 percent, which is the fastest rate it’s been since 1977.
• Meanwhile, asking prices (which are the top indicator of sales prices) increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.3 percent in May and June.
• Although this increase is noticeable, it is less than the 4.2 percent jump that happened six months ago.
• Some of the hottest markets in the country – including Las Vegas, San Francisco and Portland – are reporting that increases in asking prices have slowed even more in recent months.
• Meanwhile, pending home sales dipped in June, with rising interest rates deterring some buyers.
• Bidding wars also appear to be leveling off. In July, 63 percent of buyers’ offers on Redfin faced competition in 22 markets. That’s down from 68 percent in June and 76 percent (the peak) in March.
• Increases in median home values have also slowed. For instance, in Miami, the median home value increased 0.7 percent from April to May, compared with 0.6 percent from May to June.
• Comparatively, home values have increased at least 1 percent month-over-month during the previous five months.

Experts credit some of the market slowdown to seasonal factors, since a lot of people go on vacation in July.

The fact that there is more inventory on the market may also play a role.

For instance, on a national scale, the for-sale home inventory was down 5.3 percent in July year-over-year. But in January, that inventory was down 16 percent year-over-year.

Moreover, between June and July, the housing inventory increased by 1.4 percent.

This increase in housing inventory is giving home buyers more options when it comes to what kind of home they want.

Experts also contend that the recent slowdown in home price increases is a positive sign. That’s because rapid appreciation encourages house flipping, which causes home prices to skyrocket to unaffordable levels.

If prices keep rising as fast as they have been, it will create a bubble, which is what caused the housing market to crash in the first place.

A slower rising home value environment, on the other hand, will encourage home ownership and lasting investment.

National Housing Market Experts

All of the recent data suggests that home buyers and home sellers are likely to encounter a much more balanced, and less frenzied, housing market.  This is sure to give both groups confidence in the overall health of not only the market, but their home investment.

Check back here soon to see more updates on the state of the national housing market, and what it means for interested home buyers and sellers!

Home prices continue to climb on the national housing market, according to the most recent reports.

Real estate data specialist RealtyTrac recently revealed that property prices across the country are up 5 percent year-over-year.

Meanwhile, home sales are up 8 percent.

And the news just keeps getting better for national home sellers!

More Information on Recent National Housing Market Activity

RealtyTrac recently released a report that offered some encouraging figures for interested home sellers:

• The national median sales price was $168,000 in June, up 3 percent from the month before.
• Existing home prices in the country have increased by 13.5 percent in the last 12 months.
• The median price of a distressed sale (or a property in foreclosure or bank owned) was $120,000, about 24 percent below the median price of a non-distressed home.
• Those markets that saw sales increase in June tended to be those states where there was a lingering distressed home inventory.
• Meanwhile, those markets that saw sales decrease tended to be those in which the majority of the distressed home inventory had already been absorbed.
• Cash-only home purchases accounted for 30 percent of all sales in June, down from 31 percent of all sales in May.
• Metropolitan areas with the highest percentages of cash sales were: Cape Coral-Fort Myers in Florida (70 percent), Miami (64 percent), Las Vegas (62 percent), Sarasota in Florida (59 percent) Tampa (58 percent) and Detroit (56 percent).
• Sale of bank-owned properties made up 9 percent of all residential sales in June, down from 10 percent in May 2013.
• Those top metro areas where bank-owned sales accounted for higher percentages of total sales were Detroit (24 percent), Modesto, California (24 percent), Stockton in California (24 percent), Las Vegas (22 percent) and Akron, Ohio (21 percent).
• Short sales accounted for 14 percent of all residential sales in June, up from 8 percent in June 2012. Although it was also down from 15 percent in May 2013. Those states with the highest percentage of short sales in June were Nevada (30 percent), Florida (29 percent), Maryland (21 percent), Tennessee (19 percent), and Arizona (19 percent).
• Those metro areas with annual increases in median prices of 20 percent or more were: Sacramento (35 percent), San Francisco (30 percent), Los Angeles (27 percent), Las Vegas (26 percent) and Phoenix (25 percent).
• Those states with the largest distressed sale discount were Ohio (58 percent), Michigan (48 percent), Illinois (47 percent), Massachusetts (46 percent) and Wisconsin (45 percent).

Keeping Our Eye on National Housing Market Trends

Just consider us your real estate market experts!

As more develops on the market, we’ll keep you posted on those trends and how they may affect home sellers.