Category: Home Selling

It’s always a good sign on the national housing market when sales activity is better than even the experts predicted!

And that’s exactly what happened recently when the latest market activity report was released by the National Association of Realtors in July.

Evidently, contracts to purchase previously-owned properties increased more than expected during the month of July, signaling that there truly is renewed momentum on the national housing market.

Let’s Take a Closer Look at The Numbers

According to a report from the National Association of Realtors, the pending home sales index increased 3.3 percent after a 1.3 percent decrease during the month of June.

That increase is much higher than previously expected. In fact, the median projection according to a Bloomberg survey of economists called for the index to increase about 0.5 percent. Specifically, estimates from 37 economists ranged from a decrease of 0.5 percent to an increase of 3 percent.

So why did the number of home sales do significantly better than previously predicted?

Experts credit the increase to a lot of factors, including:

• Increased hiring
• Rising property values
• Historically low interest rates

Not only are these factors increasing home sales but they’re also encouraging builders to break more ground.

Other factors encouraging a more robust housing market include a gross domestic product that grew at a 4.2 percent pace during the second quarter as well as the fact that unemployment claims decreased to 298,000 last week.

Experts add that faster wage growth as well as easier access to credit would also help boost the local economy

More Housing Market Data That Will Help Provide Context

Still, not all of the news from the national housing market has been completely positive.

Here are some other highlights of the National Association of Realtors’ latest report:

• Purchase contracts decreased 2.7 percent in the 12 months ending in July, which followed a 4.7 percent year-over-year decline in June.
• July marked the 10th month of year-over-year declines
• The pending sales index was 105.9 on a seasonally-adjusted basis.
• Pending sales increased in three of four regions. Specifically, sales were up 6.2 percent in the Northeast, 4.2 percent in the South and 4 percent in the West. Purchase contracts decreased 0.4 percent in the Midwest.
• Resales increased to a 5.15 million pace, which is the best they’ve been since September.
• Construction also rebounded, with starts climbing 15.7 percent to a 1.09 million annualized rate
• Meanwhile, contracts on new homes dropped unexpectedly during the month of July to a 412,000 annualized pace, which is the weakest it’s been since March.
• The average rate for a 30-year, fixed mortgage was 4.10 percent in late August, down from 4.53 percent at the start of the year

Let’s Start Discussing Your Personal Real Estate Dream!s

Are you interested in listing your property soon and getting a great price for it? Or perhaps you want to find the home of your dreams but just don’t know where to start.

Regardless of what your real estate needs are, we’re here to help!

And please make sure to check back here next month as we continue to provide you with valuable information that will help you navigate the local housing market!

It’s certainly a headline we like to see around here: “US Home Purchase Contracts Have Seen a Significant Increase.”

And in fact, that’s exactly what The Associated Press recently reported.

This is great news, especially given that – so far this year – the pace of buying is slower than in 2013. A lot of this can be attributed to the harsh winter that kept many home buyers inside.

But as the recent report indicates, spring and summer sales activity may ultimately compensate for those sluggish winter months.

It’s Not Just Sales Contracts Enjoying Favorable Conditions

Here’s a full report of what the National Association of Realtors recently revealed:

• Its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index increased 6.1 percent to 103.9 in May.
• That marks the sharpest month-over-month gain since April 2010.
• The index is still, however, 5.2 percent below the level it was at a year ago.
• Experts believe that lower mortgage rates and an increased home inventory drove much of May’s gains.
• All four U.S. regions (the Northeast, Midwest, South and West) saw increases in signed purchase contracts

Meanwhile, in a different report released by the Association, completed sales of existing homes increased 4.9 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million homes.

Still, it’s worth noting that sales are down 5 percent year over year.

The association predicts that sales of existing homes will decrease 2.8 percent this year to 4.95 million. That’s compared to 5.1 million in 2013.

In terms of new homes, sales increased 18.6 percent in May to an annual rate of 504,000. That’s the highest level since May 2008.

Why Are Things Showing Improvement Now?

Of course, it helps that we’re still in the spring and summer home buying market.

But another key factor is the removal of two previous obstacles: Rising mortgage rates and a low supply of available homes for sale.

Average rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.17 percent recently. Before, it had been at 4.20 percent and higher. Still, rates are roughly 0.25 percent higher than they were at this time last year.

Meanwhile, the supply of homes has increased. By 2.2 percent in May to 2.28 million. That’s 6 percent higher than a year ago, helping to fuel increased activity on the market!

How Can You Expect This to Affect You?

If you’re a home seller, the recent flurry of activity should give you confidence that you too will be able to sell your property and in a reasonable amount of time as well.  But one things that will decide that is working with an experienced real estate agent who knows the ins and outs of the market.

And if you’re a home buyer purchasing a property on the local housing market, the recent activity suggests that you’re in good company – with more and more people entering the market to invest in property!

Always Here To Give You The National Real Estate 411!

What other valuable information would you like to learn about the real estate market in order to make your transaction easier? We will be happy to supply you with all of the insight you need!

Contact us today for valuable real estate advice today!

And make sure to check back to our website soon for more pertinent information that affects you!

One month of positive real estate sales is encouraging, but sometimes it can be a fluke.

That’s why we’re always so thrilled when positive numbers one month carry over into the next month.

And that’s just what we saw with the recent release of May sales numbers.

According to a recent USA Today article, existing home sales increased for the second straight month in May, increasing to their strongest rate since the fall.

More Details Emerge About the Current State of the US Housing Market

Here’s what the most recent data from the National Association of Realtors revealed: Sales of existing single-family homes, townhomes, condos and co-ops reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million, which marks a 4.9 percent increase from April’s rate of 4.66 million.

This was the highest monthly percentage gain since August 2011!

And this wasn’t the only indicator that the market is improving. In fact, metrics across the board hinted at growth on the national housing market:

• Sales prices also showed marked increases. Specifically, the median existing home price was $213,400 in May, up 5.1 percent from a year earlier.
• Meanwhile, sales of homes priced at $1 million and above increased everywhere but the Midwest
• Total housing inventory at the end of May increased 2.2 percent to 2.28 million existing homes available for sale. That’s 6 percent higher than a year ago.
• At May’s sales rate, there’s a 5.6-month supply of homes for sale, which is close to the 6-month inventory that’s considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

Of course, some obstacles still remain on the market.

For instance, sales are still weaker than they were a year ago, when the annualized sales rate was 5.15 million.
And through May, sales were down 8.2 percent from the first five months of last year.

What’s more, the market continues to be difficult for those home buyers with modest financial resources, particularly first-time buyers. Consequently, these home buyers’ share of sales decreased to 27 percent in May, down 2 percent from April 2013.

And although single-family home sales rose 5.7 percent from April, they’re also down 5.7 percent from a year ago.

Still, real estate experts across the country remain optimistic.

They agree that at least three factors will continue to encourage growth and improvement on the national housing market:

• More homes are being listed on the market
• Home prices are rising more slowly than in 2013
• Mortgage rates have declined recently

All of these factors will drive more and more home buyers to the market, further encouraging a healthy and stable real estate market.

Count on Us for Reliable National Real Estate Data!

We hope you ‘ve learned something useful about recent  national real estate trends and how they may affect you locally.

Check back here on July 15 as we continue to provide you with useful and up-to-date housing market information that is relevant to you!

Real estate experts all across the country were thrilled to hear the latest numbers on the national housing market recently.

That’s because sales of existing U.S. homes showed a slight increase between March and April, reversing a 12-month trend in which home purchases had been dropping.

This wasn’t the only good news that the National Association of Realtors had to share, either.

Experts Encouraged By Recent Sales Data for National Housing Market

Here are some of the highlights of the recent report from the National Association of Realtors:

• Home sales increased 1.3 percent from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.65 million.
• The purchase of homes over the last 12 months had dropped 6.8 percent before April’s numbers were released.
• The majority of gains were concentrated in the condominium market, which saw 7.3 percent growth.
• Meanwhile, sales of single-family homes were up 0.5 percent during the month of April.
• Still, home buying is significantly below its 2013 rate, which is when 5.1 million existing homes were purchased. And that’s still far below the 5.5 million rate that usually indicates a healthy market.
• Median home prices increased 5.2 percent to $201,700 in April, which was the slowest increase since March 2012.
• Home buying increased in the West and the South, although they mostly decreased in the Midwest and remained flat in the Northeast.
• Home sales continued to decrease for homes priced below $250,000, although they continued to increase for those homes priced above $750,000.
• First time home buyers represented 29 percent of all sales, which is far below the historical average of 40 percent.
• Average rates for fixed, 30-year mortgages were around 4.2 percent recently, compared to 3.51 percent a year ago.

Experts say that sales may have been higher had it not been for a few confounding factors, such as snowstorms and brutal cold weather in the Midwest and Northeast during the first couple of months of 2014.

Other factors include higher home prices and rising interest rates.

Still, experts remain optimistic. For instance, the April report indicated that more home sellers are listing their properties on the market. In fact, the market has a 5.9 month supply of homes right now, which is up from 5.2 a year ago.

Keeping You Informed on National Developments

We love getting the opportunity to share some positive news about the national housing market with you and we hope you’re as encouraged by the recent data as we are.

Check back here soon for more updates on the current state of the national housing market and how it may impact your efforts as a buyer or seller.

The national housing market is dealing with an issue of supply and demand right now and it’s impacting both buyers and sellers.

Specifically, the national housing market has too few people selling their homes compared with the number of people who want to buy homes, according to a recent report from Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller.

This is consequently driving home prices up, which in some cases is making available homes for sale unaffordable to buyers.

It’s certainly a unique situation and one that both home buyers and home sellers are going to need to learn how to navigate in the coming months.

Recent National Housing Market Activity Explained

Here’s what we know based on the recent Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city index:

• Last year saw a 13.4 percent jump in the average price of a home sold.
• Average prices nationally are expected to increase by single digits this year.
• The gains are expected to be the strongest in those cities with strong job growth, including Seattle and Austin.
• Meanwhile, lenders are beginning to ease barriers for those with less-than-ideal credit, meaning that these home buyers could find it easier to qualify for a mortgage and buy a home.
• Currently there are about five months worth of homes on the market, compared with 5.9 months in 2012 and 8.3 months in 2011.
• Part of the explanation of low housing inventory is the fact that about 19 percent of home owners remain underwater on their mortgages, which may deter some sellers from listing because their sales price may be less than what they owe.
• And an additional 37 percent are “effectively underwater,” which means that their sale would not be enough to cover the cost of listing their home as well as putting a down payment on a new home.
• But luckily, warmer weather, job growth and a more robust economy are expected to help encourage more home owners to list their properties this spring.

Experts also believe that the rise in home prices will help the problem correct itself. After all, as sales prices continue to rise, it will lure more home owners to list their properties.

This in turn could lead to more listings, which might ease the bidding wars among buyers and help lower sales prices to make them more affordable.

And That’s Paramount to First-Time Home Buyers

After all, this segment of the market really fuels market growth and promotes overall market health.

But right now, these first-time home buyers are buying fewer homes because of lack of affordability. For instance, they purchased 1.5 million homes in 2013, which is about 500,000 fewer than they would have typically, on average.

Still, that situation appears to be improving as well, albeit slowly. For instance, about 738,000 people ages 25 to 34-year-old found jobs in the past year, meaning they will have more disposable income and financial power to buy their own home

Add to that the fact that mortgage companies have eased their lending standards slightly to reach a larger audience and you have the right conditions for a greater housing market recovery.

Keeping An Eye on the National Housing Market for You!

We hope you found the above information helpful as a home buyer or home seller. We definitely believe that one of the surefire ways to have a successful outcome on the local housing market is to stay informed about what’s going on at the national level.

Check back again here soon for further updates. For now, we hope you have a great day!

As real estate experts, we’re always looking for market indicators to suggest whether the market is favoring sellers or buyers.

We look at a variety of factors, including average list price,  median sales price and price per square footage.

Another indicator we look at is the days that a home spent on the market before it ultimately sold. And if the latest data is any indication, this metric is certainly starting to favor home sellers!

Why Home Sellers in the US Should Be Optimistic

According to the most recent real estate data, properties listed in September 2013 spent an average of 86 days on real estate websites, compared with 116 days last year!

This suggests that homes are selling nearly a month quicker than they did this time last year.

Here’s what else the most recent real estate data reveals:

• Properties listed in all 30 of the largest metro areas in the country sold quicker in September when compared to last year.
• Those homes in the San Francisco Bay area were listed for the fewest number of days at 48, followed by Sacramento with 59 days and Dallas with 60 days.
• Comparatively, in 2010, homes listed were on the market an average of 119 days.

Experts say that a declining inventory of homes for sale has attracted more eager buyers to the market, resulting in fewer days on the market for homes for sale.

Historically low mortgage rates, an improving economic climate and depressed home price values are further encouraging this activity.

Canadian Real Estate Market Faring Well Too!

Although data on average days on the market was not immediately available, other real estate indicators suggest that Canada’s real estate market is faring just as well!

Here is some recent encouraging data released by the Canadian Real Estate Association:

• Although the number of newly listed homes decreased by 0.8 percent from September to October, the Canadian housing market remains in balanced territory.
• The national average sale price increased 8.5 percent year-over-year in October.
• The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) increased 3.5 percent year-over-year in October.
• Between September and October, national home sales declined by 3.2 percent.
• Meanwhile, actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was 8.3 percent higher from October 2012 to October 2013.

The Ultimate Source for Real Estate News

Check back here soon for more updates on how the national real estate markets in the United States and Canada are faring!

And for expert help on your own home-buying or home-selling goals, please contact us today!

If you’re a current home owner who is wondering whether to enter the market, we’re here to tell you that now is a great time to do so!

Here’s the top reason why home owners should list their home right now: Home prices are on the rise!

NBC News recently reported that home prices have increased 7.7 percent in the year through June.

Home buyers wanting to enter the market before prices climb even higher have only encouraged this upward momentum.

What Else Home Sellers Should Know About the National Market

NBC News revealed even more interesting data about the current state of the national housing market and its submarkets:

• The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that June home prices were 17 percent higher than a year earlier in the Pacific area, including California and Washington.
• In the Mountain region (which includes Nevada and Arizona), home prices increased 11 percent.
• Meanwhile the Middle Atlantic region (which includes New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) saw home prices increase by 2.5 percent.
• The National Association of Realtors reported that the median price of previously owned homes increased 13.7 percent for the year through July. That figure was $213,500.
• Sales of previously owned homes increased by 6.5 percent in July to the fastest pace since November 2009.
• The inventory of homes for sale is around 5.1 months nationally right now.

Experts do caution that higher borrowing costs may end up pricing some buyers out of the market, consequently slowing the pace of home sales.

For instance, mortgage applications for both home purchases and refinancings decreased for a second straight week recently as rates increased, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Still, experts note that home prices are still relatively affordable by historical standards in most local markets, encouraging continued activity.

They added that the continued increase in home sales and home prices will depend heavily on the health of the overall job market. 

National Real Estate Experts

Check back soon for more updates on the current state of the national housing market and how it’s affecting local markets in your community.

Whether you’re a home buyer or home seller, we’re here to provide you with valuable information that will help you navigate the market.

The National Association of Realtors recently released some data that is sure to be encouraging for anyone thinking about selling a home.

Evidently, existing home sales increased for the second month in a row in May to a level that is significantly higher than last year.

What’s more, median home sales prices saw double-digit year-over-year increases.

All of this suggests that the national housing market is indeed rebounding.

Overview of the Recent Report from the National Association of Realtors

Here are some more highlights from the recent report:

• Sales of existing homes (which include single-family, town homes, condos and co-ops) increased 4.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.18 million.
• In April, that figure was 4.97 million.
• What’s more, sales of existing homes were 12.9 percent higher than the 4.59 million-unit pace that the nation saw in May 2012.
• Sales of existing homes have reached their highest levels since November 2009.
• In November 2009,  a lot of buyers were taking advantage of the tax stimulus program. Thus, the market jumped to 5.44 million
• Existing home sales have shown year-over-year increases for the last 23 months.
• Meanwhile, the national median price has seen year-over-year increases for the last 15 months.
• The total housing inventory at the end of May jumped 3.3 percent to 2.22 million existing homes for sale, which represents a 5.1-month supply.
• A year ago, the total supply of existing homes for sale was 6.5 months.
• In May, the median home sales price for existing homes was $208,000, up 15.4 percent from May 2012.
• For the last six months, the median existing home price has seen double-digit increases.
• Meanwhile, the total number of distressed homes hasn’t changed since April, representing about 18 percent of May sales.
•  Still, that’s the lowest supply of distressed homes on the market since October 2008.

Analysts say that because of the high demand for homes, buyers across the country can expect a limited supply of available homes for sale for the rest of 2013.

The only likely remedy for the housing shortage is an increase in new home construction by 50 percent, experts say.

Experts also noted that the average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage increased from 3.45 percent to 3.54 percent between April and May.

In May 2012, that rate was 3.8 percent.

National Real Estate Trends that Affect You

The type of housing market environment we’re seeing right now is nearly opposite of what we saw during the housing boom.

Just six years ago, there was plenty of overbuilding going on all across the nation.

Today’s housing market is marked by a great shortage of homes for sale.

Pair that with a lot of pent-up home buyer demand as well as a 29 percent increase in buyer traffic and you have favorable conditions for home sellers across the country.