Accent Realtors

Whichever way you look at it, the real estate market is finishing strong as we wrap up 2013!

According to a recent Bloomberg report, several market indicators are showing growth and gains, which is great news for home buyers and home sellers alike!

Today, we’re going to share with you some of the highlights of this recent report. Happy holidays everyone!

US Home Sales

According to the Bloomberg article, purchases of new U.S. homes rebounded during the month of October from the lowest level it’s been in more than a year.

Specifically, home sales of these new homes jumped 25.4 percent to a 444,000 annualized rate. This was only a month after that figure was down to 354,0000, which was the weakest it’s been since April 2012.

Experts say that this signals that home buyers are beginning to adjust to higher mortgage rates.

Aiding this increase in home sales is the fact that there have been employment gains across the board, as well as stock price increases.

Here’s what else the report revealed about national housing market activity:

• Home purchases decreased 6.6 percent in September from a 379,000 annualized pace in August.
• The median home sales price showed a year-over-year decrease of 0.6 percent to $245,800 in October.
• Home purchases rebounded in all four U.S. regions during the month of October
• The biggest increase in home purchases was in the Midwest with a 34 percent increase.
• The supply of homes decreased from 6.4 months to 4.9 months during the month of September
• There were 183,000 new houses on the market by the end of October, which is down from 190,000 during the previous month.
• New construction accounted for about 7 percent of the residential market in 2012.
• Meanwhile, applications for building permits increased by 6.2 percent to a 1.03 million annualized rate, which is the most it’s been since June 2008.
• That’s compared to a September pace of 974,000
• There were 2.13 million previously owned homes for sale by the end of October, which is down from 2.17 million during the month of September.

National Real Estate News at Your Fingertips

As you can see, our national real estate market is becoming more active as residents everywhere become increasingly optimistic about the state of the housing market.

This bodes well for 2014 predictions for the national housing market!

Check back on January 1 as we continue to discuss real estate market activity that affects you!

Great news for interested home sellers throughout the country: The price for single-family homes has increased in 88 percent of the country’s cities!

That’s according to third quarter data recently discussed in a Bloomberg article.

Experts are saying that the increase is directly attributed to buyers competing for limited inventories as well as a decrease in available foreclosed properties.

Listing Your Home on the Market

But the good news didn’t stop there for those home owners thinking about selling.

Here’s what else was revealed in the recent Bloomberg article:

• The median transaction price showed year-over-year gains in 144 of 163 metropolitan areas measured, according to the National Association of Realtors
• A third of those metropolitan areas had double-digit increases in median transaction price.
• The U.S. housing market had five months of inventory in the third quarter, down from 5.9 months a year earlier
• Completed foreclosures in September dropped a whopping 39 percent from a year earlier.
• Some cities are seeing near record price gains, including San Francisco and San Jose.
• The nationwide median price for an existing single-family home increased 12.5 percent in the third quarter year-over-year.
• Specifically, the nationwide median price is now $207,300.
• Those areas that saw the greatest price increases were Sacramento and Atlanta, which both saw increases of 41.8 percent.
• Las Vegas and Punta Gorda, Florida had the next largest year-over-year price gains with 31.9 percent.
• Other cities with large increases included Los Angeles (26.2 percent) and Phoenix (25 percent).
• Those areas with the biggest price declines were all in Illinois. Peoria had the steepest drop with 13.9 percent, followed by Kankakee (down 9.9 percent) and Rockford (down 8.4 percent).
• Meanwhile, the average mortgage rate for 30-year fixed loans was 4.1 percent.
• That figure is up from a near-record low of 3.35 percent in early May
• Meanwhile purchase contracts for exisiting homes dropped the most in more than three years in September.
• During the third quarter, San Jose had the highest median home price with $805,000.
• Rounding out the top three list was San Francisco (at $705,000) and Honolulu ($679,800.)
• Meanwhile, those cities with the most affordable median home prices were Toledo, Ohio ($87,500), Rockford ($88,900) and Decatur, Illinois ($91,000).

This data suggests that the market is rebounding in a big way, giving home sellers an opportunity to get the price they want for their home.

National Data You Can Use!

Please be sure to check back here soon for updates on the state of the national housing market, and how it may affect your neck of the woods.

And if you have any specific questions as a home seller, make sure to contact us for expert advice and useful resources.

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!