Daily Archives: June 20, 2013

May home sales up 4.2%; median price up 15.4% | South Salem Real Estate

Existing home sales improved in May but the supply of homes for sale remains tight — which isn’t good news for buyers, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

Total existing home sales increased 4.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million in May from 4.97 million in April, NAR said. That’s the highest rate since November 2009 and almost 13% above year-ago levels.

The inventory of homes for sale, meanwhile, dipped to a 5.1 month supply, down from 5.2 months in April. That means all the homes would sell in that time frame if no new supply was added and sales continued at May’s pace. Realtors consider a 6-month supply to be a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

Total housing inventory at the end of May was up 3.3% to 2.22 million existing homes for sale.

Despite last month’s “nice” gain in homes for sale, the supply is unlikely to grow unless home building ramps up by an additional 50%, says Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.

Homes are also selling fast. The median time on market for all homes was 41 days in May, down from 46 in April.

Nationwide, 45% of all homes sold in May were on the market for less than a month, NAR says.

Single-family home sales rose 5% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.6 million and are almost 13% above the year ago pace.

 

May home sales up 4.2%; median price up 15.4%.

Home resales rise to three-and-half year high; prices jump | Waccabuc Real Estate

Home resales rose in May to the highest level in 3-1/2 years and prices jumped, a sign the housing sector recovery is gathering steam and could give the economy a significant boost this year.

The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday that existing home sales advanced 4.2 percent to an annual rate of 5.18 million units, the highest level since November 2009 when a home-buyer tax credit was expiring.

“Whatever inventory is coming onto the market, buyers are ready to snap it up,” said Lawrence Yun, an economist at the NAR.

The increase beat expectations for a rise to a 5 million-unit rate last month.

The housing market is one of the brightest spots in America’s economyand is helping counter Washington’s decision to raise tax rates and cut government spending this year.

A very accommodative monetary policy by the Federal Reserve, which has held mortgage rates near record lows, is helping to lift the housing marketoff the floor. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, however, gave clear signals on Wednesday that the Fed was on track to start dialing back its stimulus by the end of this year.

In May, the median home sales price increased a whopping 15.4 percent from a year ago to $208,000. That was the biggest year-over-year increase since 2005 and left prices at their highest level since July 2008.

“Prices have recovered quite suddenly and quite spectacularly,” Yun said.

With prices rising, more sellers put their properties on the market, lifting the inventory of unsold homes on the market 3.3 percent from April to 2.22 million.

 

Still, the stock of homes for sale continues to be tight in the market. The May level of inventories represented just 5.1 months’ supply at May’s sales pace, down from 5.2 in April. Many economists consider 6.0 months to be a healthy balance between supply and demand.

 

Home resales rise to three-and-half year high; prices jump | Reuters.

Arnold Schwarzenegger sells former Pacific Palisades home | Katonah Homes

Designed in a Mediterranean style typical of homes in the area, the 10,000-square-foot villa is located at the end of a long gated driveway, reported Zillow.

It was built in 1982 but has been remodeled since, with a total of 9 bedrooms, 9.5 baths, a large pool, cabana and championship-size tennis court. The grounds, spanning 2.48 acres, include expansive lawns, gardens and a duck pond. The property also provides direct access to Will Rogers State Historic Park horse trails and polo fields, according to Zillow.

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger sells former Pacific Palisades home | HousingWire.

Rates rising too quickly could hurt housing recovery | Bedford Hills Real Estate

In the short term, the jump in interest rates is spurring home buyers in the Washington region and other hot markets to action, adding to the already frenzied competition to get a home, writes the Washington Post.

But a sustained rise would hurt a fragile housing recovery, which has climbed out of the depths of its crash with the help of record-low rates, economists said.

“The biggest threat to the recovery is that rates rise too fast,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.

 

Rates rising too quickly could hurt housing recovery | HousingWire.

Study finds same-sex couples face housing bias | Bedford Real Estate

Conducting the first study of its kind, the Department of Housing and Urban Development studied 50 metropolitan markets from June to October 2011 and concluded that same-sex couples were “significantly less likely than heterosexual couples to get favorable responses to e-mail inquiries about electronically advertised rental housing.”

More specifically, “heterosexual couples were favored over gay male couples in 15.9% of tests and over lesbian couples in 15.6% of tests,” writes MSNBC.

 

Study finds same-sex couples face housing bias | HousingWire.

Texas homebuyer demographic shifts from singles to marrieds | Pound Ridge Real Estate

Texas homebuyers are buying more new homes and they’re finding them faster, according to the Texas Association of Realtors. This indicates a steadily growing, competitive housing market in The Lone Star State. 

Shad Bogany, chairman of the Texas Association of Realtors, said, “This report affirms the Texas real estate industry as a driving force in our state’s economy. More new homes are being built and homes are selling faster, which bodes well for our thriving Texas housing market and our economy’s future.”

In 2012, 26% of all homes purchased in Texas were new. Additionally, Texas homebuyers only spent eight weeks looking for a home prior to making their purchase. Compared to Texas, only 16% of homes nationwide were new homes and homebuyers spent an extra month searching for the right property.

It seems that the makeup of Texas homebuyers has shifted as well, with 69% of homebuyers being married couples, compared to 65% nationally. This marks the highest share since 2001.

Conversely, the share of homebuyers classified as “single” hit the lowest level since 2001, with singles representing only 16% of Texas homebuyers and 15% nationwide. 

Bogany explained, “The recession led to tighter credit and lending standards across the U.S., which is why you’re seeing less individual home buyers. For many, it required a dual income to afford a home in 2012.” 

 

Texas homebuyer demographic shifts from singles to marrieds | HousingWire.

Homebuilders and lumber dealers face supply shortage | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Home builders and lumber dealers are facing a significant shortage of materials necessary for building a home, such as lumber and wall board, according to the National Association of Home Builders and theNational Lumber and Building Material Dealers Assocation. 

“Supply constraints are one of the barriers to a more robust recovery,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “The shortages and price increases reported by both homebuilders and lumber dealers are particularly concerning given that the current rate of construction is still far below what would be considered normal or necessary to meet underlying demand.” 

The highest reported incidence of shortages was for oriented strand board, with 22% of builders reporting shortages. Following closely is wall board, with 20% of builders reporting a shortage, and framing lumber and plywood, with 18% of builders reporting shortages. 

The survey asked both builder and lumber dealers about the shortages of 24 specific building products and materials. For the majority of the products, the share of builders reporting a shortage was considerably higher in May 2013 than the previous two years. 

“The shares of reported shortages are not as high now as they were in 2004 or 2005, but the increases since 2012 are quite significant, especially when you take the early stage of the housing recovery into account,” said Crowe. 

He added, “In 2004 and 2005 the home building industry was producing over 1.8 million new homes a year, while the current rate of new housing starts is still below 1 million.”

 

Homebuilders and lumber dealers face supply shortage | HousingWire.

What is Your Posting Rhythm to Social Media? | Chappaqua Realtor

Last week I was on a panel discussing social media at a conference here in Australia and a question from the floor asked about how often is ideal to post to Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest?

I was fascinated to hear the range of answers we gave as panelists and I thought it might be a good discussion to have here on ProBlogger.

What frequency do you publish to the social networks that you’re active on?

I’ll kick things off:

Facebook Pages: On the dPS Facebook page I try to update 3-4 times a day with posts spread out over a 24 hour cycle. I find if I do it too much more regularly that the posts don’t get as much engagement.

Twitter: On my ProBlogger Twitter account I find I can post at a higher frequency on Twitter as tweets tend to have a shorter life. Having said that most of my tweets are done live when I have something to say (and time to tweet).

Tweets go up automatically when I post a new post here on the blog or when a new job goes up on the Job Boards and I’ll often share another link to a blog post 12 or so hours later. The rest of my tweets are more personal/conversational and not scheduled.

Pinterest: on the dPS Pinterest account I’ve employed Jade to update our board.

Google+: My Google+ account is something I don’t update with great frequency. I use it more when I want to test an idea that I’m thinking through, ask a question or share something I’m excited about.

As a result there are days when I might post 2-3 times and then it might be 2-3 days before I post again! My posts there can be as short as a link or up to 2000 words!

LinkedIn: I’m a dismal failure on LinkedIn. Status updates are largely new posts on the blog and automated. I feel like I could improve a lot in this area.

What about you? What’s your posting rhythm on to social media? Do you update them all the same or have different strategies for each one?

 

What is Your Posting Rhythm to Social Media? : @ProBlogger.

Inventory Increases Threaten Price Appreciation | Armonk Real Estate

The inventory deficit that jump started the recovery is now filling up fast with new listings as home sellers get the message. But are just hastening the day prices slow down?

The current January to April year-to-year to date increase in the supply of existing homes is the third highest in nearly 30 years writes CoreLogic Deputy Chief Economist Sam Khater in the current issue of CoreLogic’s Market Pulse newsletter.

“How much further can the rapidly appreciating markets go?” he asked, noting that most states are currently close to their fundamental long-term price trends relative to long term inflation-adjusted trend.

Khater suggested that the “invisible lid that has been on supply” is in the process of being removed. A key factor has been the fact that more homeowners not only are above water but also have reached or exceeded their “reservation price”-the price lowest price at which an owner is willing to sell. “For homeowners with positive equity, the reservation price condition is met when their willingness to sell is at a higher price than the market currently supports.

 

Inventory Increases Threaten Price Appreciation | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com.