Real Estate News - Joseph Contrada

The VERY LATEST on Today's Real Estate Market

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Feb 26, 2013 Single-family homes sold in Massachusetts rose more than 10 percent on a year-to-year basis, the best January since 2007. Prices rose 6.8%. Condo sales were up nearly 11 percent on a year-to-year basis, but prices fell 2%, the lowest since 2009.

Feb 12, 2013 Prices for single-family homes climbed in almost 88 percent of U.S. cities in the fourth quarter The national median price for an existing single-family home was $178,900 in the fourth quarter, up 10 percent from the same period last year. Prices in western states climbed 20 percent to a median $245,200, the biggest gain of any area, according to the Realtors group. The best-performing metro area was Phoenix, where prices jumped 34 percent from a year earlier. Prices rose 31 percent in Detroit and 28 percent in San Francisco. Prices in northeastern states rose the least, up 0.7 percent to a median $228,400 Source: Bloomberg

Jan 24, 2013 More Good News! Mass Sales and Prices Jump!!!

Jan 15, 2013 Housing starts jumped in December.... Housing starts were up 12.1% over the previous month—the best showing since June 2008. Single-family home starts were up 8% while multifamily starts climbed more than 20%. Compared to the third quarter, annualized housing starts in the fourth quarter were 82% higher, for the strongest jump since the 1980s.

Dec 20, 2012 US home sales surge to highest level in 3 years

Dec 4, 2012 Remember: Real Estate results are a VERY Regional Phenomenon..... As I have stressed on many occasions since the market started to recover, because of the huge differences in the results between regions of the country, while Massachusetts real estate has indeed begun the long-awaited bounce off the bottom, we should not be overly excited by the reports of the national improvement in prices. As you will see below, the national year over year avg of an increase of 4.6% in prices is enormously influenced by huge increases in many of the areas that were hardest hit during the precipitous decline of the previous 5 years. So while our own region of the greater Boston area was not among the areas that were crushed between 2006 and 2011, we have not (yet) experienced the lift off the bottom that is even close to the oft-reported national numbers. JGC

Nov 27, 2012 The MassachusettsAssociation of REALTORS® (MAR) reported today that October single-family median home prices had their biggest monthly increase since June 2010, the last month of the home buyer tax credit. The number of closed home sales was up again for the 16th straight monthcompared to the year before. There were 3,685 detached single-family homes sold this October, a 22 percent increasefrom the 3,017 homes sold the same time last year. This is the 16th straight month of year-over-year increases. The median selling price for single-family homes in October was $287,000 which was up 4.4 percentfrom $275,000 in October 2011. This is the largest percent increase since the median price went up 8.3 percent in June 2010, which was the last month to close and qualify for the home buyer tax credit.

Nov 24, 2012 Further Encouragement from Vanguard: While questions still hover over the economy, the real estate market is making a welcome transition from area of concern to catalyst for growth. Once again, both existing-home sales and new construction delivered strong numbers, despite some resistance from Hurricane Sandy.

The market for existing homes is gaining momentum. Sales of previously owned homes climbed 2.1% in October. Construction of new residential homes rose 3.6% in October. October marked the third straight monthly rise for housing starts (including multi-families), which are now 41.9% higher than a year ago

Nov 5, 2012 Remember .... Real Estate prices are a REGIONAL phenomenon!
The National median existing single-family home price rose 7.6 percent in the third quarter of 2012 vs the same period in 2011, This was the strongest year-over-year price increase since the first quarter of 2006 when the median price rose 9.4 percent. In the second quarter the price increased 7.2 percent from a year earlier.

BUT …..

The median existing single-family home price in the Northeast SLIPPED 0.3 percent to $246,900 in the third quarter from a year ago.
The median existing single-family home price in the Midwest INCREASED 4.2 percent in the third quarter.
In the South prices ROSE 5.7 percent.
And in the West, prices SURGED 20.2 percent for the same period.
Regional ... Regional ... Regional !!

October 19, 2012 Existing Home Sales Reflect Optimism ....The slow but steady recovery in the existing home market was confirmed by September's data, which showed sales of 475,000. The number is 1.7% lower than August's, but 11% higher than a year ago. Additionally, the national median existing-home price for all housing types was $183,900 in September, up 11.3% from a year ago.

Source: Vanguard

October 17, 2012 Housing Starts Jump 15% to Four-Year High

October 2, 2012 The recovery continued to unfold in September at the national and regional levels with gains across the board. 1.8% quarterly growth at the national level was driven in part by gains in the West. The West posted notable quarterly gains of 3.7%, the fifth consecutive month it's led regional gains. The Midwest and South regions had quarterly home price gains of 1.9% and 1.3%, respectively. The Northeast posted the weakest quarterly gains of 0.2%.

Source: Clear Capital

Sept 25, 2012 Massachusetts Sales UP 20% Aug 2012 vs Aug 2011

Sept 19, 2012 Sales AND Prices UP Nation Wide

August 29, 2012 Merrimack/Nashoba Valley Single Family Home Sales Up 38% in July; Condo Sales Jump by 60%

August 22, 2012 Sales of existing homes rose in July even with constraints of affordable inventory, and the national median price is showing five consecutive months of year-over-year increases. Monthly sales rose in every region but the West, where inventory is very tight.

August 17, 2012 New construction of residential homes declined 1.1% in July following its strongest rise in more than 4 years in June. Nevertheless, housing starts were 21.5% higher than a year earlier. Issuance of building permits, which is a leading indicator of future homebuilding, rose 6.8%—its largest increase since 2008. Permits for multifamily buildings, such as apartment houses, propelled the gain. Housing completions rose 7.1%. Additional perspective on the housing market comes out next week with reports on existing-home sales (Wednesday) and new-home sales (Thursday).

August 8, 2012 Prices Continue to RECOVER

July 25, 2012 NATIONALLY, Sales of NEW Homes FALL

July 25, 2012 LOCAL Sales up Sharply in June

July 18, 2012 Housing Starts In U.S. Rose In June To Highest Since 2008

July 10, 2012 Prices ARE Rising

June 26, 2012 Home sales back to pre-recession levels

June 23 2012 The Real Estate week in review is, as usual, a bit mixed, but clearly suggests that we’re in much better shape than we were a year ago.

Sales of previously owned homes fell by 1.5%from April's level, but were up 9.6% from a year earlier
Housing starts declined by 4.8%in May on a monthly basis to an annualized rate of 708,000, but were up 28.5% compared with May 2011.
Housingpermits, a more forward-looking indicator, rose 7.9%overall compared with April to reach their highest level since 2008
This last item might at first blush appear encouraging, but not when we drill down a bit into the equation. To wit:

It was reported that the national median price of previously owned homes rose 7.9% to $182,600 compared with a year ago. BUT what many are failing to explain is that the reason for the price increase is in large part the result of the slowdown in the foreclosure process. That slowdown decreased the number of distressed properties from the equation that typically sell for bargain-basement prices, thereby pushing up the average price.

June 14, 2012 Foreclosure filings rise in May

May 30, 2012 Pending Sales of U.S. Homes Decrease by Most in a Year

May 18, 2012 Home Prices ROSE 0.6% in March from previous month

May 15, 2012 Inventories hover near lows last seen in 2005

April 24, 2012 Massachusetts SALES UP ... PRICES DOWN

April 23, 2012 Nationwide, housing starts were up 10.3% from a year ago. Starts rose 32.8% in the Northeast and 1.0% in the Midwest, were flat in the West, and dropped 15.9% in the South.

April 17, 2012 U.S. Housing Starts Unexpectedly Drop to Five-Month Low

April 11, 2012 Massachusetts Pending Home Sales UP 40%

April 3, 2012 Post Robo-Signing-Fiasco FORECLOSURES will continue to weigh on prices

March 30, 2012 Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which survived the subprime mortgage crisis by making bets on a housing decline, is raising money for a new fund that will buy home-loan bonds to benefit from an IMPROVING REAL ESTATE MARKET

March 26, 2012 Best Housing Affordability Conditions Ever…. Housing affordability in January reached its highest level since the National Association REALTORS® began compiling data in 1970. The index tracks median home price, median family income and the average mortgage rate.

Feb 27, 2012 Nationally, prices continue to fall

Feb 27, 2012 Massachusetts SALES UP .... PRICES DOWN

Feb 23, 2012 Home Prices Declined 2.4% in Q4

Feb 22, 2012 Sales of Existing Homes Rise to Best Rate Since May 2010

Feb 16, 2012 Housing Starts were up almost 10% in December from a year ago

Feb 6, 2012 The Northeast region remained essentially flat over last month’s report with a very mild quarterly loss of 0.7%, and year-over-year growth of 0.1%. This region has been resilient over time with relative stability in year-over-year and quarterly numbers, but also boasts overall losses of just 22.5% since the height of that market’s value in 2006, as compared to the national average of 40.5% in losses since the nation’s peak

Jan 24, 2012 Massachusetts December sales down 5% vs Dec 2010

Jan 20, 2012 Previously-owned Home Sales Rise 5% in December

Jan 19, 2012 Housing starts worse than forecast in December, dropping 4.1%

Jan 17, 2012 Homebuilder Confidence Highest Since 2007

Jan 10, 2012 Mass homes put under agreement in December went up again for the eighth straight month compared to the same time in 2010.

Jan 3, 2012 NAR (Nat’l Assoc. of REALTORS) released its latest pending home sales index figure last week and for the second month in a row the index is up. But more than that, the index has broken 100. This is significant because the only time since the housing boom collapsed that the index has broken 100 is when the home owner tax credit was in effect. The fact that the index has returned to that level a year since the credit has been in effect means the housing market is strengthening completely on its own, without any stimulus.

Dec 29, 2011 Pending Home Sales at 19 Month HIGH

Dec 23, 2011 New Home Sales Highest since April

Dec 21, 2011 Prices DOWN ... Sales UP ....

Dec 20, 2011 Housing starts highest since April 2010

Nov 21, 2011 Existing Homes Sales Unexpectedly Rise 1.4%

Nov 15, 2011 Foreclosures jump 7% in October from September

Oct 20, 2011 Existing-Home Sales Off in September

Sept 27, 2011 Home Prices Fell 4.1% in Year Ended July

Sept 22, 2011 U.S.home prices rose 0.8% in July

Sept 21, 2011 Sales of U.S. Existing Homes Rise 7.7%

Aug 24, 2011 Mortgage Delinquencies Up

Aug 23, 2011 U.S. sales of new homes declined in July for the third straight month