Tag Archives: Home Prices

S&P Dow Jones Indices released Tuesday its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for December, showing national prices up 11.3 percent as of year-end, a slight pickup over the previous quarter’s annual improvement of 11.2 percent. The national index covers all nine U.S. census divisions. While prices were strong in Q4 compared to the previous year, they were down relative to Q3, dropping 0.3 percent.

The Data & Analytics division of Black Knight Financial Services released on Monday its latest Home Price Index (HPI), noting an increase of 0.1 percent in home prices to $232,000 for the month of December. The largest states experienced varying degrees of home price changes: California experienced no change; Florida rose 0.6 percent; New Jersey fell 0.1 percent; New York rose 0.7 percent; and Texas rose 0.4 percent.

Existing-home sales slowed last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million—their lowest level in a year and a half—as ongoing inventory constraint lifted prices, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Friday. The drop represents a 5.1 percent decline compared to both December and January last year. On just the single-family side, sales were down to a rate of 4.05 million.

Home buying competition rose over the month of January but was down from last January, according to national real estate brokerage Redfin, which took the year-over-year decline as a sign that low inventory and rising prices are thwarting demand in the housing market. About 58 percent of home offers by Redfin agents encountered a competing offer in January compared to nearly 53 percent in December.

A report released Thursday by Zillow shows national home values rose just 0.2 percent in January from December. Inventory rose in 22 of the nation’s 35 largest metros, explaining some of the slowdown in home value gains. Year-over-year, home values rose 6.3 percent in January, down from previous gains of 7.1 percent as recently as August 2013. Home values are expected to rise another 3.4 percent to $175,301 in the next 12 months.

While home sales were down nearly 27 percent over the month, they were down 7.1 percent from January last year, according to the RE/MAX report, which includes data from 52 metros across the nation. “We usually expect to see fewer home sales in the winter months, but January experienced particularly severe storms in large parts of the country, which disrupted appraisals, inspections and closings,” said Margaret Kelly, CEO of RE/MAX.

Home prices nationally rose at a seasonally unadjusted rate of 0.3 percent in December, continuing the pace slow, steady monthly gains that started in September, FNC reported in its latest Residential Price Index (RPI). While slightly down from November’s 0.4 percent rate of growth, December’s price gains reflect greater stability in the non-distressed market, FNC says.

A report released by Prudential Real Estate finds that the number of consumers--particularly young ones--who are optimistic about residential real estate took a healthy step higher in December. According to Prudential, 78 percent of consumers (and nearly 90 percent of Millennials) surveyed look favorably toward the residential market in 2014. This is a full 5 percentage points more than the company's third-quarter 2013 results and 15 points more than its end-of-year 2012 results.

Housing inventory declined more than 9 percent over the month of January in the 19 markets in which online real estate brokerage Redfin has a presence, according to the company's Real-Time Price Tracker for January. ""A year ago, we didn't think inventory could go any lower, yet we're beginning 2014 with another disappointment,"" Redfin stated in its January report. With the caveat that ""it is too soon to tell,"" the brokerage did offer some optimism regarding inventory in coming months.

The year started off with relatively strong homebuyer interest, but that interest has not translated into actual home purchases, according to the latest Real-Time Demand Pulse released Thursday by Redfin, a national online real estate brokerage. After a normal lull during the holiday season, the number of consumers taking home tours increased 53.8 percent in the first month of the year. Meanwhile, the number of offers made in January is only up 28.7 percent compared to last year's 42.6 percent.