Tag Archives: Home Prices

According to the Federal Reserve's latest quarterly Senior Loan Officers Opinion Survey, a net 3.1 percent of lenders responding said demand for "non-traditional" residential loans increased from the survey released three months ago and a net 25 percent of respondents said demand for loans from sub-prime borrowers was higher than it was in May. At the same time, a net 6.3 percent of lenders said they had eased lending terms and standards for non-traditional mortgage loans.

Are indices incorrectly misleading the market regarding the rise of house prices? "Yes" is what the market appears to be saying when it comes to rising house prices.

In its first-quarter report, the CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes experienced a double-digit national price gain for the first time since the housing bubble that took place seven years ago. Prices increased an average of 10.2 percent from the first quarter of last year to the first quarter of this year across the 380 metro markets tracked. However, gains are expected to slow over the next year, falling to 6.5 percent from Q1 2013 to Q1 2014.

While rising mortgage rates have set potential homebuyers scrambling, a poll from Redfin finds sellers are also concerned about the development. According to the survey, 47 percent of sellers said they are worried about a spike in rates driving down buyer demand, up from 23 percent in the last poll. An increasing percentage of homeowners are also anticipating larger price gains, though concerns over rising prices eased, falling from 32 percent to 29 percent quarter-over-quarter.

Home prices rose to their highest levels in almost five years in May, increasing by a non-seasonally adjusted 2.5 percent, according to the Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released Tuesday. The 20-city index was up 12.2 percent from a year earlier, and the companion 10-city index was up 11.8 percent. For the month, the 10-city index rose 2.5 percent and the 20-city index was up 2.4 percent. The two surveys have improved month-over-month and year-over-year for 12 consecutive months.

Americans hold a more positive view of the housing market, while an increasing share of renters plan to own, according to the 2013 National Housing Pulse Survey from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Of those surveyed, 80 percent said they believe buying a home is a good financial decision, up by 8 points from 2011. Meanwhile, the percentage of those who say they prefer to rent over buying dropped 6 points since 2011 to 25 percent.

Based on transactions recorded in May, Lender Processing Services' Home Price Index rose to a reading of $226,000, an increase of 7.9 percent over May 2012. The index has climbed 5.6 percent since December of last year. For yet another month, the West dominated the list of metros reporting price month-over-month increases. The top spot was Las Vegas, posting a 3.2 percent gain. Following that were San Francisco, Reno, and Sacramento--each with a 2.5 percent increase--followed by several smaller California markets.

Prospective buyers have had to step up their game as the market continues to grow more competitive.

President Obama embarked this week on a series of speeches designed to highlight the nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós continued economic stress. The immediate response and from both ends of the political spectrum was to decry his efforts as same-old, same-old. And, it is true the President has made this pitch before, emphasizing that the significant progress has made is not enough.

Single-family home sales in Massachusetts rose for the second straight month in June, according to the latest report from the New England-based Warren Group.