Tag Archives: Home Prices

Single-family home sales in Massachusetts rose more than 10 percent year-over-year in January, according to new data from The Warren Group. Single-family sales reached 2,680--the highest January sales level since 2007, when there were 2,953 transactions. January 2012 single-family home sales were 2,436.

Home prices rose 5.5 percent year-over-year in 2012's final quarter, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported Tuesday. FHFA's seasonally adjusted purchase-only Home Price Index(HPI) increased 1.4 percent on a quarter-to-quarter basis in Q4. Month-over-month, December's index was 0.6 percent up from November, marking the 11th straight month of increases. The index rose in Q4 in 38 states and the District of Columbia, FHFA said.

New home sales jumped 15.6 percent in January--the strongest gain in 20 years--to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 437,000, the Census Bureau and HUD reported Tuesday. The sharp increase in sales combined with steep price drops suggests builders are taking aggressive actions to pare inventories. Housing completions (as reported separately by Census and HUD) routinely exceed new home sales, and the gap between completions and sales has been widening.

Home prices in December were mostly flat from the month before, according to the latest Home Price Index (HPI) released by Lender Processing Services (LPS). LPS' index shows prices climbed 0.1 percent in December, staying at a rounded-off $207,000. November's HPI was also reported at $207,000. While December's index was little changed from the prior month, it was up 5.8 percent from $196,000 in December 2011. January 2012's index was also an estimated $196,000, meaning the year-to-date change throughout 2012 was also 5.8 percent.

Economic data for the week ending February 22--particularly for housing--was less than encouraging. A small increase in existing-home sales was the only bright spot, but that was weighed down by another drop in the median price of existing single-family homes to their lowest level in 10 months. The word "another" is critical because it means the drop in inventory in December did not result in higher prices. Indeed, the supply of homes for sale fell again in January, this time to the lowest level in 13 years.

Housing affordability rose close 1 percentage point up to 74.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the NAHB's Housing Opportunity Index.

Home values rose for the 15th consecutive month in January, according to Zillow's most recent Real Estate Market Reports.

The steady housing improvement seen in Illinois throughout 2012 is poised to continue in 2013, if January's numbers are anything to go on. According to the Illinois Association of Realtors, statewide home sales (including single-family homes and condominiums) totaled 8,502 in January, up 31.1 percent from 6,484 in January 2012.

Florida's housing market continued its upswing into the new year, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors. Statewide closed sales of existing single-family homes totaled 13,679 in January, up 11.7 percent year-over-year, the group reported. Meanwhile, pending sales--contracts signed but not yet completed or closed--for existing single-family homes rose 31 percent.

Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group is maintaining its outlook for slow and steady growth in 2013.