Tag Archives: Home Prices

The U.S. housing market gained ground in November, according to CoreLogic's most recent Home Price Index (HPI) report. The data provider says November saw the biggest annual gain in home prices since May 2006. Nationally, home prices during the month rose 7.4 percent year-over-year, while also displaying a 0.3 percent improvement month-over-month. Looking ahead to December, CoreLogic's preliminary data show prices continuing upward by an estimated 7.9 percent year-over-year to close out 2012 on a high note.

Redfin studied 48 emerging neighborhoods located within 16 major metro areas to determine which neighborhoods showed the most promise this year.

The housing market felt December's chill as home sales, listings, and prices all slipped, according to Redfin's Real-Time Price Tracker. While it's not unusual to see the market cool off in the holiday season, December's decline in listings was considerable compared to the years prior. According to Redfin, listings were down 11.5 percent from November, 33 percent from December 2011, and 44 percent from December 2010. The lack of selection had a hindering effect on sales.

According to commentary from Daniel Dektar, chief investment officer at Smith Breeden Associates, all the fundamentals are in place for a housing upturn - if pent-up demand can actually translate into buyer interest.

In November, the National Association of Realtors' Housing Affordability Index reached 198.2, up 1.5 points from a year ago. The association projects the index will achieve a record high of 194 for 2012. However, record high affordability doesn't necessarily translate into more homeowners, as "excessively tight underwriting precluded many would-be homebuyers from locking-in generational low interest rates," explained chief economist Lawrence Yun.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) continued its trend of marked monthly improvements in January, according to a release from the NAHB. The index rose for the fifth consecutive month in January to reach 242, once again achieving a record high. According to the NAHB, the list of improving markets now includes entrants from 48 states and the District of Columbia. The only states not represented are Kansas and New Mexico.

December saw mixed signals in terms of housing demand, according to Redfin's latest Real-Time Demand Pulse.

According to a report from Fitch, home prices have risen at their greatest pace since 2005, but in certain markets, technical factors--including low mortgage rates, tight supply of existing for-sale homes, and weak levels of new home construction--rather than "fundamentals" acted as the driving force behind the price gains over the past few quarters. In order to determine sustainability, Fitch conducted an analysis using its Sustainable Home Price (SHP) model.

After measuring improvements over the two years, Trulia ranked Las Vegas as the top turnaround market in 2012 based on its recovery in asking prices. Trulia also found nine out of the top 10 turnaround markets were located West and Southwest, and the top six saw double digit increases. In 2011, only 12 out of 100 metros saw price increases compared to 82 in 2012. In addition, none of the 100 largest metros saw price declines greater than 10 percent in 2012 compared to 6 in 2011.

The national housing market has hit bottom and is now in full recovery mode, according to Veros Real Estate Solutions, a provider of risk management and valuation services. While there remains--as always--some variance across markets, Veros predicts prices in two-thirds of all markets across the nation will either remain flat or rise over the next 12 months. This is the first time since the recession that Veros has forecast gains (or at least no declines) for such a large proportion of markets.