Tag Archives: Home Prices

Higher asking prices drove off foreign homebuyers and investors over the last year, with real estate firm citing a 10 percent decline in foreign interest for the U.S. housing market. Releasing its International House Hunter Report Thursday, Trulia found that asking prices rose 0.3 percent year-over-year, nixing helpful influence from still-falling home prices. The housing bust attracted a number of foreign and cash buyers interested in low prices and the safe haven of U.S. real estate investment, according to Trulia.

New home sales fell to 350,000, setting a five-month low in June, the Census Bureau and HUD reported jointly Wednesday. Economists had expected sales to inch up slightly from the preliminary sales report in May. May sales were revised up to 382,000 from the originally reported 369,000. Both the average and median price of a new home fell in June from May. The median price was also down from June 2011 while the average price was up slightly. The average price of a new home fell in June to $273,900.

Compared to the two-year high for new home sales in May, June's figures were met with disappointment. On Wednesday, the Census Bureau reported new home sales dropped 8.4 percent month-over-month to 350,000 in June compared to an upwardly revised 382,000 for May. In an IHS Global Insight commentary, economists Patrick Newport and Michele Valverde pointed out that figures for March, April, and May were all revised up, and that sales were up in the Midwest and West, but down in the Northeast and South.

The housing recovery is strengthening and turning onto a sustainable path, Barclays said in a report Wednesday. According to the firm's U.S. Housing report, single-family housing starts are expected to trend upward, matching the strength of multi-family starts that has driven the housing recovery over the past year. Barclays also anticipates that home price indices will close out the year strong, suggesting a broadening and lasting recovery. The rising supply and steady sales pace of single-family starts apparently encouraged homebuilders.

The median price of an existing single-family home rose in June to the highest level since 2008, marking a fifth straight month-over-month gain, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. The trade group found the median price up 7.9 percent from June 2011. Existing-home sales dropped to 4.37 million in June, reaching the lowest level since last October, according to the group. It was the fourth drop in the last five months. Economists had expected the sales pace to increase to 4.65 million from 4.62 million in May.

Rising home prices and sales signal that the housing recovery may finally be underway, according to RE/MAX. The real estate company released a housing report Tuesday that found closed transactions up 2.1 percent from May and 5 percent from June year-over-year. These figures made June the twelfth straight month for higher transactions. Of 53 metro areas surveyed by the company, 31 offered up increases for both sales and prices. Available homes for sale fell 5 percent from May and 27.4 percent from June last year.

Underwater homeowners are contributing to a lower inventory of houses for sale on the market, but according to Capital Economics negative equity will not have a major impact on housing prices. Regardless of the impact of negative equity, both Capital Economics and the National Association of Realtors foresee rising prices in the near future. The percentage of underwater homeowners is falling but remains elevated. CoreLogic said that 11.4 million homeowners were underwater in the first quarter.

Lender Processing Services, Inc.'s Applied Analytics division released its updated home price index, showing that although prices fell year-over-year, the HPI increase from this year's low has been the most significant jump up in years. The company├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós recent HPI is an update from an earlier release to reflect residential sales concluded during April 2012. The index showed that home price values fell 0.1 percent from April 2011 to April 2012 ($201,000 to $200,000). However, price index values rose from January's low ($195,000) at a pace not seen in more than half a decade.

National home prices saw both quarterly and yearly gains in June, and all four regions across the U.S. posted quarterly increases, according to the Home Data Index (HDI) released by Clear Capital Tuesday. Home prices rose by 1.7 percent in June from the previous quarter and a year ago, and growth is expected to continue into the second half of the year at a rate of 2.5 percent, Clear Capital reported. Out of all four regions, the West saw the greatest quarterly increase at 3.5 percent, followed by the Midwest (1.2 percent), the South (1.5 percent), and the Northeast (0.8 percent).

The CFPB has officially proposed mortgage disclosure forms designed to enhance understanding. The forms are a result of research, testing, writing, and review and are being created to help consumers comprehend the terms of their mortgage and the costs involved. The proposed forms are part of the agency's Know Before You Owe project and are to be provided after applying for a loan and before closing."When making what is likely the biggest purchase of their life, consumers should be looking at paperwork that clearly lays out the terms of the deal," said CFPB Director Richard Cordray.