Tag Archives: Home Sales

While home sales have largely struggled so far this year, there's one market segment that's actually holding up well, according to Redfin: the very highest price tier. "For the top 1 percent, the housing market is still booming," said Redfin analyst Troy Martin in a blog post. "But for the rest of the market, the recovery is running out of gas."

Home prices have risen in Florida for 29 consecutive months as of April, according to Florida Realtors. At the same time, new listings and inventory are on the rise. "We continue to see the development of a sustainable market here in Florida," said John Tuccillo, chief economist for Florida Realtors, adding, "The numbers all suggest a balanced market."

The mortgage meltdown and its somewhat predictable fallout—tighter regulations that ensure such a crisis cannot recur but choke lending and borrowing at the source—have led to an equally inevitable outcome: a glut in cash sales for homes. A recent report by Redfin shows that in 17 metro markets in the United States, a full third of sales this year have been all-cash deals. And that figure has been essentially flat since 2011.

In a new report, PropertyRadar found that single-family home sales in the Golden State were up 20 percent month-to-month, though year-to-date sales are still lagging compared to last year. In fact, according to PropertyRadar's director of economic research, Madeline Schnapp, "year-to-date sales volumes in 2014 are the lowest since 2008."

As housing metrics continue to take unexpected turns, it’s become clear by now that the current recovery has functioned unlike any other. In the company's latest Economic & Housing Market Outlook, economists Frank Nothaft and Leonard Kiefer at Freddie Mac took a look at three fundamental areas—mortgage rates, home sales, and household formations—to figure out why.

Following a release from Redfin indicating mixed strength in April’s housing segment, RE/MAX has issued its own monthly report, echoing the theme of a cooling market compared to the last few years. "While sales and prices aren't growing at the rate they did last year, we still remain in a recovery with the market settling into a more sustainable growth pattern," said CEO Margaret Kelly.

In its Real-Time Price Tracker report for April, national brokerage Redfin reported a 12.4 percent monthly pickup in home sales across its 30 surveyed markets, restoring some faith in sales after an unexpected dive in March. However, compared to April 2013, last month's sales fell 7.6 percent short, with nine markets posting double-digit annual declines.

Despite many beginning-of-the-year predictions about spring growth in the housing market falling flat, and despite a still chugging economy that changes its mind quarter-to-quarter, economists at the National Association of Realtors and other industry groups expect an uptick in the economy and housing market through next year. The key to NAR's optimism, as expressed by the organization's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, last week, is a hefty pent-up demand for houses coupled with expectations of job growth—which itself has been more feeble than anticipated.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released Thursday its Housing Market Index (HMI) for May, reporting another slip in builder confidence as single-family home sales continue to disappoint. The index, a gauge of homebuilder sentiment toward the single-family housing market, dropped to 45 from a downwardly revised reading of 46 in April. A score below 50 indicates a market viewed by more builders as “poor” rather than “good.”

While this year’s first quarter was a chilly one for much of the country, the same can’t be said for Florida, where temperatures—and housing market conditions—remained fair.