Tag Archives: Home Sales

Speaking at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) International Builders' Show (IBS) in Las Vegas, economists expressed a positive outlook for homebuilders in 2014--with a few warnings. NAHB chief economist David Crowe noted five key points for his positive projections: ""Consumers are back, pent-up demand is emerging, there is a growing need for new construction, distressed sales are diminishing and builders see it."" However, builders still face hurdles like tight credit conditions, and difficulties in obtaining accurate appraisals.

While most housing metrics ended 2013 on a promising growth path, mortgage origination volumes closed out the year on a decidedly sour note, Black Knight Financial Services (BKFS) says in its year-end Mortgage Monitor Report. "[H]igher interest rates and seasonality pushed monthly originations to the lowest level since 2008, and the current interest rate environment seems to have also brought an end to the refinancing wave we've observed for the last several years," said Herb Blecher, SVP of BKFS Data & Analytics.

The National Association of Realtors' (NAR) Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) fell in December to its lowest level in more than two years, with declines reported in all four of the country's major regions. The index, a forward-looking sales indicator based on contract signings, dropped 8.7 percent to 92.4 from a downwardly revised reading of 101.2 in November. December's index was at its lowest measure since October 2011, when it read 92.2.

New home sales softened for the second straight month in December, falling well short of expectations as harsh weather and declining affordability turned potential buyers off.

Last year's housing market was defined by two distinguishing factors: low inventory and rising prices; but both trends began to ease at the end of the year.

Existing-home sales finished 2013 with a slight increase, closing the book on the strongest year for sales since 2006, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Thursday. Total existing-home sales--including all completed transactions of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops--increased 1.0 percent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 4.87 million last month. For all of last year, NAR estimates there were 5.09 million existing-home sales, a 9.1 percent improvement from 2012.

Despite the numerous challenges that sprang up throughout 2013, the housing market still managed to finish the year in a healthier position than in 2012, according to the latest figures from Realtor.com. The site's statistics for December indicate the median national list price ended 2013 at $194,500, up 8.1 percent compared to the end of 2012. Relative to November, however, prices were down 1.6 percent--marking the late arrival of the "usual seasonal winter slow down," Realtor.com says.

Homebuyers hoping for more inventory and greater variety in December didn't get their wish, online brokerage Redfin reported in its latest Real-Time Price Tracker. According to the company's data, the total number of for-sale homes dropped to just below 200,000 in the final month of 2013--a monthly drop of 14.1 percent. While declines are normal for the season, December's decrease was the steepest since at least 2008, says Redfin analyst Tommy Unger.

The housing market has made great strides in recovering from the problems that ail it, but there are still major improvements that have to occur before it's back up to full health, Freddie Mac says in its latest Economic and Housing Market Outlook. The GSE's outlook focuses on four things the market needs to see before it can say the crisis is well and truly behind it: a healthy jobs market, mortgage delinquencies back down to historical averages, home prices consistent with payment-to-income ratios, and home sales more in line with historical norms.

The NAHB's Housing Market Index (HMI) experienced a slight stumble in January, dipping a point from December as builders expressed falling confidence in the single-family market.