Tag Archives: Home Sales

Ed Delgado, CEO of our parent company, the Five Star Institute, reflects on 2011 as we enter a New Year. He takes into account events from around the economy over the last year to forecast a period of hoped-for renewal in 2012.

New single-family home sales offered to end the year on a hopeful note by crawling forward by 1.6 percent in November, arriving at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 315,000 units. The Commerce Department reported the data via the Census Bureau, which releases new-home sales numbers on a monthly basis. New home sales arrived at a median sales price of $214,000 in November, while the average sales price came closer to $242,900, according to the agency.

Home sales followed a rocky road in 2011, as concerns over credit ratings, mounting public debt, and the potential for a double-dip recession forced homebuyers to the sidelines. MReport takes a look back at this year├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós home sales ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô and looks forward to figures in 2012. This week the National Association of Realtors reported home sales leaping forward 4 percent to crest at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.42 million in November, up from 4.25 million in October and 12.2 percent above 3.94 million-unit figures recorded in November last year.

November home sales rose higher this year than figures for the same last year, as markets began to stabilize, according to a recent housing report from RE/MAX. The real estate company said that November marked the fifth straight month for year-over-year sales increases, topping off 1.4 percent above figures seen in October, as home sales fell for the seventeenth consecutive month. Median sales prices for homes taken off the market in November meanwhile averaged $181,322, 1.4 percent more than prices seen in October.

DataQuick released statistics this week that reveal a 4-percent year-over-year increase in California home sales. The analytics company offered up an account of resales in California in a report released Wednesday. Condominiums and resale home sales leapt from 34,087 in October to 31,403 in November last year, with sales in the Golden State still far below lows of 25,578 seen in 2007. The company said that mortgage payments typical of homebuyers averaged $931 in November.

Does housing matter to voters? A recent survey says yes ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô and finds that housing policy will rank higher for voters than even national security come 2012. Houselogic.com, a consumer Web site affiliated with the National Association of Realtors, polled respondents across the country for the HouseLogic survey it released Friday. About one-third of all voters want to hear proposals from presidential candidates that address housing policy. Jobs and unemployment ranked first.

Ally Financial Inc. announced Friday that it will stop buying new mortgage loans in Massachusetts, effective Monday, in connection with a spat of suits against four other big lenders over allegedly illegal foreclosure activity. On Thursday Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filed suit against Ally and four others ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô including Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô alleging that the lenders foreclosed on homes illegally and without mortgage notes.

In good economic news, payrolls picked up 120,000 jobs in Nov., helping shrink employment to 8.6 percent ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô the lowest in more than two years, according to The Labor Department.

The Federal Reserve released the Beige Report, describing a stable national economy eclipsed by low consumer confidence and a housing market focused on rental properties.

All-time highs for housing affordability helped elevate pending-home sales for October 9.2 percent above figures seen over the same month last year, with fewer bad appraisals scuttling deals across the country. The National Association of Realtors measured contract signings for homes last month against numbers from the month before and last year, which it released with the Pending Home Sales Index. The trade group recorded 93.3 for pending-home sales in October, up from 84.5 in September ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô 10.4 percent above figures seen during that month.