Tag Archives: Home Sales

Is it really a buyers├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ó market? Not according to recent survey results from J.D. Power and Associates, which demonstrated that sellers are more content than buyers in the current real estate market. The study looked at three key areas of the home-buying process: real estate agents, real estate offices utilized, and auxiliary services. Buyers positivity dropped by around 1 percent between 2010 and 2011, and the decrease is attributed to a 14 point drop in real estate agent satisfaction numbers.

Lending availability may be in the swings of an expansion, as loan structures and demand loosen, leading to more financing opportunities in the broader economy, according to a second-quarter survey released Wednesday by research firm Phoenix Management Services. The survey posted hopeful signs for an erstwhile tight credit supply, even as it anticipates continued volatility in home construction, real estate, and other markets. The survey used anecdotal and quantitative research.

Fewer homebuyers purchased new single-family homes over June, the Census Bureau and HUD reported Tuesday, with sales falling to an annual rate of 312,000 from 315,000 the previous month. Economists say these numbers nonetheless reflect progress from February, when single-family sales hit a record low, while others point to a slowly vanishing foreclosure fleet. The report held that June sales amounted to 1.0 percent, plus or minus 12.5 percent, beneath revised May estimates, still 1.6 percent above estimates from June last year.

As splintering debt-ceiling negotiations unnerved analysts and ratings agencies, Treasury yields and mortgage rates remained relatively stable over the weekend, reflecting a widespread consensus among investors and market watchers that partisan divisions would soon give way to a grand bargain between policymakers. CNN reported Sunday that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) refused to agree to a set of conditions at the White House, ending dramatic four-month-long negotiations.

Fannie Mae released a July economic outlook Friday tying a slowdown in the economy at large to a sluggish pace in the housing sector a consequence of tight credit, a dearth in existing-home sales, and weak gains across important industries. The mortgage giant predicted a dip in growth over the rest of the year, falling from 2.8 percent to 2.4 percent. Besides restrained credit expansion, the tepid housing recovery is another reason for the modest pace of economic growth seen in the current recovery, Fannie said in the report.

Despite a forward leap by prices, a surge in contract cancellations led to a sudden easing in existing-home sales over June, according to a National Association of Realtors report. Analysts at the trade association placed blame for the lax numbers at the feet of wary lenders and continuing economic uncertainties. According to the report, upward-bound sales across regions like the South and Midwest contrasted with dips in the Northwest and Northeast, alongside a steadily slacking condo sector.

Oregon's senior citizens with reverse mortgages will no longer be eligible for the state├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós tax deferral program. The initiative recently announced that reverse mortgage applicants won├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ót be considered for the program. Homeowners already using the deferral advantage were told in July that they are required to reapply for the statewide program no later than July 25. Additional alterations to the program's format include more stringent asset limits, stricter income criteria, and a five-year minimum for prior residency in the qualifying home.

ProTeck Valuation Services and American Mortgage Consultants are teaming up to deliver advanced real estate tools, and ProTeck will now provide real estate valuation and reconciliation via AMC.

Fueling fears about a federal default scenario, fragile debt-ceiling negotiations continued to splinter and stagnate this week, with Republicans refusing to budge on proposed tax increases and Democrats fighting to keep entitlements off the chopping block. If trends continue and the federal government defaults on its national debt, housing economists and mortgage rate analysts predict spikes in interest and mortgage rates, with steep and potentially catastrophic declines in homes sales.

A monthly update from Capital Economics holds that small upticks in home prices and sales reflect anomalous behavior in the market, thanks in part to a generous seasonal uplift. The report predicts continued falls in home sales.