Tag Archives: Housing Supply

While summer temperatures are now consistently rising into the triple digits in many parts of the country, bidding wars for homes continue to cool, Redfin said in its Real-Time Bidding Wars report for June. Nationally, the percentage of offers written by Redfin agents that faced multiple bids fell for the third straight month to 68.6 percent, down from 69.5 percent in May and 75.7 percent in March. Redfin analyst Ellen Haberle attributed the continued decline to rising mortgage interest rates and an easing in the inventory crunch.

Home prices continue to see significant gains as inventory limits buyers, CoreLogic said in its latest Home Price Index (HPI) report. The index rose 12.2 percent (including distressed sales) year-over-year in May, once again marking the biggest annual increase since 2006. Excluding distressed sales, prices were up 11.6 percent over May 2012. Looking at the top 100 core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) measured by population, 97 showed year-over-year gains in May, CoreLogic reported--up from 94 in April.

According to a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, a huge majority of brokers in the region observed an increase in sales in May, with 40 percent saying numbers were up "slightly" over last year and another 44 percent saying sales were up "significantly." Builders also indicated sales were stronger than last year, with 38 percent reporting slight increases and 33 reporting significant improvements. However, builders noted that sales growth had slowed from April.

April home sales in Connecticut dropped on a yearly basis for the third straight month as prices continued to ascend, the Warren Group reported.

While the current pace of price appreciation may not sustain itself for much longer, Capital Economics maintains a deceleration in price gains does not mean an end to the housing recovery.

Fitch Ratings noted that while a deficit in workers may not lead to "disastrous national numbers for housing," it may put a damper on the recovery.

An increase in prices itself does not signal a bubble. An unsustainable increase, not supported by other data, however, would.

Though rising mortgage rates and the current supply and demand situation present short-term difficulties for originators, Deloitte says the long-term picture is rosier.

Existing-home sales rose a solid 4.2 percent in May to an annual sales rate of 5.18 million, the highest level since November 2009, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported.

Both home sales and prices rose at double-digit rates above May 2012, and inventory is showing signs of stability, RE/MAX reported.