Tag Archives: National Association of Realtors

Home prices posted their strongest yearly gain in almost seven years in March, with both the 10- and 20-city indices seeing double-digit gains, according to the Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released Tuesday. The national index, reported quarterly, was up 10.2 percent. The three cities that showed no growth (and one of the cities in which prices fell for the month) were in the Midwest, indicating continuing struggles in the region. Nonetheless, March was an improvement over February.

The last time both prices and sales of new homes increased in the same month was last September. What of course is missing from the two data sets is any indication of demand.

The price of a new single-family home soared to a record high in April as sales jumped 2.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 454,000, the Census Bureau and HUD reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected April sales to increase to 425,000 from March's originally reported 417,000. March sales were revised to 444,000. The median price of a new home, according to the Census/HUD report, soared $20,900 (8.3 percent) in April to $271,600, the highest price on record.

Existing-home sales rose a 0.6 percent in April to an annual sales rate of 4.97 million, the highest level since November 2009, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Wednesday. Economists had expected a 1.6 percent increase to 5.0 million from March's original report of 4.92 million sales. The median price of an existing single-family home jumped $8,900 in the month to $192,800, the highest since August 2008.

Realtors attending the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo expressed renewed confidence in a forum on the commercial real estate (CRE) market. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun joined several Realtor CRE specialists on a panel to discuss the economy and regulatory issues and how they impact the market. In a live audience poll, the majority of attendees said their local economy is either a little better or showing a major improvement from last year.

While other hot-button issues have drawn national attention away from the subject of tax reform, speakers at the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo urged industry professionals not to forget what's at stake. Speaking in a session, political commentator Jeffrey Birnbaum told Realtors that "Congress could move legislation quickly on tax reform" if necessary, spelling possible danger for the mortgage interest tax deduction.

The latest quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows home purchasing power remained high in the first quarter even as median prices continued their upward trend. Nationally, the median existing single-family home price was $176,600, up 11.3 percent year-over-year--the strongest yearly price increase since the fourth quarter of 2005, when the national median price jumped 13.6 percent over the prior year.

The nation's homeownership rate fell to 65 percent in the first quarter of 2013, according to data from the Census Bureau.

Despite weakness in the Midwest, home prices posted their strongest year-over-year gain in almost seven years in February, according to the Case-Shiller 10- and 20-city Home Price Indexes released Tuesday. Month-over-month, the 10-city index improved 0.4 percent in February, while the 20-city index was up 0.3 percent. On a yearly basis, the 10-city index was up 8.6 percent, and the 20-city index rose 9.3 percent. Economists had forecast the 20-city index would rise slightly to 146.16, essentially unchanged from January.

The National Association of Realtors' (NAR) Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) rose 1.5 percent to 105.7 in March, the highest level in almost three years, the group reported.