Archive for the 'Home Values' Category
Home Affordability Rankings For 225 Metropolitan Statistical Areas
August 27th, 2010 categories: Home Values
With home prices holding firm and mortgage rates still dropping, home affordability is reaching new heights.
According to the quarterly Home Opportunity Index as published by the National Association of Home Builders, more than 72 percent of all new and existing homes sold between April-June 2010 were affordable to families earning the national median income.
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Single-Family Housing Starts Fade In July
August 19th, 2010 categories: Existing Home Sales, Home Values, Homebuilders, Housing Starts, New Home Sales, Pending Home Sales
Sometimes, you need to look deeper than the headlines to get the news that matters. This basic truth’s latest example comes from the July Housing Starts data, as published by the U.S. Census Bureau.
According to the newspapers, Housing Starts improved last month:
- US Housing Starts Make Modest Rebound (FT)
- Housing Starts Rise Slightly (MoneyWatch)
- Housing Starts Tick Higher In July (MarketWatch)
However, these stories are speaking in terms of all housing starts — not just the single-family ones. This is a major point of difference for home buyers in Farragut because the most people don’t buy the multi-unit homes and apartment buildings that’s also a part of the Housing Starts data.
The overwhelming majority of buyers buy single-family homes and in July, as in the previous 3 months, the number of single-family housing starts fell.
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Mandatory Loan Fees Keep Borrowers From Getting Their Absolute Lowest Rate
July 19th, 2010 categories: Buyers, FHA Mortgages, Home Values, Mortgage Rates
Conforming mortgage rates may be posting all-time lows this week, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be eligible for them. You may have already called your loan officer and found this out the hard way.
It’s because of a federally-mandated mortgage-pricing scheme known as “loan-level pricing adjustments”.
In effect since April 2009, loan-level pricing adjustments are changes to a loan’s base rate and/or fee structure based on that loan’s inherent risk to Wall Street. It’s similar to auto insurance pricing adjustment in that a sports car, all things equal, will cost more to insure than a comparably-priced minivan.
More risk, more cost.
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May 2010 Existing Home Sales Is Better Than The Headline Data Suggests
June 24th, 2010 categories: Existing Home Sales, Home Price Index, Home Values, Household Finances, Housing Starts, New Home Sales, Pending Home Sales, Sellers
Existing Home Sales dropped in May for the first time in 3 months but still managed to post its second-highest since November 2009, buoyed by the expiring federal tax credit program.
An “existing home” is a home that cannot be considered new construction; a resale of an existing home. Existing Home Sales fell 2.2 percent in May.
The press is calling the drop in sales “unexpected” and disappointing, but a deeper look at the data shows the news isn’t as bad as it first appears.
First, on a regional basis, sales were mostly solid. Only the Northeast region posted a loss. The West even managed a gain.
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Good News For Sellers : Housing Starts Fall To 1-Year Low In May 2010
June 17th, 2010 categories: Buyers, Existing Home Sales, FHA Mortgages, Home Values, Housing Starts, Market Trends, Sellers
Single-family housing starts plummeted to a one-year low in May, just 30 days after soaring to a 20-month high. It’s no wonder home builders are confused.
Against a revised April figure, Housing Starts fell 97,000 units in May, a figure representing almost one-fifth of the total market size.
It’s the worst showing for Housing Starts since May 2009, a surprise to builders and economists alike.
Furthermore, single-family Building Permits plunged in May, too — down 10 percent from April. A permit is a certification from local government that authorizes home construction.
Housing permits are a precursor to Housing Starts with 82% of homes starting construction within 60 days of permit-issuance. Fewer permits, therefore, directly reduces the number of new homes coming to market in the coming months.
For home buyers in Knoxville , this should create a sense of urgency.
Home prices are based on supply and demand and supply appears to be falling about the same time that economists predict a surge in home demand. It could spell rising home prices and a complete loss of negotiation power with home sellers.
For now, though, home affordability remains high with properties cheap and mortgage rates near all-time lows. If you plan to buy a home later this year, the May 2010 Housing Starts data may be a reason to move up your timeframe a bit.
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FHA Mortgage Insurance Premiums Approved To Triple In Cost
June 17th, 2010 categories: Buyers, FHA Mortgages, Home Values, Household Finances, Market Trends, Mortgage Guidelines, Mortgage Rates
Starting sometime later this year, the monthly cost to carry an FHA-insured mortgage is expected to rise.
In a near-unanimous vote, the House of Representatives gave the FHA power to raise the monthly mortgage insurance premiums it charges to its borrowers.
Currently, monthly mortgage insurance premiums are 0.55% of the unpaid loan balance, divided by 12. The recently approved Federal Housing Administration Reform Act provides for an increase in monthly premium of up to 1.55 percent, among other details of the bill.
Despite the ability to charge 1.55 percent, FHA officials say an increase to 0.90 percent would be sufficient to self-insure its loans.
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Home Supplies Tick Higher In Knoxville And Around The Country
May 27th, 2010 categories: Buyers, Existing Home Sales, Home Values, Market Trends, Mortgage Rates
Creating An Opening For Today’s Knoxville Home Buyers
Sales of existing homes rose in April, buoyed by an expiring home buyer tax credit and exceptionally low mortgage rates.
As compared to March, April’s Existing Home Sales rose by 410,000 units nationwide — the second straight month of large gains. An “existing home” is a home resold by a prior owner (i.e. not new construction).
It’s a solid report for housing overall, with rising sales suggesting that the real estate market’s recovery is ongoing. However, the data presented a mixed message.
According to the National Association of Realtors®, although the number of homes sold ticked higher in April, so did the supply of existing homes for sale, too.
Sellers are now listing homes faster than buyers can buy them.
After adding another 0.3 months of supply in April, resale home supply is nearly two full months larger than at November 2009’s low-point. This put downward pressure on home prices.
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Knoxville Sales Are Up…
April 30th, 2010 categories: Case-Shiller Index, Home Price Index, Home Values, Market Trends, Pending Home Sales, Sellers
PRICES ARE STILL FLAT…WHY??
The Sales in the Knoxville Real Estate market have been up over the last few months. Mostly because of low interest rates and the tax credits that end today. But the prices remain flat and it is really just excess inventory that is coming off the market.It is going to take a major drop in the Knoxville real estate inventory before we see and increase in prices. Earlier this week, Standard & Poors released its February Case-Shiller Index, a home price tracker for select metropolitan areas.
Overwhelmingly, home values fell in the 20 markets tracked by the Case-Shiller. Only San Diego showed a modest increase. The other 19 markets averaged a 1.23 percent decline between January and February.
However, that’s not the story you read in the most papers. Instead, headlines read that home values were up in the United States, citing annualized data.
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Knoxville Home Resales Boom Into The End Of The Tax Credit And Around The Country
April 28th, 2010 categories: Buyers, Existing Home Sales, Home Values, Homebuyer Tax Credit, Market Trends, Pending Home Sales, Statistics
Existing Home Sales rose in March, as expected. U.S. home buyers closed on 7 percent more homes as compared to February.
Furthermore, versus March 2009 — a month many people equate to the low point of the U.S. economy — sales volume was up 16 percent.
“Existing home sale” is the technical term for a home resale; a home previously inhabited by a person. It’s the opposite of a “new home sale” which is a sale of a newly-constructed home.
Existing Homes Data is tracked by the National Association of Realtors® and a closer look at the March data reveals some other interesting notes:
- Year-over-year sales are higher for the 9th straight month
- Real estate investors represented 19 percent of all homes purchased
- First-time home buyers account for 44 percent of all buyers
Also worth noting is that the supply of available homes is down on a broader basis. At the current rate of sales, the existing home inventory will be exhausted in 8 months.
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Will The Knoxville Housing Market Slow Down After The Tax Credit Expires??
April 22nd, 2010 categories: General, Home Price Index, Home Values, Homebuyer Tax Credit, Housing Starts, Market Trends
After a strong March showing and a surprise upward-revision for February, Housing Starts are, once again, trending better.
It’s yet another signal that the housing market in Farragut and nationwide is stabilized.
A Housing Start is a new home on which construction has started and, over the last 6 months, home builders are averaging one half-million starts per month.
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