Analysis Topic: Housing Market Price trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Sales of New U.S. Homes Rose in September, But Trend is Unimpressive / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
Sales of new single-family homes rose 5.7% to an annual rate of 309,000 in September, the second highest level for the year after the 316,000 mark seen in April. The picture is less impressive when we put things in a historical perspective. The 3-month moving average of existing home sales at 302,000 has held nearly steady since mid-2010 (see Chart 1) after the first-time home buyer program expired.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
U.S. August Home Prices Small but Noteworthy Improvement / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
The seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller Price Index held steady in August compared with July. On a year-to-year basis, the index fell 3.8%, the smallest decline since February 2011. The FHFA House Price Index of August dropped 4.0% from a year ago, the smallest reduction since December 2010.
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Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Will Modified Program to Alleviate U.S. Residential Housing Mortgage Problems Raise Consumer Spending? / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks, announced a modification of the original Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) passed in 2009. The main objective is to make refinancing easier for people with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. HARP allows borrowers whose mortgage is worth more than the current value of their homes to refinance and take advantage of the low interest rate environment. CoreLogic estimates that currently 22.6% of mortgages (10.8 million mortgages) exceed the current value of homes (also referred to as under water mortgages or mortgages with negative equity).
Friday, October 21, 2011
U.S. Housing Sector Needs a Supportive Nudge / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
Sales of existing homes, inclusive of condos, fell 3.0% in September to an annual rate of 5.03 million units after an 8.4% increase in August. Sales of existing single-family homes dropped 3.6% to an annual rate of 4.47 million units in September vs. a 9.0% jump in August. As Chart 1 indicates, sales of existing homes are far from the peak registered in 2005 and are very close to cycle lows seen in 2008 (The wide swings in home sales in 2009-10 are related to the temporary first-time home buyer credit program).
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
A Decade of Household Deleveraging? / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
The recent trend of consumer spending is lackluster and, in fact, worrisome such that Chairman Bernanke has mentioned it in speeches over the past month. Real disposable personal income has posted a meager 0.3% gain in August 2011 (see Chart 1) and consumer spending shows a noticeably decelerating trend. The obvious reply to answers about the reasons for soft growth in consumer spending is related to lack of hiring.
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Monday, October 03, 2011
U.S. The Housing Market is Finally Bottoming, Here's How to Play It / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Money_Morning
Martin Hutchinson writes:
The housing market remains a drag on the economy, but there are indications that it is finally starting to bottom.
Prices have stopped declining, and there is even some sign of life in sales.
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Monday, October 03, 2011
U.S. House Prices, Expect Lower Lows / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Bill_Bonner
Cash is still king. Cash is king because non-cash is a commoner and a loser…it’s losing its value. An article in the Financial Times, for example, tells that:
“US inflation expectations at lowest point in year.”
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Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Case-Shiller Home Price Index - Noteworthy Improvement, But Durability is Uncertain / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
The seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller Home Price Index held steady in July, matching the readings of the prior two months. These readings are a significant improvement after the string of declines of home prices seen for an extended period (see Chart 1). The gains in 2009 and 2010 are related to the first-home buyer program which was in place only for a short period. The encouraging news is that the FHFA House Price Index shows price gains for each of the four months ended July and the Core Logic House Price Index posted increases in three out of the last four months.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
U.S. August New Home Sales Still Hovering around Recession Lows / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
Sales of new single-family homes fell 2.3% to an annual rate of 295,000 in August, which marks the sixth monthly decline in the first eight months of the year and the level of sales remains close to the record low of 278,000 seen precisely a year ago. Sales of new homes fell in the Northeast (-13.6%), West (-6.3%), and South (-2.4%) but rose in the Midwest (+8.2%) during August.
Friday, September 23, 2011
U.S. House Prices Rise for Fourth Month / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
The FHFA House Price Index rose 0.8% in July, marking the fourth monthly increase. The Core-Logic House Price Index also has posted gains in the each of the four months ended July (see Chart 5). Both these price indexes show a moderation of year-to-year price declines (see Chart 6), with the July drop being less negative than the June readings.
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Thursday, September 22, 2011
Sales of Existing U.S. Homes Recover, But Level Still Close to Recession Low / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
Sales of all existing homes rose 7.7% to an annual rate of 5.03 million units. Single-family unit sales were stronger (+8.5%). Regionally, sales of existing homes increased in all four regions, with the nearly 19% jump in the West as the largest gain. From a year ago, sales of existing single-family homes have posted double-digit gains in July and August because of a base effect. Sales of existing homes in July-August 2010 fell sharply after the first-time home buyer credit program expired. Therefore, the year-to-year comparisons partly exaggerate the trend of existing homes sales.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
U.S. Home Construction Declines, Permits Post a Small Gain / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
Construction of new homes and apartments fell 5.0% to an annual rate of 571,000 during August after a 2.3% drop in the prior month. Starts of both multi-family (-13.5%) and single-family starts (-1.4%) fell in August. The disappointing news is that the level of housing starts continues to hover at recession lows. The nearly 30% drop of housing starts in the Northeast and a 3.3% drop in the South brought down the headline, while housing starts rose in the Midwest (+2.6%) and West (+2.2%).
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Thursday, September 08, 2011
Time To 'Invest' in Real Estate Again? / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Bill_Bonner
“And they shall grind the face of the poor…” ~ Isaiah
The markets were closed yesterday. Which was a good thing. The lights were out in Congress. Economists went to barbecues. Central bankers stayed home with their families. And investors didn’t bother to check their blackberries to find the latest prices.
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Tuesday, August 30, 2011
U.S. Pending Home Sales Index Slips in July / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) of the National Association of Realtors fell 1.3% in July, after two monthly gains. The PHSI leads actual sales of existing homes by 1-2 months. The July drop of the index bodes poorly for actual sales of homes in August and September. Sales of existing homes have posted declines in three out of the four months ended July. The level of existing home sales is close to recession lows even after two years of economic recovery.
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Friday, August 26, 2011
UK House Prices Update / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Tim_Waring
We have entered an interesting stage of the housing market with many factors beginning to influence different segments.
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Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Sales of U.S. New Homes Still Holding Close to Recession Lows / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Asha_Bangalore
Sales of new single-family homes fell 0.7% to an annual rate of 298,000 in July following downwardly revised readings for May (309,000 vs. 315,000) and June (300,000 vs. 312,000). The level of new home sales is close to the record low registered in August 2010 (see Chart 1).
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
UK Mortgage Fees Rise 17% in a Year / Housing-Market / Mortgages
By: MoneyFacts
The average mortgage arrangement fee has increased by £151 over the last year – a rise of 17%.
In August 2010 the average fee was £879, today it stands at £1,030.
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Wednesday, August 10, 2011
UK Mortgage Fixed Interest Rates Continue to Fall / Housing-Market / Mortgages
By: MoneyFacts
For the first time since Moneyfacts started recording rates in 1988 the average five-year fixed mortgage rate has fallen below 5%, today standing at 4.99%.
In the last 29 months since bank base rate has been on hold at 0.50%, the average five-year fixed mortgage rate has stood as high as 6.24% (September 2009).
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Wednesday, August 03, 2011
U.S. Housing Market Rebound Unlikely Anytime Soon / Housing-Market / US Housing
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes:
Dragged down by such anchors as a bulging pipeline of foreclosures and a dearth of buyers, it will be many more months - if not years - before a housing market rebound takes hold.
Symptoms of the limping U.S. economy, primarily an unemployment rate above 9% and weak consumer confidence, along with much stricter lending rules, have helped keep buyers scarce.
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Thursday, July 28, 2011
Buy-to-Let Sector Sees Surge in Mortgage Products to Highest Level Since September 2008 / Housing-Market / Buy to Let
By: MoneyFacts
The number of buy-to-let (BTL) mortgages available has today hit 505, the highest level since September 2008.
The size of the BTL market has steadily increased since July 2009, when the number of products fell to just 189.
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