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Survey says: 86% of home sellers getting 90% or more of asking price |
WASHINGTON – July 18, 2007 – A current market conditions survey of member agents conducted by HouseHunt Inc. in the second quarter of 2007 indicates that the clients of 86 percent of those polled are fetching 90 percent or more of their asking prices.
More than half of these agents say their clients have closed for more than 95 percent of their asking prices. The survey also reveals that 40 percent of respondents say homes have jumped in value by zero to 20 percent, while 41 percent say home values have fallen in a similar percentage range.
Homes are sitting unsold for no more than 90 days, according to 43 percent of those surveyed; and 59 percent say inventory is up in their markets about 18 percent from the first quarter.
HouseHunt President and CEO Michael Bearden says, “Potential buyers who have been sitting on the sidelines for the past 18 months are finding good value and lots of choices in their local marketplaces.”
Source: RisMedia.com (07/17/07)
© Copyright 2007 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688 |
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NAR: Pending home sales indicate market stabilization |
WASHINGTON – Dec. 5, 2006 – Pending home sales are hovering in a narrow range, another indication that a stabilization is occurring in the housing sector, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).
The Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in October, slipped 1.7 percent to a reading of 107.2 and is 13.2 percent lower than October 2005. The index had trended up from a cyclical low of 105.6 in July, and a decline from year-ago levels is narrowing. In September, the index was 13.6 percent below a year earlier, while in August the decline was 14.0 percent.
David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, says a fairly steady pace of home sales can be expected for the next two months. “It’s important to focus on where the housing market is now – it appears to be stabilizing, and comparisons with an unsustainable boom mask the fact that home sales remain historically high – they’ll stay that way through 2007,” he says. “In addition, a temporary correction in prices distracts from the fact that it is primarily the number of home sales that affects the economy, and the number for this year will be the third highest on record.”
The index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed and the transaction has not closed, but the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.
An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, the first year to be examined and the first of five consecutive record years for existing-home sales. There is a closer relationship between annual changes in the index and year-ago changes in sales performance than with month-to-month comparisons.
Regionally, the PHSI in the Midwest slipped 0.6 percent in October to 95.8 and was 15.4 percent below a year ago. The index in the South declined 1.7 percent to 122.9 and was 9.3 percent below October 2005. In the Northeast, the index eased 2.1 percent in October to 88.0 and was 13.5 percent lower than a year earlier. The index in the West fell 2.7 percent to 109.5 and was 17.4 percent below October 2005.
© 2006 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
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New home prices fall by the largest amount in more than 35 years |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Oct. 26, 2006 -- The median price of a new home plunged in September by the largest amount in more than 35 years, even as the pace of sales rebounded for a second month.
The Commerce Department reported that the median price for a new home sold in September was $217,100, a drop of 9.7 percent from September 2005. It was the lowest median price for a new home since September 2004 and the sharpest year-over-year decline since December 1970. The weakness in new home prices was even sharper than a 2.5 percent fall in the price of existing homes last month, which had been the biggest drop on record.
The price decline for new homes came while the sales pace picked up, rising by 5.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate 1.075 million homes. It marked the second consecutive increase in sales following three months of declines.
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Buyers Flock To Homes With Designer Brands |
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Sept. 22, 2006 -- You've heard of designer jeans and designer handbags, but designer homes? That's the newest trend among discerning buyers.
Martha Stewart was first, designing homes in North Carolina and other Southern states. Giorgio Armani’s Wall Street condos also sold well. Then Mick Jagger's daughter Jade Jagger stepped in with a 57-unit building in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, and plans for more buildings.
 Designer homes are "quite simply a creative way to distinguish your products from competitors'," says Bruce Karatz, CEO of KB Home, which teamed up with Martha Stewart. In addition to Stewart communities in North Carolina and Atlanta, KB Home will build Stewart-styled homes near Houston and Los Angeles. Next month, it will announce one new such community in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Karatz says the Martha Stewart homes are selling faster than anything KB Home is building in the Southeast. Though still a small portion of the company's total sales, they could increase to 10 percent to 20 percent of KB Home's production, he says.
The homes, which are inspired by Stewart's personal residences in Maine, Connecticut, and New York, are priced from the low $200,000s to mid-$500,000, depending on the neighborhood. They attract a "huge amount" of buyers, Karatz says.
Source: USA Today, Noelle Knox (09/20/2006)
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Inventories rise; home sales plunge |
| By Lauren Baier Kim September 13, 2006 In August, home sales took a dive in many large cities across the U.S., according to a The Wall Street Journal Online article. Among the places showing the biggest drops in the number of homes sold were California, Florida, Arizona, Massachusetts and the Washington, D.C., area, the article says. Nationally, the number of homes on the market rose 3.5%, according to the Web site. As a result of the market downturn, buyers may take their properties off the market, and home builders are offering incentives to spur sales, the article says. Prices in some U.S. locations for newly built homes are down 10% to 15% from a year ago, the article says. "We believe that the housing market is still in the early innings of a hard landing that will likely take several years to develop," one housing analyst is quoted as saying. Use an interactive tool to track inventories of homes for sale in 15 large metro areas across the U.S.
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In a Cooling Market, How to Make
A Smart Second-Home Purchase |
By Lauren Baier Kim
From The Wall Street Journal Online
Editor's Note: Some links may require registration or subscription.
Signs continue to emerge that the housing market is cooling. The inventory of unsold homes rose 3.8% in June to the highest level since July, 1997, while the national median home price posted its slowest year-over-year price increase since May, 1995, according to the National Association of Realtors. Because of uncertainty in the housing market, some investors are hesitant to invest, including second-home buyers.
WHAT TO DO: If you are considering purchasing a second home and want to find a locale that is likely to hold its value in a cooling market, research locations with good investment potential -- note differences between asking and selling prices, read real-estate blogs and articles and take advantage of online pricing tools. Consider "undervalued" markets -- places generally free of big spikes or declines in home prices and be wary of overvalued markets, which are at risk of price declines. Think about college towns with steady housing demand and lower-priced beach towns, which are likely to remain hot with buyers. |
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Deal sweeteners increase prices, despite slowing sales |
With the number of U.S. homes on the market swelling and sales falling, how could it be that median prices are increasing? "Deal sweeteners" offered by anxious home sellers and builders are the reason, according to an article published by the New York Times. To avoid cutting asking prices, homeowners and developers are throwing in perks for buyers -- like new cars, and free upgrades on landscaping and kitchen countertops, the paper says. Such incentives aren't included in statistics reported by trade groups like the National Association of Realtors, covering up the possibility that home prices may be falling, the Times says. The median price for a newly built home rose 0.3% from a year ago in July, and the median price for an existing home increased 0.9% from a year ago, the paper says. The incentives being offered by builders amount to 3% to 8% of new home prices, the article reports.Source
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