Home Prices Make Largest Leap in 6 Years

By Tiffany Hsu

RISMEDIA, Friday, October 05, 2012— (MCT)—Home prices nationwide are recovering, making their largest leap in more than six years in August, according to a new report. Prices soared 4.6 percent in August from the same month last year, the biggest year-over-year increase since July 2006, according to real estate data provider CoreLogic in Irvine, Calif. And the gauge rose 0.3 percent from July for its sixth straight monthly increase. All but six states are experiencing the gains, with only 20 of 100 major cities showing price depreciation, according to CoreLogic. In July, 26 major metro areas experienced slumps. The overall increase is magnified by factoring out the weight of distressed sales, including short sales and foreclosures, CoreLogic said. The measure jumped 4.9 percent year over year and was up 1 percent from July. The surging prices “bode well for a progressive rebound in the residential housing market,” says CoreLogic Chief Executive Anand Nallathambi. “Sustained economic recovery in the U.S. requires a healthy housing market,” he said. “You cannot have a healthy housing market without price stabilization and ultimately home price appreciation.” States such as Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Hawaii saw some of the largest price boosts. Arizona led the country with an 18.2 percent increase. In Rhode Island, however, prices dipped 2.6 percent. Illinois, New Jersey, Alabama and Connecticut also had falling prices. The national measure is still 26.7 percent below the pricing peak reached in April 2006. But several other reports recently have also suggested a steady upward trend. Last month, the government said the median price of new single-family homes was at a five-year high. A separate report from the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index noted four consecutive price increases. Other data in the past few months have showed boosts in new housing starts and existing home sales as well as mortgage rates at record lows. Pending sales of existing homes, however, fell in August from a two-year high.

clear skies,
Doug Reynolds
 
www.BHGshortsales.com

Strength in Single-Family Sector Boosts Housing in August

RISMEDIA, September 21, 2012—

Nationwide housing production rose 2.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 750,000 units in August, according to newly released figures from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau. This increase was fueled entirely by gains in the single-family sector, where the pace of new construction rose in every region for a combined 5.5 percent gain to 535,000 units.

“Builders across the country have been reporting noticeable improvement in the number of serious buyers who are in the market for a new home, and today’s report shows that this is translating to some welcome gains in construction activity,” says Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. “While there is still plenty of room for improvement, it’s encouraging to see this continuing trend that is spurring much-needed job growth.” For every 100 new single-family homes that are built, 300 new jobs are created, he notes.

“The pace of overall housing production has been edging gradually upward all year as consumers become more confident in their local housing markets, and the latest data are further evidence that the housing recovery is here to stay,” adds NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “That said, the pace of this recovery continues to be constrained by various hurdles, including a tough lending environment, inaccurate appraisals and more recently, rising prices on key building materials.”

At 535,000 units, single-family housing production hit its fastest seasonally adjusted annual pace in more than two years this August. Meanwhile, multifamily housing production declined 4.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 215,000 units.

Regionally, combined starts numbers were mixed, with the Midwest and South posting gains of 20.7 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively, and the Northeast and West posting respective declines of 12.6 percent and 4.3 percent. However, single-family starts rose in every region in August. 

Issuance of new building permits, which can be an indicator of future building activity, edged down one percent to a rate of 803,000 units in August following a surge in the previous month, with single-family permits holding virtually unchanged at 512,000 units and multifamily permits down 3.0 percent to 291,000 units.

Regionally, combined permitting activity rose 7.9 percent in the Midwest and seven-tenths of a percent in the South, but declined 7.7 percent in the Northeast and 6.4 percent in the West in August.

clear skies,
Doug Reynolds
 
www.BHGshortsales.com