A Buyer’s And Seller’s Market, All At The Same Time
The Baltimore Sun reports from Maryland. “Despite signs and talk nationally of a slow recovery in housing construction, Harford County is experiencing one of its slowest years since the nationwide slump began six years ago. ‘I would say just from my perspective the residential housing market – from the perspective of custom building – is still nothing at all like what we are accustomed to,’ said Bill Minton is president of Jarrettsville Builders. ‘There is no question it is just a different place and time that I believe is the new norm and not a transition back to something that once was.’”
The Connection in Virginia. “The June market in Northern Virginia continues the trend of sales numbers coming in just under those from one year ago at this time, but the signs of a stable market have led to an increase in sellers planting signs on their lawns. Active listings continued to show an increase this month compared with 2013. Listings were up 47 percent over last year, with 4,777 active listings in June, compared with 3,247 homes available in June 2013.”
“The housing affordability may continue to be a challenge in the region, said Mary Bayat, 2014 chair elect of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors. ‘While the slightly rising home prices indicate an improving market, people are just not making quick decisions to buy,’ she said. ‘It is all about managing expectations,’ said Lorraine Arora, Managing Broker at Long & Foster Real Estate in Springfield. ‘Some buyers are nervous. When houses are priced correctly, homes will sell.’”
The Daily Press in Virginia. “Homes sales are rebounding, and residential home inventory is approaching healthy levels, signaling a recovering housing market across Hampton Roads, according to Real Estate Information Network Inc. New residential construction sales fell by 17.33 percent, from 300 new home units recorded in June 2013 to 248 units in June 2014. The region’s median sales price is currently $217,500, down 3.33 percent from June 2013, the report said. Inventory supplies for residential home sales is currently 6.98 months, up 7.88 percent from June 2013’s 6.47 months, according to the report, meaning the market may be transitioning from a buyers to seller’s market.”
“Chantel Ray, owner and broker-in-charge of Virginia Beach-based Chantel Ray Real Estate, said that as more homes come on the market, more potential buyers will be looking at new residences in the region. ‘It’s become a buyer’s market and a seller’s market all at the same time,’ Ray said of the region’s realty market. ‘A lot of buyers are out, and inventory is slightly down.’”
“The total number of June active residential listings was 12,336 residences in all seven of the region’s cities, including Newport News and Hampton. That’s up 12.04 percent from 11,010 active listings recorded in June 2013.”
Richmond Biz Sense in Virginia. “A local homebuilder stands to lose 32 residential lots spread across nine area subdivisions to foreclosure in the coming weeks. Jonathan Hauser, an attorney with Troutman Sanders in Virginia Beach, said his client Union First Market Bank is foreclosing on the properties that are owned by local builder Hallmark Home Builders Inc. The telephone number listed for Hallmark on its website is no longer accurate. Attempts to track down a representative of the company were unsuccessful.”
“‘We’ve had two or three years of really, really low interest rates,’ said Hauser. ‘At this point in the business cycle, this is unusual.’”
The Citizen Times in North Carolina. “Buncombe County is down to 248 foreclosure filings so far this year, from the peak of 1,376 in 2010. But Tom Luzon, who heads the Mortgage Protection Program for Western North Carolina, is still worried. A shrinking but still sizable shadow inventory of homes that are headed toward foreclosure haunts the improving real estate market. He still sees a steady stream of clients coming into the offices applying for the Mortgage Protection Program assistance in last-ditch efforts to keep from losing their homes.”
“The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has estimated that 55 percent of all active foreclosures are now more than two years delinquent. But faced with losing money on a foreclosure, banks may delay that process for a number of reasons. ‘When unfortunate circumstances hit a family and they want to stay in their home, we’ll work with them until they can catch up. We may even do a modification to the mortgage as far as the term or the interest rate,’ said Dana Stonestreet, CEO of HomeTrust Bank, the area’s largest community bank with the highest share of mortgages. ‘In that case, we don’t move fast.’”
“While the worst of the recession and its aftermath may be receding, more homeowners are only a paycheck or two away from financial difficulty, even disaster. Luzon points to the recent shutdown at Stanley Furniture, Graham County’s largest employer, with 400 workers out of a paycheck. Some of those furniture workers may fall behind on mortgages and run the risk of foreclosure. ‘Where’s the end?’ Luzon said. ‘Nobody has a crystal ball, but we’re likely to see problems until the average wage earner can afford an average priced home.’”
The Fayetteville Observer in North Carolina. “It’s a renter’s market in Fayetteville. With languishing home sales in recent years, frustrated property owners have increasingly put their homes up for rent, flooding the housing market with new rentals. ‘Our vacancy rate has gone up over the past two years,’ said Chet Oehme, whose company manages more than 1,200 homes and a 72-unit apartment complex. ‘With so many rentals on the market, we’ve had to lower the rent in many subdivisions,’ Oehme said.”
“Alex Townsend, the broker in charge of Townsend Real Estate’s rental department, said his company also has had to drop some of the rental prices and often suggests property owners avoid increasing rents on lease renewals. ‘After 12 months, they want to raise the rent,’ Townsend said. ‘Usually that runs people off because there are a lot of other options out there.’”
“Renter-occupied homes increased over the following two years, making up nearly 52 percent of units, according to 2012 Census estimates. Statewide, the rental rate grew to 34.6 percent. The vacancy rate grew as well, to 13.6 percent of the Fayetteville’s estimated 89,642 homes and 14.7 percent statewide. All this means that consumers can be choosier about where they live. ‘Before, tenants would look at maybe three houses,’ Oehme said. ‘Now they look at maybe five or six.’”
econ 101
you have to ingnor it to be a realwhore
“healthy inventory” like it’s being fattened up
‘There is no question it is just a different place and time that I believe is the new norm and not a transition back to something that once was.’”
Harford County also has a lot more stock of rental housing than it did 10 yrs ago. The guy who helped me redo my 2nd floor is working on a construction site for a new rental place up there, actually. 20 yrs ago Bel Air, MD probably had no large rental complexes, now it has quite a lot. And, of course, why buy when you can rent for 1/2 the price?
In the last decade, military base closings (e.g. Ft Dix in NJ) sent a lot of military and civilian contractor employees to Aberdeen Proving Ground. This was supposed to create a demand for housing near APG. But this never really happened. Lots of shiny new commercial buildings for the mil contractors, though. And they appear to be all occupied. And yet, not enough new people to create demand for new houses. Makes sense, if you’re going to be moved by the air force or your contractor in a few yrs, you’re silly to buy bc of transaction costs.
brac was gong to be bigger than big=not
Yeah, BRAC was sold as a “growth opportunity” for the areas that “won”. All it did was move some pieces around. Not sure it even saved the gov’t much money, since moving costs a ton and the moves ended up being delayed by years and years. It’s not like the closed bases overnight.
‘Home sales dipped slightly in May according to a news release from the Maryland Association of Realtors. Average price declined 1.5 percent and median price increased 0.4 percent, according to the release.’
“Given that active inventory or homes on the market has increased by more than 4,200 units over last year, and in light of the gains achieved in 2013, we view flat buyer activity as a sign of a balanced market, without unsustainable volatility,“ MAR President Russ Boyce said in the release. “Given historically low interest rates and stabilized prices, this is a great time for consumers to enter the real estate market.”
‘The statistics for Talbot and Wicomico showed a decrease at all levels — number of units, average and median prices, according to the release.’
‘Fredericksburg-area housing prices fell slightly in June even though some localities made significant gains. Caroline County saw the largest percentage increase, with prices rising more than 37 percent year-over-year from $133,000 to $183,000.’
‘King George and Spotsylvania saw home prices fall 13 percent and 8 percent respectively.’
Spotsylvania is a real place? I thought it was a fictional location from Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Off to google “Angel’s Cramp”
shows thin data as those 2 counties would have little variance
‘Long & Foster Real Estate says the biggest drop in sales was in Fairfax County and Loudoun County, where sales were down 18 percent from a year ago. Sales fell 12 percent in Arlington County, 6 percent in Alexandria and 5 percent in Prince William County.’
‘Arlington County still saw higher prices in June, with a median selling price of $575,000, up 10 percent from a year earlier. Median sales prices in Alexandria fell below $500,000, down 3 percent from a year earlier to $499,450.’
‘Fairfax County’s median sales price, at $497,250, was up just 1 percent from last June. Prices fell 2 percent in Loudoun and Prince William counties, to $450,000 and $332,740.’
‘Based on Air Force Times research, these are the five least-popular bases — from fifth worst to worst — to be stationed in the Air Force: Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, formerly Bolling Air Force Base, ends up in our bottom five primarily due to the Washington area’s abysmal traffic — year after year, ranked the worst in the country — and high cost of housing.’
‘A home in nearby Fairfax County, Virginia, has a median cost of $455,300. And an Arlington, Virginia, house hits a punishing median cost of $583,400 — well over triple the $170,100 median home cost nationwide.’
‘Sweltering summers — the average high temperature in July hits an always-muggy 89 degrees — and high crime rates in the District of Columbia also dragged Bolling’s score down. Bolling’s crime score was 3 out of 10, much lower than the nationwide average of 6.’
‘Cost of living and housing prices are through the roof around Los Angeles Air Force Base, helping to land it at the bottom of our list of Air Force bases. BestPlaces.net’s cost of living score for nearby El Segundo, California, is 218, more than double the nationwide average of 100. The median home cost there is a whopping $766,000. The 9 percent sales tax and 7.6 percent unemployment rate are also high. And the schools are middling, with average ranking of 5 within 10 miles.’
‘Despite the astronomical costs of living in L.A., BAH rates are surprisingly low. For example, a staff sergeant without dependents in L.A. gets a monthly BAH of $1,704 and a chief master sergeant without dependents gets $2,373.’
‘Capt. Angel Vargas, a group practice manager for the 375th Medical Group at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, who was previously stationed at L.A., said that he loved the near-constant 70-degree weather there, as well as all the social things to do. But he estimated food and housing expenses there were easily three to four times as much as in the Scott area.’
“That’s more money I can spend on my daughter now, on after-school events,” Vargas said. “It’s better for my family.”
Those are too far too commute to DC. Spotsylvania = near Quantico (Quant. is in Spotsylvania County).
Even with the high speed toll roads for commuters (which cost literally billions of dollars to VA taxpayers, btw) its a hellish commute to “where the jobs are”. The jobs aren’t in the far-flung suburbs. At least not the jobs that will support a family and a house.
Somewhat related–the new Silver Line metro subway opens next week. They’re doing test runs today. That goes partly out that way…. past Falls Church.
Liberace,
“Where the jobs are” changes dramatically and rapidly. You and your herd of hopeless donkeys are going to learn that the hard way… like everything else.
‘Inventory remained plentiful as the local real estate market transitioned from spring to summer, with nearly all ZIP codes within the Sun Gazette coverage area seeing more homes being listed than was the case a year before.’
‘Only in ZIP code 22812, the outer areas of Vienna, was inventory lower than a year ago, according to figures reported by RealEstate Business Intelligence.’
‘Because of the relatively low number of sales in any ZIP code in a given month, sales and average prices tend to be more variable than for the county as a whole:
‘22066 (Great Falls): Sales in June totaled 19, down from 39 a year before. The average sales price of $1,129,047 was down 12.8 percent, while the median sales price of $860,000 was down 25.9 percent. At the end of the month, there were 227 properties on the market, up from 162 a year before.’
‘22180 (Vienna): Sales totaled 37, down from 42. The average sales price of $682,945 was down 11.2 percent, while the median sales price of $620,000 was down 7.1 percent. There were 95 properties on the market, up from 45.’
Those last two paragraphs are interesting Ben…Those markets are obviously higher end and I suppose supported by the surrounding job market…So, whats going on other than the increase in inventory ?? Are we seeing a contraction in the job market there or is it a roll over from the price gains over the last few years ??
‘Virginia’s unemployment rate inched up in June to 5.3 percent, the second consecutive monthly increase. The state’s 10 metropolitan areas were divided — with half reporting job losses, and half reporting gains. Northern Virginia saw the largest job gains, while job losses were reported in metropolitan areas that included Lynchburg, Danville and the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford region.’
‘Virginia ended fiscal 2014 with a $438.5 million shortfall, a 1.6 percent drop from the year before. The governor signed a budget last month that had anticipated a smaller budget shortfall for fiscal 2014 of about $350 million. State officials have known for several weeks that revenues would be off thanks in large part to lower-than-expected tax revenues from capital gains, which the McAuliffe administration said was due to changes in federal tax policy.’
‘Payroll and sales tax revenues were also below forecasts, which the administration said was largely due to cuts in federal government spending.’
‘Summer’s arrival brought Maryland a slight uptick in unemployment despite a larger-than-normal employment bump in June, but it also contributed to significantly more job losses in May than previously thought, state labor officials said Friday.’
‘Maryland employers added 7,700 jobs last month, with the strongest gains in tourism-related industries, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. But the bureau revised May’s losses to 6,800 jobs, substantially worse than preliminary estimates of 1,300 fewer jobs.’
‘Despite the job market’s improvement in June, the state’s unemployment rate rose for a second straight month from 5.6 percent in May to 5.8 percent in June. The increasing number of people looking for work and unable to find it came even as Maryland’s labor force shrunk, the Labor Department said.’
‘But economists called that performance in government jobs neutral, if not positive, given expectations that federal budget cutbacks could have significant effects in Maryland. “That doesn’t seem like a hemorrhage to me by any stretch,” said Kevin McIntyre, an associate professor of economics at McDaniel College in Westminster.’
‘”Maryland is home to one of the flattest economies in America,” said Anirban Basu, CEO of Baltimore economic consulting firm Sage Policy Group. “This is not an economy with extreme upward momentum.”
‘The June job numbers do not reflect new hires at Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, Howie said. The Russell Street casino, slated to open in late August, received 31,000 applications for 1,700 to 1,900 part- and full-time jobs there, officials said.’
‘The median sales price in Fluvanna County increased 3.4 percent to $191,250. In Nelson County, it dropped 6 percent to $229,000. Louisa County saw the sharpest decline, with the median dropping 15.1 percent from $200,000 to $170,000 from the same point in 2013.’
“I’m not going to say it’s a booming market, but we’ve got both buyers and sellers able to manage transactions, and I think we’ve seen a slight bump up in inventory. We’ve got about a six-month inventory and that’s perfect,” Ince said.’
‘When it comes to foreclosures and short sales, “there’s not going to be a flood of distressed properties at low prices,” said Ince, who added those types of transactions are “not a significant part of our market anymore.” The Realtors group recently discontinued including statistics for those aspects of the market in its quarterly reports.’
“The market report shows that the housing market continues to trend in a positive direction,” said Michael Guthrie, president and CEO of Roy Wheeler Realty Co. “I am especially encouraged to see the outlying counties, especially Greene County, showing an increase in sales and sales price given they had been lagging behind.”
‘The local trends appear to be mirroring what’s happening statewide, said Stacey Ricks, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Association of Realtors. “The spring selling season saw typical rises in sales,” Ricks said, “but Virginia has most likely hit the peak of recovery, allowing the housing market to remain steady.”
‘In Raleigh, foreclosure filings have rocketed 133 percent higher than the same time last year, according to RealtyTrac data.’
‘There are currently 950 properties in Raleigh that are in some stage of foreclosure (default, auction or bank owned), and in June, the number of properties that received a foreclosure filing in Raleigh was 133 percent higher than the same time in 2013.’
‘Despite North Carolina’s overall positive performance, scheduled foreclosure auctions increased 15 percent since 2013, one of 17 states where this occurred.’
‘When tractor-trailer driver Curtis Jett walked into a bank a few years ago and asked about getting a mortgage, a loan officer told him he’d first need to save at least $20,000 for a down payment. Jett, now 35, walked right back out without applying.’
“I never revisited it after that,” said Jett, who lives in a Silver Spring, Maryland, apartment with his wife and three children. “I kind of got discouraged. I thought maybe you always needed that amount of money to put down on a home.”
‘Minorities like Jett, who is black, have been disappearing from the ranks of homebuyers who seek and receive conventional loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a trend that poses risks for them and for the U.S. economy. With minorities growing as a share of the population, their homebuying patterns will have an increasing impact on housing sales. The decline of black and Hispanic buyers could also sap demand in the broader economy, since homeownership has been one of the best ways for Americans to build wealth.’
“We have to ask ourselves how healthy will the economy be and how competitive will we be as a nation if the fastest-growing part of our population doesn’t have access to wealth-building tools,” said James Carr, a former Fannie Mae executive who is now a scholar at the Opportunity Agenda, a New York-based organization that works on racial equity issues.’
‘The National Community Reinvestment Commission and other advocacy groups are urging the two government-owned mortgage-finance companies to change their underwriting and pricing practices and create new loan products to help bring blacks, Hispanics and other minorities back into the housing market.’
“There is no doubt in anybody’s mind that there has been a significant drop-off in conventional lending to people of color, and that it’s an issue we can and should address,” said Julia Gordon, director of housing finance and policy at the Center for American Progress in Washington, which has ties to the Democratic Party.’
‘During the housing bubble, even creditworthy minorities were disproportionately steered into subprime loans by unscrupulous lenders, said Mitria Wilson, director of legislative and policy advocacy at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Now, she said, some are being guided into FHA loans even when they could qualify for less-expensive conventional mortgages.’
“Prime African Americans should be getting Fannie and Freddie loans just like prime white borrowers,” she said. “Instead, prime African Americans are being served by FHA and more credit-constrained minorities aren’t being allowed to buy at all.”
‘A first step, Carr and Wilson said, is for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to re-examine how they determine creditworthiness. The two companies buy mortgages from banks and package them into securities, on which they charge fees to guarantee payments of principal and interest. They now purchase about two-thirds of all new loans, so their underwriting rules have a broad impact on the market.’
‘Though the two companies allow down payments as low as 5 percent and credit scores as low as 620 on a scale of 850, banks are exercising caution after absorbing hundreds of billions of dollars in loan defaults during the housing-market meltdown.’
‘FHFA’s new director, Melvin L. Watt, has said the agency is working on refining the goals “aggressively.” Watt could take a page from the FHA, which has started a pilot program to cut fees for borrowers who complete housing counseling, Carr and Gordon said. Homebuyers who receive financial education are less likely to default. They’re also more likely to buy a house in the first place, said Marcia Griffin, founder of HomeFree-USA, a Maryland-based homebuyer assistance organization.’
‘A case in point is Jett, who’s venturing into the market again after attending HomeFree’s classes. He said he was encouraged to learn that it’s possible to buy a house with far less than the $20,000 he was originally told he’d need.’
“It’s time to make the move,” he said. “My family’s growing. We need a home.”
‘Minorities like Jett, who is black, have been disappearing from the ranks of homebuyers who seek and receive conventional loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a trend that poses risks for them and for the U.S. economy. With minorities growing as a share of the population, their homebuying patterns will have an increasing impact on housing sales. The decline of black and Hispanic buyers could also sap demand in the broader economy, since homeownership has been one of the best ways for Americans to build wealth.’
What if home prices are falling, as they were in the post-2008 period? Wouldn’t renting be one of the best ways for minority Americans to avoid losing wealth if prices are falling?
Or does real estate still always go up these days?
K. Minorities are not being “steered” into less-than-prime mortgages because of their credit. It’s happening because they don’t have full down payments. White people have the same problem. No down payment = Higher interest rate. It has always been that way, and it always will be that way.
“part of our population doesn’t have access to wealth-building tools…”
You mean “debt” don’t you James? Must drive you nuts, these poor people not being on your debt treadmill.
Don’t forget the water bottle for that hamster wheel.
“part of our population doesn’t have access to wealth-building tools…”
Do these people have the same amnesia as idiots buying Falluja-shacks in bay area ghettos for 800k?
We initiated “minority outreach” programs which succeeded in shepherding some 96% of the african american population’s wealth into their homes.
Those same policies resulted in the housing crash, WIPING OUT the wealth of those 96% of the african american population. (houses dropped from 120k to 40k in black neighborhoods in my hometown and have not recovered)
The left then calls the center-right “racist” for sounding the alarm and desperately trying numerous times to prevent this catastrophe.
We’ve witnessed the largest destruction of one ethnic group’s stored wealth in the industrialized world since WWII, and the people responsible for it are calling the OTHER side racist!
Yeah, I remember the “center right” fighting valiantly against the “left”, trying to prevent minorities from being indebted (not).
‘Drive down an Asheville neighborhood street and you may see plenty of for sale signs as the local housing market continues to improve. Houses are moving at a faster clip and at higher prices than just a few years ago. But on the same streets, you won’t see the signs outside the homes that are “upside down” or “underwater.”
‘An estimated 5 percent of all the mortgages in the Asheville area are in negative equity, according to CoreLogic.’
‘Meanwhile, the Asheville market for luxury homes is booming, real estate agents say. Anything priced at $500,000 and above can find a quick buyer. There are plenty of people who have recovered nicely from the hits of the recession as the stock market has hit new highs.’
“Our prices have climbed to close to record highs with the current asking price at $464,526 for current asking highs,” said Don Davies, an Asheville real estate broker and analyst. “People are seeing their houses gaining more value. We’re getting back to a more normal market and banks are more forgiving.”
‘But the recovery remains elusive for more of the middle class, who hasn’t seen raises in a long while, let alone made investments in rising shares of Apple or Google.’
“Asheville is going better than a lot of places, but jobs have been tough for a lot of families,” observed Dana Stonestreet, president and CEO of HomeTrust Bank, the largest locally-headquartered mortgage holder. “We have a multifaceted economy, and I think it’s going to continue that way for years to come.”
‘There are more jobs, but many of those paychecks are lower wage or for part-time work, in many cases a poor substitute for the some 10,000 jobs lost in the Asheville area during the recession. A missed paycheck or two, a divorce, a lost job and the American dream of homeownership can quickly turn into the nightmare of foreclosure.’
‘Tom Luzon, who heads the Mortgage Protection Program for the region, has heard of people who have lost their homes to the bank, but are still living in the property, free of rent. The trouble is that sooner or later the sheriff’s deputies will show up at the door with the legal eviction notice when that property is finally sold, usually at a cut-rate price that hurts other neighbors and their home values.’
Yes, Tom is correct. If anyone pays an affordable price for a house, then that person is actually hurting the neighbors. Why, the person who shops wisely might as well just run around the neighborhood with a baton, bludgeoning everyone in sight. It’s practically the same thing.
‘Jamie Dimon, who has criticized regulators in the past, is drawing new battle lines with Washington over mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration.’
‘The JPMorgan Chase & Co. chief executive officer, whose bank recently paid more than $600 million in federal fines for originating $200 million in flawed FHA loans, wants clearer rules spelling out when the government will demand these triple penalties. Without that, Dimon suggested on an earnings call last week, he might stop originating FHA mortgages altogether.’
“The real question to me is, should we be in the FHA business at all?” Dimon said. “And we’re still struggling with that.”
‘The federal government created the FHA, an arm of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to help entry-level borrowers buy homes. The Depression-era agency now backs about $1.1 trillion worth of U.S. mortgages.’
‘With the evaporation of subprime lending, the FHA has played an expanding role in providing home loans to minority borrowers and in inner-city neighborhoods. Of the blacks and Hispanics who borrowed to buy a home in fiscal-year 2013, 54 percent used FHA.’
‘The agency’s central role in providing credit to underserved borrowers should compel HUD’s incoming secretary, Julian Castro, to work on new guidelines specifying that minor errors in loan files don’t constitute fraud worthy of major penalties, said MBA’s Stevens.’
‘The dispute is similar to one between banks and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. With lenders complaining that the two mortgage-finance companies were forcing them to absorb losses on too many defaulted loans, FHFA director Melvin L. Watt in May announced changes designed to reassure lenders that they wouldn’t be surprised by claims for repayment.’
‘FHFA director Melvin L. Watt in May announced changes designed to reassure lenders that they wouldn’t be surprised by claims for repayment.’
Should we expect a near-term announcement from the HUD secretary to grease the skids for a new flood of Wall Street money into subprime FHA lending?
Of course. The government should just be there for the purpose of paying the banks, not regulating the banks. Jeez, it’s like this country isn’t even a corporate communist capitalist country anymore or something.
JPMC would be doing the public a favor along with themselves by pulling FHA off their offerings, as the recent insurance requirements for FHA have made them the most predatory loans since the old-fashioned baloon loans that killed the markets in ‘29
Never-ending insurance that adds nearly 5 figures to the loan balance and costs 30%+ more than PMI, the only “advantage” of FHA is 1.5% lower down-payment, which is really just a massive risk indicator.
Your average FHA loan will cost several hundred more than a privately originated 95/5 loan. Please, do trash them!
‘The housing market snapped back into its pre-crash place. Home prices have flattened and overall sales are down, according to a report from the Dulles Area Association of Realtors. Traditionally home sales pick up in the warmer spring and summer months, and a stronger than average showing in April gave optimism. However, May showed the flattest year-over-year sales prices for the month since 2012.’
“Prices are definitely not going up,” said Beckwith Bolle, a principal broker with Carter Braxton Preferred Properties.’
‘Inventory almost doubled for the same month a year ago, according to Bradley Boland, a Realtor with Keller Williams, and the current president of the Virginia Association of Realtors. “It’s a double-edged sword. The prices have flattened out, because there is more inventory,” said Boland.’
‘Bolle also mentioned that rentals are still moving, which shows that people are more than happy to keep renting until they can get a better job or pay down mountains of student debt.’
“Some things are selling immediately and some are not,” said Bolle. “It has become a buyer’s market when it comes to negotiations.”
‘In January DAAR released a report that showed growth in sales in January, a time when some Realtors were hoping for a big bounce back. In January the concern was low inventory, which will not be the case this summer.’
“people are more than happy to keep renting until they can get a better job or pay down mountains of student debt”
The $1,200,000,000,000 elephant in the room stymies the “recovery” once again
Oh, rats
‘The Bank for International Settlements sees bubbles. The International Monetary Fund sees bubbles. The New York Times sees bubbles. Mark Hulbert sees bubbles. Brett Arends sees bubbles. Robert Shiller sees bubbles. And even Janet Yellen sees bubbles.’
‘Conclusion? Maybe there are some bubbles.’
‘But before we rush to sell everything we own and march on the Federal Reserve with pitchforks to demand that Federal Reserve Chairwoman Yellen immediately raise interest rates to pop the bubbles, let’s consider this question from a contrarian point of view: What’s wrong with bubbles?’
‘Who cares if asset prices get too high and speculators get burned? Don’t they deserve to lose money if they’ve paid too much for things like artwork, social-media stocks, farmland, precious metals, junk bonds or real estate? What business is it of mine, or of the government’s?’
I guess it’s our business because there is now a presumption among government that taxpayers must bear the brunt of speculator losses. This goes double for speculators who are wealthy beyond imagination. These people are not allowed to lose money.
You nailed it.
Now we’re talkin.
Oh, goody
Denver home prices still skyrocketing and estimated to keep going. They’ve already passed pre-recession highs.
Sorry, here’s the link:
http://www.9news.com/story/money/personal-finance/real-estate/2014/07/21/denver-area-home-prices/12937597/
http://www.9news.com/story/money/personal-finance/real-estate/2014/07/21/denver-area-home-prices/12937597/
pot ?
I suppose. I’m just not sure where all these “potheads” that are moving here get their money from.
The Denver front range housing is definitely cheaper than SoCal, DC, etc. But the wages/salaries here are absolutely not on par with the more expensive cities, and aren’t keeping up with housing prices IMO.
I really don’t know what to think anymore… Last year I was convinced a crash was imminent. Now, I just feel like I’m being a Debbie downer amongst my friends/family here. Everybody is convinced that things are going up, up, up!
I was recently in the Denver area - for different reasons - currently now looking for RE in Castle Rock area between Co Spgs and Denver (south end DTC). What I see is small lots, wells, septic and and 500K + houses on a mass production basis - lots of basements in an area with poor expanding soils. Keep hearing builders say that the basement issues have been solved etc. Me - I don’t believer them - and what I saw in terms of inventory for the prices current owners are asking - beyond comprehension.
No idea what the job market is like out there - but if things don’t stabilize and soon in the housing market I may be staying longer here in ILLANNOY than I had planned. Sheesh!!! Where does this nightmare end?
I don’t know. Unemployment is low here again, but what does that really mean anyway? Like I said, looking at salary surveys, Denver is pretty low with pay yet has a high (and increasing) cost of living.
My job is very portable, so I’m likely to move somewhere. Maybe even just out of the Front Range to a cheaper area in CO.
When everybody is convinced that things are going up, up, up, then you may have a speculative bubble.
Energy?
‘Triangle home sales increased 2 percent in the second quarter as the inventory of homes on the market got a big boost from new home listings.’
‘New home listings were up 20 percent for the three-month period ending June 30 compared with the same period last year, Triangle Multiple Listing Services data show. The number of existing homes on the market remained flat, with overall inventory up 4 percent.’
‘Stacey Anfindsen, a Cary appraiser who analyzes MLS data for area real estate agents, said the rise in new home listings may be a sign of softening demand. “Last year they were just trying to catch up, but now I think that’s related to demand,” he said.’
‘The average days on the market of the active new home listings during the second quarter was 117, up from 71 during the same period a year ago. There were also 275 new home sellers who dropped their list price during the quarter, a 77 percent increase compared with the second quarter of 2013.’
‘Stacey Anfindsen, a Cary appraiser who analyzes MLS data for area real estate agents, said the rise in new home listings may be a sign of softening demand. “Last year they were just trying to catch up, but now I think that’s related to demand,” he said.’
Well Stace… we perform our own diligent analyses weekly since 2009 and we’ve advised that demand has been sinking since then. We’re happy to see you’ve come to the same conclusion 4 years later.