Real Estate Rebound
1. "The glut of condos that hit downtown Seattle right during the real-estate downturn is disappearing as buyers move back into the market. As unsold inventory disappears, prices are turning up, and are still selling for 99% of list price."
2. "Some Louisville-area real estate agents are noticing something that
hasn’t happened in a long time: getting multiple offers on the same
property. Since the housing market crashed
four years ago, all the leverage has been with buyers as sales tanked
and prices declined in Louisville and throughout the country.
But now sales and prices are on the rebound in Louisville — at least, compared to a year ago — and some agents say sellers are getting more than one offer on houses and condos that are in “move-in” condition and are listed for a fair price."
3. "Record-low interest rates are pushing residential sales volume closer to pre-recession levels in the Rapid City SD area, and average sale prices are higher than they’ve been in five years."
4. Chattanooga Home Sales are up 11.6% in April over last year.
5. Memphis-area home sales for April rose 15.3 percent from the same month a year ago.
6. Austin home sales up 16% in April.
MP: The National Association of Realtors reports tomorrow on existing-home sales for April, with a consensus expectation of 4.65 million homes sold, which would be about an 11% increase from last year and the highest monthly sales since May 2010. Some analysts are predicting 4.8 million homes in April, which would be a 14.3% gain from last year.
6. Austin home sales up 16% in April.
MP: The National Association of Realtors reports tomorrow on existing-home sales for April, with a consensus expectation of 4.65 million homes sold, which would be about an 11% increase from last year and the highest monthly sales since May 2010. Some analysts are predicting 4.8 million homes in April, which would be a 14.3% gain from last year.
2 Comments:
the number is out.
sales were up 3.4% to 4.62, a bit below consensus. supply rose a little bit (typical seasonality) but the big story was the 10.1% jump in price.
i had been assuming that would not be possible due to a lack of downpayment equity, but mark pointed out to me that FHA loans have 3.5-5% down payments.
my fear is that they are what iss driving this market.
they are over 30% of many markets and were 38% of ALL purchase mortgages in 2010.
with rates at 2.3%, downpayments under 5%, and size up to $729k, these loans are incredibly dangerous and will leave taxpayers holding the bag in a monstrous way.
9% default rates on the 2009 vintage are outlandish. 31% of ALL fha loans are negative equity now..
it appears we have learned nothing and the feds are still out buying votes with our money and destroying the finances of the minorities they are trying to help all over again.
as urban areas are where FHA is focused, it's no surprise they are showing the biggest gains.
i'm not so sure this is a "recovery" so much as a flood of subsidy. take these loans out of the picture and you'd be looking at a very different market.
i had been assuming that would not be possible due to a lack of downpayment equity, but mark pointed out to me that FHA loans have 3.5-5% down payments.
my fear is that they are what iss driving this market.
It is an election year so we expect the 'great' news to roll in. The problem is that the so called 'good news' is not compatible with the low bond yields that signal weakness over the longer term and the Fed minutes, which try to be positive but show a very worried Fed ready to step in to protect against declines. When your economic activity comes from government intervention rather than real world activity it is time to worry.
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