Finding something positive to say about the housing market these days seems impossible, from February’s horrific home sales figures (new home sales fell 16.9% to the lowest level since the government started keeping records in 1963, CNN Money reported, and existing home sales fell 9.6%) to new surveys indicating that economists expect prices will continue to fall (and will, in fact, not hit bottom until next year).
After years of gloom-and-doom news on the real estate front, things may finally be picking up — at least according to the latest home sales numbers released by the National Association of Realtors. According to NAR, sales of existing homes rose for the third consecutive month in January and are now 5.3% above the levels registered in January 2010. First-time buyers still account for a good portion of sales activity, according to a parallel NAR practitioner survey: 29% of all sales in January, though down from 33% in December and 40% in January 2010 (when the first-time home buyer tax credit was still in place).
One of the three main indicators economists consider when analyzing the real estate market is new home construction activity. To state the obvious, when there is a demand for properties, it makes economic sense for developers to step in and build new ones. But, as we saw in the recent real estate boom and bust, anyone can get caught in a frenzy and, in this case, build a few homes too many. The result: in 2009, new home construction hit its lowest point in this decade.
I was sitting in a hospital waiting room yesterday, having just begun to read “Eat Pray Love” in anticipation of spending a full day in that same chair. Two women adjacent to me, who were also waiting for their loved ones to be treated, began a conversation. I continued focus on my reading for another 5 or 10 minutes, until I thought I heard the conversation turn to house selling. Naturally, I stopped reading and started to eavesdrop.
Despite government efforts to help homeowners keep their homes, the foreclosure crisis continues to ravage towns and neighborhoods throughout the country. During the first quarter of this year, the number of real estate properties that received at least one foreclosure filing increased by 16% compared with the same period in 2009, according to RealtyTrac.com, which tracks foreclosure filings nationwide. (That includes homes at all stages of foreclosure, from receiving a Notice of Default which basically kicks off the process, through auction, to becoming Real Estate Owned, or REO, which means the property has been foreclosed on and purchased by the bank).
"The real estate market continues to trundle along, now that the homebuyers tax credit has expired and with it, the rush to sign a contract and qualify for $8,000 of free money. On June 22, the National Association of Realtors announced that existing home sales completed in May were down 2.2% compared with April, confirming expectations that the housing recovery will slowed down once the government’s incentives expire. (There was some good news, though: compared with the same period in 2009, sales were up 19.2%.)
"Looking back at the housing boom is a painful exercise for many homeowners – particularly those who bought at the peak of the real estate market. Who needs another reminder of what was possibly one of the worst financial decisions they ever made?
"At MintLife we strive to make complex financial topics easy-to-understand. Most homeowners are already familiar with the concept of a mortgage. A Reverse Mortgage lets you borrow money against the value of your home without your needing to pay it back until either one of two things happen; either you die or you sell the home. With recent government regulations in place, the Reverse Mortgage is a financial instrument set to explode with the wave of retiring baby boomers. These mortgages not only affect the borrower, but their heirs as well, so it’s important to understand the ins and outs of process and product. The Reverse Mortgage can be a lifesaver for some, but is not for everyone. This factsheet will show you how it works."
"Housing sales have been on the rise thus far in 2009 as confidence in the real estate market rebounds. Though September saw a decline in the median sales price to $174,900 for a single family home, the number of homes sold each month has been steadily increasing. With consumers once again shopping for homes, we look at what the “average” home looks like around the country."
"If there’s one good thing that can come out of a recession it’s that most things become more affordable. During the course correction, there are definitely some bargains to be had and sometimes increasing your bottom line can be as simple as changing your zip code. We’ve used the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from June 2008-June 2009 to create this map, which shows how US cities have been affected by the economic downturn. In all but one of the cities included, the cost of living is down, sometimes significantly so."
