Since the first quarter of 2013, more than 3 million homeowners have regained positive equity, as home prices have shot up, CoreLogic reported.
In the third quarter, 791,000 more residential properties moved into positive equity, the data aggregator said. But CoreLogic reported that there were still 6.4 million homes with underwater mortgages remaining, or 13 percent of all properties with a mortgage. That’s down from 14.7 percent in the second quarter.
Speaking at the 2013 Realtors Conference & Expo earlier this month, National Association of Realtors (NAR) chief economist Lawrence Yun predicted steadiness in existing-home sales over the next year as prices continue to ascend.
Over the past two years, Yun says existing-home sales have shown a 20 percent cumulative increase, while prices have gained 18 percent. Meanwhile, incomes have only barely risen, coming up somewhere between 2-4 percent.
Several experts at a conference in Miami a couple weeks ago called into question economist Robert Shiller’s recent comments that the housing market was starting to look “a little bubbly.” Shiller, who co-developed the S&P/Case-Shiller Composite 10 Home Price Index, has said he’s concerned some markets across the country may be over-correcting and starting to resemble a housing bubble.
However, a group of housing experts disagreed during the ABS East 2013 conference. Price appreciation is slowing, says Mark Fleming, CoreLogic’s chief economist. Fleming says that the rapid growth in appreciation in previous months was a correction after an overshoot in prices falling during the housing crisis.
“We are certainly not in a housing bubble,” added Laurie Goodman, who heads the Urban Institute.
Even if interest rates continue to move higher, the housing market would still be OK, say Goodman and Fleming. Goodman says that even with a 6 percent interest rate, affordability would remain at 2000-2003 levels.
September tested the housing market’s resilience around Western Washington with fluctuating mortgage rates, record-setting rains, and persistent inventory shortages in some areas. By month’s end, however, both pending and closed sales outgained the same period a year ago, according to the latest figures from Northwest Multiple Listing Service earlier this month.
Prices also increased compared to 12 months ago, but fell slightly from the previous month. Year-to-date figures through nine months show prices for homes and condominiums that have sold in the 21 counties served by the MLS are up 12 percent from a year ago.
Homes close to public transportation are worth more than similar properties that don’t have nearby access to subways, rail lines, or buses, according to a study commissioned by the American Public Transportation Association and the National Association of REALTORS®.
Researchers evaluated five years worth of sales data in several major metros with various public transportation options. They found that homes located within a half-mile of public transportation were valued 41 percent higher than properties located outside that area.
“Transportation plays an important role in real estate and housing decisions, and the data suggests that residential real estate near public transit will remain attractive to buyers,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “When consumers choose a home, they also choose a lifestyle. Shorter commutes and more walkable neighborhoods matter to a growing number of people, especially those living in congested metro areas.”
As the summer home buying season wraps up, realtor.com® reports which markets fared the best.
For home sellers who listed their homes in April, they tended to have the best chance to receive multiple offers as well as the shortest time on the market, according to realtor.com®.
Over the season, inventory levels increased, adding greater competition to the field and slowing the appreciation of prices in the majority of housing markets.
Realtor.com® compiled a list of the “Top 10 Housing Markets Where Home Owners Wish They’d Listed in April,” which includes housing markets that saw the largest jumps in inventory from April to August.
Earlier this month the Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported that figures for August show brisk sales, escalating prices and some improvement in inventory, prompting one MLS director to declare, “What these numbers tell us loud and clear is that buyer demand in the Puget Sound region is still incredibly strong.”
In making that comment, OB Jacobi, president of Windermere Real Estate, noted the housing market tends to experience some slowing during August, but rising inventory levels and sustained buyer demand fueled “higher than expected home sales and another month of strong appreciation.”
The latest figures from Northwest MLS show pending sales (mutually accepted offers) during August increased 8.7 percent from a year ago. Brokers in the 21 counties served by the MLS reported 9,065 pending sales system-wide. That’s a drop of 500 units from July, but an increase of 727 transactions compared to a year ago (August 2012). In the four-county Puget Sound region (King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish), the total of 6,916 pending sales was the highest volume for August since 2006 when members notched 7,692 sales.
Prices also reflected an upward trajectory. The area-wide median price for last month’s completed sales of single family homes and condominiums was $283,000, which compares to the year ago figure of $250,000 for a gain of 13.2 percent. Only two other months this year have had higher year-over-year increases: March (14.9 percent) and May (13.4 percent). Since January, prices have jumped 18.3 percent.
Prices on single family homes (excluding condos) that sold during August increased from $263,495 to $294,000 for a gain of 11.6 percent.
Home prices have rebounded so rapidly that RealtyTrac is reporting 8.3 million borrowers who’ve been underwater are on track to have enough equity to sell their home within the next 15 months-without resorting to a short sale.
Metro markets that boast the highest percentage of homes with resurfacing equity include Omaha, Nebraska; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Raleigh, North Carolina.
The housing headlines have been screaming all spring and summer about how home buyers have been pushing prices up in King County.
There have been bidding wars for some Seattle-area homes, and median home prices are up 15 percent over a year ago.
Around Lake Sammamish, home prices are back up to peak levels set in 2007. In West Seattle, homes in some turn-of-the-century neighborhoods have been selling for up to $650,000 or more. And in other areas, sellers are getting 10 or 20 offers on a single property.
But now it’s beginning to appear that the price and pace of sales may be cooling off in the Puget Sound housing market.
Rising interest rates, rising prices and rising consumer confidence are creating a “positive cyclone of home sales activity,” according to members of the Northwest Multiple Listing Service earlier this month. A robust job market around the Greater Seattle area is also spurring sales.
Member-brokers reported 9,565 pending sales during July for an increase of more than 13.6 percent from a year ago – the highest year-over-year gain since January. Last month’s mutually accepted offers across 21 counties also marked a slight improvement on June’s total of 9,484 pending sales.
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