Weekly Market Activity Report
As we approach St. Patrick's Day, there's reason to take advantage of our Blarney Stone kisses and impart some eloquence (or "gift of gab" if you prefer). New listings continue to trail year-over-year numbers in our local housing market, coming in at 1,628 for the week ending February 28, which is 19.2 percent behind this week last year. Total active listings are roughly 5,000 below this time in 2008. In an oversupplied market, this is cause for celebration. Continued growth in home sales adds to the festive spirit, with pending sales showing a healthy 12.1 percent increase over the doldrumish numbers of last February.
There are several important monthly indicators to look at in this week's report. Days on Market Until Sale in February stood at 157 days, down 4.8 percent from last February. This is the third consecutive month of downward year-over-year movement. The Housing Affordability Index (HAI) continues its yearlong improvement with a March 2009 HAI of 206—31.2 percent ahead of its March 2008 mark of 157. Months Supply of Inventory is holding relatively steady at 7.8 months, down 15.2 percent from the mark of 9.2 months we saw a year ago.
According to John Tucillo, one of the foremost real estate economists in the U.S. and former Chief Economist for NAR, there are three necessary phases that must occur for the housing recovery to launch:
1) a decline in new listing activity
2) a decline in days on market
3) an increase in sale price to list price ratio
The first phase came about last summer and the second phase began in the fourth quarter of 2008. Hopefully the third phase will occur sometime this year. Strong affordability, improving chances for a housing recovery and a federal tax credit for first-time buyers equates to a welcome home-buying environment—a little Irish luck for real estate.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Where Is The Lone Ranger When We Need Him?
Did the stimulus package provide the "silver bullet" we were looking for to stimulate the real estate market? Well I think it will help but we needed more than a $8000 tax credit for first time buyers. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) estimates that the stimulus plan along with lower interest rates and other mortgage relief measures, could help trigger an additional 900,000 home sales in 2009. In 2008, the available tax credit for first time buyers was $7500 and had to be paid back over a 15 year period. The new $8000 credit is truly a credit and comes off your income tax with no re-payment provided you live in the home for more than three years.
With job losses mounting and more households feeling insecure about the future, sales growth will be held back. New listings in 2009 will be down compared to 2008 which will be a good thing. We should also see a decline in short sales and foreclosures in 2009. If foreclosures and short sales do begin to reach a price bottom this year, we can expect some month-to-month price stabilization in the overall market in the second half of the year.
There has been a lot of uncertainty in the housing market, but there is more cause for optimism heading into this year than there was last year. Mortgage rates have not been this low in decades. Financing is still available and with downpayments as low as 3.5 percent. Affordability is improved. Foreclosures are showing signs of reaching the downside of the peak. Home sales are finally on an upward trajectory. Inventory is in decline. This is all happening as we speak.
With job losses mounting and more households feeling insecure about the future, sales growth will be held back. New listings in 2009 will be down compared to 2008 which will be a good thing. We should also see a decline in short sales and foreclosures in 2009. If foreclosures and short sales do begin to reach a price bottom this year, we can expect some month-to-month price stabilization in the overall market in the second half of the year.
There has been a lot of uncertainty in the housing market, but there is more cause for optimism heading into this year than there was last year. Mortgage rates have not been this low in decades. Financing is still available and with downpayments as low as 3.5 percent. Affordability is improved. Foreclosures are showing signs of reaching the downside of the peak. Home sales are finally on an upward trajectory. Inventory is in decline. This is all happening as we speak.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Weekly Market Activity Report
Weekly Market Activity Report
For the week ending January 31, new listings continue at a lower level than seen last year, clocking in at 1,635—a 15.3 percent drop. Conversely, pending sales continue to raise sand with 673 recorded for this week's report—25 percent above last year. Basically, this is all welcome news. Having fewer listings on the market, combined with an increase in pending sales, helps to reduce the Months Supply of Inventory to 13.5 percent when compared to last year at this time—down from 8.9 to 7.7 months. This means it will take the current supply of houses for sale 7.7 months to sell (on average).The Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale continues to fall, with the January figure of 89.5 sitting at 1.6 percent less than 2008. It's important to consider sales prices of foreclosure homes and how they affect this figure.Our new Housing Affordability Index jumped to 202 in February. This is a new record and means that the median family income is 202 percent of what is necessary to qualify for the median-priced home. Again, we must consider how the sales prices in the lender-mediated market are affecting this figure, but we can say with some confidence that there are a number of very attractive buying opportunities in the local housing market. If we are able to maintain these trends, we'll be well on our way to killing the blues. And to this current market malaise, we'll be singing "gone, gone, gone (done moved on)."
For the week ending January 31, new listings continue at a lower level than seen last year, clocking in at 1,635—a 15.3 percent drop. Conversely, pending sales continue to raise sand with 673 recorded for this week's report—25 percent above last year. Basically, this is all welcome news. Having fewer listings on the market, combined with an increase in pending sales, helps to reduce the Months Supply of Inventory to 13.5 percent when compared to last year at this time—down from 8.9 to 7.7 months. This means it will take the current supply of houses for sale 7.7 months to sell (on average).The Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale continues to fall, with the January figure of 89.5 sitting at 1.6 percent less than 2008. It's important to consider sales prices of foreclosure homes and how they affect this figure.Our new Housing Affordability Index jumped to 202 in February. This is a new record and means that the median family income is 202 percent of what is necessary to qualify for the median-priced home. Again, we must consider how the sales prices in the lender-mediated market are affecting this figure, but we can say with some confidence that there are a number of very attractive buying opportunities in the local housing market. If we are able to maintain these trends, we'll be well on our way to killing the blues. And to this current market malaise, we'll be singing "gone, gone, gone (done moved on)."
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The Good News Is That The Bad News Is Wrong!
We may be on the verge of and economic Pearl Harbor but there are some silver linings out there. Home prices are falling for the first time since The Great Depression. There is a decline in units and pricing for the first time ever. History never repeats itself it just mirrors the past. Housing is a great investment and Edina has out performed the market. Check out the article in the 1/24/09 edition of the Startribune:
http://www.startribune.com/homes/38151509.html?elr=KArksUUUU
http://www.startribune.com/homes/38151509.html?elr=KArksUUUU
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The temperature is dropping and so are the Interest Rates!
Interest rates are at historic lows. Pricing is down. Do we have a perfect storm for a great real estate market in 2009? Time will tell but in the mean time....It's a great time to buy or sell real estate. Warren Buffet once said "When the tide goes out, you will know who has been swimming naked." Don' t get caught and look back at this time and say " Darn I should of done it back then!" It will not stay this way forever. Here is a sampling of today's interest rates:
Edina Realty Mortgage
Conventional 30 Year Fixed 4.625% (4.771% APR)
FHA 30 Year Fixed 5.000% (5.150% APR)
VA 30 Year Zero Down 5.000% (5.201% APR)
15 Year Fixed 4.375% (4.628% APR)
Rates as of 1/8/09 11:12:00 AM
Interest rates are at historic lows. Pricing is down. Do we have a perfect storm for a great real estate market in 2009? Time will tell but in the mean time....It's a great time to buy or sell real estate. Warren Buffet once said "When the tide goes out, you will know who has been swimming naked." Don' t get caught and look back at this time and say " Darn I should of done it back then!" It will not stay this way forever. Here is a sampling of today's interest rates:
Edina Realty Mortgage
Conventional 30 Year Fixed 4.625% (4.771% APR)
FHA 30 Year Fixed 5.000% (5.150% APR)
VA 30 Year Zero Down 5.000% (5.201% APR)
15 Year Fixed 4.375% (4.628% APR)
Rates as of 1/8/09 11:12:00 AM
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Fourth Quarter Market Update 2008
Market Update- Fourth Quarter 2008
Consumer activity in housing appears to be making a comeback thanks to a combination of declining mortgage rates and downward movement of home prices largely as a result of lender-mediated and foreclosed home listings. Pending sales continue to trend ahead of last year with the last four to five months seeing an increase and the last three months posting a healthy 25 percent more pended sales than the same time in 2007 according to the Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS (MAAR). We also continue to see improvement in the months supply of inventory with absorption rates declining to 8.5 months from 10.5 months in August.
According to MAAR, the November Home Affordability Index (HAI) is up by 19 points over October to 180 (up 27.7 percent from last December). Its the highest recorded HAI since MAAR began tracking in 1990, making homes more affordable than we've seen them in recent history, especially when combined with low mortgage rates. What a great time to be a buyer!
Edina Realty in the Marketplace
YTD November 2008, homes priced under $250,000 comprised nearly 70 percent of our total units sold compared with 63 percent of our units in 2007.
Edina Realty continues to lead the market with 19.3 percent market share YTD; our closest competitor has 13.1 percent market share according to the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota (RMLS) for the previous 12-month period.
Appointment activity in October and November measured by Edina Realty's Appointment Center was up nearly 5 percent over 2007 and 5.5 percent ahead of 2007 overall.
From Jan. 1 to Dec. 5, 2008, Edina Realty was mentioned in an estimated 325 newspaper articles, radio and television segments. Around 275 press releases and media pitches went out touting new products, services, technology, events, agents and Foundation grants.
In a report listing the most popular national real estate search terms, Edina Realty showed up 26th among 56,220 search terms. The data is based on a sample of 10 million U.S. Internet users and was collected by Hitwise within the Business and Finance “ Real Estate" industry for the four weeks ending 10/25/2008.
Consumers are increasingly using Edina Realty's foreclosure search. Since it was launched in July, the landing page has seen nearly a 40 percent increase in traffic.
This year, the Edina Realty Foundation awarded 197 grants totaling $342,000; offices and departments held 37 fundraisers that brought in more than $50,000. Note: these figures are for the 2007- 08 fiscal year running from 10/01/2007 - 9/30/08.
The Marketplace
As of Dec. 11, mortgage rates fell to 5.0 percent. That means, on an average $250,000 home loan, a consumer can expect to save $238 per month รข€“ more than $85,000 over the life of the loan - at a 5.0 percent rate versus a 6.5 percent rate that we had in July. On a related note, there are some consumers who may be waiting for the rumored 4.5 percent rate to make their move. We'd like to discourage them from waiting for a number of reasons: it may not happen, inventory levels may change as a result of it, and home prices may be driven up. Essentially, you get your choice: price or terms. Customers can either take advantage of the current rate at lower home prices or a lower rate at higher prices. Let your clients know that there are options to lock and roll their mortgage rates with Edina Realty Mortgage for a fee if they're concerned about missing out on an even lower rate.
According to MAAR, the median sales price in the 13-county metro area is $175,000 - down 19 percent from 2007.
We see a growing number of foreclosures out there, but we're working our way through them and are not experiencing the same inflated rates locally that the population is experiencing nationally.
Overall median sales price of homes is being pulled down by foreclosures. However, according to MAAR, Foreclosures and Short Sales in the Twin Cities Housing Market: Q3 2008 Update, traditional properties that aren't lender mediated are experiencing more subtle price declines about -4.6 percent compared with -9.1 percent for lender mediated.
The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that for all of Minnesota, the 2008 foreclosure rate is expected to be 1.39 percent; 1.81 percent in the metro area.
According to RealtyTrac, six states accounted for more than 60 percent of all foreclosure activity in the third quarter: California, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Michigan and Nevada. Minnesota and Wisconsin ranked relatively low on the list at 25th and 31st respectively.
We expect next quarter to look very similar to last quarter in terms of buyer activity. According to MAAR, we should expect a decline in overall supply to continue into January, with an anticipated increase in the supply of lender-mediated market share.
Brainerd Lakes Area
According to the Greater Lakes Area Association of REALTORS (GLAR), YTD sales of all homes in the area are down 17 percent from 2007 and down 30 percent from 2006; lake properties are down 32 percent over the last two years.
New listings overall are down 8.5 percent from 2007; lake home listings are up 12 percent.
Foreclosure rates are below the Twin Cities.
Average days on market have increased 19.6 percent over the last two years.
Lake property sales $200,000 to $900,000 are down 30 percent from 2007 and lake properties priced over $900,000 are down 39 percent from 2007.
45 percent of sales over $1 million (33) were cash sales. Depreciation factor of lake properties over the last two years is approximately 20 percent.
Consumer activity in housing appears to be making a comeback thanks to a combination of declining mortgage rates and downward movement of home prices largely as a result of lender-mediated and foreclosed home listings. Pending sales continue to trend ahead of last year with the last four to five months seeing an increase and the last three months posting a healthy 25 percent more pended sales than the same time in 2007 according to the Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS (MAAR). We also continue to see improvement in the months supply of inventory with absorption rates declining to 8.5 months from 10.5 months in August.
According to MAAR, the November Home Affordability Index (HAI) is up by 19 points over October to 180 (up 27.7 percent from last December). Its the highest recorded HAI since MAAR began tracking in 1990, making homes more affordable than we've seen them in recent history, especially when combined with low mortgage rates. What a great time to be a buyer!
Edina Realty in the Marketplace
YTD November 2008, homes priced under $250,000 comprised nearly 70 percent of our total units sold compared with 63 percent of our units in 2007.
Edina Realty continues to lead the market with 19.3 percent market share YTD; our closest competitor has 13.1 percent market share according to the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota (RMLS) for the previous 12-month period.
Appointment activity in October and November measured by Edina Realty's Appointment Center was up nearly 5 percent over 2007 and 5.5 percent ahead of 2007 overall.
From Jan. 1 to Dec. 5, 2008, Edina Realty was mentioned in an estimated 325 newspaper articles, radio and television segments. Around 275 press releases and media pitches went out touting new products, services, technology, events, agents and Foundation grants.
In a report listing the most popular national real estate search terms, Edina Realty showed up 26th among 56,220 search terms. The data is based on a sample of 10 million U.S. Internet users and was collected by Hitwise within the Business and Finance “ Real Estate" industry for the four weeks ending 10/25/2008.
Consumers are increasingly using Edina Realty's foreclosure search. Since it was launched in July, the landing page has seen nearly a 40 percent increase in traffic.
This year, the Edina Realty Foundation awarded 197 grants totaling $342,000; offices and departments held 37 fundraisers that brought in more than $50,000. Note: these figures are for the 2007- 08 fiscal year running from 10/01/2007 - 9/30/08.
The Marketplace
As of Dec. 11, mortgage rates fell to 5.0 percent. That means, on an average $250,000 home loan, a consumer can expect to save $238 per month รข€“ more than $85,000 over the life of the loan - at a 5.0 percent rate versus a 6.5 percent rate that we had in July. On a related note, there are some consumers who may be waiting for the rumored 4.5 percent rate to make their move. We'd like to discourage them from waiting for a number of reasons: it may not happen, inventory levels may change as a result of it, and home prices may be driven up. Essentially, you get your choice: price or terms. Customers can either take advantage of the current rate at lower home prices or a lower rate at higher prices. Let your clients know that there are options to lock and roll their mortgage rates with Edina Realty Mortgage for a fee if they're concerned about missing out on an even lower rate.
According to MAAR, the median sales price in the 13-county metro area is $175,000 - down 19 percent from 2007.
We see a growing number of foreclosures out there, but we're working our way through them and are not experiencing the same inflated rates locally that the population is experiencing nationally.
Overall median sales price of homes is being pulled down by foreclosures. However, according to MAAR, Foreclosures and Short Sales in the Twin Cities Housing Market: Q3 2008 Update, traditional properties that aren't lender mediated are experiencing more subtle price declines about -4.6 percent compared with -9.1 percent for lender mediated.
The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that for all of Minnesota, the 2008 foreclosure rate is expected to be 1.39 percent; 1.81 percent in the metro area.
According to RealtyTrac, six states accounted for more than 60 percent of all foreclosure activity in the third quarter: California, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Michigan and Nevada. Minnesota and Wisconsin ranked relatively low on the list at 25th and 31st respectively.
We expect next quarter to look very similar to last quarter in terms of buyer activity. According to MAAR, we should expect a decline in overall supply to continue into January, with an anticipated increase in the supply of lender-mediated market share.
Brainerd Lakes Area
According to the Greater Lakes Area Association of REALTORS (GLAR), YTD sales of all homes in the area are down 17 percent from 2007 and down 30 percent from 2006; lake properties are down 32 percent over the last two years.
New listings overall are down 8.5 percent from 2007; lake home listings are up 12 percent.
Foreclosure rates are below the Twin Cities.
Average days on market have increased 19.6 percent over the last two years.
Lake property sales $200,000 to $900,000 are down 30 percent from 2007 and lake properties priced over $900,000 are down 39 percent from 2007.
45 percent of sales over $1 million (33) were cash sales. Depreciation factor of lake properties over the last two years is approximately 20 percent.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
If you would like more information about homes for sale, recent sold homes in your neighborhood or foreclosures, go to our web site at:
http://www.edina-realestate.com/
http://www.edina-realestate.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
