Home Prices Rise in Half of U.S. Cities as Markets Stabilize

By Prashant Gopal - May 9, 2012 10:13 AM MT Bloomberg.com Prices for single-family homes climbed in half of U.S. cities in the first quarter as real estate markets stabilized. The median sales price increased from a year earlier in 74 of 146 metropolitan areas measured, the National Association of Realtors said in a report today. In the fourth quarter, only 29 areas had gains. May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Michelle Meyer, a senior economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, talks about the U.S. economy and real estate market. She speaks with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television's "Surveillance Midday." (Source: Bloomberg) The U.S. housing market is showing signs of bottoming as improving employment and record-low mortgage rates boost demand while inventories of available properties tighten. At the end of March, 2.37 million previously owned homes were available for sale, 22 percent fewer than a year earlier, the Realtors said. “The housing market is still depressed but it had a good quarter,” Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, said in a telephone interview today. “We’re on the mend but it’s still something that will take two or three years before we’re back to normal.” The national median existing single-family home price was $158,100 in the first quarter, down 0.4 percent from the first three months of 2011, according to the Realtors group. The best-performing metro area was Cape Coral, Florida, where prices increased 28.1 percent from a year earlier. Prices rose 19 percent in Grand Rapids, Michigan; 16.9 percent in Palm Bay, Florida; and 16.6 percent in Erie, Pennsylvania. Biggest Declines Kingston, New York, had the biggest decline, with the median selling price tumbling 22 percent in the quarter. It was followed by Stamford, Connecticut, with an 18 percent decline; Mobile, Alabama, at 14.7 percent; and Atlanta at 12 percent. The median selling price is influenced by the mix of homes on the market and probably was boosted by a smaller share of transactions involving distressed properties. Those homes, which sell at discounts, accounted for 32 percent of first-quarter sales, down from 38 percent a year earlier. Prices are more volatile than normal because they are affected by the prevalence of distressed sales and “sudden upswings” in buyer interest in some areas, said Lawrence Yun, the group’s chief economist. ‘Broad Shortages’ “We have broad shortages of lower-priced homes in much of the country, with very tight supply in Western states for homes through the middle price ranges,” Yun said in the report. “This is good news for many sellers who wish to list now, or for those waiting for prices to improve.” Sales of previously owned homes rose 5.3 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to the report. Purchases climbed 11.7 percent in the Midwest, 6.6 percent in the Northeast, 4.1 percent in the South, and 1.4 percent in the West. Fannie Mae, the nation’s biggest mortgage-finance company, today reported a $2.7 billion first-quarter profit after a $6.5 billion loss a year earlier, citing smaller declines in home prices as one of the reasons for improvement. The Washington- based company said that it won’t need Treasury Department aid to balance its books for the first time since it was seized by federal regulators in 2008. The Iron Eagle Realty Team's mission is to assist you, our client, in the sale and acquisition of real estate properties in the state of Idaho, specifically the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market. Whether you are buying or selling a home, whether it is a foreclosure, short sale or equity property, we handle our customers and clients with empathy and honest truths so they can make informed decisions as they advance in the process of buying and selling real estate that meet specific needs.

PS: We've Helped More Buyers and Sellers than 99.8% of any Local Realtor

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Regards, Michael Hon, REALTOR®
CEO, The Iron Eagle Realty Team
Associate Broker, Silvercreek Realty Group
Certified Short Sale Specialist®
Investment Property Consultant
Direct: 208.919.0458 Office: 208.939.9033 Fax: 208.514.1422
www.IronEagleRE.com Michael.Hon@IronEagleRE.com

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The Iron Eagle Realty Team's mission is to assist you, our client, in the sale and acquisition of real estate properties in the state of Idaho, specifically the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market. Whether you are buying or selling a home, whether it is a foreclosure, short sale or equity property, we handle our customers and clients with empathy and honest truths so they can make informed decisions as they advance in the process of buying and selling real estate that meet specific needs.

PS: We've Helped More Buyers and Sellers than 99.8% of any Local Realtor

Click Here to Search 24/7 for The Best Real Estate Deals in Boise!
Click Here to Download Our Free "Selling Your Home" Pre-Listing Plan! 
Click Here to Pre-Qualify for a Loan Online!

Regards, Michael Hon, REALTOR®
CEO, The Iron Eagle Realty Team
Associate Broker, Silvercreek Realty Group
Certified Short Sale Specialist®
Investment Property Consultant
Direct: 208.919.0458 Office: 208.939.9033 Fax: 208.514.1422
www.IronEagleRE.com Michael.Hon@IronEagleRE.com

Foreclosures Down to 69,000 in March, Inventory Also Down

DSNEWS.com
BY: ESTHER CHO

Year-over-year, the number of completed foreclosures decreased about 19 percent to 69,000 in March 2012 compared to 85,000 in March 2011, according to CoreLogic’s National Foreclosure Report for March. Month-over-month, with the number of completed foreclosures in February 2012 at 66,000, foreclosures increased about 4.5 percent in March 2012.

On a quarterly basis, foreclosures decreased to 198,000 in the first quarter of 2012 compared to 232,000 through the same quarter a year ago.

Overall, since the start of the financial crisis in September 2008, there have been approximately 3.5 million completed foreclosures.

In addition to the yearly and quarterly decreases in completed foreclosures, the number of loans in the foreclosure inventory decreased by nearly 6 percent, or 100,000, in March 2012 compared to the year before.
“Since the foreclosure inventory is also coming down, this suggests that loan modifications, short sales, deeds-in-lieu are increasingly being used as an alternative to foreclosures to clear distressed assets in our communities. This is what was envisioned with the recent National Foreclosure Settlement, and can often be a better outcome for both borrowers and investors,” said Anand Nallathambi, CEO of CoreLogic.

Out of all homes with a mortgage, approximately 1.4 million homes, or 3.4 percent were in the national foreclosure inventory as of March 2012 compared to 1.5 million, or 3.5 percent, the same month a year ago, and 1.4 million, or 3.4 percent, in the prior month of February.

Delinquencies are also down, with the share of borrowers nationally that were more than 90 days late on their mortgage payment, including homes in foreclosure and real estate owned (REO) assets, dropping to 7 percent in March 2012 from 7.5 percent a year ago, and remained unchanged compared to the prior month.
“The overall delinquency level was unchanged in March, remaining at its lowest point since July 2009,” said Mark Fleming, CoreLogic’s chief economist.

The distressed clearing ratio for March was up at 0.81 compared to 0.76 in February 2012. A higher ratio indicates a faster pace of REO sales relative to the pace of completed foreclosures.

As for individual states, strides were more notably made with non-judicial states.

“Non-judicial foreclosure markets like Nevada, Arizona, and California are experiencing significant improvements in their shares of delinquent borrowers. Some judicial foreclosure states are also improving, like Florida, but not to the extent of non-judicial markets,” said Fleming.

Year-over-year, the percentage of 90-plus delinquencies in Nevada decreased 3.7, while in Arizona the drop was 3.2 percent and in California 2.2 percent. Judicial state Florida saw a 1 percent decrease in its percentage of delinquent borrowers.

Highest % of Foreclosure Inventory
Florida (12.1 percent)
New Jersey (6.6 percent)
Illinois (5.4 percent)
Nevada (4.9 percent)
New York (4.9 percent)

Lowest % of Foreclosure Inventory
Wyoming (0.7 percent)
Alaska (0.8 percent)
North Dakota (0.8 percent)
Nebraska (1.1 percent)
South Dakota (1.4 percent)

Five States with the Most Foreclosures
(Over 12 months ending in March 2012)
California (150,000)
Florida (92,000)
Michigan (62,000)
Arizona (58,000)
Texas (57,000)

The five states account for 49.1 percent of all completed foreclosures nationally.
CoreLogic is a provider of consumer, financial and property information, analytics, and services to businesses and the government.


The Iron Eagle Realty Team's mission is to assist you, our client, in the sale and acquisition of real estate properties in the state of Idaho, specifically the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market. Whether you are buying or selling a home, whether it is a foreclosure, short sale or equity property, we handle our customers and clients with empathy and honest truths so they can make informed decisions as they advance in the process of buying and selling real estate that meet specific needs.

PS: We've Helped More Buyers and Sellers than 99.8% of any Local Realtor
Click Here to Search 24/7 for The Best Real Estate Deals in Boise!Click Here to Download Our Free "Selling Your Home" Pre-Listing Plan! Click Here to Pre-Qualify for a Loan Online!

Regards, Michael Hon, REALTOR®CEO, The Iron Eagle Realty Team
Associate Broker, Silvercreek Realty Group
Certified Short Sale Specialist®
Investment Property Consultant
Direct: 208.919.0458 Office: 208.939.9033 Fax: 208.514.1422
www.IronEagleRE.com Michael.Hon@IronEagleRE.com