Baltimore Sales Rise For First Time Since 2005

Falling home prices have transformed many properties from asset to albatross, but there’s hope yet for those looking to sell: Nearly two-thirds of the Baltimore region’s ZIP codes saw sales increases last year, the first time since 2005 that buying didn’t slump across the board.

Sales are on the upswing as first-time homebuyers jump in - enticed by a temporary $8,000 tax credit - and investors snap up foreclosed properties. And some homeowners who can’t wait any longer for prices to rise are finding ways to move on.   Baltimore Sun

10 Most Undervalued Housing

10 most undervalued areas, according to the study:

1. Las Vegas, -41.4 percent
2. Vero Beach, Fla., -39.8 percent
3. Merced, Calif., -37.7 percent
4. Cape Coral, Fla., -36.8 percent
5. Houma, La., -34.6 percent
6. Port St. Lucie, Fla., -33.3 percent
7. Warren, Mich., -32.3 percent
8. Vallejo, Calif., -31.9 percent
9. Modesto, Calif. -31.8 percent
10. Stockton, Calif., -31.8 percent

Source: CNNMoney, Les Christie (01/27/2010)

Home Sales Jump 2nd Month

Home sales surged for the second month in a row in October, climbing to the highest level in 2½ years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of an expiring tax credit.

Home sales nationwide are now up nearly 37% from their bottom in January, data Monday showed, though they are still 16% below the peak in autumn 2005. At the current sales pace, there is only a 7-month supply of homes on the market and in some areas there are bidding wars.

The Foreigners are Coming

Wong, president of Optimus U.S. Real Estate Fund, has bought 60 condos at heavy discounts from developers in financial trouble. Wong paid about $62,500 each for 18 Las Vegas condos that once were priced at about $250,000 apiece.

“This could be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for real estate investment,” said Wong, whose Calgary, Alberta-based fund has already invested $5 million cash and will spend millions more in the U.S. Southwest over the next several months.

International investors bought 154,000 homes and condos in the 12-month period ending in May, down nearly 10 percent from 170,000 for the same period a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors reports.

Much of this activity is thought to be because of the weak dollar and low interest rates that are even attracting buyers from all over the world seeking 2nd homes.

So Cal Home Sales Rise

Southern California home sales rose in October. Shrinking inventory of homes for sale and government and industry efforts to stoke demand and curtail foreclosures helped prices stabilize. Last month 22,132 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties. That was up 2.8% from 21,539 in September and also up 2.8% from 21,532 a year earlier, according to MDA DataQuick.

Record Home Resales in Canada

“Low interest rates and upbeat consumer confidence continue to release the pent-up demand that built late last year and earlier this year,” CREA President Dale Ripplinger said in the statement.

Sales records were set in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. Sales rose 5.1 percent to 45,818 units in October on a seasonally adjusted basis,says the Canadian Real Estate Association . The average nationwide price also rose to a record C$341,079 ($326,500), 21 percent higher than a year earlier.

Fort Wayne Home Sales up 10.5% year over year

Home sales came back strongly in October in Fort Wayne area, compared with the same month a year ago.

Real estate agents who participate in the Fort Wayne Area Multiple Listing Service Inc. reported 379 homes sold this October, a 10.5 percent gain over the 343 sold in October 2008. In September, 373 homes were reported sold, an 11 percent decrease from 419 sold in September 2008.

The Fort Wayne Area Multiple Listing Service data might not include all real estate activity in the market. The area includes Allen, Whitley, Huntington, Adams, Wells, DeKalb and Noble counties.

More Good Real Estate News

Home sales in Washington state rise in 3rd quarter

The number of existing homes sold in Washington increased in the third quarter compared with the previous three months, the Washington Center for Real Estate Research reported Tuesday.

The federal first-time homebuyer tax credit helped sales increase 15.6 percent, according to the center at Washington State University. Sales also were 2.6 percent higher than a year ago, the center said.

UCLA sees 16% home-price gain in 2010

The Orange County California forecast is based largely on predicted job growth. However, Cal State Fullerton only sees a 2% home price gain. First American CoreLogic (Santa Ana HQ pictured left) predicts that Orange County house prices will be up 9.5% next August from this past summer.
Lasner

Dallas-Fort Worth home sales climb 11%

Pre-owned home sales in North Texas were up 11 percent in October from a year ago – the first year-over-year gain since September 2008 and the best sign yet that the local housing market has turned the corner.

Real estate agents sold more than 6,300 single-family homes through the Multiple Listing Service last month, according to numbers released Monday by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems.

Florida’s Existing Home, Condo Sales Rise in 3Q 2009

Sales of existing single-family homes in Florida rose 33 percent in third quarter 2009 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the latest housing statistics from Florida Realtors®. A total of 44,345 existing homes sold statewide in 3Q 2009; during the same period the year before, a total of 33,311 existing homes sold. It marks the fifth consecutive quarter that Florida has seen higher existing year-to-year home sales, according to the state association.

Statewide sales of existing condominiums in the third quarter rose 56 percent compared to the same time the previous year. This marks the fourth consecutive quarter for increased statewide sales in both the existing home and condo markets compared to year-ago levels.

Las Vegas home sales on the rise

With home sales on the rise, prices beginning to stabilize and a reduction in inventory, experts say this is a pretty good economic indicator of consumer confidence.  The greater Las Vegas association of realtors says single family homes sales were up 30 percent last month, compared to the same time last year. And nearly three quarters of the properties sold were on the market for less than 60 days.

The median home price in southern Nevada is now 139-thousand dollars -that’s up a thousand bucks from September to October.

“Probably about 80 percent of our sales over the last 12 to 18 months have been comprised of first time home buyers and investors. And the extension of the federal tax credit should push that number up in the future,” said Rick Shelton, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. 13 Action News

Pending Home Sales Up 8th Straight Month

Resale homes rose for the 8th straight month in September and was up 21.2 % compared to the same month last year.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that their index rose 6.1 percent from August to September, reaching 110.1.

the way the score works is that  a score of 100 is equal to the average level of sales contract activity in 2001, which was the first year to be examined for the index.

• 2008 was 87.1
• 2007 it was 96.3
• 2006 it was 111.9.

The index is based on a large national sample of home-sale contracts signed during the month of September, and this sample typically represents about 20 percent of all resale transactions, according to NAR.

“Mini Real Estate Boom”

Great news coming out on the real estate market.

The latest figures from the National Association of Realtors show that existing home sales were strong in September, which means that conditions have improved for five of the past six months. Last month, sales were up 9.4 percent from the level recorded in August, and also 9.2 percent higher than the figures recorded in September 2008.

“We’re getting early indications of price stabilization, but we need a steady supply of qualified buyers to meaningfully bring inventories down and return us to a period of normal, steady price growth and to fully remove consumer fears, which would then revive the broader economy,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.

Home buyers returning to the real estate market

U.S. home sales rise 9.4 percent in September

Sales jumped 9.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million last month, from a downwardly revised pace of 5.1 million in August, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.

That pace was the strongest in two years and beat Wall Street forecasts. Sales had been expected to rise to an annual rate of 5.35 million, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

“There’s a mini-boom going on in the housing market,” said Thomas Popik, who conducts a monthly survey of real estate agents for Campbell Communications, a research firm.

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