Connecticut Home Sales Inch Up 4% in July

Single-family home sales in Connecticut rose 4% in July 2009, the first increase in home sales year-over-year in two years, according to a new report from The Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record.

“This is a significant pick-up for the housing market in Connecticut, where sales have slumped for months. The last time there was even a slight increase in monthly sales year-over-year was July 2007,” said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. “Still, declines in monthly median prices continue to exceed 10 percent, a clear sign that the real estate market is still struggling. We won’t see stabilization in home prices until there are consistent gains in home sales.”

Single-family home sales climbed to 2,947 in July 2009 from 2,834 in July 2008. Home sales in Tolland and Windham counties soared by more than 50% in July compared to the same month last year. Only Hartford and Fairfield counties had declines in July home sales. A total of 12,470 single-family home sales traded statewide through July, a 15.5% drop from 14,758 a year earlier.

New Home Sales Up 9.6%

The U.S. Department of Commerce reported Wednesday that sales of new homes rose 9.6 percent in July, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000. That’s above the revised June rate of 395,000, but 13.4 percent below July 2008’s rate of 500,000.
Home sales in the South rose 16.2 percent in July over June. Only the Northeast fared better, with home sales up 32.4 percent in the same month-over-month period.

Boston is Back!

Home prices in Greater Boston have increased for three straight months and the number of houses selling is up sharply, suggesting that the long housing slump is over. June home prices increased by 2.6 percent above the previous month, and the number of sfr’s that sold statewide in July was a 12 percent higher year over year.

Housing industry specialist Karl E. Case, a professor of economics at Wellesley College, said the Boston market is “bottoming out.’’ He noted that the housing index he cofounded, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price indexes, showed several months of prices increasing in Greater Boston.

More excellent Boston real estate news

Illinois housing market:6 months of increases

July registered another month of positive signs in the Illinois housing market with home sales about even with July 2008 totals as well as six consecutive month-to-month sales increases for both the state as a whole and the Chicagoland PMSA. According to the Illinois Association of REALTORS® latest report, statewide total home sales (which include single-family and condominiums) in July 2009 reached 11,407 homes sold, off a slight 0.1 percent from July 2008 sales of 11,417; sales were up 4.2 percent from 10,944 homes sold the previous month of June 2009.
The Illinois median price in July 2009 was down 13.8 percent from $196,000 a year ago in July 2008. In the Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA), home sales were up 0.3 percent from 7,408 homes sold a year ago in July 2008. 

Cali Sales Up 12% July:Prices up 5th Straight Month

Sales of existing single-family homes in California increased 12% in July from the same time a year ago, as the state’s median price rose for the fifth straight month.

Sales increased to 553,910 on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis from a revised sales pace of 494,390 in July 2008, according to a report released Tuesday by the California Association of Realtors. The inventory of unsold houses continued to drop, to 3.9 months supply in July from 6.9 months at the same time a year ago.

Median prices were off 19.6% from July 2008 to $285,480, but were up 3.9% from June—continuing a string of back-to-back sequential price increases that began in March. Officials with the Realtors’ group credited first-time buyers for much of the buying volume, helping the under-$500,000 segment of the market to jump to include 74% of statewide sales from 43% when the California housing market went into a slump two years ago.

Source WSJ

Weekend Positive Real estate News

• NJ, Northeast real estate sales rise, signaling a bottom
• Home sales increase in July The State Journal-Register
• Florida’s Existing Home, Condo Sales Up in July 2009
• Fed notes positive signs in Texas economy
• Real estate numbers in July here impressive
• Positive News Trickles in for Real Estate Market
• Local housing trends positive
• RE/MAX Reports That Home Sales Data for First Half of 2009 Reveal Strongr Metro Chicago Real Estate Market
• Silicon Valley median house price rises in July to $540000
• US Economy Stops Shrinking, Heads for Expansion, Index Shows
• 30-Year Bonds Rally Smartly
• Mortgage Rates Fall Amid Positive Economic Reports
• Stocks higher after positive economic forecast
• Bernanke: US Economy Poised for Recovery
• US dollar reasonably valued- IMF top official
• Leading indicators rise 0.6% in July
• Existing home sales (single-family plus condos and coops) increased 7.2 percent from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million units from an unrevised 4.89 million unit pace in June. The latest increase of over 7 percent is the highest monthly increase in at least 10 years.   The year-over-year increase of 5 percent from one-year ago is the highest year-over-year rise since September of 2005.  The home sales pace of 5.24 million was the highest since August 2007.
• For the first time in five years, existing-home sales have increased for four months in a row, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
• Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million units in July from a level of 4.89 million in June. Sales are 5.0 percent above the 4.99 million-unit pace in July 2008. The last time sales rose for four consecutive months was in June 2004, and the last time sales were higher than a year earlier was November 2005.
• Most Americans still believe buying a home is a great investment, according to a new study commissioned by Bankrate.com.

  Among the findings from the study:

  • 92 percent say that a home is a good investment for the future.
  • 48 percent worry about losing or being unable to afford their homes.
• Regionally, home sales rose in three of four major regions.  From June to July seasonally adjusted sales were:  

          In the Northeast, existing home sales increased 13.4 percent
          In the West, sales decreased 1.7 percent
          In the Midwest, sales increased 10.9 percent  
          In the South, sales increased 7.1 percent  

 The time to buy is now.Affordabiity and positive economic outlook is unprecedented. According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 5.22 percent in July from 5.42 percent in June. The rate was 6.43 percent in July 2008. A family earning the nation’s median income of $64,000 a year could afford to buy 72.3 percent of all homes sold in the United States during the second quarter of 2009, according to the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo.

  Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said he is encouraged. “The housing market has decisively turned for the better. A combination of first-time buyers taking advantage of the housing stimulus tax credit and greatly improved affordability conditions are contributing to higher sales,” he said.

Study: Americans Still Want to Be Home Owners

Most Americans still believe buying a home is a great investment, according to  Bankrate.com.

Among the findings from the study:

• 92 percent say that a home is a good investment for the future.
• 48 percent worry about losing or being unable to afford their homes.

“These results provide an interesting illustration of the public’s mindset in a difficult economy,” says Julie Bandy, editor in chief at Bankrate. “While nine out of 10 still believe in the American dream of homeownership, nearly half worry about losing their homes.”

 

70 Percent Of Execs Think Economy Will Improve In 2010

About 70% of 130 executives polled believe revenue and profitability in the financial services sector will improve in 2010, according to the business climate survey conducted by the audit, tax and advisory firm. However, respondents were split about whether a recovery among financial firms will lead or lag a rebound in the broader U.S. economy.

http://www.wmur.com/money/20455323/detail.html

Builder Confidence on the Rise

  Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose one point in August to its highest level in more than a year, according to the latest reading of the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Building on a two-point gain in July, the HMI reached 18 this month, its highest point since June of 2008.

“Home builder expectations have been buoyed by the success of the first-time home buyer tax credit and its anticipated boost to buying activity leading up to the Nov. 30 expiration date,” said NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. “The question is what happens after that- whether there will be enough momentum to keep us moving toward a recovery, particularly in light of significant headwinds such as the severe credit crunch for housing production loans and inappropriate appraisal practices that are scuttling a quarter of all new-home sales. Unless Congress and the Administration focus their attention on housing right now, this improvement may well be short-lived,” he said.

“One very positive aspect of this report is the big gain registered in the component gauging home builders’ expectations for the next six months,” noted NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “This reflects anticipated sales stemming from the tax credit as well as recent signs that an economic recovery has begun. There is definitely a sense of hope among builders that the worst of the downturn is over and that a turning point is near at hand. Meaningful action by Congress could ensure that this upward momentum continues and that housing can help push the economy back onto solid ground.”

 Two out of three of the HMI’s component indexes recorded substantial gains in August. The biggest boost, of 4 points, was registered by the index gauging sales expectations in the next six months, which rose to 30 this month. Meanwhile, the index gauging traffic of prospective buyers gained three points to 16 and the index gauging current sales conditions held unchanged at 16.

California at 67% Affordability

CAR:” 67% of households can afford entry-level home”

First-time Buyer Housing Affordability Index stood at 67 percent in the second quarter this year, up from 49 percent from the same time last year, according to a report released by California Association of Realtors.

source: Inman

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