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Posts tagged ‘new home sales’

27
Jul

June New Home Sales Climb

home sales

home sales

The commerce Department reported today that June New Home Sales climbed 24% from May’s sales. One should realize that May’s sales were were the slowest since 1963! Read more »

23
Jun

Home Sales Fall

home sales

home sales

New home sales fell by 32.7% in May. The plunge was worse than the consensus expectation for a drop in new home sales, though short of the most worst forecast.

The year over year plunge in new homes sales was 18%.

Also, reported yesterday, sales of previously occupied homes dipped in May, even though buyers could receive government tax credits. And nearly a third of sales in May were from foreclosures or other distressed properties. The National Association of Realtors said last month’s sales fell 2.2 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.66 million.

Clairemont real estate

24
Mar

New Home Sales Down for February

The February new home sales were expected to be up by 1.9%. But, the just released numbers were actually down 2.2%!

This is not a good sign for the housing market.

27
Jan

New Home Sales Rise 5% In The West

new home sales

new home sales

Yesterday the National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales for December were off  16.7% month-to-month. If that’s not bad enough, today the Census Bureau said new home sales plunged to a 9-month low in December.

These results are the weakest since March. Indications are that demand remains sluggish despite newly expanded tax incentives to spur sales.

The good news in this report is that new home sales in the west actually rose 5 percent   On the other hand, the Midwest saw sales of new homes plummet by 41 percent.  In the south, sales were off 7 percent.

San Diego real estate agent

25
Nov

New Home Sales Increase

new home sales

new home sales

In my prior post (home sales), I noted that existing home sales for October had increased. Now, for new home sales,  just a short time ago, the Commerce Department reported sales of new one-family homes rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 430,000, or by 6.2 percent from September’s revised 405,000 rate. Read more »

9
Nov

Home Foreclosures To Bounce Higher In 2010

new home sales

new home sales

In a recent report from the John Burns Real Estate Consulting (Two hundred and sixty-two home building industry executives from public and private companies responding) on new home purchases from January through mid-October 2009 showed:

A. 59% of sales have been dependent upon government financing programs such as FHA & VA. These government programs allow home purchases to be financed at 96.5%-100% loan to value. Read more »

28
Oct

September New Home Sales Fall

new home sales

new home sales

The Commerce Department reported today sales fell 3.6 percent (the report reflects contracts to buy homes, not completed sales) to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 402,000.

Here in the West the sales drop was almost 11 percent.

This is the first decline in new home sales since March. New home sales in September were off 7.8 percent from a year ago. Even with this decline, new home sales are up 22 percent from  January, though down more than 70 percent from the peak in July 2005.

San Francisco real estate

27
Aug

New Home Sales Jump 9.6%

San Diego new home sales

San Diego new home sales

According to government data released today, US new home sales increased 9.6% in July vs June. Sales of new single-family homes rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000.

Nonetheless, the July sales figure was 13.4%  below the sales pace of a year ago, and gains came amid price cuts. Also, the median sales price of new houses sold in July 2009 was 210,100 dollars, down slightly from 210,400 in June and 11 percent below last year’s median price.

The average sales price of 269,200 dollars was down 2.7 percent from a month earlier and off 10 percent from a year earlier.

Also, in a report by The Mortgage Bankers Association, it was shown that U.S. mortgage applications rose for a second straight week, with demand for home refinancing loans rising to its highest level since early June.

Applications for loans to buy a home, an early indicator of sales, rose slightly, but nevertheless gained for a fourth consecutive week.  The seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, for the week ended Aug 21 increased 7.5 percent.

Los Angeles real estate

24
Jun

New Home Sales Fall in May

new home sales

new home sales

The Commerce Department reported today that new home sales fell 0.6 percent in May from April . Most economists had expected a much stronger rate. Also, just as important, the department revised April sales to 344,000, sharply below the 352,000 initially estimated.

On a 12-month basis, May new home sales were off  32.8 percent.

Ian Shepherdson, chief  US economist of High Frequency Economics said about this report:  “This is disappointing … We thought there was scope for sales to head to the 400,000 mark.”

San Diego real estate agents

8
Apr

Existing Home Sales Rise

Well, well, well – last week saw yet another encouraging indicator for the housing market. Pending sales of existing homes, based on contracts signed in February, rose 2.1% over January. Compared to February 2008, the pending home sales index is down a scant 1.4%! The National Association of Realtors expects the median price of existing homes to decline just 5.1% this year, with sales up 1% over 2008. Next year, they see the median price going up 4.1% and sales on a 5.8% climb. On top of that good news, the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s House Price index had US home prices RISING a seasonally adjusted 1.7% from December to January. This is for homes bought with mortgages that fall within Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s limits. This was interesting, as it followed the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index which showed a 19% price drop in January compared to a year ago. What gives? Case-Shiller tracks only 20 metro areas, including several in the three or four states with the steepest price declines. In addition, critics point out that indexes like Case-Shiller, which rely on repeat sales, consistently overstate price declines because they include a higher percentage of distressed properties. Finally, we can report the California housing market is showing signs of recovery.
 
Low prices, combined with today’s historically low mortgage rates, have created a level of affordability that is attracting buyers in droves. 600,000 homes were sold this February – 80% more than in February 2007. Agents in some markets see investors returning and the strong sales have left existing home inventories at 6.5 months, a normal market level that’s now ahead of the rest of the country’s 9.7-month supply!
 
Review of Last Week UP AGAIN… The market boom continued last week as stocks gained for their fourth week in a row, reaching new seven-week highs, with the Nasdaq hitting its highest level in three months. Experts say the stock market recovers first, then the housing market, then the economy in general and finally the jobs market. Investors began the week unhappy with the government’s auto task force, which fired General Motor’s CEO Rick Wagoner, then gave GM 60 days to come up with a better restructuring plan and Chrysler 30 days to cut a deal with Fiat. The big negative news was Friday’s March employment report, which saw unemployment inch up to 8.5% with the loss of another 663,000 jobs. But these numbers were no worse than expected and investors know employment is a lagging indicator. Economic highs included durable goods orders up for the first time in six months and ISM Manufacturing also up. Add recent good news in housing, retail and factory orders, and many are saying the depth of the downturn is behind us. We aren’t turned around yet, but some experts feel we will go no lower. Let’s hope they’re right. The best news came Thursday when the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) voted to relax mark-to-market accounting rules. Now banks can value securities using the cash flows they generate. This should reduce banks’ writedowns, freeing up their ability to lend, which should help housing, business and jobs.
 
The G-20 meeting in London was neither a big success nor a big disappointment. The group agreed to $1.1 trillion in loans to support developing countries and international trade. For the week, the Dow continued UP a nice 3.1%, to 8017.59; the S&P 500 was UP 3.3%, to 842.50; and the NASDAQ ended UP 5.0%, to 1621.87. Bonds ended the week with Treasury prices getting hammered a bit, but it wasn’t as bad as it might have been. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury, which runs counter to price, creeped up to 2.891%. But with the Fed’s trillion dollar commitment to buy mortgage-backed securities to keep rates low, 30-year fixed rate conforming mortgages continue at historically low levels.
 
This Week’s Forecast SHORT, MAYBE SWEET… The coming holiday-shortened week holds little economic news, but does start another earnings reporting season with Alcoa getting things going on Tuesday. Thursday’s February Trade Balance report could be a focal point, as January showed a drop that could create concerns around our global economic growth. Bond markets close early Thursday and both stock and bond markets will be closed in observance of Good Friday.
 
The Week’s Economic Indicator Calendar Weaker than expected economic data tends to send bond prices up and interest rates down, while positive data points to lower bond prices and rising loan rates. Economic Calendar for the Week of Apr 06 – Apr 10 Date Time (ET) Release For Consensus Prior Impact W Apr 8 10:30 Crude Inventories 4/3 NA 2840K Moderate Th Apr 9 08:30 Initial Jobless Claims 4/4 NA 669K Moderate Th Apr 9 08:30 Trade Balance Feb –$36.5B –$36.0B Moderate Federal Reserve Watch Forecasting Federal Reserve policy changes in coming months. Economists believe the Fed will keep the fed funds rate down for an extended period. Current Fed Funds Rate: 0%–0.25% After FOMC meeting on: Consensus Apr 29 0%–0.25% Jun 24 0%–0.25% Sept 23 0%–0.25% Odds of change from current policy: After FOMC meeting on: Consensus Apr 29 1% Jun 24 5% Sept 23 5%      This post information was provided by: Greg Brooks southwest area manager San Diego Mortgage Network (800) 287-8292 x 225        San Diego real estate
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