From RealTrends.com: Unit sales have been flat to down for the past 8 months. As you can see from the chart below after falling four months in a row from February 2014 through May 2014, they have risen somewhat for the last two months with June 2014 being surprisingly strong. After starting strongly average prices of what is being sold have slowed down measurably since. The good news is they are still trending up.
Marion Skubi
Solid Back-to-Back Mortgage Reports Paint Improving Picture for Housing
From RealTrends.com: A couple of solid reports this week on mortgages paint a picture of a market that’s healing, with loan access and demand rising.
July 2014
July 2014 Sales YTD Avg List Price Avg Sale Price 2013 Sales Value of the Month Las Campanas 36 1,078,025 1,037,030 16 Northwest County 70 712,525 673,195 52 Northeast City 100 687,092 649,452 109 Tesuque 19 771,136 732,889 12 Santa Fe City 512 434,548 412,024 542 Santa Fe County (includes city) 1035 438,602 418,382 960 … Read more
NAR: Big Banks Exiting FHA Loans is a “Bad Trend”
From RealTrends.com: As the Federal Housing Administration celebrates its 80th anniversary, the big banks are debating ending their lending relationships with the administration.
Risk-Based Standards for Private Mortgage Insurers Could Restrict Lending
From InmanNews.com:Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s federal regulator has proposed risk-based capital requirements for private mortgage insurers that homebuyers are required to use when making down payments of less than 20 percent on home purchases financed by mortgages guaranteed by Fannie and Freddie.
Housing Market Report June 2014
From RealTrends.com: June 12, 2014 – The REAL Trends Housing Market Report for May 2014 shows that housing sales declined by 1.8 percent from the same month a year ago, an improvement over the decline of 6.1 percent year over year in April 2014. The annual rate of new and existing home sales for May 2014 was 5.866 million units down from a rate of 5.973 million in May 2013.
Condos are Becoming FHA No-Lending Zones
From RealTrends.com: For young first-time buyers, people with modest down-payment cash or seniors who want to tap their equity using a reverse mortgage, it is a growing problem: They cannot use Federal Housing Administration financing in condominiums.It’s not that these buyers and unit owners can’t qualify on credit and income grounds for a loan personally — they often can. Instead, it’s because the entire condominium development is ineligible. As the result of policy changes at the federal level and decisions by condominium boards of directors, thousands of communities have essentially become prohibited lending zones for the FHA in the last several years.
May 2014
May 2014 Sales YTD Avg List Price Avg Sale Price 2013 Sales Value of the Month Las Campanas 25 1,064,516 1,022,061 11 Northwest County 38 644,396 614,023 32 Northeast City 69 737,708 697,770 65 Tesuque 11 700,700 662,581 9 Santa Fe City 347 458,087 433,510 352 Santa Fe County (includes city) 684 437,538 417,041 637 … Read more
The Latest on New Home Sales
From RealTrends.com: Contract signings for newly built homes bounced back in April after suffering two consecutive months of decline. A total of 443,000 new homes went under contract in the past month, an increase of 6 percent.
Cash Sales Made up 40 Percent of Total Home Sales in February
From RealTrends.com: Cash sales made up 40.2 percent of total home sales in February 2014, down from 43.7 percent the previous year and 40.8 percent the previous month. Cash sales share comparisons should be made on a year-over-year basis due to the seasonal nature of the housing market, and by that measurement, the trend in cash sales is clearly down. Prior to the housing crisis, the cash sales share of total home sales averaged approximately 25 percent. The peak occurred in January 2011, when cash transactions made up 46.2 percent of total home sales.