Home prices declined 3.8% in February compared to last year, however they are up 4.2% from two years ago. Could this be a sign of our recovery or maybe the double dip is about to happen? It’s hard to say but it is a great time to purchase a property. Interest rates are still at all time lows, prices have gone down, there are a lot of properties to choose from, and you still have some tax benefits. When you’re ready, there are a lot of things to consider.
In January, pending home sales declined however, the data is based on contracts signed in January not closings. According to Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist, “The housing market is healing with sales fluctuating at times, depending on the flow of distressed properties coming on the market,” he said. He expects the recovery will be a straight upward path because there is still an elevated level of shadow inventory of distressed homes and interest rates are still historically low.
According to the Wall Street Journal, there are plenty of signs that the housing market finally bottoming out. If investors and buyers continue to take advantage of the most affordable housing in decades, prices will probably bottom out in 2011.
With January increase of home sales, it could be a sign that things maybe turning around. Property sales increased 2.7%, nationally, and represents the first time in 7 months that sales were higher then a year ago. 23% of the sales were by investors and there was an increase of all cash purchases representing the highest level ever.
Even though we are having economic problems, it is still a great time to purchase a property. Interest rates are still pretty low and there are plenty of inventory. This will change, but when? Why not get something now and grow with your investment. If you are ready, here are 5 affordable areas and 5 very expensive areas. No matter where you go, the prices are definitely less then the were in 2007.
Sales in San Francisco has been steady and returning to a healthy pace. Sales rose by 20.7% from a year ago, January 2010.
Don’t miss this great opportunity to realize your dream of owning your own home. You might be surprised to know that it could be cheaper or as much as your rent.
During the 4th quarter of 2010, over half of the metropolitan areas have experienced price gains from a year ago, but the rest of the areas did not. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun is encouraged by the trend and says the sales in the last quarter of 2010 has absorbed much of the inventory including distress properties. This could be a good sign that we may be recovering. With the continued improvement of the market and more jobs become available, the market will be back to normal.
Interest rates have been a big factor in sustaining the sales of homes. Last year we have seen interest rates at its all time low, but the rates have been inching up. This is a reaction to the housing recovery that we might be experiencing. We may never see rates lower then 5% in the future. In my 30 years of working in this industry, I thought I would never see interest rates lower than 6%, but it did happen. If you’re planning to finance a purchase or refinancing an existing property, you may want to do it now before the rates go sky high.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! Foreclosures are down 21% of the previous month and 14% below November of last year. This is great news but I think we will see another wave of foreclosures and short sales in 2011. It could be as early as January 2011. We probably will see another wave of distressed properties on the market in the coming year.
If you remember in 2008-2009, the market was flooded with the first wave of distress properties for sale. There are still a lot of people having problems with their loan payments and the banks will have to follow through with their right to foreclose to recuperate the losses.
HUD has created a website for the public to be able to research a wide variety of economic and housing market data at the regional, state, metropolitan area and county levels. This information is being provided by the Census Bureau, Labor Dept., state and local government, housing industry sources, as well as HUD’s own economist. You’ll be able to look at “Market at a glance” reports, Regional Housing Market profiles, regional Narratives, and a Comprehensive housing market analysis.
Now that we are in the last part of the year, how is the real estate market? Well for the month of September, existing home sales were up by 10% from the month of August. However, sales are down by 19.1% compared to September 2009. This is a great opportunity for buyers to take advantage of the market. It’s no wonder that Americans still think about owning their own home. 80% of Americans believe in buying a home is a good financial decision.
Are you wondering what your home is worth these days? The California Association of REALTORS have published the results. Some areas have experienced some appreciation. My guess is that the valueshave bottomed out and are starting to go up. San Francisco and the peninsula home values seem to be doing better then a lot of other areas.
Have you had an experience working with a short sale? If you did, you’ll agree that there is no guarantee that the home will be sold to you, no matter how long it takes to get an approval and how frustrating it is to not know if you are going to be able to buy the home. Well, the HAFA program is designed to help with the frustrations homeowners, sellers, buyers, and agents experience when going through the short sale process. This program should help speed up the process and help people but there is no guarantee. Only time will tell.
How do you think the real estate market is doing? Is it better or is it worse then when the market went bust? I think the market place here in San Francisco and the Peninsula are doing better. We did go through a major price change in many areas but prices are stabilizing. We are much more fortunate then some other areas in the country.
The National Association of REALTORS have information about the real estate market, in general, and why it’s going to get better. How is your area? Doing better? I hope it is!
