Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
Investors, get those check books ready, maybe it’s time to buy again? Adding to the list of recent positive reports on the housing market and home prices is the Housing Market Report that was issued this morning by Radarlogic. According to the report home prices increased in June from the previous month in 23 out of the 25 metropolitan areas tracked by their company.
Overall the composite for all 25 metros showed a 3% gain in price from May to June representing one of the largest monthly gains reported by RadarLogic since June 2000. There has been a trend of price increases reported for the 25 metro areas for the past few months. In fact, the increase in the Radar Logic Composite from February to June outpaced the house price gains over the same period during the previous threes years, and the increase in house prices from April to June was the largest since the beginning of Radar Logic’s date in 2000. 
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Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
The National Association of REALTORS(R) has been reporting and tracking a “Housing Affordability Index” since January 1989. The index looks at whether or not an average family (an income equal to the median income) can qualify for a loan to buy a median-priced home.
The Housing Affordabiity Index for June was at 159.2 meaning that a family with an average income has 159% of the income they need to afford an average house. This is down from the revised index for January of this year of 176.9 which makes January the month housing was the most affordable since the National Association of REALTORS(R) began this index 20 years ago. Median home prices have increased 10% since January, rising from $164,200 to $180,600 in June, which has led to the degradation in affordability.
Of the four regions in the U.S. the Midwest is leading the way in affordability with an affordability index of 188.50. The Northeast is the least affordable region coming in at 127.9.
By: Dennis Norman
Today the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices report was released which showed that, although still negative, the annual rate of decline of the 10-City and 20-City Composites improved for the fourth consecutive month in 2009.
The 10-City and 20-City Composites declined 16.8% and 17.1%, respectively, in May compared to the same month last year. These values are improvements over April’s data, which showed annual declines of 18.0% and 18.1% respectively. After 16 consecutive months of record annual declines, beginning in October 2007 and ending in January 2009, the indices have now shown four consecutive months of improvement in annual returns.
“The pace of descent in home price value appears to be slowing” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “To put it in perspective, this is the first time we have seen broad increases in home prices in 34 months. This could be an indication that home price declines are finally stabilizing,” he added. Read more…
Today the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices report was released which showed that, although still negative, the annual rate of decline of the 10-City and 20-City Composites improved for the fourth consecutive month in 2009.
The 10-City and 20-City Composites declined 16.8% and 17.1%, respectively, in May compared to the same month last year. These values are improvements over April’s data, which showed annual declines of 18.0% and 18.1% respectively. After 16 consecutive months of record annual declines, beginning in October 2007 and ending in January 2009, the indices have now shown four consecutive months of improvement in annual returns.
“The pace of descent in home price value appears to be slowing” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “To put it in perspective, this is the first time we have seen broad increases in home prices in 34 months. This could be an indication that home price declines are finally stabilizing,” he added. Read more…
Dennis Norman
Home prices in the U.S. fell 9.2% in May compared to a year ago according to newly released data from First American CoreLogic and its Loan Performance Home Price Index (HPI). This drop represents the smallest year-over-year decline since December 2007.
Below are other highlights from the data released:
- The rate of national price declines for residential single-family detached homes peaked at 11.9% in January 2009 and has since improved by over 2.5 percentage points through May. The June preview data suggests further improvements int eh rate of decline.
- Since U.S. home prices peaked in July 2006, national home prices have declined 20.1% on a cumulative basis Read more…
