Buyer Urgency Expected to Drive 2013

Buyer Urgency Expected to Drive 2013

Home shoppers will likely have more urgency in the new year, wanting to buy before home prices rise even more. 

Home prices are edging up in most markets,and buyers are taking notice. Buyer surveys recently have shown that home shoppers expect home prices to continue to inch up, and they want to cash in before they rise too much higher. 

“Every single thing about housing is flashing green” with household formation rising, inventory falling, and affordability hovering at record highs, James Dimon, chief executive of J.P. Morgan Chase told CNBC last month.  Read more....

Utah year-over-year basis,experienced price gains

Utah year-over-year basis,experienced price gains

The winter season has not stopped home prices from posting both monthly and yearly gains, according to recent reports, and the Federal Finance Housing Agency’s(FHFA) October home price report was no different.

According to the agency’s Home Price Index (HPI), home prices in October rose 0.5 percent from September and 5.6 percent from October 2011. The index current sits 15.7 percent below the April 2007 peak. See what other Regions ......

FHA to Tighten Up Mortgage Standards in 2013

FHA to Tighten Up Mortgage Standards in 2013

In an effort to make up for a large budget shortfall, the Federal Housing Administration announced it will publish new mortgage standards for certain home owners and replace a popular reverse-mortgage program on Jan. 31, 2013. As among the changes, borrowers with credit scores between 580 and 620 will face stricter underwriting standards. Such borrowers will face stricter limits on their debt-to-income ratio. The FHA also will soon require a minimum down payment of 5 percent for high-cost mortgages that exceed $625,500. Read more and to stay on top of what the market is doing visit our website....

Home Prices Could Jump 9.7% in 2013

Home Prices Could Jump 9.7% in 2013

Even as the market heads into its slow season, sales numbers continued to stand well above their year-ago level in November,  National Housing Report. But the expectations for higher home prices are still widespread. Nearly three-quarters of investors polled by J.P. Morgan expect home prices to rise 5% in 2013

The report shows home sales were up 15.7 percent year-over-year in November, the second highest annual increase this year (behind October’s 17.8 percent yearly rise). November is the 17th consecutive month in which sales have posted year-over-year increases.

Prices also rose both on a month-to-month and year-over-year basis. The median price for homes sold in November was $163,750, 3.6 percent higher than October and 6.9 percent higher than November 2011. November is the 10th straight month to experience year-over-year price gains. Read more ....

Turning Point for Home Owners in 2013

Turning Point for Home Owners in 2013
Falling housing inventories and an increase in demand bode well for the market's recovery next year, according to Barclays 2013 housing outlook report. 

Townhomes: A Growing Option Once More?

Townhouses are showing a strong comeback. For the third-consecutive quarter, the construction of townhomes — attached single-family housing — saw a sharp rise in total units and market share to a point that hasn’t been seen since 2008, the National Association of Home Builders reports. 

The construction of townhouses nearly doubled in the past year — rising from 12,000 starts in the third quarter of 2011 to 21,000 starts during the third quarter of 2012. The market share of townhouses makes up 12.1 percent of all single-family housing starts, up from 11.2 percent during the previous quarter of this year. Read more ...

Great Expectations for Housing in 2013

Great Expectations for Housing in 2013

“The last few months have brought a spate of favorable news on the U.S. housing market with construction up, more home sales, and home-value growth turning positive,” Nothaft says. “This has been a big change from a year ago, when some analysts worried that the looming ‘shadow inventory’ would keep the housing sector mired in economic depression. Instead, the housing market is healing, is contributing positively to GDP and is returning to its traditional role of supporting the economic recovery.”

  

Housing Price increase 2-3  Percent,  Rates begin rising a bit, Vacancy Rates Trending Lower Here’s how Nothaft sees the coming year: Read more .....

Western States Dominate Top Markets for Sellers

Western States Dominate Top Markets for Sellers

For its latest research brief, Zillow analyzed data on actual sales prices compared to asking prices, the number of days listings spent on Zillow, and the percentage of homes on the market with a price cut.

“As most housing markets continue to improve nationwide, the relative position of buyers and sellers continues to vary considerably by geography,” said Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries. “In some markets, buyers are finding themselves in strong bargaining positions relative to sellers, confidently offering less than the asking price on a home they had months to consider. In other areas, it’s sellers that are squarely in the driver’s seat with their homes selling within days of listing, often after bidding wars that increase the sale price above the asking price.” Read more .....