WASHINGTON – Nov. 30, 2011 – Pending home sales rose strongly in October and remain above year-ago levels, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).
The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, surged 10.4 percent to 93.3 in October from 84.5 in September and is 9.2 percent above October 2010 when it stood at 85.5. The data reflects contracts but not closings.
“Home sales have been plodding along at a sub-par level while interest rates are hovering at record lows, and there is a pent-up demand from buyers who normally would have entered the market in recent years,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “We hope this is indicates more buyers are taking advantage of the excellent afford-ability conditions. Many consumers recognize that homebuyers in the past two years have had one of the lowest default rates in history. Moreover, continued inventory declines are another healthy sign for the housing market.”
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
This weeks Real Estate Tid Bits
From Florida Realtors News
NATIONALLY
Consumer confidence surges over 15 points
NEW YORK – Nov. 29, 2011 – The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which declined in October, surged almost 15 points in November.
The Index now stands at 56.0, up from 40.9 in October. The Present Situation Index increased 11.2 points to 38.3 from 27.1. The Expectations Index, which gauges attitudes about the economy’s condition six months from now, went up 17.8 points to 67.8 from 50.0.
“Confidence has bounced back to levels last seen during the summer (July 2011, 59.2),” says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “Consumers’ assessment of current conditions finally improved after six months of steady declines. Consumers’ apprehension regarding the short-term outlook for business conditions, jobs and income prospects eased considerably. Consumers appear to be entering the holiday season in better spirits, though overall readings remain historically weak.”
Survey: Home prices down in most major U.S. cities
WASHINGTON (AP) – Nov. 29, 2011 – U.S. home prices are falling again in most major cities after posting small gains over the summer and spring, the latest evidence that the troubled housing market won’t recover any time soon.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday showed prices dropped in September from August in 17 of the 20 cities tracked. That was the first decline after five straight months in which at least half the cities in the survey showed monthly gains.
Sales increased by 1.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 307,000 from a downwardly revised pace of 303,000 in September, the Commerce Department said Monday.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast sales would slip by 0.3% to an annual rate of 312,000.
Palm Beach County Market From Movoto
West Palm Beach, FL November 1, 2011 - West Palm Beach's home resale inventories decreased slightly, with a 1 percent decrease since October 2011. Distressed properties such as foreclosures and short sales decreased as a percentage of the total market in November. The median listing price in West Palm Beach went up from October to November.
When you compare WPB year over year real estate stats, things do not look as bad as others may have your believe, we are definitely making headway
West Palm Beach: Median listing price +31%, % of distressed sales -36%, Median Days on the market -14%, Median home size +15%, median price per sq ft +3%
Whats the Bottom Line
We have a mixed bag of data. On a national level consumers are feeling better at least in the short term and recent retail sales stats bear this out, with increased spending year over year close to 10% and online sales up more then 2x lat year. But then we have homes sale prices falling during the last quarter though at a slower rate then last year. Oddly enough we also have new homes sales on the rise instead of declining as was expected. Our local market still shows improvement though not as robust as we all would like to see. In any case what matters most is what is going on locally, so even though the last bit of stats were uneven I still feel the Palm Beach County market will have it best year in four.
NATIONALLY
Consumer confidence surges over 15 points
NEW YORK – Nov. 29, 2011 – The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which declined in October, surged almost 15 points in November.
The Index now stands at 56.0, up from 40.9 in October. The Present Situation Index increased 11.2 points to 38.3 from 27.1. The Expectations Index, which gauges attitudes about the economy’s condition six months from now, went up 17.8 points to 67.8 from 50.0.
“Confidence has bounced back to levels last seen during the summer (July 2011, 59.2),” says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “Consumers’ assessment of current conditions finally improved after six months of steady declines. Consumers’ apprehension regarding the short-term outlook for business conditions, jobs and income prospects eased considerably. Consumers appear to be entering the holiday season in better spirits, though overall readings remain historically weak.”
Survey: Home prices down in most major U.S. cities
WASHINGTON (AP) – Nov. 29, 2011 – U.S. home prices are falling again in most major cities after posting small gains over the summer and spring, the latest evidence that the troubled housing market won’t recover any time soon.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday showed prices dropped in September from August in 17 of the 20 cities tracked. That was the first decline after five straight months in which at least half the cities in the survey showed monthly gains.
From The Wall Street Journal Nov 28
By Jeff Bater and Eric Morath
New-home sales rose slightly in October, but the level of demand is historically very weak because of high unemployment in the U.S. and competition from cheaper existing homes.Sales increased by 1.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 307,000 from a downwardly revised pace of 303,000 in September, the Commerce Department said Monday.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast sales would slip by 0.3% to an annual rate of 312,000.
Palm Beach County Market From Movoto
West Palm Beach, FL November 1, 2011 - West Palm Beach's home resale inventories decreased slightly, with a 1 percent decrease since October 2011. Distressed properties such as foreclosures and short sales decreased as a percentage of the total market in November. The median listing price in West Palm Beach went up from October to November.
When you compare WPB year over year real estate stats, things do not look as bad as others may have your believe, we are definitely making headway
West Palm Beach: Median listing price +31%, % of distressed sales -36%, Median Days on the market -14%, Median home size +15%, median price per sq ft +3%
Whats the Bottom Line
We have a mixed bag of data. On a national level consumers are feeling better at least in the short term and recent retail sales stats bear this out, with increased spending year over year close to 10% and online sales up more then 2x lat year. But then we have homes sale prices falling during the last quarter though at a slower rate then last year. Oddly enough we also have new homes sales on the rise instead of declining as was expected. Our local market still shows improvement though not as robust as we all would like to see. In any case what matters most is what is going on locally, so even though the last bit of stats were uneven I still feel the Palm Beach County market will have it best year in four.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)