Tag Archives: Home Prices

In its most recent economic outlook, Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group revealed expectations for the economy to continue the modest recovery and grow 2.2 percent this year.

Economists usually do it with models, so it's rare in economics to be able to conduct a laboratory experiment.

According to the CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes, some markets experiencing rapid gains may soon see a slowdown or even reversal of recent trends. As homeowners looking to sell are encouraged by rising prices and as new construction picks up, increased inventory will dampen these rapid increases, according to CoreLogic. Also, rising prices will eventually ward off investors, and "it is not clear if demand from first-time and trade-up buyers will immediately fill the void," said David Stiff, chief economist for CoreLogic Case-Shiller.

Redfin's monthly report--based on home prices, sales, and inventory across 19 U.S. markets--shows prices rose 4.9 percent in April on a monthly basis and 16.1 percent on a yearly basis. Out of the 19 metros measured in Redfin's report, 18 reported month-over-month increases in April. "The housing market across the nation was hot again in April. Yes, home prices are up. But the big story in this month's report is that inventory posted its largest month-over-month increase in over three years," wrote Redfin blogger Tim Ellis.

According to RE/MAX's data, taken from a survey of multiple listings service (MLS) data from 52 U.S. metro areas, the months' supply of homes for sale at the April's sales pace was 3.6 months--the lowest supply since the National Housing Report began in August 2008. However, the company observed a monthly increase in April in the overall number of homes for sale--the first since June 2010. In addition, the year-over-year percentage drop in inventory was 26.6 percent, the lowest annual drop in the last 12 months.

The median price for a home in the San Francisco Bay Area climbed above the half-million mark in April for the first time in almost five years, according to DataQuick.

The latest Residential Price Index (RPI) from FNC, Inc., shows home price gains continuing in March for the 13th straight month. The index, which is based on recorded sales of non-distressed properties in the nation's 100 largest metros, rose 0.4 percent month-over-month in March and 5.5 percent year-over-year. On a quarterly basis, prices were up 0.7 percent from Q4 2012 and 5.7 percent from Q1 2012 as of the end of March, FNC reported. As usual, growth was more accelerated in the smaller 30- and 10-metro indexes.

New home sales have seen a slow recovery since reaching a trough in 2011, but the recent pickup demonstrates how underlying economic fundamentals are improving.

Trulia tossed its two cents into the bubble debate with the release of Trulia Bubble Watch, a report that compares various price indexes to per-capita income and rent data.

In a recent report, Jed Kolko, Trulia's chief economist, provided two reasons to explain the link between employment growth and housing.