Tag Archives: Home Prices

Over the 12-month period ending in June 2015, nearly 20 percent of the more than 340 markets covered in Veros Real Estate Solutions' quarterly VeroFORECAST are expected to experience a decline in home prices, the company said Tuesday. While that leaves 80 percent of the country on an upward growth path, "all but the most upbeat markets are slowing in their value improvements," Veros said in its third-quarter update.

Like much of the country, Pennsylvania's housing market showed a little more life in the second quarter than in the first, though activity fell short of last year. "We're seeing some pockets of the state with positive growth, while others are a little more lackluster," said Kim Skumanick, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released Monday the findings of its June 2014 Survey of Consumer Expectations (SCE), revealing a slight uptick in economic hopes among Americans as housing expectations remained flat. On the housing front, the median home price change expectation was little changed, dipping slightly to a median expected 3.9 percent over the next 12 months.

As the housing recovery downshifts from last year's pace, the latest survey of real estate agents by national brokerage Redfin finds homebuyers and sellers are having trouble getting on the same page with each other and with the new shape of the market.

As home prices continue to rise—albeit slower than last year—many commentators insist that fears of a new bubble in the making are overblown. However, a new survey released Tuesday suggests lenders aren't buying it. In a survey of U.S. and Canadian mortgage lenders, FICO found 56 percent of respondents directly involved in the industry are concerned that "an unsustainable real estate bubble is inflating."

In its newest monthly prime jumbo trends report, Fitch Ratings finds weighted average combined loan-to-value ratios for residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) deals made in the last few have fallen substantially, fueled by ongoing gains in house prices. Together, the improvement in equity positions combined with stronger borrower credit profiles has helped keep delinquency down, Fitch reports.

Looking ahead to the next 12 months, 46 percent of Americans polled expect home prices to rise, Fannie Mae reported in its latest National Housing Survey. That share is down from 48 percent in May and 50 percent in April. On average, respondents anticipate a home price change of 2.4 percent, down half a percentage point from the previous two surveys and the lowest forecast since January, when news of a slowdown in price gains affected attitudes.

According to Realtor.com, the median listing price of homes in May this year was $214,900, a rise of 8 percent compared to year-ago levels. "This May's housing market stands in significant contrast to last year in which price increases were less generalized and more concentrated in specific metropolitan areas," the company said. "This broad increase in price suggests a more evenly distributed recovery and a healthier national housing market."

Property analytics firm CoreLogic reported an 8.8 percent year-over-year increase in its May Home Price Index (HPI), marking 27 straight months of annual improvement. Taking out distressed sales, the HPI was up 8.1 percent year-on-year. May's figure represents another slowdown in the annual rate of home price gains, which are now down almost 3 percentage points compared to only a few months ago.

Massachusetts single family home sales decreased for the fourth straight month continuing the recent downward trend for the Bay State, according to a report released this week by the Warren Group. Still, there is reason to be optimistic about the market's future prospects in the state, says CEO Timothy M. Warren Jr.