Market Studies

Single-family home sales in Massachusetts rose for the second straight month in June, according to the latest report from the New England-based Warren Group. Year-over-year, home prices also increased statewide for the ninth consecutive month.

A recent survey from United States Appraisals shows appraisers are less confident in the overall state of the housing market than they were at the end of the first quarter. When asked about their current level of confidence in the housing market, 49.6 percent of respondents answered ""mildly or moderately"" strong, while 14.5 percent said ""mildly or moderately weak."" The level of confidence observed in the Q2 survey was slightly below that of the Q1 survey, when 54.5 percent of appraisers indicated a mildly or moderately strong outlook.

While the housing downturn impacted all foreign-born American homeowners, immigrant populations were impacted differently, according to a report from Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group. Using Census Bureau data from 2007 to 2011, Fannie Mae researchers set out to understand how immigrant homeowners were impacted by the housing collapse.

Upon closer examination, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) has not helped as many borrowers as it may seem, according to a report from SIGTARP. HAMP, a government loan modification program created to prevent foreclosures, has provided about 1.2 million modifications to distressed borrowers since its inception in 2009. Of those borrowers, 306,538 redefaulted after falling behind on their payments by three months, which means in actuality, 865,100 are still actively in the program, the taxpayer watchdog agency revealed. Of the redefaulters, 22 percent have entered into the foreclosure process.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales welled 8.3 percent in June to 497,000, according to a report from the Census Bureau and HUD. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected June sales to increase to 484,000 from May's originally reported 476,000. The median price of a new home fell 5.0 percent in June to $249,700, the third time the median price has dropped in the last four months. May's median price was revised down to $262,800 from the originally reported $263,900.

After a somewhat slow first quarter, the national housing recovery took the pace up a few notches in Q2, Zillow reported. According to the company's second-quarter Real Estate Market Reports, the U.S. Zillow Home Value Index (HVI) rose to $161,100 as of the end of June--up 2.4 percent quarter-over-quarter and 5.8 percent year-over-year. While home value appreciation accelerated in Q2, it also spread to more areas across the country, reaching markets in the Northeast, Midwest, and Southwest that had previously had trouble keeping pace.

According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, home prices rose on a monthly basis for the 16th consecutive month in May. The agency's Home Price Index (HPI) reported monthly growth of 0.7 percent. On a yearly basis, the national HPI was up 7.3 percent. As of May, the index was 11.2 percent below its April 2007 peak and was roughly level with January 2005's value.

In the backdrop of a slow growing economy, Fitch Ratings projects the housing recovery will expand this year and the next-just not at an explosive pace, according to a report. The forecast for 2013 is for existing-home sales to increase 7.5 percent and for new home sales to rise by 22 percent. Meanwhile, single-family starts should grow 18 percent, and multifamily starts should jump 25 percent.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) needs to work on improving its REO disposition strategy so it can bring in higher returns when properties go to sale, according to a recent report from the GAO. In fact, when compared to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the congressional watchdog found FHA disposes its REOs at a much slower pace and sees smaller returns. After examining foreclosure timelines, the GAO revealed the FHA takes about 340 days to dispose of its REOs after foreclosure, which is more than 60 percent longer than the GSEs average of 200 days.

The number of days a property spends in delinquency status prior to foreclosure is relatively similar across all states. However, once a property enters foreclosure, the number of days it spends making its way through the foreclosure process and back to market varies drastically with the key determinant being whether a state is a judicial or nonjudicial state, according to information presented at Distressed Residential Real Estate: Dimensions, Impacts, and Remedies, a conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Rockefeller Institute of Government held in the fall.