Market Studies

Foreclosure starts in Massachusetts plunged 84 percent in June to the lowest level since the Warren Group began keeping track in 2006. Foreclosure petitions, which begin the foreclosure process in the Bay State, totaled 245 last month compared to 1,548 in June 2012. Foreclosure deeds, or completed foreclosures, fell 56 percent year-over-year to 329 in June, but are still at their highest level so far this year.

With summer drawing to a close and a new school year approaching, a new survey from Realtor.com shows school boundaries factor in heavily for many homebuyers when they consider their purchasing decision. In a poll of buyers planning to purchase a home within the next two years, Realtor.com found that three out of five respondents will consider school boundaries when choosing their next home. Out of that number, 90.53 percent said they are either an ""important"" or ""somewhat important"" factor.

Completed foreclosures and distressed inventory continued their downfall in June, CoreLogic reported Tuesday. Data for last month showed 55,000 homes were lost to foreclosure, down 20 percent from June 2012. The level of foreclosure inventory also came down in June. According to CoreLogic's estimate, about 1 million homes were in some stage of foreclosure, which represents a 28 percent annual decrease. The yearly decline marks the 20th consecutive month inventory has trended down.

The number of households owning homes rose a scant 32,000 in the second quarter, but the homeownership rate remained at 65.0 percent, the lowest level in 18 years, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. At the same time, the Census Bureau data showed the number of new household formations dropped dramatically in the first half of the year, an average of about 500,000 new households per month compared with 1.4 million new households per month in 2012.

Home prices rose to their highest levels in almost five years in May, increasing by a non-seasonally adjusted 2.5 percent, according to the ""Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released Tuesday. The 20-city index was up 12.2 percent from a year earlier, and the companion 10-city index was up 11.8 percent. For the month, the 10-city index rose 2.5 percent and the 20-city index was up 2.4 percent. The 10-city index rose to its highest level since September 2008, and the 20-city index to its highest level since October 2008.

New York City followed the nation's overall boom-bust cycle during the housing crisis and now appears to be on the mend--like much of the nation. However, some parts of the metro area are not yet experiencing the housing recovery that is making headlines in other parts of the nation, according to a report from New York University's Furman Center for Real Estate & Urban Policy.

A survey from the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) revealed preferences and strategies of a typical California investor. For the most part, investors in the Golden State plan to keep their purchase for at least a year. According to the survey, 26 percent of investors who worked with Realtors over the last 12 months before April 2013 said they intend to flip the property within a year, while 66 percent plan to keep the property for more than a year as a rental.

From April to May, home prices rose 1.3 percent, with Nevada leading month-over-month growth, according to Lender Processing Services. The improvement in May marks the third straight month prices have grown on a monthly basis in the 20 large states tracked by LPS. The data provider also reported a 7.9 percent year-over-year increase in May as prices stood at $266,000 for the month.

The National Association of Realtors' (NAR) Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) slipped 0.4 percent in June to 110.9 in response to higher mortgage rates. Economists had expected the index to drop to 110.7, which would have been a 1.4 percent decline from May's originally reported 112.3. The May index was revised down to 111.3. With the revision, the May index, originally reported as the highest in six years, matched the level of April 2010.

While states in the Northeast have generally lagged behind the housing recovery seen in many other states across the nation, a few markets in the Northeast are beginning to look favorable, according to the Home Value Forecast released Thursday by ProTeck Valuation Services. In fact, in ProTeck's review of the top 200 core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) across the United States, the top two rankings went to CBSAs in the Northeast--Cambridge-Newton-Farmingham, Massachusetts and Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, Rhode Island-Massachusetts.