Homebuyer Tax Credit
By Krista Franks | 11/30/2011
The National Association of Realtors' (NAR) pending home sales index reported strong positive movement over the month of October, rising 10.4 percent from September. The index, which measures sales contracts but not closings, is also 9.2 percent above its rate a year ago. NAR's chief economist Lawrence Yun says the market volatility inflicted by the homebuyer tax credit last year is now past. Thus, the monthly and year-over-year increase in sales contracts is a positive indication for the market.
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By Krista Franks | 08/09/2011
Fiserv, Inc. released its home price index Tuesday noting declines but predicting stabilization by the end of 2012. For the short-term, Fiserv sees continuing declines - at least until the end of the year. However, beginning in 2012, Fiserv predicts small gains in prices. Fiserv notes that the first quarter of 2011 showed a continuation of the double-dip trend started last year when demand waned after the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit. Price declines early this year were also driven by a jump in foreclosure sales.
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By Carrie Bay | 04/07/2011
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has some pretty direct words for the American government and its handling of the U.S. housing crisis. In an annual report that will be released next week, IMF says the origins of the global financial crisis can be found in the U.S. housing finance system. The agency says government participation in the U.S. housing market has been "pervasive" but has not yielded the expected benefits to prospective or existing homeowners.
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By Joy Leopold | 03/04/2011
While both the House and Senate seem to have similar ideas - that changes in foreclosure prevention are needed, and fast - the groups seem to have completely different takes on how to achieve those changes. This week members of a House committee reviewed proposals advocating for the termination of four foreclosure prevention programs and voted to send two of those proposals to the full House. Meanwhile, senators sent a letter to several government agencies, urging them to modify the very programs the House will consider terminating.
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By Carrie Bay | 11/15/2010
First-time homebuyers purchased half of all homes that were sold from July 2009 to June 2010, according to an annual survey of buyers and sellers conducted by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). It's the highest share of first-time homebuyers in the history of NAR's study, which dates back to 1981. The trade group attributed its findings to the success of the government's tax credits, but also voiced concern that today's credit policy restrictions are locking responsible borrowers out of homeownership.
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By Carrie Bay | 11/15/2010
Despite a bounce in home prices during the first half of 2010, Fiserv Inc. says it expects property values nationally to fall another 7.1 percent over the next 12 months before beginning to stabilize at the end of 2011. The company sees double-dip territory ahead for many major markets, particularly those that saw the strongest appreciation during the spring and summer months of this year.
The analysts at Standard & Poor's have released a similar forecast for the path of home prices. They anticipate an additional 7 percent to 10 percent drop through 2011.
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By Carrie Bay | 11/12/2010
Home prices dropped in 76 of the 155 metropolitan areas tracked by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) during the third quarter, following a sharp decline in sales after the federal government's homebuyer tax credit passed.
Seventy-seven metro areas held their ground in the post-credit months and recorded higher median prices on existing homes compared to a year ago. NAR points to the numbers as improvement, considering only 30 metros experienced annual price gains this time last year.
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By Carrie Bay | 10/26/2010
Home prices across the country slipped in August, Standard & Poor's reported Tuesday. The agency's closely-watched gauge of residential property values recorded a 0.1 percent drop in the composite reading of 10 cities tracked, while the 20-city composite posted a 0.2 percent decline.
Home prices decreased in 15 of the survey's 20 metropolitan statistical areas on a month-to-month basis. Only Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, New York, and Washington D.C. posted what S&P called "marginal improvements."
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By Carrie Bay | 10/12/2010
Home prices in the United States found their floor during the early part of 2010 and are expected to begin trending upward next year, according to a panel of elite economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics.
They are projecting gains in home prices of 1.2 percent over the course of 2011.
"The housing recovery is intact, but tepid overall. Home prices have hit bottom," according to the group of economists.
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By Carrie Bay | 09/28/2010
Home prices rose again in July, according to one of the industry's most closely watched gauges of property value trends.
The S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices released Tuesday showed a 0.6 percent increase in the average price of a single-family home across the 20 major U.S. cities included in the study.
S&P says, though, that annual growth rates have slowed considerably. During the month of July, 16 of the 20 metros saw their annual gains retreat.
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