Price-to-Rent ratio (source: Calculated Risk)
Calculated Risk has pegged this March as the bottom of the market for U.S. home prices.
The blog isolated home prices from another data set that’s commonly used to determine market strength, new home sales and housing starts, and predicted that both the Case-Shiller Index and the CoreLogic index would valley in March. [more]
Nationwide home prices fell by 4.7 percent nationally in 2011, decreasing for the fifth consecutive year, according to data from CoreLogic covering last year, released today.
The impact of distressed property sales on home prices was deeply felt; CoreLogic’s home price index, excluding distressed sales, shows that home prices decreased by only 0.9 percent. On a monthly basis, the index without distressed sales even posted its first month-over-month gain since July 2011, rising 0.2 percent, the data indicate. [more]
Most metropolitan areas experienced annual price declines in home prices in the third quarter, according to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors. In 111 of the 150 metro areas it tracks, the NAR found price declines, compared to 109 experiencing annual declines in the second quarter.
But seasonally adjusted sales volume increased 17 percent compared to the prior year quarter, though it slipped a tenth of a percent from the second quarter rate.
“Home sales need to recover first — only then can prices stabilize,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the NAR. – Adam Fusfeld [more]
Economists may still be calling U.S. real estate overpriced, but property in the nation’s biggest cities is still relatively affordable compared with the rest of the world, a chart compiled by credit management system Credit Sesame shows (see chart above). At an average of $1,068 per square foot, Manhattan homes seems cheap compared to Paris, which costs an average of $3,287 per square foot for a residence, according to Credit Sesame’s data. Also more expensive than Manhattan are cities such as Oslo, Luxembourg, London, Hong Kong and Beirut. Living in Houston, Texas is much more affordable than living in Al Kut, Iraq, $54 per square foot compared to $262 per square foot respectively. Miami comes in at $182 per square foot. — Katherine Clarke
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While the wave of residential market reports issued by brokerages earlier this month found Manhattan home prices to be stable, the Real Estate Board of New York found prices to be increasing.
The average Manhattan home price in the third quarter increased 5 percent compared to the prior year quarter to $1.39 million, according to the REBNY report released today. Citywide, REBNY found home prices increased 8 percent to $780,000. Chelsea/Flatiron saw the biggest price increase over the last 12 months, as homes averaged $2.08 million, 16 percent more than they cost in the third quarter of 2010. – Adam Fusfeld [more]
U.S. national home prices are back to 2003 levels, having increased by 3.6 percent in the second quarter of 2011, after falling 4.1 percent in the first quarter of 2011, according to data released today by S&P Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. Prices still posted an annual decline of 5.9 percent versus the second quarter of 2010. “This month’s report showed mixed signals for recovery in home prices. No cities made new lows in June 2011, and the majority of cities are seeing improved annual rates,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the Index committee. “As with May’s report, June showed unusually large revisions across the same [Metropolitan Statistical Areas] — Detroit, New York, Tampa and Washington DC. -- Katherine Clarke [more]
From the 2011 Data Book The first-time homebuyer tax credit and record-low interest rates helped nudge a comeback from the depths of the recession in Staten Island. The median home price rebounded after hitting a low point in the second quarter of 2009 at $365,000. But with the tax credit no longer propping up the market past June, the number of home sales leveled off in the third quarter of 2010. See the complete Staten Island market report below, and click here or on the link at the top of the page to purchase your compy of The Real Deal’s 2011 Data Book.
New Jersey real estate professionals are searching for any signs of housing recovery after a recent report by Zillow.com showed that Garden State home prices have fallen 9 percent in the last year. Sales, inventory and foreclosures are still in free fall and experts are now predicting that they may not reach rock bottom till 2013. Zillow also reported that New Jersey first-quarter median home prices had fallen 3.3 percent in 2011, a step up from the 6.6 percent cited by an Otteau Valuation Group. [more]
U.S. home prices fell to a seasonal low in February, down to their lowest level since March 2003, according to HousingWire, which used data from RadarLogic’s RPX Composite Index. Nationwide, prices were down 4.3 percent year-over-year and 36 percent from their June 2007 peak. The worst of the declines have been in the South: Atlanta led the way, posting a 16.3 percent year-over-year fall in home prices, followed by Jacksonville, Fla. and Miami, Fla. with 13.6 and 13.1 percent drops respectively. [more]
From the February issue: The benefit of being the editor of a New York City real estate trade magazine is that you can insult the public at large with relative impunity — because they are not the primary audience. Of course, I’m kidding. But I did stumble upon a survey recently that indicates that a lot of the criticism of real estate brokers as being too boosterish may be partly misplaced. It’s actually the homeowners who are to blame. Real estate agents always get accused of being Pollyannas about the market, largely because they often push the view that prices are going to go up no matter what. But a fourth-quarter survey by home-tracking website HomeGain.com found that a greater percentage of homeowners nationally believe prices will rise in the next six months, as compared to real estate agents. [more]
