A Bridgehampton home

Vacation homeowners in the Hamptons and NYC-area getaway communities are facing an increasingly competitive marketplace when it comes to renting out their homes, according to the New York Times, as new listings websites bring more prospective landlords to the market. A National Association of Realtors survey recently found that 22 percent of all vacation homeowners in the U.S. plan to rent out their homes, and that huge figure is being reflected in the growing number of listings on sites like HomeAway.com. [more]

Sales and closing prices of existing U.S. homes grew in April and listed inventory fell, indicating a strengthening recovery, according to data released today by the National Association of Realtors.

Completed sales on existing homes increased 3.4 percent from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million in April 2012. Sales are up 10 percent from the 4.2 million rate recorded in April 2011. [more]

What’s behind the unusually high rate of contract cancellations and settlement delays in the real estate market? With signs of recovery emerging in many parts of the country, shouldn’t deals be zipping along with minimal complications?

Apparently not. Nearly one-third of real estate agents in a new national survey reported experiencing contract cancellations — purchases crumbling before going to closing — in February. That’s up dramatically from a similar poll 12 months earlier, when just 9 percent of agents reported cancellations. Another 18 percent reported delays in scheduled closings in the latest study, which involved approximately 3,000 agents surveyed by the National Association of Realtors. [more]

The national inventory of homes for sale in February tumbled 22 precent from the same period a year ago, according to a report released today by the National Association of Realtors. The decline held true in all but two — Springfield, Ill. and Philadelphia — of the 146 markets tracked in the report.

On a month-to-month basis, the number of for-sale listings increased 0.5 percent as the calendar approaches the traditionally strong spring buying season. Still, national inventory is near all-time lows. [more]

New Jersey real estate agents are saying that the winter time is not as quiet as people think, according to NJ.com.

“There’s a misunderstanding that winter is quiet,” said Andrea Webb, an agent with Keller Williams in Montclair.

Starting last month, New Jersey agents are preparing for the spring market, decompressing, networking and taking continuing education courses. And some are encouraging sellers to list their homes during a time when there is generally less competition. [more]

Existing home sales increased 4 percent in November, according to a report released today by the National Association of Realtors, which also revised four years worth of data the organization previously announced was errant.

NAR downwardly revised existing home sales statistics dating back to 2007 by more than 14 percent. The association said the bad data stemmed from a previously unnoticed increase in the number of people that use brokers, and therefore an unaccounted for change in the market share that the multiple listing services throughout the country capture. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

Real estate and financial professionals that closely track the National Association of Realtors’ monthly existing-home sales data are in for a rude awakening. The New York Post reported that the association has admitted it has been reporting bad figures for every month since January 2007 and will revise four years worth of data downward starting next Wednesday.

The NAR attributed the bad data to a statistical glitch that counted some homes twice, along with population shifts and a decline in owners selling their own home. [more]

How big a whack did your credit scores take during the grim years of economic distress following the housing bust? Was it 20 points, 50 points, 100 points — or maybe no drop at all?

These are key questions affecting millions of potential homebuyers who hope to qualify for mortgages and current owners looking to refinance. New research from a major credit-risk evaluation company suggests that the drop in huge numbers of Americans’ scores was dramatic.

FICO (formerly known as Fair Isaac Corp.), which developed and markets the eponymous score that dominates the home mortgage field, found that during 2008 to 2009, approximately 50 million consumers in this country saw their FICO scores plunge by more than 20 points. [more]

Pending home sales rose strongly nationwide in October, remaining up by 9.2 percent year-over-year, according to the October pending home sales report from the National Association of Realtors, released today.The Pending Home Sales Index, which measures signed real estate contracts for existing single-family homes, condominium and co-op units, rose to 93.3 in October from 84.5 in September. In October 2010, the index was 85.5.

The Pending Home Sales Index in the Northeast surged 17.7 percent to 71.3 in October and was 3.4 percent above October 2010′s index. [more]

Sales of existing homes rose in October, but remained stuck at a low level, according to a report released today by the National Association of Realtors, which noted that contract failures played a large role in the stagnant market.

Existing sales increased 1.4 percent from September and 13.5 percent from October 2010 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million units.

“Home sales have been stuck in a narrow range despite several improving factors that generally lead to higher home sales,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “A higher rate of contract failures has held back a sales recovery.” – Adam Fusfeld
[more]