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]

From left: Orange County Association of Realtors CEO Ann Garti, Richard Haggerty, deputy executive director of Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors and Bill Thorne, executive director of the Rockland County Board of Realtors In the face of declining memberships, three Hudson Valley real estate associations will join forces in the new year, after the last of the boards voted in favor of a merger Wednesday.

The Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors, the Orange County Association of Realtors and the Rockland County Board of Realtors started merger negotiations earlier this month, but the tie-up was not official until the Orange County group voted to combine with the others.

“My members… see the dramatic changes in the industry and see our membership declining as a result of the conditions in the real estate industry,” said Ann Garti, CEO of the Orange County association. [more]

U.S. pending home sales declined unexpectedly in September, according to data released today by the National Association of Realtors, as buyers faced tight lending restrictions.

The Pending Home Sales Index, an indicator based on contract signings, fell 4.6 percent to 84.5 in September from 88.6 in August, but is 6.4 percent higher than September 2010 when it stood at 79.4. In the Northeast, the index declined 4.7 percent to 60.6 in September, but is 4 percent above September 2010.

A drop in pending sales reflects the fact that the housing market is being excessively constrained, said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR. — Katherine Clarke [more]

The National Association of Realtors is warning that homebuyers are already being pushed out of the market because of a recent drop in the maximum size of government-backed home loans, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The reduced limits — $625,500 in expensive markets such as New York, down from $729,75 before October– went into effect early this month and are impacting loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration.

NAR surveyed 1,300 real estate agents on the subject and discovered that about half said they represented buyers whose search for a home had been hindered by the reduced limits. [more]

From the South Florida website: Florida sales activity jumped 10 percent in September for both condominiums and single-family homes compared to the same month a year ago, according to a National Association of Realtors report released today, thanks largely to huge increases in South Florida sales volume.

The condo market in the Miami area showed the greatest strength of any market in the state, as prices are on the rise and activity is at a record pace. The median price of a condo in Miami spiked 17 percent since last September, while activity rose 58 percent, bringing the 2011 sales pace to 29,000 transactions. According to the Miami Association of Realtors that would surpass the record set in 2005, even if prices are lower today. Miami single-family homes also performed well, as sales volume increased 46 percent year-over-year, although the median price dropped some 6 percent to $131,000. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

Existing home sales were down in September on the heels of a strong gain in August, but remain well above a year ago, according to a report released today by the National Association of Realtors.

Total existing home sales declined 3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.91 million in September from an upwardly revised 5.06 million in August, but are 11.3 percent above the 4.41 million unit pace in September 2010.

“Existing home sales have bounced around this year, staying relatively close to the current level in most months,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the NAR. “The irony is affordability conditions have improved to historic highs and more creditworthy borrowers are trying to purchase homes, but the share of contract failures is double the level of September 2010. Even so, the volume of successful buyers is higher than a year ago and is remaining fairly stable — this speaks to an unfulfilled demand.” — Miranda Neubauer [more]

Pending home sales declined 1.3 percent in July, but were still well above year-ago levels, according to data released today from the National Association of Realtors.

The Pending Home Sales Index slipped to 89.7 in July from 90.9 in June, but was 14.4 percent above the 78.4 index in July 2010.

The sales index in the Northeast declined 2 percent to 67.5 in July month-over-month, but was 9.7 percent above July 2010 while pending home sales in the South fell 4.8 percent to an index of 94.4. Pending home sales in the south were 9.5 percent higher than July 2010. – Miranda Neubauer [more]

Sales of existing homes fell nationwide in July, according to data from the National Association of Realtors released today, as tight lending and low appraisals — measures overcompensating for conditions that led to the boom — continue to plague the market.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of existing sales of single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops fell 3.5 percent in July to 4.67 million. However. that rate remains 21 percent greater than the 3.86 million pace from last July. The median price fell 4.4 percent from the same month a year ago to $174,000, with distressed properties accounting for 29 percent of the sales.

Sixteen percent of NAR brokers reported contract cancellations in July, the same number as in June; 9 percent attributed it to low appraisals and another 13 percent reported renegotiated contracts due to low appraisals. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

Are homebuyers walking away in droves from the contracts they’ve signed? Or are they essentially
fouling out of the game, unable to close deals because of financing and credit issues?

Whatever the answer, this much appears to be certain: Exceptionally large numbers of signed real estate
contracts fell apart last month, failing to reach settlement. According to the National Association of
Realtors, one of every six real estate agents polled in June reported having signed contracts canceled
before closing — up from just one in 25 the month before. The typical monthly cancellations rate over
the course of the past 16 months has ranged in a narrow band between 8 percent and 10 percent.

What’s going on here? Lawrence Yun, the chief economist of NAR, said the sudden spike is surprising
and worrisome, and that there are no hard statistics available on the causes. Comments

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Real estate agents are perplexed by a sudden rise in contract cancellations of existing homes in June, CNBC reported. June saw a 16 percent rise in contract cancellations. Normally, existing home cancellations are under 10 percent, and were 4 percent in May. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, attributed the spike to the slow economy and added that that the slow pace of job creation could have driven some buyers to pull out of their contracts. Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, added that tighter credit criteria meant that some cancellations might have occurred because financing fell through. [more]