Housing Zone

April new-home sales up 9.9 percent from 2011

dbarista — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:02:31 +0000

Following yesterday's upbeat existing-home sales report, today's new-home sales data offers more positive news for the housing market.

Existing home sales up; biggest gain in prices since 2006

jsweet — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:45:45 +0000

Sales of existing homes were up 10 percent year-over-year in April and up 3.4 percent from March, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Existing home sales closed at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million in April, up from 4.2 million in April 2011 and 4.47 million in March.

Asking prices hit one-year high in April

jzagoudis — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:43:56 +0000

A 0.7 percent increase in median home prices in 146 metropolitan areas in April brought them to their highest point in almost a year, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors. Simultaneously, the national inventory of homes for sale was down 19 percent year-over-year, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

April housing starts jump nearly 30 percent from 2011

jzagoudis — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:17:31 +0000

Housing starts in April were nearly 30 percent higher than the year before, with 717,000 new homes beginning construction (seasonally adjusted annual rate), according to data released today by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In addition to the 29.9 percent year-over-year increase, starts were up 2.6 percent from March totals.

The balance between single-family and multifamily starts skewed heavily toward the latter in April: multifamily starts were up 75 percent year-over-year while the number of single-family starts rose 18.8 percent.

Builder confidence rebounds, hits five-year high in May

jzagoudis — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:41:12 +0000

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes gained five points in May from a downwardly revised reading in the previous month to reach a level of 29 on the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. This is the index's strongest reading since May of 2007.

Remodeling activity up 10 percent from 2011 in March

jsweet — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:26:17 +0000

Permits for residential remodeling projects increased 10 percent in March from 2011, but slipped slightly from an unseasonably warm February, according to the latest BuildFax Remodeling Index.

"Overall, March 2012 had lower remodeling activity than February, which saw significantly greater-than-expected activity, likely due to the unseasonably warm winter weather," said Joe Emison, Vice President of Research and Development at BuildFax.

10 cities with the lowest construction activity in 2011

jzagoudis — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:57:47 +0000

Detroit saw the lowest levels of new home construction activity in 2011, according to a recent analysis by Trulia. The real estate data site looked at the number of new construction permits issued per 1,000 existing housing units in 100 metropolitan areas nationwide to evaluate the impact of construction activity on a metro relative to its size.

Top 10 cities for residential construction activity

jzagoudis — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:17:37 +0000

While raw new home construction data shows that Houston issued the most construction permits in 2011, a recent analysis by Trulia looked at the number of permits issued per 1,000 existing housing units in 100 metropolitan areas. Using this approach, they were able to determine the top 10 cities with the most construction activity relative to their size.

The list of cities, along with their average number of construction permits per 1,000 housing units, includes:

First quarter home prices up in 74 of 146 metro areas

jzagoudis — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:50:15 +0000

Seventy-four housing markets across the nation saw median home prices increase in the first quarter of 2012, the National Association of Realtors said in a report released Wednesday, which is slightly more than half of all the markets it surveys. This is a significant improvement from the fourth quarter of 2011, when only 29 metros experienced gains, according to Bloomberg.

Phoenix, other areas hit hard by foreclosures lead top turnaround towns

jzagoudis — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:03:54 +0000

Sitting at the head of Realtor.com’s Top Turnaround Towns for the first quarter of 2012, the Phoenix-Mesa market is one of many areas hit hardest by foreclosures that are now showing signs of recovery. Fellow foreclosure victims Miami and Orlando, Fla., appeared on the list as well, as displayed on Housing Wire.

Fannie Mae turns a profit, no more government loans

jzagoudis — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:56:00 +0000

Fannie Mae reported a first quarter profit of $2.7 billion Wednesday, and will not require Treasury Department funds to balance its books for the first time since 2008, according to Business Week. Many are taking this as a sign that the housing market is on its way to recovery.

5-year forecast: Housing markets expected to see the biggest climb

jzagoudis — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:49:40 +0000

Medford, Ore., and Madera-Chowchilla, Calif., top the list of housing markets expected to see the most growth over the next five years. Business Insider compiled the list using data from Fiserv Case-Shiller, ranking the markets based on the projected annualized change in home prices between the fourth quarter of 2011 and 2016.

Epcon Communities data points to turnaround in active adult market

jzagoudis — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:31:24 +0000

The long-awaited turnaround in the housing market may finally be underway, at least in the active adult segment, if data provided by Epcon Communities are any indication.

Epcon Communities, a home building and land development franchise operator based in Dublin, Ohio, has released data that show a significant uptick in home building and home buying activity in recent months, and even greater growth since the beginning of 2012 alone.

6 U.S. cities with the highest rent increases

jzagoudis — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:04:02 +0000

Using data released last week by Trulia on rentals in the 100 largest housing markets nationwide, 24/7 Wall Street determined the six U.S. metropolitan areas where rental costs have increased the sharpest in the last year (by 10 percent or more). Edison-New Brunswick, N.J. topped the list, sporting a 15.6 percent increase since April 31, 2011.

NAHB: Kitchens, bathrooms remain top remodeling jobs in 2011

jzagoudis — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:38:27 +0000

A new survey released by NAHB shows common remodeling projects have increased, compared to a similar survey from 2010. The survey, released today in conjunction with National Home Remodeling Month, describes the changes the remodeling market has undergone in recent years.

Bank of America moves forward with principal reduction program for 200,000 homeowners

jzagoudis — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:45:21 +0000

Bank of America announced it will be offering mortgage principal reduction to 200,000 underwater homeowners with loans owned or serviced by B of A this summer, according to CNBC. The program is part of the $25 billion settlement with federal and state agencies over the “robosigning” scandal. B of A will mail out the first 6,500 or so letters this week, continuing throughout the summer.

17 areas debut on Improving Markets Index in May

jzagoudis — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:45:01 +0000

NAHB’s monthly Improving Markets Index for May featured 17 new metropolitan areas across the nation making their first appearance. At the same time, 18 metro areas dropped off the index, resulting in a net loss of 1, bringing the total down to an even 100. The number of states represented on the list stayed the same, with 35 states and the District of Columbia now accounted for.

Mortgage rates start May at all-time lows

jzagoudis — Fri, 04 May 2012 21:57:22 +0000

Realty Times reports that fixed mortgage rates hit all-time lows across the board this week, as indicated by Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. For the week of May 3, the rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.84 percent, a .87 percent decrease from 2011. Meanwhile, 15-year FRM rates dropped almost as much, declining .82 percent year-over-year to settle at 3.07 percent.

Cisneros tackles aging-in-place issues in new book

jzagoudis — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:55:41 +0000

Former HUD secretary Henry Cisneros takes on the growing issue of aging in place in Independent for Life: Homes and Neighborhoods for an Aging America (University of Texas Press), which he co-authored and edited. The book was officially released on Thursday.

10 metro areas with the largest April home price increases

jzagoudis — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:35:47 +0000

Data for April from the Trulia Price Monitor reveals that of the top 100 metro areas nationwide, Miami saw the greatest year-over-year jump in home prices at 16.1 percent. The full list of the top 10 is as follows:

The five best and worst states to do business in

jzagoudis — Thu, 03 May 2012 19:25:13 +0000

Texas is still the best state to do business in, according to the 650 CEOs from across the country who took part in Chief Executive magazine’s eighth annual Best & Worst States Survey. The Lone Star State has been in the top spot every year since the survey began. Conversely, California was declared the worst state to do business in, also for the eighth consecutive year.

The five states with the best business conditions, as selected by the group of 650 CEOs, are:

William S. “Bill” Marvin named to Northwest Minnesota's IDEA Hall of Fame

jzagoudis — Wed, 02 May 2012 21:06:01 +0000

The woods, lakes and fields of Northwest Minnesota have nurtured an impressive array of business visionaries. Among the giants was the late William S. “Bill” Marvin, who built Marvin Windows and Doors from a small lumberyard into one of the world’s premier window and door manufacturers.

Meritage Homes, Chandler Design-Build among NAHB National Green Building Award winners

dbarista — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:49:09 +0000

Five home builders and three remodelers were among the companies honored this week with a National Green Building Award from the National Association of Home Builders, during the 14th annual National Green Building Conference held in Nashville, Tenn.

Five single-family home projects were honored:

NARI names 25 winners in Contractor of the Year Awards

jzagoudis — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:10:52 +0000

During its 2012 Evening of Excellence, the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) named its winners in the Contractor of the Year Awards, which included 25 projects.

Contractors from seven regions nationwide vie for the awards on an annual basis. All projects submitted for judging were an improvement or an addition to an existing structure, with the exception of one category: “Residential Exterior Specialty.” Otherwise, new construction projects were not eligible.

NFHA: Homeowners with disabilities faced greatest discrimination in 2011

jzagoudis — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:47:20 +0000

A new report from the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) shows private nonprofit fair housing organizations investigated 65 percent of the 27,092 housing discrimination complaints filed nationwide in 2011. The largest share, about 44 percent, involved discrimination against people with disabilities.