Home Sales Asking prices up in 86 of 100 largest markets

Asking prices of homes listed for sale on real estate portal Trulia.com in January were up from a year ago in 86 of the 100 largest U.S. metros, including Seattle, according to a monthly report released today.

The report, which covers roughly 4.5 million for-sale and for-rent properties listed on Trulia through Jan. 31, showed asking prices up 5.9 percent from a year ago, and growing by a seasonally adjusted 0.9 percent from December to January — the biggest month-over-month gain since March 2012.

In some markets, the strong growth in asking prices doesn’t necessarily indicate that worries are over, said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist.

“In many local markets today, dramatic price gains can mask serious red flags,”Kolko said in a blog post. “Strong job growth, low vacancy rate, and low foreclosure inventory — not huge price gains — are signs of a healthy housing market.”

Signs of a healthy housing market

Trulia identified San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Denver and Salt Lake city as “booming” markets with strong fundamentals.

Find out just how much your house is worth in today’s market.  No pressure, obiligtion or fine print.  Just good solid information you can trust.

Seattle ninth-best U.S. market for home sellers: Report

Seattle is the ninth-best market in the country for homeowners selling their home, according to a new report.

This is great news if you are thinking if selling your home anytime soon, and another reason to jump in if you’re buying!

According to Zillow Inc. reports that only home sellers in eight other U.S. cities have more leverage than Seattle home sellers. Zillow describes a seller’s market as one where homes are on the market for a shorter time, price cuts occur less frequently and homes are sold at prices very close to (or greater than) their last listing price.

In markets like Seattle, “sellers … are squarely in the driver’s seat with their homes selling within days of listing, often after bidding wars that increase the sale price above the asking price,” said Stan Humphries, Zillow chief economist, in a statement.

If you’d like to know what’s going on in your neighborhood, on your block for similar homes just like yours, call me for a no-obligation consultation.

Unrealistically Low Appraisal Values in Up Markets Are a Problem

Real estate agents continue to report that unrealistically low appraisal values continue to jeopardize sales. Appraisal values are in some cases affected by REOs which in some cases are reported as being used as comparable properties.

In other cases, appraisals are reported as not keeping up with the market. Also, there continue to be reports of appraisers having poor knowledge of local conditions as they come from outside areas (in some cases as far as 100 miles according to one agent.

• “Appraisals and BPO values are likely low because of the sort of comps that are available on the market. REO properties and lower value sales comprise the bulk of market activity which in turn leads to low appraisal and BPO values.”
• “Appraisals are definitely a problem. We are in a Vacation, second home area and we are getting appraisers from 100′s of miles away to appraise Lake Property. They don’t understand the values.”
• “Buyers are coming in with cash to close the gap between low appraisals and sellers sticking to their house price.”

Voters Strongly Value Homeownership

By an overwhelming margin, American voters, including those in Seattle, strongly value homeownership and believe tax incentives are appropriate and reasonable.

Three-fourths of voters who took part in a new nationwide survey affirmed their belief in homeownership, saying owning a home is the best long-term investment they can make.

Survey respondents also said they object to efforts to weaken or eliminate the mortgage interest deduction or diminish a federal role to help qualified home buyers obtain affordable 30-year mortgages.

“The American electorate is sending a clear message that owning a home remains a cornerstone of the American Dream and preserving a federal commitment to homeownership is essential to maintain a thriving middle class and get housing and the economy back on track,” said Neil Newhouse, a partner and co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies. His company conducted the survey in early January to gauge likely voters’ attitudes toward homeownership and housing policy issues.

The comprehensive survey of 1500 voters, conducted on behalf of the National Association of Home Builders by the Republican and Democratic polling firms of Public Opinion Strategies in Alexandria, Va., and Lake Research Partners in Washington, D.C., includes data from key political “swing areas.”

The poll shows that three out of four voters (both owners and renters) believe it is appropriate and reasonable for the federal government to provide tax incentives to promote homeownership. That sentiment cuts across regional and party lines, with 84 percent of Democrats, 71 percent of Republicans and 71 percent of Independents saying they agreed with the statement.

Two-thirds of respondents said the federal government should help home buyers to afford a long-term or 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage.

Nearly three fourths (73 percent) of voters oppose eliminating the mortgage interest deduction. These figures held firm across the political spectrum, with 77 percent of Republicans, 71 percent of Democrats and 71 percent of Independents against eliminating the mortgage interest deduction.

More than two-thirds of those polled (68 percent) would be less likely to vote for a congressional candidate who proposed to abolish the deduction, a figure that was virtually identical across all party affiliations (69 percent of Independents and 68 percent of Democrats and Republicans).

A majority of voters are also against proposals to reduce the mortgage interest deduction, eliminate the deduction for interest paid for a second home, limit the deduction for those earning more than $250,000 per year, scale back the deduction for home owners with mortgages above $500,000 and do away with the deduction for interest paid on home equity loans.

“With the 2012 election season in full swing, candidates running for the White House and Congress would be wise to heed the will of the American voters, who have expressed broad support for government policies that encourage homeownership and oppose efforts to make it more difficult to get a home loan and to tamper with the mortgage interest deduction,” said Celinda Lake, president of Lake Research Partners.

Among the poll’s other key findings:

• An overwhelming number — 96 percent — of home owners are happy with their decision to own and 84 percent who are “underwater,” or owe more on their mortgages than their home is worth, expressed the same sentiment.
• 79 percent of home owners would advise a family member or close friend just starting out to buy a home, and 69 percent of those who are underwater on their mortgage would offer the same advice.
• 74 percent said that despite the ups and downs in the housing market, owning a home is the best long-term investment they can make.
• Homeownership and a retirement savings program are considered by voters to be their best long-term investments.
• 78 percent of respondents said that owning their own home is very important to them.
• Nearly seven out of 10 voters who are not currently home owners (68 percent) said it was a goal of theirs to buy a home.
• Job uncertainty and saving for a downpayment and closing costs are the biggest barriers to buying a home.

The survey findings are consistent with the results of other public opinion surveys. In a New York Times/CBS News poll conducted in June, 89 percent said that homeownership is an important part of the American Dream and more than 90 percent indicated that it is important for the federal government to continue the mortgage interest deduction.

According to a Pew Research Study conducted last March, 81 percent of respondents agree that buying a home is the best long-term investment a person can make and 81 percent of renters surveyed said they would like to buy a house.

“Even in a down housing market, homeownership remains a core American value, with the vast majority of citizens who do not currently own a home saying they want to buy a home,” said Bob Nielsen, president of the National Association of Home Builders and a home builder from Reno, Nevada. “Those running for office in November need to understand that voters will not look kindly on any candidates who seek to dismantle the nation’s long-term commitment to homeownership.”

Report: Seattle Home buying Most affordable in decades

http://www.mynorthwesthomes.com

Home prices are at rock-bottom and so are mortgage rates.  According to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index hit a record level of affordability.

Buying a home is now more affordable than it has been in the last twenty years.

The index shows that 75.9%  families earning the national median income of $64,200, could afford a new or existing homes.

That was the highest percentage recorded in the 20-year history of the index, and a sharp increase from just three months earlier when 72.9% of all homes sold were considered affordable.

Today’s report indicates that home ownership is within reach of more households than it has been for more than two decades.

Those who obtain a mortgage, will be able to take advantage of rates that seem to hit a new low every week. This week interest rates for 30-year loans averaged a record low of 3.87%, according to Freddie Mac.

Where the deals are

The Seattle area is more affordable as well with 67.5 percent of homes within reach of those earning the median income of $85,600. That’s the highest number recorded since the index started in the first quarter of 1999.

Youngstown, Ohio is the most affordable major metro area in the nation to buy a home, according to the NAHB. The faded steel town, located in eastern Ohio, could be on the verge of an economic renaissance with new gas drilling techniques that could help exploit nearby gas reserves, according to the report.

There, 95.1% of homes sold during the quarter were deemed affordable to typical local households earning the area’s median family income of $54,900.

The other metro areas near the top of the list included Lakeland, Fla., Modesto, Calif., Harrisburg, Pa., and Toledo, Ohio.

Among small housing markets, Kokomo, Ind. had the highest housing affordability index with more than 99% of all homes sold there affordable to typical families. Fairbanks, Alaska, Cumberland, Md., Lima, Ohio, and Rockford, Ill. were all very affordable as well.

In other cities in Washington state, Spokane was the most affordable with 82.2 percent of homes within reach of those earning the median income of $60,300. Olympia recorded 81.8 percent; Tacoma, 78.5 percent; Bremerton-Silverdale, 70.1 percent; Bellingham, 69.7 percent; and Mount Vernon-Anacortes, 60.5 percent.

New Yorkers could only shake their heads at the housing opportunities available outside their metro area. Just 29% of the homes sold in the New York metro area during the last three months of 2011 were affordable for the typical local family.

That’s the lowest level in the U.S. — even though locals typically earned $67,400, roughly $3,000 more than the national median. It was New York’s 15th consecutive quarter as the least affordable metro area.

Nearly as expensive are housing markets in Honolulu, San Francisco, Santa Ana, Calif., and Los Angeles.

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Where have prices risen the most in the last month?

Median list prices nationwide have risen 4.05 percent on a year-over-year basis, according to November housing data of 146 metro areas. Fewer cities are reporting year-over-year list price declines, “suggesting a growing optimism on the part of sellers about 2012 market conditions.”

So where have prices risen the most in the last month? The following are the 10 cities that saw the largest median list price increases from October to November.

1. Central Fla.-Regional Statistical Area.  Month-to-month median increase: 5.63 percent. Year-over-year increase: 14.27 percent. Median list price: $169,000

2. Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.  Month-to-month increase: 4.46 percent. Year-over-year increase: 10.54 percent.  Median list price: $164,700

3. Miami, Fla.  Month-to-month increase: 3.60 percent. Year-over-year increase: 29.50 percent. Median list price: $259,000

4. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.  Month-to-month increase: 3 percent. Year-over-year decrease: -2.50 percent.  Median list price: $144,200

5. New York, N.Y.  Month-to-month increase: 2.71 percent.  Year-over-year decrease: -2.57 percent.  Median list price: $379,000

6. Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla.  Month-to-month increase: 2.69 percent.  Year-over-year increase: 21.63 percent. Median list price: $224,900

7. Iowa City, Iowa  Month-to-month increase: 2.50 percent.  Year-over-year increase: 3.02 percent.  Median list price: $204,900

8. Tucson, Ariz.  Month-to-month increase: 2.41 percent.  Year-over-year increase: 2.41 percent.  Median list price: $174,000

9. Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.  Month-to-month increase: 2.13 percent.  Year-over-year increase: 16.56 percent.  Median list price: $240,000

10. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.  Month-to-month increase: 1.86 percent. Year-over-year increase: 15.26 percent. Median list price: $219,000

We have the numbers on the Seattle area as well.  Click here to find out.

Housing market “healing itself,” numbers are “astoundingly good”

Pending sales may not appear to be much higher than 2011 (up 13.7 percent in January), but the numbers are very good, considering such factors as harsh weather and the tax credits that boosted sales at this time a year ago.

The latest figures from Northwest Multiple Listing Service show pending sales in January outgained the same month a year ago by 739 transactions. Brokers reported 6,132 mutually accepted offers in January to start the year with a 13.7 increase over the January 2011 figure of 5,393 pending sales.

Given that we lost a week with some of the worst weather in 16 years, the numbers are astoundingly good.  This is the first January in four that we can make a reasonable year-over-year comparison.  The numbers are no longer skewed by the artificial stimulus of various tax credits and incentives that date to 2009.  The improvement in the numbers show that the market is healing itself and standing on its own.

Declining inventory, extremely low interest rates, and positive job growth are contributing to rising optimism among industry professionals, but Northwest MLS directors say distressed properties continue to be a drag on the market’s recovery.

Inventory is down almost 20 percent from a year ago. Brokers added 6,666 new listings to inventory during January, with single family homes making up about 85 percent of those additions. At month end, MLS members reported 26,226 total active listings; a year ago, there were 32,647 active listings.

Despite the smaller selection, the price choices overall are wide ranging, from a low of $13,000 for a manufactured home in Sultan to an asking price of $26.8 million for a waterfront home on Mercer Island.

Snohomish County reported the sharpest drop in inventory, with the selection at about two-thirds of the year-ago levels (a decline of 32.6 percent). Several of the 29 MLS map areas within King County also reported declines of 30 percent or more in the total number of active listings.

The ongoing reduction of available inventory is still impacting the market.

The lower number of new listings coming on the market is due to a combination of factors, said J. Lennox Scott, CEO and chairman of John L. Scott Real Estate.  Among them are underwater sellers (who owe more on their homes than the current value), sellers with equity holding off for higher prices, and the lack of new construction/condominiums. The low number of new listings combined with the increase in sales activity is creating the shortage of homes for sale in specific areas and price ranges,” Scott reported.

Northwest MLS reported 3,469 closed sales last month, up nearly 8.2 percent from a year ago when members reported 3,207 completed transactions.

“A sellers’ market has returned in the areas close to the job centers of Seattle and Bellevue, up to the one million dollar price point,” Scott noted, adding, “We are also seeing the same situation in the more affordable price ranges in the surrounding market areas, caused by a shortage of inventory and healthy-to-strong sales activity.”

Echoing that sentiment was Northwest MLS director Frank Wilson, who said, “Inventory in many price points and locations is dropping and what buyers are finding are overpriced or under staged homes.” Wilson, the branch managing broker at John L. Scott Real Estate in Poulsbo, also foresees upward pressure on prices as choices become narrower.

For now, however, prices are showing mixed signs –stabilizing in some areas while declining or increasing in other areas.

The median price for last month’s closed sales of single family homes and condominiums (combined) was $214,990, down about 11.7 percent from a year ago when the median selling price was $243,500. The price changes ranged from year-over-year increases reported in five counties (Ferry, Grant, Kittitas, Mason, and Pacific) to declines of up to 40 percent (in Clallam and Grays Harbor counties).

“Price increases are muted by short sales and foreclosures that are causing low appraisal values,” observed Scott.

MLS directors Jacobi and Wilson agreed.

“We are simultaneously seeing the continued rise in pending and closed sales,” Jacobi stated. “Usually pent up demand and rising sales means that prices will be going up. But, unfortunately, that isn’t the case thanks to the high level of distressed properties that continue to drag down the entire market,” he explained.

“What is tempering our real estate recovery in Kitsap and much of Puget Sound are the short sales and REO properties that are on the market and the way the banks are dealing with their sales process,” said Wilson, while pointing to several encouraging signs.

All the pieces are in place for a more normal market in much of Kitsap, Wilson said. “With pending sales up 17 percent in Kitsap, buyers are taking advantage of the values this market is offering and the extremely low interest rates. If this trend continues we should begin seeing price appreciation as we progress into the year,” he remarked.

Improving numbers show the artificial stimulus of the tax credits was not the key to the recovering market, suggested Anderson. “Instead, today’s affordability has buyers in all price segments returning – and feeling more confident about the future.”

Northwest MLS director Darin Stenvers believes “the perfect storm is brewing.” He said the pent-up need for homes in good condition is creating shorter market times and sales close to the original asking price. “It is a great time for sellers who have been waiting,” said Stenvers, the office managing broker at John L. Scott Real Estate in Bellingham.

“The market is almost done with the needed correction,” Stenvers stated, adding, “Distressed homes and REOs are not going away fast but have slowed and should soon level off.” He also foresees a loosening of overly restrictive lending guidelines.

Reflecting on a real estate career that dates to 1990, Wilson said, “I remember at the height of the market people would say ‘I wish I would have bought some waterfront back in 2001…or I wish I would have picked up a couple of rentals a few years ago’.”  For these people, “the clock has been rolled back and you now have an opportunity to purchase real estate near the bottom of the market,” he suggested.

Northwest Multiple Listing Service, owned by its member real estate firms, is the largest full-service MLS in the Northwest. Its membership includes more than 22,000 real estate brokers. The organization, based in Kirkland, Wash., currently serves 21 counties in Washington state.

Market Update 2-10-2011

The median sales price for homes in Queen Anne (ZIP code 98119) in Seattle from Nov 11 to Jan 12 was $352,500 based on 54 sales. Compared to the same period one year ago, the median sales price decreased 22.9%, or $104,500, and the number of sales decreased 8.5%. Average price per square foot for homes in 98119 was $346, a decrease of 12% compared to the same period last year. There are as of this post date, 73 resale and new homes in ZIP code 98119, as well as 29 homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process. The average listing price for homes for sale was $692,726 for the week ending Feb 01, which represents a decrease of 9.2%, or $70,487, compared to the prior week. Popular ZIP codes in Seattle include 98103 and 98115, with average listing prices of $419,755 and $400,276.

FHA Loan Limits Reinstated

FHA Loan Limites Reinstated

Congress has reinstated the loan limit formula and maximum cap for Federal Housing Administration-insured loans through 2013. Those loan limits previously expired September 30.

The new provision allows loan limits to go back to125 percent of local area median home prices up to a maximum of $729,750 in the highest cost markets through 2013. Loan limits for Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-insured mortgages will remain at 115 percent of local area median home prices, up to $625,500.

These reinstated loan limits will help make mortgages more affordable and accessible for hard-working families throughout the country. In fact, according to FHA, 60 percent of people who used an FHA loan that was higher than the lower loan limits (before the loan limits reverted on October 1) had combined household incomes of below $100,000.

Got a Million?

In 2011 in King County, 735 houses sold for 1 million or more.  471 were on the Eastside.  The most expensive one sold for $14.75 million in Hunts point.  Snohomish County saw 18 homes sell for 1 million plus.