Zillow indicates the property market in CT may have turned.
I receive a monthly report from Zillow on rental properties I owe. This month I found that three of the reports that I received this month show an increase in the last 30 days.
Now I realize that Zillow is not an exact measure of value as it takes into consideration only items like square footage and number of bedrooms and bathroom. It doesn’t care for example that you have beautiful professionally refinished hardwood floors or that you live on a nearly a private road with beautiful views of rolling meadows from your bedroom. It takes into consideration things like recent sales and the listing prices of other properties on the market, but it is giving better estimates of value all the time.
I do however think it is significant that that these three increases came in the same month, something that I have not seen in the last couple of years.
So I am under the belief that the CT single family real estate market is bottoming out and is setting itself up to make a rebound perhaps in the way similar to what gasoline has done recently.
For those who can qualify for a mortgage right now, they will enjoy all the benefits of this coming single family home price appreciation that are sure to come for anyone with the patience to wait for it.
Sincerely,
Monday, June 15, 2009
This little Tweak Would Do the Trick....
Worried that rising mortgage rates will throw a wet blanket on the home recovery, here is a proposal in today’s Wall Street Journal that would do the trick.
Simply “increase the credit to $15,000 and extend it to all home buyers.”
This would do away with the question of who is a “First Time Home Buyer?” and people would find a way to take advantage of these historically low rates, low home prices and this significant tax credit.
Industry Pushes to Extend Home-Buyer Tax Credit
By NICK TIMIRAOS
Worried that rising mortgage rates could damp the prospects for a housing recovery, a business group is making a new push for Congress to boost and extend a home-buyer tax credit.
In February, Congress approved a 10% tax credit for first-time home purchases, up to a maximum of $8,000. The credit, which expires Dec. 1, phases out for buyers with incomes above $170,000 for married couples and $95,000 for individuals.
The National Association of Home Builders and other industry groups have long argued that the credit isn't large enough to help reinvigorate the housing sector. Now the groups are being joined in their efforts by the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executives.
The Business Roundtable is calling on Congress to increase the credit to $15,000 and extend it to all home buyers. "What is being billed as a recovery is not showing up in the cash register yet," says Richard A. Smith, chief executive of Realogy Corp. and a member of the Business Roundtable. Realogy is the parent of real-estate brokers Century 21 and Coldwell Banker.
The Business Roundtable is also urging policy makers to sustain efforts to keep mortgages at or below 5% for one year. Mortgage rates climbed to 5.74% on Tuesday a six-month high and up from 5.03% two weeks ago, according to HSH Associates, a financial publisher. Rates have fallen since the Federal Reserve stepped up debt purchases earlier this year in an effort to drive down rates.
A buyer typically needs income of $92,000, assuming a 10% down payment, to qualify for a $400,000 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. With rates at 4.5%, the borrower only needs income of around $84,000, according to an estimate by real-estate firm Long & Foster Cos.
The real-estate industry made a similar push for a $22,000 tax credit for all buyers and interest-rate subsidies earlier this year as Congress considered a range of measures to stimulate the economy. Congress instead opted to increase to $8,000 an existing tax credit for first-time buyers.
Business leaders say that while the first-time-buyer credit has succeeded in jump-starting the bottom end of the housing market, more needs to be done to lure "trade-up" buyers back to the market. Realtors and builders argue that boosting sales among existing owners as opposed to first-time buyers will spur more sales because each transaction involves two home sales. "That 'move-up' buyer has got to have somewhere to go," says Mr. Smith, who warns that without more incentives for existing homeowners, the housing market's "stalemate will be nasty and protracted."
The business group's campaign also pushes for Congress to make permanent recently expanded limits for loans eligible for government backing or purchase.
Congress in February boosted those limits to as high as $729,750 in the nation's most expensive housing markets, from $417,000, and the February stimulus bill renewed the higher limits through the end of the year. Those limits are set to expire at the end of the year and are tied to median home prices, which have fallen.
Write to Nick Timiraos at nick.timiraos@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124460195604101021.html
Simply “increase the credit to $15,000 and extend it to all home buyers.”
This would do away with the question of who is a “First Time Home Buyer?” and people would find a way to take advantage of these historically low rates, low home prices and this significant tax credit.
Industry Pushes to Extend Home-Buyer Tax Credit
By NICK TIMIRAOS
Worried that rising mortgage rates could damp the prospects for a housing recovery, a business group is making a new push for Congress to boost and extend a home-buyer tax credit.
In February, Congress approved a 10% tax credit for first-time home purchases, up to a maximum of $8,000. The credit, which expires Dec. 1, phases out for buyers with incomes above $170,000 for married couples and $95,000 for individuals.
The National Association of Home Builders and other industry groups have long argued that the credit isn't large enough to help reinvigorate the housing sector. Now the groups are being joined in their efforts by the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executives.
The Business Roundtable is calling on Congress to increase the credit to $15,000 and extend it to all home buyers. "What is being billed as a recovery is not showing up in the cash register yet," says Richard A. Smith, chief executive of Realogy Corp. and a member of the Business Roundtable. Realogy is the parent of real-estate brokers Century 21 and Coldwell Banker.
The Business Roundtable is also urging policy makers to sustain efforts to keep mortgages at or below 5% for one year. Mortgage rates climbed to 5.74% on Tuesday a six-month high and up from 5.03% two weeks ago, according to HSH Associates, a financial publisher. Rates have fallen since the Federal Reserve stepped up debt purchases earlier this year in an effort to drive down rates.
A buyer typically needs income of $92,000, assuming a 10% down payment, to qualify for a $400,000 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. With rates at 4.5%, the borrower only needs income of around $84,000, according to an estimate by real-estate firm Long & Foster Cos.
The real-estate industry made a similar push for a $22,000 tax credit for all buyers and interest-rate subsidies earlier this year as Congress considered a range of measures to stimulate the economy. Congress instead opted to increase to $8,000 an existing tax credit for first-time buyers.
Business leaders say that while the first-time-buyer credit has succeeded in jump-starting the bottom end of the housing market, more needs to be done to lure "trade-up" buyers back to the market. Realtors and builders argue that boosting sales among existing owners as opposed to first-time buyers will spur more sales because each transaction involves two home sales. "That 'move-up' buyer has got to have somewhere to go," says Mr. Smith, who warns that without more incentives for existing homeowners, the housing market's "stalemate will be nasty and protracted."
The business group's campaign also pushes for Congress to make permanent recently expanded limits for loans eligible for government backing or purchase.
Congress in February boosted those limits to as high as $729,750 in the nation's most expensive housing markets, from $417,000, and the February stimulus bill renewed the higher limits through the end of the year. Those limits are set to expire at the end of the year and are tied to median home prices, which have fallen.
Write to Nick Timiraos at nick.timiraos@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124460195604101021.html
Monday, May 18, 2009
Homes: Most affordable in 2 decades
http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/18/real_estate/most_affordable_cities/?postversion=2009051813
Think about this....here are some reasons to call the bottom here:
1) Houses are the most affordable in 18 years
2) A 30-year fixed mortgage averaged less than 5% during much of the quarter, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
3) $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers
Once these facts sink in ..... I am expecting an end to the housing downturn......later in 2009.
Think about this....here are some reasons to call the bottom here:
1) Houses are the most affordable in 18 years
2) A 30-year fixed mortgage averaged less than 5% during much of the quarter, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
3) $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers
Once these facts sink in ..... I am expecting an end to the housing downturn......later in 2009.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
New Tax Credit Proposal creating some buzz
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/foreclosure-plan-tax-credit-wont/story.aspx?guid=%7B41112260-5F34-4F72-A962-E8626C1E41FD%7D&dist=msr_1
The excitement in the fellow describing the new Tax Proposals might be contaigous.
I am ready to swap any neighbors willing?
The excitement in the fellow describing the new Tax Proposals might be contaigous.
I am ready to swap any neighbors willing?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Story about 1 Million losing their homes in '08 but silver lining
The attached article has an attention grabbing headline: 1 Million Lost their Home in 2008. But inside we read that the president of foreclosure.com "believes the worst is behind the housing market." Now that .....if true... could be a little encouraging.
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/hotproperty/archives/2009/01/over_one_millio.html
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/hotproperty/archives/2009/01/over_one_millio.html
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Data show how foreclosures pull down Valley home values
This article describes how foreclosures are driving home value now in the Phoenix market. If you live in an area of high foreclosure it can cost you $20-40,000 if you need to sell:
In a normal housing market, most homes to go into foreclosure are sold at trustee-sale auctions. Since last fall, about 98 percent of all homes to go into foreclosure have instead been taken back by the lender.
What lenders resell foreclosure homes for now is driving home values, particularly in neighborhoods where a higher percentage of existing-home sales are foreclosure resales.
Foreclosure resales make up at least one-fourth of all sales in a many Valley neighborhoods now. In a few areas, the rate of foreclosure resale is much higher. In the El Mirage ZIP code 85335, there were more foreclosure resales than regular resales. The overall median home price in the area is $135,000. The foreclosure resale is $133,750. In most other Valley neighborhoods, the overall median price is $20,000 to $40,000 higher than the foreclosure resale.
"These foreclosure homes need to sell for the Valley's housing market to recover," said Brett Barry, a Phoenix real-estate agent with Realty Executives. "It's a good thing they are selling, but it's not going to make you happy if you are a homeowner in a neighborhood with a lot of these properties."
He said for buyers who are patient and will work with lenders, there are great deals in foreclosure resales.
Gloria Giroux recently bought a foreclosure-resale home from Deutsche Trust Bank. She paid $560,000 for a 3,400-square-foot Carefree home on a half-acre lot that had sold for $815,000 in 2005. "The pool was green. It needed work, and it was frustrating waiting for answers on my offers from the bank," Giroux said. "But I got it, and the house behind me is almost identical and sold for $839,000 in April of this year."
Gloria seems to have made $279,000 in equity (two or three years of hard labor for most) by putting up with a little frustration from the bank.
Link to full article
In a normal housing market, most homes to go into foreclosure are sold at trustee-sale auctions. Since last fall, about 98 percent of all homes to go into foreclosure have instead been taken back by the lender.
What lenders resell foreclosure homes for now is driving home values, particularly in neighborhoods where a higher percentage of existing-home sales are foreclosure resales.
Foreclosure resales make up at least one-fourth of all sales in a many Valley neighborhoods now. In a few areas, the rate of foreclosure resale is much higher. In the El Mirage ZIP code 85335, there were more foreclosure resales than regular resales. The overall median home price in the area is $135,000. The foreclosure resale is $133,750. In most other Valley neighborhoods, the overall median price is $20,000 to $40,000 higher than the foreclosure resale.
"These foreclosure homes need to sell for the Valley's housing market to recover," said Brett Barry, a Phoenix real-estate agent with Realty Executives. "It's a good thing they are selling, but it's not going to make you happy if you are a homeowner in a neighborhood with a lot of these properties."
He said for buyers who are patient and will work with lenders, there are great deals in foreclosure resales.
Gloria Giroux recently bought a foreclosure-resale home from Deutsche Trust Bank. She paid $560,000 for a 3,400-square-foot Carefree home on a half-acre lot that had sold for $815,000 in 2005. "The pool was green. It needed work, and it was frustrating waiting for answers on my offers from the bank," Giroux said. "But I got it, and the house behind me is almost identical and sold for $839,000 in April of this year."
Gloria seems to have made $279,000 in equity (two or three years of hard labor for most) by putting up with a little frustration from the bank.
Link to full article
Friday, September 5, 2008
Foreclosure Effect on Home Prices May Be Small
I found some encouragement in this article -- home prices are "quite sticky"
September 5, 2008, 3:58 pm
Foreclosure Effect on Home Prices May Be Small
Even though data Friday from the Mortgage Bankers Association indicated that U.S. foreclosures hit a record in the second quarter, that won’t necessarily translate into big declines in home prices.
(Getty Images)
That appears to be the conclusion based on the findings of a trio of economists in a National Bureau of Economic Research paper.
“Even in the face of an extreme foreclosure wave such as that experienced in 2007, our evidence indicates that foreclosure shocks have relatively small effects on U.S. house prices,” the authors, Charles Calomiris of Columbia University and Stanley Longhofer and William Miles of Wichita State University wrote.
The authors’ model incorporated MBA foreclosure and Ofheo home price data from 1981 to 2007, and used home foreclosure forecasts for 2008 and 2009 from Economy.com. The model included data on employment, building permits and existing home sales. In their paper, the authors said the study was first to estimate the effect of foreclosures on home prices for all the U.S.
Even under an “extreme” foreclosure shock scenario, with foreclosures up 75% compared to the baseline in 2008 and 2009, U.S. home prices only decline about 5.5% between the the second quarter of 2007 to the end of 2009, the authors estimated.
Home prices, they wrote, “are quite sticky,” and “fears of a major fall in house prices, with all of its attendant negative macroeconomic consequences, typically are not warranted even in extreme foreclosure circumstances.”
“We conclude that a reasonable estimate of the future path of U.S. housing market prices is that they will remain essentially flat, on average, for the next two years notwithstanding the large predicted increase in foreclosures,” they wrote. –Brian Blackstone
September 5, 2008, 3:58 pm
Foreclosure Effect on Home Prices May Be Small
Even though data Friday from the Mortgage Bankers Association indicated that U.S. foreclosures hit a record in the second quarter, that won’t necessarily translate into big declines in home prices.
(Getty Images)
That appears to be the conclusion based on the findings of a trio of economists in a National Bureau of Economic Research paper.
“Even in the face of an extreme foreclosure wave such as that experienced in 2007, our evidence indicates that foreclosure shocks have relatively small effects on U.S. house prices,” the authors, Charles Calomiris of Columbia University and Stanley Longhofer and William Miles of Wichita State University wrote.
The authors’ model incorporated MBA foreclosure and Ofheo home price data from 1981 to 2007, and used home foreclosure forecasts for 2008 and 2009 from Economy.com. The model included data on employment, building permits and existing home sales. In their paper, the authors said the study was first to estimate the effect of foreclosures on home prices for all the U.S.
Even under an “extreme” foreclosure shock scenario, with foreclosures up 75% compared to the baseline in 2008 and 2009, U.S. home prices only decline about 5.5% between the the second quarter of 2007 to the end of 2009, the authors estimated.
Home prices, they wrote, “are quite sticky,” and “fears of a major fall in house prices, with all of its attendant negative macroeconomic consequences, typically are not warranted even in extreme foreclosure circumstances.”
“We conclude that a reasonable estimate of the future path of U.S. housing market prices is that they will remain essentially flat, on average, for the next two years notwithstanding the large predicted increase in foreclosures,” they wrote. –Brian Blackstone
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