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Some days, it’s tough for Realtors to get out of bed.
Today was one of those mornings, knowing as I did that the National Association of Realtors would be releasing their report for July existing home sales.
The news was worse than expected. Nationally, sales fell by more than 27 percent; the largest decline in 15 years.
Worse yet, Minneapolis lead the nation in declines, with sales down 42 percent from their mark one year ago.
August doesn’t appear to be faring any better. For the week ending August 14, pending single family home sales were down 38.5 percent from last year.
In fact, over the last three months, there have been 5,812 fewer pending sales than there were one year ago over the same stretch of time.
Pending duplex and small multi-family property sales also declined 24 percent from the same week last year. Of those property owners who accepted purchase agreements, 74 percent were or had to involve lenders in their negotiations.
Traditional sellers eased ahead of foreclosures and short sales in the new listing category, bringing 53 percent of the listings to market.
The silver lining may be that while duplex and small multi-family sales were down, the average off market price of $126,742 was 11.9 percent higher than the sold price of last year.
Somebody wake me when this is over.
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If the first time and repeat buyer tax credits were a housing party, then it’s fair to say the post tax credit hangover continued in the Twin Cities housing market for the week ending August 7.
Pending sales of single family homes continued stay in bed; down 36.5 percent from their mark one year ago.
With fewer sales, it’s natural that the amount of inventory would continue to swell. In fact, there are 7.4 percent more homes available for sale than there were last year at this time. This month, there will be 8.64 homes available for every buyer in the marketplace. Last year, there was an average of just 5.28 for each buyer to choose from.
Duplex sales fared no better, with week over week sales dropping 25.6 percent from their 2009 mark. Of those duplex houses went under contract, just 13.79 percent were offered by traditional sellers. While this is an improvement over the 10.26 percent sold by parties other than banks for the same week last year, neither number is reason to celebrate.
However, it could be argued that the $118.224 average off market price for the pended sales is an improvement over last year’s sold price of $86,334, neither number is worthy of a party announcement.
Unlike single family homes, new duplex and small multi-family listings were down year over year by 31.8 percent.
While less inventory should ultimately put upward pressure on prices, and 7 percent more of the week’s new listings were offered by traditional sellers than last year’s figures, we’re a long way from anything resembling either price stability or appreciation.
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It’s Tuesday, which means MAAR released it’s weekly report of real estate activity in the Twin Cities metro area.
It also means I spend half the day doing the calculations that MAAR doesn’t; all of the statistics for the multi-family housing market for the week ending March 14, 2009. More specifically, it means I spend a great deal of time making sure I’m right.
After all, duplex sales can’t keep going up, can they?
Apparently so.
The number of small multi-family properties that accepted purchase agreements for the week sales were up 25 percent from their mark in the comparable week last year. Of these, 91 percent were lender mediated, up from the 83 percent that were last year.
While the average off market price for the week was still well below the 2008 mark of $152,000, the average pended price of $95,460 is much healthier than we’ve seen most of this year.
Meanwhile, the number of duplexes new to the market fell by almost half. Of this year’s total, 69 percent were bank owned. This is down slightly from the 71 percent that were last year.
Tallies over in the single family market caused a bit of tension as well. While sales tapered off slightly for the week, they are still 14.9 percent higher than last March at this time.
The number of new listings was down this year as well, dropping 13.9 percent week over week. For the year, the total number of active listings is down 14.7 percent.
Let’s hope the numbers keep climbing. I can handle it.
I’ve got a huge bottle of Advil…
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The duplex sales engine kept rolling at a healthy clip for the week ending September 27, as pending sales of property were again up 144 percent over the same time last year.
The trend toward most of these transactions involving a lender-negotiated sale jumped as well. A full 92.3 percent of those multi-family units which received accepted purchase agreements involved either a short sale or foreclosure. This is an increase of 300 percent over the amount of lender involvement during the same period last year.
MAAR released its figures for the single family market this morning. Like their multi-family counterparts, home sales also continued to transcend the gloom, with pending sales up 58.4 percent from 2007.
For the first time in weeks, the number of new listings also increased; up 9.9 percent over last years numbers. Nonetheless, the market overall still has about 3000 fewer homes on it than it did at the end of September last year.
Single family homes are averaging offers that are 92.2 percent of their list price, with the numbers of days it takes to receive that offer up slightly to 145.
It’s important to remember, no matter the headlines, that loans are still out there for buyers with good credit and a down payment. Inventory is plentiful and interest rates remain near a 40-year low, offering investors and home buyers alike opportunities we’re not likely to see again in our lifetimes.
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Real Estate Market Forecaster
I don’t know about you, but after Wall Street’s news yesterday, I’m watching my economic mood ring, looking for any change in color. Is it turning red?
As it does every Tuesday, MAAR released its weekly market activity report today. And, just like last week, this week’s report shows a substantial leap in pending single family home sales over the same period from last year.
Should we be happy?
Home sales rose 49.8 percent over their 2007 same week mark. It’s important to keep in mind that the screeching halt of home sales in August and September of 2007 was unusual. What’s interesting to note, however, is that the Twin Cities metro area home sales are currently slightly ahead of the pace set in 2006; which was a time when most of us thought everything was right with the real estate world.
Duplex sales continued at an equally healthy clip, being 240 percent ahead of the same week last year. While only 20 percent of last year’s sales for the period were lender-owned, 79 percent of this year’s transactions involved a bank. While that seems high, 79 percent is down significantly from the figures we’ve seen all summer, which have been in the 89 to 95 percent range.
Why the flurry of activity? Speculation is that buyer’s have been scrambling to take advantage of the closing window on seller-assisted down-payment programs like Nehemiah, Ameridream and Genesis. Of course, reduced interest rates and the new $7,500 federal tax credit may also be at play.
Another noteworthy statistic is that the supply of the number of homes for sale is presently down 9.0 percent from the same time last year. Again, these figures are in keeping with those of 2006; when we all were in a much better mood.
