Friday, April 9, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Real Estate Outlook: Positive Track
When home prices, mortgage applications to buy homes and consumer confidence are ALL pointing upward, even the perpetual doomsayers on Wall Street have to admit: Housing in the U.S. looks like it's on a very positive track.
And that's where we are right now. The latest monthly Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index came in higher last week. Prices were up in 12 of the 20 major markets that Case Shiller monitors.
On a year-over-year basis, prices gained nine percent in San Francisco, six percent in San Diego, about four percent in metropolitan Dallas, Washington DC and Los Angeles, 2.6 percent in Denver and one and a half percent in Boston.
Even Cleveland, which has struggled with unemployment and distressed home sales, saw prices gain, though by only two tenths of a percent.
Not all markets were up in the Case Shiller index of course; Las Vegas, Detroit and Tampa all continued to lose ground in the past 12 months. The turnarounds there are still sometime down the road.
Consumer confidence also improved significantly in the last month, as measured by the Conference Board. That's hugely important for overall economic growth and for home sales in the months ahead.
The Conference Board's index, which is based on interviews with a representative sample of 5,000 households, jumped by seven points in March from February - pushed by cautious optimism that the jobs situation may be slowly turning around.
The Commerce Department released parallel findings last week - that consumers are finally beginning to loosen up on spending, and are making purchases they deferred during the scary months of 2009.
Personal consumption in February increased at a three percent annualized rate. That was a bit of a surprise since the Commerce Dept. also found that household incomes showed little or no corresponding increase -- consumers were simply more willing to spend more ... and save a little less.
If that rate of expansion in consumption continues, not only will it begin to whittle away at the unemployment rate, but also stimulate the entire US economy, since consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of the national gross domestic product or GDP.
The housing and mortgage sectors could also begin to show some of that confidence and willingness to spend.
Home sales are expected spike upwards in the coming several months as the two federal housing tax credits head for expiration.
And in fact, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported last week that applications for new loans to buy houses - a bellwether indicator - jumped by seven percent and now stand at their highest level in six months.
Source: by Kenneth R. Harney: April 5, 2010
Quarterly Market Statistics
Nassau Market Statistics* Residential - entire MLS
| January-February 2009 vs 2010 | |||||
| Status | 2009 | 2010 | % Change | ||
| Closed | Avg SP$ | 492,950 | Avg SP$ | 551,722 | 11.9% |
| Units | 1,654 | Units | 2,188 | 32.3% | |
| DOM | 121 | DOM | 110 | -9.1% | |
| Under Contract | Avg LP$ | 524,018 | Avg LP$ | 554,805 | 5.9% |
| Units | 1,992 | Units | 2,356 | 18.3% | |
| DOM | 128 | DOM | 120 | -6.3% | |
| | |||||
Nassau Market Statistics* Condos & Co-ops - entire MLS
| January-February 2009 vs 2010 | |||||
| Status | | 2009 | | 2010 | % Change |
| Closed | Avg SP$ | 304,632 | Avg SP$ | 319,335 | 4.8% |
| | Units | 216 | Units | 324 | 50.0% |
| | DOM | 133 | DOM | 144 | 8.3% |
| Under Contract | Avg LP$ | 361,186 | Avg LP$ | 365,162 | 1.1% |
| | Units | 240 | Units | 436 | 81.7% |
| | DOM | 135 | DOM | 164 | 21.5% |
| | | | | | |
Queens Market Statistics* Residential - entire MLS
| January-February 2009 vs 2010 | |||||
| Status | | 2009 | | 2010 | % Change |
| Closed | Avg SP$ | 479,510 | Avg SP$ | 489,999 | 2.2% |
| | Units | 1,132 | Units | 1,436 | 26.9% |
| | DOM | 106 | DOM | 98 | -7.5% |
| Under Contract | Avg LP$ | 496,400 | Avg LP$ | 498,635 | 0.5% |
| | Units | 1,510 | Units | 1,608 | 6.5% |
| | DOM | 115 | DOM | 105 | -8.7% |
| | | | | | |
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