(Read more: Map: Tracking the recovery)

While inventories improved slightly in August on a national basis, up 0.4 percent month-to-month, they are still down 6.3 percent from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.

While home sales were higher in August, the Realtors said it was, “the last hurrah,” as several indicators showed buyer traffic slowed dramatically at the end of the summer.

“The sharpest falloff in the HousingPulse Homebuyer Traffic Indexes was seen among current homeowners, the largest group of home purchasers in this year’s housing market. The first-time homebuyer group also saw a decline in its traffic index,” according to a new report from Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance.

The fall and winter months are traditionally the slowest in the housing business, and weaker demand will affect prices. Sales of newly built homes have not exactly been gangbusters, and new orders at both Lennar and KB Home were weaker than expected. Make no mistake, underlying demand exists, it’s just a question of when it emerges in force.

So far, even weak demand has pushed prices higher, again, due to historically low supply.

(Read more: Real estate’s new frontier: Crowdfunding)

“Construction of single-family homes has been depressed since late 2007, while the U.S. population has increased by more than 12 million over that time,” said economist Patrick Newport of IHS Global Insight. “Since underlying demand is, by our estimate, running at a rate nearly twice that of housing completions, the shortages are likely to get larger before getting smaller.”

This means that home-price gains, as measured by the Case-Shiller indexes, are likely to remain strong for some time, even if they retreat some from the current pace.”

—By CNBC’s Diana Olick. Follow her on Twitter @Diana_Olick.

Questions?Comments? facebook.com/DianaOlickCNBC.

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101058777

A new report out Tuesday shows the real estate market in the Bay Area is hot.

San Francisco home prices have surged nearly 25 percent in the past year; the biggest increase in seven years. That’s more than double the nationwide average of major cities.

According to the SP/Case-Shiller index that ranks metropolitan cities, Las Vegas reported the next biggest jump at 23 percent, followed by Phoenix at nearly 21 percent.

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Article source: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=9190210

Home News Case-Shiller: San Francisco Home Prices Rose Again in March, Climbing 22% YOY

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By Brandon Cornett | Housing Market News
June 14, 2013 | © 2013, All rights reserved

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By Brandon Cornett | June 14, 2013 | 2013, All rights reserved

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Mortgage shopping?

The housing market in San Francisco continues to be a standout, where prices are concerned. According to the latest release of the SP/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, house values in San Francisco rose 3.9% from February to March of this year. Prices have risen by a whopping 22% annually, when measured from March 2012 to March 2013. There is a two-month reporting lag with the Case-Shiller index, which is published on the last Tuesday of every month.

The chart below shows the 20 cities that make up the Case-Shiller 20-city composite. As you can see, the San Francisco real estate market experienced the second-largest annual gain in home prices, slightly behind Phoenix, Ariz.

San Francisco had the largest monthly gain of any metro in the 20-city index, and one of the largest monthly returns in the country. According to the Case-Shiller index, San Francisco property prices rose by 3.9% from February to March.

The Bay Area real estate market continues to rise a wave of recovery that has spread across the entire state. In the chart above, you’ll also notice strong annual returns for San Diego and Los Angeles. These returns are indicative of the positive housing trends throughout California.

In San Francisco’s real estate market, as in other metros across the Sunshine State, housing inventories have plummeted. According to Realtor.com’s monthly housing summary, the total number of homes listed for sale in San Francisco has dropped by 31.22% over the last year. This trend is being seen in other California cities as well, and often to a larger degree. Listing inventory is down 52% in Orange County, 46% in Oakland, and 45% in San Jose.

These are unprecedented statistics. Imagine half of a local real estate market disappearing in a single year. It’s no wonder home buyers are having trouble finding properties in these markets. The supply-and-demand picture has shifted considerably over the last couple of years, and it’s sending prices north. In short, more buyers are vying for fewer properties.

The median list price within the San Francisco housing market has climbed by more than 20% over the last year, according to Realtor.com.

According to DataQuick, a San Diego-based company that provides real estate market data, the median sale price in the nine-county Bay Area reached $519,000 in May. That was an increase of 1.8% from the previous month and 29.8% from the same time last year. The median for San Francisco County climbed to $870,000 last month — the highest of any county in the Bay Area.

Within the city proper, the median sale price is a cool million. According to the real estate firm Redfin, sellers within the city are getting 112% of their asking prices, on average. Clearly, it’s a good time to be selling a home within the San Francisco real estate market.

Home sales have slowed over the last year. In May 2012, a total of 8,899 sales were recorded across the Bay Area. Last month, 8,541 sales were recorded, 4% fewer than the same time last year. In San Francisco County, home sales have declined by 14% over the last year. But this is certainly not due to a lack of demand. It’s from a lack of inventory. If every buyer who wanted to buy a home in the Bay Area could actually find one, sales would probably be 20% to 30% higher this year.

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Article source: http://www.homebuyinginstitute.com/news/case-shiller-san-francisco-409/

Mortgage applications to purchase a home fell 5 percent last week from the previous week and is now at its lowest level since the end of last year, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey. Applications historically start to pick up around now, as President’s Day weekend marks the unofficial start of the usually busy spring housing season.

(Read More: Homeowners Rise Above Water on Mortgages)

Regionally, the Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index in the Northeast rose 8.2 percent in January and is 10.5 percent higher than January 2012. In the Midwest the index increased 4.5 percent and is 17.7 percent above a year ago. Pending home sales in the South rose 5.9 percent and are 11.3 percent higher January 2012. In the West the index edged up 0.1 percent in January but is 1.5 percent below a year ago. Supplies of homes for sale are most limited in the West, where investors have been buying distressed properties in bulk.

(Read More: Jumbo Mortgages Are Back: Should You Be Worried?)

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100501214

Mortgage applications to purchase a home fell 5 percent last week from the previous week and is now at its lowest level since the end of last year, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey. Applications historically start to pick up around now, as President’s Day weekend marks the unofficial start of the usually busy spring housing season.

(Read More: Homeowners Rise Above Water on Mortgages)

Regionally, the Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index in the Northeast rose 8.2 percent in January and is 10.5 percent higher than January 2012. In the Midwest the index increased 4.5 percent and is 17.7 percent above a year ago. Pending home sales in the South rose 5.9 percent and are 11.3 percent higher January 2012. In the West the index edged up 0.1 percent in January but is 1.5 percent below a year ago. Supplies of homes for sale are most limited in the West, where investors have been buying distressed properties in bulk.

(Read More: Jumbo Mortgages Are Back: Should You Be Worried?)

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100501214

Mortgage applications to purchase a home fell 5 percent last week from the previous week and is now at its lowest level since the end of last year, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey. Applications historically start to pick up around now, as President’s Day weekend marks the unofficial start of the usually busy spring housing season.

(Read More: Homeowners Rise Above Water on Mortgages)

Regionally, the Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index in the Northeast rose 8.2 percent in January and is 10.5 percent higher than January 2012. In the Midwest the index increased 4.5 percent and is 17.7 percent above a year ago. Pending home sales in the South rose 5.9 percent and are 11.3 percent higher January 2012. In the West the index edged up 0.1 percent in January but is 1.5 percent below a year ago. Supplies of homes for sale are most limited in the West, where investors have been buying distressed properties in bulk.

(Read More: Jumbo Mortgages Are Back: Should You Be Worried?)

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100501214

Mortgage applications to purchase a home fell 5 percent last week from the previous week and is now at its lowest level since the end of last year, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey. Applications historically start to pick up around now, as President’s Day weekend marks the unofficial start of the usually busy spring housing season.

(Read More: Homeowners Rise Above Water on Mortgages)

Regionally, the Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index in the Northeast rose 8.2 percent in January and is 10.5 percent higher than January 2012. In the Midwest the index increased 4.5 percent and is 17.7 percent above a year ago. Pending home sales in the South rose 5.9 percent and are 11.3 percent higher January 2012. In the West the index edged up 0.1 percent in January but is 1.5 percent below a year ago. Supplies of homes for sale are most limited in the West, where investors have been buying distressed properties in bulk.

(Read More: Jumbo Mortgages Are Back: Should You Be Worried?)

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100501214

“Market prices have to go higher to provide incentives for more new houses to be built,” said Aaron Edelheit, CEO of Atlanta-based The American Home, a company that invests in distressed properties and turns them into rentals. “I believe we are on the cusp of a massive housing shortage in many parts of the country due to the historic lack of residential investment in the last five years. This summer, I expect the housing market to be ‘blue flame’ hot.”

(Read More: What Tops Home Buyers’ Wish List Now)

Prices today are rising fast because supplies of homes for sale are so low. Both new and existing homes are running near four month supplies.

For new homes, builders just aren’t able to start fast enough, due to labor and land restraints.

For existing homes, there are fewer distressed properties for sale, a segment that has driven the market into recovery, and organic homeowners are either unwilling to list their homes for fear of selling at the bottom, or unable to list because they are still underwater on their mortgages.

(Read More: Foreclosures Fall Due to New Laws)

“Taking new and existing homes together, the relationship between the months’ supply of unsold homes and house prices points to an acceleration in the pace of house prices gains in the year ahead,” said Paul Diggle of Capital Economics.

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100496564

California leading US out of housing bust

KHB

California, the state that led the US into the housing “Boom and Bust” with some of the most reckless subprime mortgage lending, is now leading the way out.
A fall in new defaults in California helped push US foreclosure filings to the lowest level in almost 5 yrs, according to RealtyTrac Inc., a seller of home-loan data.

Across the country, 531,576 properties received notices of default, auction or repossession in Q-3, down 13% from a year earlier and the lowest since Y 2007, 1 in every 248 households got a filing, RealyTrac said today.

California, the home of subprime mortgage lending, saw a burst of foreclosures thanks to such industry innovations as “no-doc” loans that required no proof of income.

The state’s recovery is mirrored by US home values that rose 1.2% in July from a year earlier, according to the SP/Case Shiller index of property prices in 20 major cities. It was the 2nd straight 12-month advance and the biggest jump for the real estate gauge since August 2010.
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The gains are moving in tandem with foreclosure declines as lenders control the flow of bank-owned homes that come to market, crimping inventory and pushing up prices, said Daren Blomquist of Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac.

Initial filings in September fell in 31 states, led by California which dropped to a 69-month low. Defaults dropped 45% from a year earlier, 34% in Arizona, 22% in Michigan and 21% in Georgia, RealtyTrac said.
Home sales in California’s biggest population centers rose in August to the highest level since Y 2006, according to real estate research firm DataQuick.

Median house and condominium prices in 6 Southern California counties rose 11% from a year earlier to $309,000, while values in 9 counties in the San Francisco Bay Area gained 11% to $410,000, the San Diego-based company said.

“Much of the pickup reflects a continuation of trends we have seen for months, like the unleashing of pent-up demand in move-up markets and high levels of cash and investor buying,” DataQuick President John Walsh said in a 13 September statement about the Southern California sales surge.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) is seeing “dramatic improvement” in California, where strength in the coastal markets, including the Bay Area and Orange County, is spreading inland, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Mezger said on a conference call with analysts last month. The West Coast is KB Home’s largest market.

“It’s simply a different market than it was 6 months ago in the Inland areas as inventories have declined significantly and prices are now rising,” Mr. Mezger said.

The Los Angeles-based homebuilder’s shares fell 1.4% today trimming its gain this year to 118%. That compares with the 75% advance for the 11-member Standard Poor’s 1500 Homebuilding index.

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