How do I loathe home price day?

Let me count the ways.

The rash generalizations, the seasonal vs. non-seasonal adjustment confusion, the month-to-month vs. year-over-year, the contention among all the varied home price reports from the various and varied entities that track them.

I could go on, but if you are a regular Realty Check reader, you’ve heard all this before.

This month is particularly frustrating, because the big headline from SP/Case Shiller was that home prices rose for the first time in eight months. Okay, yes, from March to April, with no seasonal adjustments, home prices rose barely, less than one percent, in the nation’s top 20 housing markets. When you seasonally adjust those numbers, the prices fall. Why?

Because in different seasons, different types of buyers buy different types of homes.

The Spring market is historically replete with families; these are move-up buyers, purchasing larger, more expensive homes. That skews the overall prices higher. They buy in the Spring because they want to move over the summer, when school is out. You tend to see more single and first-time buyers in the fall.

This is why I judge prices year over year, because you are comparing apples to apples. Prices are down in 19 out of the top 20 markets year-over-year, with six markets hitting new lows on the SP/Case Shiller Home Price Index.

Page 1 of 3 | Next Page
Show Entire Article

Greek Parliament Starts Austerity Debate

Greek Growth Minister Confident That Vote Will Pass

Euro to Hit $1.45 if Greece Says ‘Yes’: Strategist

Is the Greek Crisis a Boon for Russia’s Gazprom?

IEA Move Sees Spread Bets Turn Sour for Oil Traders

More Top Stories

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/43564196?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS

Let me preface with an apology for the huge supply of numbers in this post, but if you can make it through them all, I think you will get the picture I’m drawing here.

The so-called “shadow inventory” of residential properties is falling, according to a new report from CoreLogic.

This is the number of homes with seriously delinquent loans (90+ days), loans in the foreclosure process and bank-owned homes which are not yet listed for sale.

The supply as of April 2011 declined to 1.7 million units, representing a five months’ supply. This is down from 1.9 million units, also a five months’ supply, from a year ago.

“The decline was due to fewer new delinquencies and the high level of distressed sales, which helped reduce the number of outstanding distressed loans,” according to the report.

Good news, no? Wait. There’s more:

“In addition to the current shadow inventory, there are 2 million current negative equity loans that are more than 50 percent or $150,000 “upside down.” These current but underwater loans have increased risk of entering the shadow inventory if the owners’ ability to pay is impaired while significantly underwater.”

And then there’s this other report from Lender Processing Services (LPS), which also reports a drop in newly delinquent loans, but gives the actual, mind-numbing numbers of loans in trouble:

Page 1 of 4 | Next Page
Show Entire Article

Oil Traders: Tapping Reserve Was ‘Genius’ Move by Obama

Tapping Oil Reserve Still Won’t Lower Gas Prices Below $3

Chinese Premier Declares Inflation Victory

Doug Kass: Ominous Pattern Confirms SP Is Challenged

Did the IEA Just Deliver a QE3 Quick Fix?

More Top Stories

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/43495174?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS