The shift in the sales mix is also largely due to a drop in the number of distressed homes for sale. Foreclosures and short sales made up just 22 percent of home sales in November, according to the Realtors, the lowest share in five years. Much of that is due to a lack of supply on the distressed side, as investors continue to compete for these properties to take advantage of the still-lucrative rental market.

The Realtors claim the distressed share of sales will continue to decline in 2013, due to fewer seriously delinquent loans, but banks are now ramping up foreclosures of long-delayed delinquent loans, so there could be another bump in that supply before it finally falls dramatically. Bank repossessionsjumped 11 percent month-to-month in November and saw the first annual increase since 2010, according to RealtyTrac.

Overall, the supply of all homes nationally is at its lowest level in 7 years,, just 4.8 months’ worth at the current sales pace.

(Read More: Best US HousingMarkets for Buyers and Sellers)

“With the homebuyer affordability index near multi-decade highs combined with decent job creation at the same time renting has gotten more expensive — all lead to a continued improvement in sales,” writes Peter Boockvar of Miller Tabak. “This said, sales are still 30 percent below the bubble highs and are still where they were in 1998, both pointing to the degree of possible improvement ahead but also evidence of the damage that was done where historically the pace of recovery takes time.”

(Read More: New Nightmare forHome Builders: Not Enough Skilled Workers)

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100331527

(Read More: Housing Recovery Is Leaving Behind First-Time Buyers)

Congress raised guarantee fees in 2011 to pay for a payroll tax cut. There is yet another plan to raise fees further to fund immigration reform, although the bill is widely expected to fail.

“Dipping back into the housing piggybank to pay for unrelated policy items on the backs of America’s homebuyers ends the wrong message at a time when the housing market is starting to show signs of recovery,” wrote David Stevens, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association in a statement last month.

(Read More: Big Money Is Making Big Bets on a Housing Rebound )

Raising guarantee fees is another way for government to wind down the two mortgage giants it still backs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but that comes at a cost to borrowers who are already hampered by stricter underwriting standards.

“G-fees will continue to increase as a way to run down the GSEs’ role in the mortgage market,” writes Paul Diggle of Capital Economics. “Stronger mortgage demand suggests that would-be buyers are growing in confidence. Nevertheless, mortgage lending will continue to be held back by tight credit.”

(Read More: Home Builders Beg for Skilled Workers)

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100301299

“About two weeks ago we started getting calls, like 7 or 8 a day, and we’ve been asked to bring students to work sites,” says Linda Thomas, an employment liaison for Job Corps. “They said look just bring them with their resumes, we’ve got work, we’re pushing more contracts now. Business is doing well, building is doing extremely well in the area.”

(Read More: Pending Home Sales Surge to Five Year Highh)

This is a drastic change from just six months ago, when Thomas was still finding herself the beggar, not the chooser with home builders. Her main concern is that all this new momentum will come to a grinding halt should the nation’s economy go over the so-called “fiscal cliff.”

“A contractor, once he sets up a job, then he has to get money for that job because he has to buy the materials and so forth, so if a bank is a little scary or his lender is a little scary, a private lender, he may not have the funds to start the project, therefore we won’t have the jobs.”

(Read More: Top Destination States for Jobs)

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100271485

Yesterday we reported on how certain builders in Dallas, TX claimed there were not enough skilled workers to fill the construction jobs they have open. The story garnered a huge response, with most claiming that was impossible, but others noting that it is all about the pay scale. (Read the story:Home Builders Don’t Have Enough Workers to Meet New Demand)

“Only about 20 million out of work construction workers in the country. I think what they really mean is they can’t find enough workers who will do hard construction work for 8 dollars an hour,” wrote one respondent on the blog.

I’m a sub-contractor in South Florida,” wrote another. “The problem here is, the big builders are paying sub-contractors less than what they paid in 1998. On top of that there are more city and OSHA rules to abide by. There is no way for me to employ a crew and pay them what they need to support their families. The only crews that are working are illegals, and the only reason they can survive on these wages is because there living with 2 families in 1 bedroom apartments. That’s not my idea of job creation.”

Builders will argue that the rising cost of construction materials is making it harder for them to raise wages, not to mention that they are still competing with large supplies of cheaper, distressed properties, many of which are relatively new construction.

“Here locally, we’ve measured that the average price of a house has gone up 1.7 percent from last year, which is not nearly enough to cover the 9 percent increase in costs that has occurred since 1st of the year, so it’s coming right out of the margin,” says Stephen Brooks, CEO of Dallas-based Grand Homes.

The argument quickly turns to immigration policies, given that so many construction workers are not U.S. citizens, but it is also a matter of investment in the work force, which we see in so many sectors, like the auto industry, as reported by CNBC’s Phil LeBeau today. Apparently their aren’t enough skilled engineers to do the necessary work on cars. (Help Wanted: Engineers)

Says another blogger: “I’m thinking these folks need to rescrew on their heads on what it will take to grow their businesses, like maybe invest some resources to bring new folks on board and work with them to make sure they have those skills they want long term.”

Questions?  Comments?  And follow me on Twitter @Diana_Olick