Foreclosure rates have dropped from last year by 18% according to CoreLogic. In November 2011 foreclosure completions hovered around 72,000 compared to November 2012 when numbers fell 23%, reaching only 55,000 foreclosure completions. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic said, “the inventory of foreclosed properties continues to decline while the housing market demonstrates an ongoing ability to absorb the distressed sales that result from completed foreclosures.” The U.S has come a long way from pre-crisis time when the national average of foreclosures per month was approximately 21,000. More here
If the current year-to-date price trend continues, 2012 will be the first year that home prices have increased since 2006. Trulia’s Price Monitor, which is among the earliest leading indicators of price trends, shows September asking prices were up 2.5 percent year-over-year and increased 3.5 percent when excluding foreclosures. Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist, said prices are recovering across the country with the strongest gains seen where job growth has boosted demand and declining inventory has lead to tighter supply. States where prices saw significant gains include Nevada, Florida, Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, and Virginia. More here.
The total number of single-family homes available for sale is down to 1.84 million units, according to data through the end of August. The numbers, released by the National Association of Realtors, show that housing inventory is 18.68 percent below last year’s level and the median age of homes on the market has fallen nearly 12 percent. According to the report, low inventory and increasingly stable prices are evidence that the market is poised for additional growth. The data also shows that the recovery process has moved to the western states, with list prices rising in most California markets and metropolitan areas such as Phoenix, Boise City, Seattle, and Reno. More here.
The amount of time it takes to sell a home has fallen dramatically over the past year, according to new estimates. In July, the median amount of time a home was on the market was 69 days, which is 29.6 percent below last year when it was 98 days. The data, released by the National Association of Realtors, shows that one third of the homes sold in July were on the market for less than a month. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said tightening inventory has caused homes to sell more quickly. Yun says the trend began in the spring and is supporting sustained price growth in markets around the country. At the current sales pace, there was a 6.4-month supply of homes for sale on the market in July, a 31.2 percent drop from last year. More here and here.
Since Realtor.com began keeping record of monthly for-sale inventory in 2007, the number of homes on the market has fallen nearly 40 percent. In fact, the total number of homes for sale across the country in July was 1.866 million units, a historic low and a 19.25 percent drop from one year ago. Falling inventory is usually a positive sign that housing is in recovery, as fewer homes for sale means rising prices and less time on the market. In July, the median number of days on the market among houses for sale was 88 days, 9.27 percent below last year. According to the report, the decline is consistent with other data showing significant improvement in market conditions compared to one year ago. More here.
For the past few years, problems of excessive inventory have plagued the housing market. Whether it was concern about the number of homes in the shadow inventory or downward pressure on prices caused by too many for-sale properties and not enough buyers, inventory was an issue for the health of the housing market. More recently, however, the discussion has shifted to the effects of an increasing number of markets facing an inventory shortage. Recent data from the National Association of Realtors shows inventory of for-sale single family homes, condominiums, townhouses, and co-ops fell by nearly 20 percent in June compared to the year before and was down in all but three of the included 146 markets. Due in part to falling inventory, the median national list price was up 2.68 percent and the median age of the existing inventory was down nearly 10 percent year-over-year. Falling inventory and steadily rising prices are both signs of a market recovery. More here and here.
CoreLogic’s National Foreclosure Report provides monthly data on completed foreclosures, foreclosure inventory, and delinquencies over 90 days. In their February report, CoreLogic found that there are 1.4 million homes in the foreclosure inventory, which is down from 1.5 million in February 2011. But though foreclosure inventory and the pace of completed foreclosures held fairly steady from January, expectations of further declines in the foreclosure inventory are leading to optimism for the housing market’s immediate future. Mark Fleming, CoreLogic’s chief economist, said the pace of completed foreclosures compares favorably to year-ago levels and the overall foreclosure inventory is decreasing because REO sales were up in February. Also in the report, the five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures accounted for nearly half of all completed foreclosures nationally. More here.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Department of the Treasury released their February 2012 Housing Scorecard, which compiles key market data and the results of the administration’s recovery efforts through the end of January. According to the report, the supply of existing homes currently for sale would take 6.1 months to sell and the number of new homes on the market represents a 5.6 month supply, the lowest level since 2006. In addition to falling inventory levels, existing-home sales rose to their highest pace since May 2010 and home prices dipped during the month. Also, recent enhancements to the Home Affordable Refinance Program resulted in another 300,000 families beginning the process of refinancing their homes. More here and here.
The number of foreclosures completed in 2011 fell 24 percent to 830,000 from 1.1 million in 2010. Data released by CoreLogic shows that, not only were foreclosures down year-over-year, but they also dropped 8.4 percent in December. Mark Fleming, CoreLogic’s chief economist, said the inventory of foreclosed properties has begun to shrink and the pace at which properties are entering foreclosure is slowing. At the end of 2011, 3.4 percent of all homes were in the foreclosure inventory. And though the rate at which foreclosures are completed has been slowed, in part, due to judicial and regulatory constraints, a declining number of foreclosures is key to a healthy housing market. More here and here.
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The number of homes listed for sale at the end of July was down 18 percent from a year ago and 1.2 percent from the month before. There were 2.31 million homes listed for sale at the end of the month, according to data from Realtor.com. It was only the fifth time since 2007 inventory levels declined. Standard & Poor’s second-quarter research report also showed improvements to inventory levels. According to their report, the amount of time it would take to work through the shadow inventory, or the number of homes still in the foreclosure pipeline, has fallen from the first quarter of this year. It was the first improvement since 2009. More here and here.
