California pending home sales highest level in nearly three years:

California pending home sales posted higher for the third consecutive month in March, rising from both the previous month and year, C.A.R. reported Tuesday. Additionally, the share of distressed sales dropped for the second consecutive month, as equity sales typically increase with the start of the spring home buying season.

C.A.R.’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)* rose from a revised 126.5 in February to 143.7 in March, based on signed contracts. The March 2012 index was the highest since April 2009, when the PHSI was 146.9. The index also was up from the 128.9 index recorded in March 2011, marking the eleventh consecutive month that pending sales were higher than the previous year. Pending home sales are forward-looking indicators of future home sales activity, providing information on the future direction of the market.

• The share of equity sales – or non-distressed property sales – compared with total sales increased in March to 55.4, up from 51.1 percent in February. Equity sales made up 50.2 percent of all sales in March 2011.

• Meanwhile, the total share of all distressed property types sold statewide decreased in March to 44.6 percent, down from February’s 48.9 percent and from 49.8 percent in March 2011.

• The share of short sales was down again in March. Of the distressed properties sold statewide in March, 21.1 percent were short sales, down from February’s share of 23 percent but up from last March’s share of 20.1 percent.

• The share of REO sales also declined in March to 23.1 percent, down from February’s 25.2 percent and down from the 29.4 percent recorded in March 2011.

REALTORS®: First gain for Calif. prices in 16 months
Orange County Registerr

The median price for an existing, single-family home in California rose 1.6 percent in March compared with the year before, marking the first year-over-year increase in 16 months, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® reported Monday.

Making sense of the story

• The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home jumped 9.2 percent to $291,080 in March from February’s $266,660 median price and was up 1.6 percent from a revised $286,550 recorded in March 2011. The month-to-month increase was the largest since March 2004.

• Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 505,360 units in March, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations and MLSs statewide. Sales in March were down 4.5 percent month-over-month and 2.3 percent year-to-year.

• The statewide sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2012 if sales maintained the March pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.

• “Housing inventory remains extremely tight throughout the state and at levels severely under normal market conditions,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “In areas, such as Los Angeles and Riverside counties, where the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) wants to implement the REO bulk sale pilot program, inventory is running at levels well below the long-run average. These low inventory levels demonstrate that the pilot program is not necessary in California.”

• The pilot program calls for the sale of more than 600 Fannie Mae-owned foreclosed homes in Los Angeles and Riverside counties to institutional investors.

Consumer attitudes toward home buying shift:

More consumers may be looking to purchase homes with a shift in several key housing market indicators, according to Fannie Mae’s March 2012 consumer attitudinal National Housing Survey. More Americans now expect both home rental and home purchase prices to increase over the next year. Nearly half of consumers expect higher rental prices, the highest number recorded since monthly tracking began in June 2010. These trends may be providing Americans with an increased sense of urgency to buy a home as 73 percent of Americans now believe it is a good time to buy a home, up from 70 percent in February.

Highlights of the survey include:

• Thirty-three percent of respondents expect home prices to increase over the next 12 months, a five percentage point increase from last month, the highest level over the past 12 months.

• On average, Americans expect home prices to increase by 0.9 percent over the next 12 months (up slightly since last month).

• Thirty-nine percent of Americans say that mortgage rates will go up in the next 12 months, a five percentage point increase from last month.

• On average, respondents expect home rental prices to increase by 4.1 percent over the next 12 months, a significant increase since February, and the highest number recorded to date.

• Forty-eight percent of respondents think that home rental prices will go up, a three percentage point increase from last month and the highest number recorded to date.

• Sixty-six percent of respondents say they would buy their next home if they were going to move, up one point since last month, while 30 percent say they would rent, up one point versus last month.

Housing Poised for Spring Recovery:

Five years after the U.S. housing bust sent sales and prices plunging, the spring home-buying season is pointing to a long-awaited recovery.

Reduced prices, record-low mortgage rates, higher rents and an improving job market appear to be emboldening many would-be buyers.

Open houses are drawing crowds. A wave of foreclosures is leading investors to grab bargain-priced homes.

And many people seem to have concluded that prices won't drop much further. In some areas, prices have begun to tick up.

"The biggest challenge that we've had over the past four years is fear — fear that the economy is collapsing, that property values are collapsing, that the world is coming to an end," says Mark Prather, a broker at ERA Buy America Real Estate in La Palma, Calif. "The fear factor is all but gone."

The spring buying season got an early lift-off from an uncommonly warm January and February — a winter that was the best for sales of previously occupied homes in five years. Permits to build houses and apartments rose in February to their highest level since 2008.

"People feel much more confident," said Steve Brown, co-owner of real estate company Irongate Inc. of Dayton, Ohio, who says sales jumped more than 16 percent for the first two months of 2012 over the same period last year. "There's no question there's a good feeling in the marketplace."

Some analysts detected a slight uptick in prices for February and March. CoreLogic, a real estate data firm, says prices for homes not at risk of foreclosure — about two thirds of the market — rose 0.7 percent in February. It was the first increase in four years. Price gains occurred both in some hard-hit areas, such as Phoenix, and some still-thriving areas like New York and Washington.

Also fueling interest are signs that home values are finally stabilizing. One factor that had slowed purchases after the housing boom ended in late 2006 was fear that a home would lose value soon after its purchase.

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Factory Orders Continue Rebound

 

Businesses ordered more machinery and equipment from U.S. factories in February, a signal that many are investing in their companies despite the expiration of a tax credit.

This is positive news for the housing market as increased demand for manufacturing signals stronger consumer sentiment.

Orders to U.S. factories increased 1.3 percent in February, the Commerce Department said. That offset a similar decline in January.

U.S. factories stepped up hiring and production in March, based on a report Monday from the Institute for Supply Management.

The trade group of purchasing managers said its index of manufacturing activity rose to 53.4 in March, up from a February reading of 52.4. Readings above 50 indicate manufacturing is expanding.

Manufacturing has been a key source of economic growth since the recession ended in June 2009.

Past foreclosure means waiting years for new loan :

Next to filing for bankruptcy protection, nothing wrecks a borrower’s chances of qualifying for a home loan like a foreclosure. And, some lenders may not look favorably upon borrowers who were able to successfully complete a short sale either.

Making sense of the story

• Although more than 4 million homes have been lost to foreclosure in the six years since the housing market began its descent, it’s a reality that the former owners will have to contend with the repercussions of foreclosures and/or short sales. However, the passage of time makes all the difference.

• The mortgage-lending guidelines followed by the majority of banks prohibit lenders from making loans to people with foreclosure or short sale in their credit history, often for years.

• Still, some homeowners who were foreclosed upon when the market first started to skid are now looking to buy another home and are getting approved for new loans.

• The likelihood of a borrower with a real-estate related blemish on their credit history being approved for a new loan depends on several factors, but largely on whether the borrower had a foreclosure or a short sale.

• Generally, borrowers who have a foreclosure in their credit history can expect to wait between two to seven years before a lender will even accept their loan application. The waiting periods stem from guidelines most banks must follow in order to sell their loans to purchasers such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

• If a buyer with a past foreclosure is seeking a government-backed mortgage, the waiting period can vary before they can qualify. The Federal Housing Administration, which insures roughly 30 percent of new loans, requires former homeowners to wait three years from the date of their foreclosure before they can qualify for a loan guaranteed by the agency.

Bull Market in Bonds Nearing an End?

 

U.S. consumer confidence rebounded to its highest level in more than a year in March as optimism about jobs and income overcame higher prices at the gasoline pump, said a survey released on Friday.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final March reading for the overall consumer sentiment index rose to 76.2, the highest since February 2011, from 75.3 in February.

The final March figure rose from a preliminary reading of 74.3 and was above economists' median forecasts of 74.7.

"Consumer confidence edged upward as more favorable income and job trends offset rising gas prices," survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement.

The barometer of current economic conditions ended at 86.0 in March, also the highest level since February 2011. This improved on the preliminary reading of 84.2 and February's 83.0. Analysts had predicted a reading of 84.5.

This is particulary good news for the housing market as we all know that consumers are more likely to put in an offer on a home if they feel more secure about the economy and their own prospects.