Pending Home Sales jump 7% from a year ago:

Contracts to buy existing homes rose in March, and would have increased even more it it wasn't for a historically low supply of for-sale listings nationwide.

The Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors increased 1.5 percent month to month which was better than the 1.0 percent increase that economists expected. It is 7 percent higher than March of 2012.

"Contract activity has been in a narrow range in recent months, not from a pause in demand but because of limited supply," said the Realtors' chief economist Lawrence Yun in a release. "Little movement is expected in the near-term sales closings, but they should edge up modestly as the year progresses.

The lack of inventory is due to several factors but one of the newer trends is that many sellers are waiting to put their homes on the market because they are waiting to see how much further home prices will increase.

Regionally, the Realtors' pending home sales index was unchanged in the Northeast from February, up 0.3 percent in the Midwest, up 2.7 percent in the South and up 1.5 percent in the West.

Data Shows Mortgage Credit Easing, Others Not so Sure

Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Lenders are showing signs of easing up on underwriting for mortgages, according to the latest report from Ellie Mae Inc., a mortgage origination software company. But some critics say they aren’t seeing it in their markets yet, as their customers continue to struggle to qualify for a mortgage, posing one of the biggest obstacles to the housing recovery.

Ellie Mae’s latest findings may provide some encouraging signs for those buyers who have been shut out: Credit scores and down payments for approved mortgages are moving lower.

FICO scores for approved mortgages averaged 743, dropping to the lowest point since Ellie Mae began its tracking in August 2011. For the first quarter, the average credit score overall among approved borrowers was 746, which compares to 748 for all of 2012, according to Ellie’s report, which reflects March data of approved mortgages.

Borrowers approved for a loan made, on average, a 19 percent down payment, the lowest since May 2012, according to Ellie Mae. The front-end debt-to-income ratios were 23 percent.

Borrowers who were denied a mortgage tended to have, on average, a FICO score of 702, a down payment of 15 percent, and front-end debt-to-income ratio of 27 percent, according to Ellie Mae’s findings.

Some critics are quick to point out that Ellie Mae’s findings are only a sample of about 20 percent of all loan originations.

“I warn my clients to be prepared to give their arm, leg, and first-born,” Lakshmi G. Yokoyama, a mortgage consultant at Sierra Pacific Mortgage Corp., told Inman News.

Source: “Ellie Mae: Mortgage credit continues to ease,” Inman News (April 18, 2013

Homes Appreciating Faster than Wages:

As we have been reporting for over a year, home prices are rising.  That is the good news.  The bad news is that wages are not.

While historically low mortgage rates are translating into big savings for homeowners, those same low monthly payments are masking a troubling trend. While home values have been on the rise for the past year — in some areas appreciating by 15 percent or more annually — median wages haven’t kept pace. As a result, home price-to-income ratios in many areas are climbing.

By looking at two metrics — an affordability index and a price-to-income ratio — Zillow researchers have determined that low mortgage rates that make homes appear incredibly affordable are overshadowing a bigger overall trend in which the overall prices of homes are actually significantly more expensive than historic norms relative to annual incomes.

Homeowners in 24 of the 30 largest metros covered by Zillow were paying more for homes in the fourth quarter of 2012 relative to their region’s median income than they were from 1985 through 1999. Metros with the largest difference between their pre-bubble and fourth quarter 2012 price-to-income ratios included San Jose (52.1 percent more), Los Angeles (48.8 percent more), Portland, (45.4 percent more), San Diego (44.6 percent more) and Denver (40.8 percent more).

Bidding Wars are Back:

The bidding wars are back. Seemingly overnight, many of the nation's major housing markets have gone from stagnant to sizzling, with for-sale listings drawing offers from a large number of house hunters.

In March, 75% of agents with broker Redfin said their clients' offers were countered by rival bids, up from 56% who said so in late 2011.

The competition has been most intense in California, where 9 out of 10 homes sold in San Francisco, Sacramento and cities in Southern California drew competing bids during the month. And at least two-third of listings in Boston, Washington D.C., Seattle and New York generated bidding wars.

"The only question is not whether a new listing will get multiple bids but how many it will get," said Kris Vogt, who manages 14 Coldwell Banker offices in the Sacramento area. One home in an Elk Grove, Calif., subdivision recently received 62 separate bids. The final sale price was for more than $150,000, well above its $129,000 asking price.

Homebuyers eager to purchase before home prices and mortgage rates rise are finding few homes for sale as sellers hold out for better deals, said Glenn Kelman, Redfin's CEO. Even though home prices are on the rise, the balance between buyers and sellers has been thrown off balance, said Kelman.

"With buyers out in force and sellers cautious, the market is in an awkward 'tweener' phase," he said.

Investors Gradually Retreating from Market

Investors Gradually Retreating from Market

Home Prices Pick Up at Fastest Pace in 7 Years

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, APRIL 04, 2013

Home prices nationwide, which includes distressed sales, soared 10.2 percent year-over-year, according to CoreLogic’s February report. It’s the largest year-over-year increase in home prices since March 2006. It also marks the twelfth consecutive monthly increase in national home prices, according to CoreLogic’s report. 

When excluding distressed sales, home prices rose 10.1 percent year-over-year in February, according to CoreLogic. 

“Nationally, home prices improved at the best rate since mid-2006, marking a full year of annual increases and underscoring the ongoing strengthening of market fundamentals,” says Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.

CoreLogic predicts that home prices -- excluding distressed sales -- will likely rise 11.4 percent year-over-year from March 2012. 

“The rebound in prices is heavily driven by western states,” says Mark Fleming, CoreLogic’s chief economist. “Eight of the top ten highest appreciating large markets are in California, with Phoenix and Las Vegas rounding out the list.”

The five states with the highest price appreciation as of February 2013, according to CoreLogic, were: 

• Nevada (+19.3%)
• Arizona (+18.6%)
• California (+15.3%)
• Hawaii (+14.6%)
• Idaho (+13.5%)

Source: CoreLogic

Pending Home Sales Rise 8.4%:

The National Association of Realtors reported that their index of Pending Home Sales rose 8.4% from February 2012 and was constrained only by the lack of inventory available for sale. 

Thinking about buying a home in 2013?  This is not the same market where you can take your time and view many different homes.  Home prices are moving up and the number of available homes for sale that are in good condition are moving fast. 

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said limited inventory is holding back the market in many areas. "Only new home construction can genuinely help relieve the inventory shortage, and housing starts need to rise at least 50 percent from current levels," he said. "Most local home builders are small businesses and simply don't have access to capital on Wall Street. Clearer regulatory rules, applied to construction loans for smaller community banks and credit unions, could bring many small-sized builders back into the market."U.S. home resales (the largest segment of the housing market) hit a three-year high in February and prices jumped, adding to signs of an acceleration in the housing market recovery.

More good news: Yun projects existing-home sales to rise about 7 percent in 2013 to approximately 5 million sales, which is near the current level of activity and the national median existing-home price is forecast to rise nearly 7 percent this year, while mortgage interest rates should remain historically low, but trend up slowly.

So, the industry experts are saying: 1) Good quality Inventory is moving fast and at 2) higher prices and 3) with mortgage rates rising throughout the year.  What does this tell you?