Again this month, we have seen some positive signs in the Greater Boston Area that point to an increase in activity and a firming of prices.

The number of homes that actually closed during the period increased substantially over May’s activity as well as the 3 month average in all 6 counties. While these numbers indicate a healthy improvement compared to the recent past, closed sales still lag from the same period a year ago.

The number of homes that went Under Agreement in June generally increased in the area. With the exception of Middlesex and Plymouth counties, which incurred moderate declines, the Under Agreement activity was once again encouraging. Bristol saw an increase of 31.7% while Essex and Norfolk improved by 13.78% and 4.62%, respectively. In Suffolk, this activity increased a whopping 87.95% over May and sits at 36.84% over the 3 month average.

In the most encouraging sign, the number of homes going under agreement in June was higher than June of 2010 in all six counties.

Average sales prices on closed sales appear to be firming up across the region, showing moderate increases over last month and the 3 month average. Prices are at approximately the same levels as a year ago and the actual sales price as a percentage of the original list price has seen some improvement over the recent past indicating that sellers may have become more realistic in the initial pricing of their homes.  Supporting this premise is that the average Days on Market for homes closed in June dropped by over 12% to 109 days in May and is 21.6% below the last 3 month average.  However, Days on Market is still above last June’s 95 days.

The available supply of inventory of homes for sale in June increased slightly over May’s levels but the dramatic improvement in the number of sales that occurred in June resulted in a major decrease in the Absorption Rate (supply of homes for sale divided by the number of sales in the current month).  On average, there is a 6.03 month supply of homes for sale across the 6 county area, with the highest in Plymouth at 8.63 months and Suffolk being the lowest at 4.01 months.

For Full Report and Supporting Data/Documentation, Kindly Click (HERE)

"New York, June 28, 2011 – Data through April 2011, released today by S&P Indices for its S&P/CaseShiller  Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, show a monthly increase in prices for the 10- and 20-City Composites for the first time in eight months. The 10- and 20-City Composites were up 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively, in April versus March.  Both indices are lower than a year ago; the 10-City Composite fell 3.1% and the 20-City Composite is down 4.0% from April 2010 levels. Six of the 20 MSAs showed new index lows in April – Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami and Tampa. Thirteen of the cities and both composites posted positive monthly changes. With index levels of 152.51 and 138.84, respectively, both the 10- and 20-City Composites are above their March 2011 levels, which had been a new crisis low for the 20-City Composite".

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 541,000, up 3.5% from the revised April estimate. However, these new housing starts were 3.4% below the rate from a year earlier.

Housing starts for single family homes in May were up 3.7% at 419,000 units although still 8.9% below last year. Starts for multi-family units were up 8.9% from May and 24.1% from a year earlier.

The data indicated that housing starts for single family homes declined by 19.1% in the Northeast from April but increased in all other areas of the country. In the Midwest, they were up by 12.5%, the South showed an increase of 1.9%, and the increase in the West was 15.6%.

Newly authorized building permits, an indicator of future housing starts, increased by 8.7% from April at a seasonally adjusted rate of 612,000. Single family authorizations in May were up 2.5% from April at a rate of 405,000 while authorizations for structures with two or more units were up 34.0%.

The level of housing starts remain at historically low levels as home builders look for signs of sustainable economic improvement before committing to new projects. According to Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, "while the upward movement registered in the report is somewhat good news, housing production continues to bounce along the bottom near historic lows, and is only running at a level necessary to replace dilapidated or destroyed units."

An obvious bright spot in the report is the increase in multi-family units reflecting an increase in demand for rental apartments.

Clearly, these numbers show continued weakness in the housing markets across the country although the low level of housing starts will continue to allow existing home sales, including foreclosures, to be absorbed off the market. As always, be aware that national and regional statistics are not a true gauge of your local real estate market. Each local market is unique and may differ greatly from these figures.

Great Article from WSJ. Authors comment on multiple events and market indicators illuminating on why "now" might very well be a good time to buy.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304563104576361522020024248.html?mod=WSJ_RealEstate_LeftTopNews

Pending home sales fell in April with regional variations following increases in February and March, with unusual weather and economic softness adding to ongoing problems that are hobbling a recovery, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, dropped 11.6 percent to 81.9 in April from a downwardly revised 92.6 in March. The index is 26.5 percent below a cyclical peak of 111.5 in April 2010 when buyers were rushing to beat the contract deadline for the home buyer tax credit.

The data reflects contracts but not closings, which normally occur with a lag time of one or two months.

For Entire NAR Report, Kindly (Click Here)

This is a great article for anyone interested in buying a house right now. It reviews real estate market conditions and mortgage product considerations.

http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0511/9-Reasons-To-Buy-A-House-Now.aspx

RealtyTrac recently released its Q1 2011 U.S. Foreclosure Sales Report™, which shows that sales of bank-owned homes and those in some stage of foreclosure accounted for 28 percent of all U.S. residential sales in the first quarter of 2011, up slightly from 27 percent of all sales in the fourth quarter of 2010 and the highest percentage of sales since the first quarter of 2010, when 29 percent of all sales were foreclosure sales.

The average sales price of properties in some stage of foreclosure — default, scheduled for auction or bank-owned (REO) — was $168,321, down 1.89 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010 and down 1.46 percent from the first quarter of 2010.

The average sales price of foreclosure properties was nearly 27 percent below the average sales price of properties not in foreclosure, unchanged from the 27 percent foreclosure discount in the fourth quarter and up slightly from the 26 percent foreclosure discount in the first quarter of 2010.

Third parties purchased a total of 158,434 U.S. bank-owned homes and those in some stage of foreclosure during the first quarter, a decrease of 16 percent from a revised fourth quarter total and down 36 percent from a revised Q1 2010 total. Bank-owned properties that sold in the first quarter had been repossessed by the bank an average of 176 days prior to the sale, while properties that sold in the earlier stages of foreclosure in the first quarter were in foreclosure an average of 228 days before selling.

“While foreclosure sales continue to account for an unusually high percentage of all residential home sales, sales volume is well off the peak we saw in the first quarter of 2009, when nearly 350,000 foreclosure properties sold to third parties,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “While this is probably helping to keep home prices relatively stable, it is also delaying the housing recovery. At the first quarter foreclosure sales pace, it would take exactly three years to clear the current inventory of 1.9 million properties already on the banks’ books, or in foreclosure.”

Foreclosure sales by type
A total of 107,143 bank-owned (REO) residential properties sold to third parties in the first quarter, down 11 percent from the previous quarter and down nearly 30 percent from the first quarter of 2010. REO sales accounted for nearly 19 percent of all sales in the first quarter, up from 17 percent of all sales in the previous quarter and up from 18 percent of all sales in the first quarter of 2010. REOs sold for an average discount of 35 percent, the same discount as in the previous quarter and up from an average discount of 33 percent in the first quarter of 2010.

A total of 51,291 pre-foreclosure properties — in default or scheduled for auction — sold to third parties in the first quarter, down nearly 26 percent from the previous quarter and down 45 percent from the first quarter of 2010. Pre-foreclosure sales accounted for nearly 9 percent of all sales, down from 10 percent of all sales in the fourth quarter of 2010 and down from 11 percent of all sales in the first quarter of 2010. Pre-foreclosure sales, which are often short sales, sold for an average discount of 9 percent, down from an average discount of 13 percent in the fourth quarter and an average discount of 14 percent in the first quarter of 2010.

The US Census Bureau and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that sales of new one-family houses in April 2011 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 323,000, up 7.3% above the revised March 2011 figures. However, current volume remains 23.1% below the April 2010 estimate of 420,000.

The median sales price of new homes sold in April 2011 was $217,900 and the average sales price was $268,900. The median sales price is up 4.6% over the figure from a year earlier while the average sales price is down slightly.

At the end of the period, there were 175,000 new homes for sales indicating a supply of 6.5 based on current absorption rates. This is down from a supply of 8 to 9 months that existed throughout most of the second half of 2010 and caused primarily by the reduction in the number of new housing starts that have occurred up to this point in the year. (Link: New Housing Starts)

Homes that sold during April had been on the market for an average of 8.8 months. This is down dramatically from April of 2010 when homes that sold had been on the market for an average of 14.0 months.

The report indicated that new home sales in April increased in all four US regions. Sales increased 7.7% in the Northeast, 4.9% in the Midwest, 4.3% in the South and 15.1% in the West. As mentioned above, however, all regions registered significant declines from a year earlier.

Link: US Census Bureau and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development Report

You’ve spent several months shopping for the house of your dreams, have negotiated the terms of the contract and are anxious to move into your new home. The only thing standing in the way of scheduling a closing is getting your mortgage application approved. In order to qualify for a mortgage you will need a stable income, a good credit history and an appropriate down payment.

Additionally, today’s stricter lending standards require increased amounts of information and documentation to verify your income, assets and credit history. So, in order to expedite the mortgage process you should be prepared to deliver the information listed below to your mortgage lender.

Income Verification. You will need to provide paycheck stubs with year-to-date earnings for the past 30 days. Additionally, W-2 tax forms for the previous 2 years are required. If you are self-employed, you will need to provide copies of your federal tax returns for the past two years. Additionally, all borrowers must sign IRS Form 4506 which allows the mortgage lender to receive your tax transcripts from the IRS.

Asset Information. In addition to providing the account numbers and current balances on the applications, you should submit the most recent statements for all of your financial assets. These include your checking and savings accounts, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA’s), Certificates of Deposit (CD’s), stocks, and bonds. Be prepared to deliver the complete statement, even if there are blank pages, so that there is no delay in processing.

Credit Information. On the application, you will provide the names and addresses of your creditors as well as the monthly payments and total amount due for each loan or credit card. It is a good idea to have your most recent statements handy in the event there is a discrepancy with your credit report.

Timing, Timing, Timing

The value and marketability of your home is no longer just based on that old real estate axiom, “location, location, location.” It’s now all about “timing, timing, timing” - that is, the market conditions you find yourself entering today. For a whole host of reasons, particularly the economy and foreclosure market, today you will most likely find yourself in a Buyers’ Market – with more sellers than buyers resulting in declining home values.

Your List Price

If your home sells it will sell at a price that reflects the current market conditions in your community and price range – not the market that existed sometime in the past. If you list your home at a supportable, competitive price, the odds are very high that your first offer will be your best offer and it will occur within several weeks of listing your home for sale. After that, the odds of sale at our near your first list price rapidly diminish.

By definition, we are clearly in a Buyer’s Market in virtually every housing market in the country. However, there are indications that the extent to which this exists are greatly inflated by the number of houses that are currently listed well above the price that they will ultimately sell for. To take advantage of this “False Buyers Market,” pricing your home properly is crucial. With the right market data and analysis you should set the listing price for you home that will attract the interest of local real estate agents and the buyers they represent.

Forget the Gimmicks

Since man first sought shelter in caves, each unique human being has a unique “shelter comfort zone.” No gimmicks – even a free Mercedes – are going to convince buyers to buy your home if they are just not comfortable with its setting, style, layout and overall “feel.” Shelter is one of the most fundamental and unique of all basic needs. So, forget the gimmicks and focus on getting your property into the best condition possible and pricing it properly. Those are the actions that will result in the quickest sale at the highest price possible.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 523,000, down 10.6% from the revised March estimate. These new housing starts were also 23.9% below the rate from a year earlier.

Housing starts for single family homes in April were down 5.1% at 394,000 units while starts for multi-family units were down 28.3%.

The data indicated that housing starts for single family homes increased in the Northeast by 12.8% from March but declined in all other areas of the country. In the Midwest, they declined by 7.1%, the South showed a decrease of 7.6%, and the decrease in the West was 4.9%.

Newly authorized building permits, an indicator of future housing starts, decreased by 4.0% from March at a seasonally adjusted rate of 551,000. Single family authorizations in April were down 1.8% from March at a rate of 385,000 while authorizations for structures with more than two units were down 8.8%.

These decreases are attributable mainly to continued weakness in buyer demand and competition from foreclosures and sales of previously owned homes. An additional reason for the decline is the fact that home builders are finding it difficult to obtain credit to start housing projects.

Reflecting these facts, the number of homes under construction at the end of April was at the lowest level on record dating back to 1970.

Clearly, these numbers show continued weakness in the housing markets across the country. However, be aware that national and regional statistics are not a true gauge of your local real estate market. Each local market is unique and may differ greatly from these figures.

U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development Report: Link

Home sales are on track to outperform last year, even though the market doesn’t have the benefit of the home buyer tax credit. This is thanks to sustained economic growth, the slowly recovering jobs picture, and historically high affordability conditions, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun told a packed room on Thursday during the Residential Economic Update at the 2011 REALTORS® Midyear Legislative Meetings.

Although unemployment remains high at about 9 percent, the country is seeing steady job growth. More than 100,000 jobs are being created a month, and the U.S. could see 1.5 million net new jobs this year, Yun said.

Frank Nothaft, chief economist for secondary mortgage market company Freddie Mac, who spoke later at the same session, said he expects a bit more robust job growth, closer to 2 million, but both economists said the unemployment rate will remain high despite the new jobs because of the size of the hole that needs to be filled. More than 8 million jobs were lost during the 2008-09 recession, and new entrants to the labor force, such as recent college graduates, add another 2 million to the hole.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday  that there were 3.1 million job openings on the last business day in March of this year. The jobs openings rate of 2.3% was flat from the previous month after an increase in February. This marks the first time since November 2008 that job openings have been at or above 3.0 million for two consecutive months. The job openings level has trended up since the end of the recession in June 2009 (as designated by the National Bureau of Economic Research) but remains well below the 4.4 million openings when the recession began in December 2007.

Over the 12 months ending in March, hires (not seasonally adjusted) totaled nearly 47.6 million and separations (not seasonally adjusted) totaled 46.4 million, yielding a net employment gain of 1.2 million. These figures include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year.  Nearly half of the hires and nearly half of the separations during these 12 months occurred in three industries: retail trade; professional and business services; and accommodation and food services. The large share of total hires and separations accounted for by these three industries reflects the size of the industries as well as their relatively high hires and separations rates.

While employment is certainly not back to where it was prior to the recession it is encouraging to note that it is on an upward trend. As you might expect, increasing employment is crucial to an improvement in the housing market and this is a step in the right direction.

To help explain why employment rates are trending higher, let’s take a look at the US stock market.  Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 are each up over 30% from last July. This increase has been fueled by increased corporate profits. As you might expect, as employers become more successful they must hire additional workers to meet the demand for their goods and services. The stock market is a good leading indicator for the economy in general and employment specifically. And with an improved employment picture, housing is likely to follow.

Stay tuned.

Link: The Bureau of Labor Statistics Report

• Under Agreement Activity is down 23.8% from April of 2010 and down slightly from March levels. However, activity is up 27.2% over the 3 month moving average indicating a slight improvement in the market.
• Middlesex County, while down 16.4% from a year ago, has seen substantial improvement over the past 3 month period.

• Closed sales activity is down 14.7% from April of 2010 and down slightly from March 2011.

• Significantly, there were 65% more properties that went under agreement in April than actually closed. This bodes well for closed sales activity in the coming months.

• Average sales prices are basically flat year-to-year….although Norfolk is up 24% while Suffolk is down 20%.

• Unsold listings are up slightly from a year ago, although they are up 13.7% over March 2011 levels and 25.1% over the 3 month moving average.

• The supply of unsold listings has increased significantly (35.8%) from a year ago: from a 4.7 month supply last year to a 6.79 supply currently.

• The number of new listings coming on the market has outpaced the rate of sales and, as a result, the monthly supply of unsold listings has increased to 6.39 months for the Greater Boston Market. Each county experienced an increase in unsold listings although Plymouth County continues to have an over-abundance of supply at 10.7 months.

For Complete Report- including National and Regional Market Statistics kindly (Click Here).

Last week, the National Association of Realtors announced that existing home sale transactions for March 2011 was up by 3.7% over February. Even though the volume level was 6.3% below last year’s level, March marked the 6^th month out of the last eight that showed an increase in sales volume. Additionally, pending home sales, which are an indicator of future activity, has trended up nicely since last June and is now about 20% above activity levels from last year.

Additionally, the Realtors Confidence Index, which measure the strength of the current housing market and expectations about the future, increased by 6% for single family homes while the rate for condominiums and town homes increased by 14.5% and 17.4%, respectively. While no one is wildly optimistic about the state of the real estate market, it does seem to be firming up in many areas.

On the negative side of the coin, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes released earlier this week shows that prices are still falling, down from their levels of a year ago. However, prices are still slightly above the bottom that was reached in April of 2009.

This continued softness in prices can be primarily attributed to the high levels of foreclosures and short sales that are occurring. In March, NAR reports that 40% of closed transactions were either foreclosures or short sales, with short sales comprising a record 9% of all sales. A short sale is when the price paid for the home is not sufficient to pay off the mortgage and the lender agrees to accept less than the full amount to satisfy the debt.

With all these factors in play, another phenomenon that has been reported on recently is that we are in the midst of a “false buyers’ market.” Typically, a buyers’ market occurs when there are more homes for sale on the market than there are qualified buyers to purchase them. However, many home sellers are unwilling or unable to reduce the price of their home to a level acceptable to potential buyers. So while these listings are counted in the inventory of homes for sale, the reality is that prospective buyers will ignore these listings as long as they are overpriced and the “effective” inventory is much lower.

There is a high demand for homes that are properly priced and we are seeing multiple offers and even bidding situations for those properties. So, as always, it is critically important that you are intimately aware of local market conditions as you develop your strategy to sell or purchase a home. Pricing your home properly will ensure you get the maximum value in the shortest period of time. Conversely, understanding the dynamics of your market will lower the risk that you will be outbid on the house of your dreams.