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Saturday, September 27, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
A Nice Little Streak
Here's the latest from MAAR:
As we enter the fall season, buyer activity is still on a nice little streak, posting its sixth consecutive week of double-digit year-over-year growth in pending sales. During this six-week period, there have been 5,085 purchase agreements signed in the Twin Cities housing market compared to only 3,816 during this time in 2007. For the week ending September 13, there were 783 purchase agreements signed—a jump of 23.3 percent over the same time last year.
For that same week there were 1,864 new listings—a decline of 13.4 percent from the same week last year. The total number of homes currently for sale is 31,426, which is down 9.3 percent from this time in 2007. As it does every fall, total supply should continue to decline in the months ahead.
As we enter the fall season, buyer activity is still on a nice little streak, posting its sixth consecutive week of double-digit year-over-year growth in pending sales. During this six-week period, there have been 5,085 purchase agreements signed in the Twin Cities housing market compared to only 3,816 during this time in 2007. For the week ending September 13, there were 783 purchase agreements signed—a jump of 23.3 percent over the same time last year.
For that same week there were 1,864 new listings—a decline of 13.4 percent from the same week last year. The total number of homes currently for sale is 31,426, which is down 9.3 percent from this time in 2007. As it does every fall, total supply should continue to decline in the months ahead.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Who says all sequels are bad?!?
Here's the latest from MAAR:
Like The Godfather: Part II, the Twin Cities housing market showed a surprisingly strong sequel to last week's huge upswing in pending sales. For the week ending September 6, there were 749 purchase agreements written—a rise of 49.8 percent from the same week in 2007. This comes on the heels of last week's then-unthinkably large increase of 51.3 percent.
There are factors at work that are exacerbating the appearance of this rebound and slightly tempering this good news. First, the sales slowdown in August and September of last year was historically extreme; current activity seems extraterrestially high, compared to 2007, but is actually only slightly above the pace of 2006. In addition, there is likely a short-term increase in sales activity as home buyers act now to take advantage of sunsetting seller-funded downpayment assistance on FHA mortgages. This program is currently the only zero-down loan option still available and is disappearing as of October 1, subject to a congressional rescue.
Other factors working to boost buyer activity include the newly authorized $7,500 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers, home prices too good to pass on and downward pressure on interest rates.
Elsewhere in the market, the supply of homes for sale continues to shrink. There are currently 9.0 percent fewer homes on the market than there were a year ago. And we are almost dead even with the number of homes on the market at this time in 2006.
Like The Godfather: Part II, the Twin Cities housing market showed a surprisingly strong sequel to last week's huge upswing in pending sales. For the week ending September 6, there were 749 purchase agreements written—a rise of 49.8 percent from the same week in 2007. This comes on the heels of last week's then-unthinkably large increase of 51.3 percent.
There are factors at work that are exacerbating the appearance of this rebound and slightly tempering this good news. First, the sales slowdown in August and September of last year was historically extreme; current activity seems extraterrestially high, compared to 2007, but is actually only slightly above the pace of 2006. In addition, there is likely a short-term increase in sales activity as home buyers act now to take advantage of sunsetting seller-funded downpayment assistance on FHA mortgages. This program is currently the only zero-down loan option still available and is disappearing as of October 1, subject to a congressional rescue.
Other factors working to boost buyer activity include the newly authorized $7,500 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers, home prices too good to pass on and downward pressure on interest rates.
Elsewhere in the market, the supply of homes for sale continues to shrink. There are currently 9.0 percent fewer homes on the market than there were a year ago. And we are almost dead even with the number of homes on the market at this time in 2006.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Holy Rebound, Batman!
Here's the Latest from MAAR:
Like Adam West as Batman, the market for home sales in the Twin Cities went POW! during the week ending August 30. For the week, there were 965 purchase agreements signed—a whopping increase of 51.3 percent from the same week last year. That's the highest year-over-year increase in pending sales since we began tracking that figure on a weekly basis in 2004. Home-buying activity is particularly heavy relative to last year due in all likelihood to a) the historically sluggish showing in August of last year as the credit crunch took hold, b) a bevy of buyers taking advantage of the final days of FHA's seller-funded downpayment assistance program, which sunsets on October 1 of this year and (c) new home buyers getting off the fence and taking advantage of the new home buyer tax credit of up to $7,500.
This week's edition of the MAAR Weekly Market Activity Report features updated figures for several key metrics. Days on Market Until Sale dipped slightly to 143 but remains up from last year by 5.8 percent. The Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale increased slightly to 92.7 but remains down from the healthier levels of the past several years. The Housing Affordability Index increased to 151, thanks to falling prices and interest rates.
The Months Supply of Inventory fell to 9.9 months. This means it will take the current crop of properties for sale approximately 9.9 months to completely sell through, given current sales rates. This is dead-even with this time last year, another indication that the market isn't continuing to shift in the buyer's favor anymore for the time being. A balanced market is thought to have a 5- to 6-month supply rate.
Like Adam West as Batman, the market for home sales in the Twin Cities went POW! during the week ending August 30. For the week, there were 965 purchase agreements signed—a whopping increase of 51.3 percent from the same week last year. That's the highest year-over-year increase in pending sales since we began tracking that figure on a weekly basis in 2004. Home-buying activity is particularly heavy relative to last year due in all likelihood to a) the historically sluggish showing in August of last year as the credit crunch took hold, b) a bevy of buyers taking advantage of the final days of FHA's seller-funded downpayment assistance program, which sunsets on October 1 of this year and (c) new home buyers getting off the fence and taking advantage of the new home buyer tax credit of up to $7,500.
This week's edition of the MAAR Weekly Market Activity Report features updated figures for several key metrics. Days on Market Until Sale dipped slightly to 143 but remains up from last year by 5.8 percent. The Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale increased slightly to 92.7 but remains down from the healthier levels of the past several years. The Housing Affordability Index increased to 151, thanks to falling prices and interest rates.
The Months Supply of Inventory fell to 9.9 months. This means it will take the current crop of properties for sale approximately 9.9 months to completely sell through, given current sales rates. This is dead-even with this time last year, another indication that the market isn't continuing to shift in the buyer's favor anymore for the time being. A balanced market is thought to have a 5- to 6-month supply rate.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Pending Sales Up 27%
Here's the latest from MAAR:
Once again, the big story in this week's activity report is the huge upswing in pending sales activity relative to one year ago. For the week ending August 23, there were 818 pending sales, an increase of 26.8 percent from the same week in 2007. Over the last three weeks, we have now posted 545 more pending sales than over the same three weeks last year.
Part of this year's increase is due to legitimate increases in demand brought about by attractive prices, still-healthy mortgage rates and a "last call" flurry of consumers utilizing FHA's seller-funded downpayment assistance program before it is discontinued on October 1. The other reason for the year-over-year surge is the Valley Fair-esque downward dive that activity took last year at this time amidst the initial media frenzy surrounding the now-infamous "credit crunch."
The supply of homes for sale continues to decrease, now down 7.7 percent from last year. For September, our Supply-Demand Ratio is 9.29, which means there are 9.29 homes for sale for each buyer in the market. This is a hearty 24.2 percent decline from last September and is due to the falling supply and rising demand.
Once again, the big story in this week's activity report is the huge upswing in pending sales activity relative to one year ago. For the week ending August 23, there were 818 pending sales, an increase of 26.8 percent from the same week in 2007. Over the last three weeks, we have now posted 545 more pending sales than over the same three weeks last year.
Part of this year's increase is due to legitimate increases in demand brought about by attractive prices, still-healthy mortgage rates and a "last call" flurry of consumers utilizing FHA's seller-funded downpayment assistance program before it is discontinued on October 1. The other reason for the year-over-year surge is the Valley Fair-esque downward dive that activity took last year at this time amidst the initial media frenzy surrounding the now-infamous "credit crunch."
The supply of homes for sale continues to decrease, now down 7.7 percent from last year. For September, our Supply-Demand Ratio is 9.29, which means there are 9.29 homes for sale for each buyer in the market. This is a hearty 24.2 percent decline from last September and is due to the falling supply and rising demand.
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