Harvard: Underlying housing fundamentals still strong

"The seeds of a housing recovery have already been planted, according to a report released Monday. In fact, many of them were sown starting around 1979.

According to an annual state of the nation's housing from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, once the U.S. emerges from recession, strong demographic trends will restore health to the housing market. The key is echo boomers, the 75 million Americans born between 1979 and 1995.

'There will be 5 million more echo boomers than there were boomers when they first started swelling housing markets,' said Eric Belsky, executive director of the Joint Center."

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Harvard: Underlying housing fundamentals still strong

Number of Active & Sold Listings in the Phoenix-Metro Area (6/28/2009)

I will be posting the number of active listings in ARMLS (Arizona Regional Multiple Listing System) covering the Phoenix-Metro Area each week. Check back each week to see the updated numbers:

Total Active Listings - 32,540 (-381)

Single Family Detached - 24,956 (-323)
Patio homes - 763
Townhouses - 2,621
Apartment Style - 2,497
Gemini/Twin Homes - 278
Manufactured/Mobile Housing - 1,230
Modular/Pre-fab - 36
Loft Style - 159

Total Sold Listings (2009) - 42,910 (+4126)

Single Family Detached - 38,447 (+1785)
Patio homes - 475
Townhouses - 1937
Apartment Style - 1312
Gemini/Twin Homes - 240
Manufactured/Mobile Housing - 439
Modular/Pre-fab - 8
Loft Style - 52

Existing home sales rise 2.4% in May

"Existing home sales rose in May, as increasingly affordable home prices and a first-time tax credit attracted hesitant buyers.

The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales ticked up 2.4% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.77 million units compared to the downwardly-revised rate of 4.66 million in April.

The sales missed expert forecasts of 4.82 million annual units, according to a consensus estimate of analysts compiled by Briefing.com, and are off 3.6% from the 4.95 million-unit pace 12 months ago."

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Existing home sales rise 2.4% in May

Making sweet foreclosure deals even better

"Home prices are at their most affordable in many years, which has opened up homeownership to many who had been locked out during the housing boom. And now, the federal government -- and many states - are launching plans to hook up buyers of repossessed properties with very attractive terms.

The feds made nearly $6 billion available for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which intends to combat blight by reducing the number of foreclosed homes on the market.

The money, which has only started to flow during the past few weeks despite much of it being authorized last summer, will go to state and local housing authorities and non-profit organizations involved in providing housing for middle- and low-income families."

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Making sweet foreclosure deals even better

Number of Active & Sold Listings in the Phoenix-Metro Area (6/21/2009)

I will be posting the number of active listings in ARMLS (Arizona Regional Multiple Listing System) covering the Phoenix-Metro Area each week. Check back each week to see the updated numbers:

Total Active Listings - 32,921 (-498)

Single Family Detached - 25,279 (-402)
Patio homes - 767
Townhouses - 2,665
Apartment Style - 2,505
Gemini/Twin Homes - 277
Manufactured/Mobile Housing - 1,228
Modular/Pre-fab - 36
Loft Style - 164

Total Sold Listings (2009) - 38,784 (+2093)

Single Family Detached - 36,662 (+1871)
Patio homes - 450
Townhouses - 1826
Apartment Style - 1236
Gemini/Twin Homes - 230
Manufactured/Mobile Housing - 415
Modular/Pre-fab - 8
Loft Style - 50

Mortgage rates retreat - 30-year slips to 5.76% - Jun. 18, 2009

"Home mortgage rates sank sharply last week, retreating from a recent run-up that peaked the previous week. The 30-year fixed slipped to 5.76% from 5.95%, according to a report released Thursday.

The average 15-year mortgage rate also fell, tipping to 5.19% from 5.37% the week prior, according to a weekly national survey from Bankrate.com.

That's a retreat from a long run-up in recent weeks, pulled by bonds, the report noted. Mortgage rates are often influenced by Treasury yields. In particular, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate tends to track the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield. Bond yields have eased somewhat from recent highs."

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Mortgage rates retreat - 30-year slips to 5.76%

Foreclosures fuel home stripping by ex-owners

"When Surprise police arrested a man for stripping his foreclosed home of a dishwasher, oven and air-conditioning units last week, officials highlighted a rash of problems that have gone largely unsolved across the Valley.

Despite hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of similar offenses in the Phoenix area, authorities believe the Tuesday arrest of Roberto Garcia, who was arrested on charges of criminal damage and defrauding a secured creditor, is part of only a handful of its kind in the Valley since the start of the housing crisis.

Police, neighbors and task-force officers have reported finding homes in the process of foreclosure without toilets, bathtubs and even spiral staircases."

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Foreclosures fuel home stripping by ex-owners

Number of Active & Sold Listings in the Phoenix-Metro Area (6/14/2009)

I will be posting the number of active listings in ARMLS (Arizona Regional Multiple Listing System) covering the Phoenix-Metro Area each week. Check back each week to see the updated numbers:

Total Active Listings - 33,419 (-603)

Single Family Detached - 25,681 (-505)
Patio homes - 771
Townhouses - 2,708
Apartment Style - 2,530
Gemini/Twin Homes - 290
Manufactured/Mobile Housing - 1,228
Modular/Pre-fab - 37
Loft Style - 174

Total Sold Listings (2009) - 38,784 (+1712)

Single Family Detached - 34,791 (+1521)
Patio homes - 431
Townhouses - 1715
Apartment Style - 1170
Gemini/Twin Homes - 217
Manufactured/Mobile Housing - 405
Modular/Pre-fab - 8
Loft Style - 47

Mortgage rates soar, led by bond yields - 30-year at 5.95%

"Home mortgage rates jumped in the most recent week, pulled higher by skyrocketing Treasury yields.

The average 30-year fixed rate soared to 5.95% from 5.45% last week, according to a weekly national survey from Bankrate.com.

The 30-year rate is often influenced by the benchmark 10-year bond, which has increased steadily to hover around 4% recently compared to 2% just six months ago. Investors worry that this has re-ignited inflation fears and threaten the potential for economic recovery."

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Mortgage rates soar, led by bond yields - 30-year at 5.95%

Number of Active & Sold Listings in the Phoenix-Metro Area (6/7/2009)

I will be posting the number of active listings in ARMLS (Arizona Regional Multiple Listing System) covering the Phoenix-Metro Area each week. Check back each week to see the updated numbers:

Total Active Listings - 34,022 (-839)

Single Family Detached - 26,186 (-713)
Patio homes - 799
Townhouses - 2,743
Apartment Style - 2,568
Gemini/Twin Homes - 289
Manufactured/Mobile Housing - 1,229
Modular/Pre-fab - 36
Loft Style - 172

Total Sold Listings (2009) - 37,072 (+1709)

Single Family Detached - 33,270 (+1513)
Patio homes - 417
Townhouses - 1633
Apartment Style - 1099
Gemini/Twin Homes - 205
Manufactured/Mobile Housing - 394
Modular/Pre-fab - 9
Loft Style - 45

Pending home sales rise 6.7 percent in April

"Pending U.S. home sales in April posted the biggest monthly jump in nearly eight years, a sign that home sales are finally coming to life after a long and painful slump.

The National Association of Realtors says its seasonally adjusted index of sales contracts signed in April rose 6.7 percent to 90.3. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the index would edge up to 85 from a reading of 84.6 in March. It was the biggest monthly jump since October 2001."

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Pending home sales rise 6.7 percent in April

First-time homebuyers can get short-term loans for $8,000 tax credit

"Thousands of first-time homebuyers will be able to get short-term loans so they can quickly make use of a new $8,000 tax credit.

The Federal Housing Administration on Friday released details of a plan in which borrowers who use FHA loans can receive the credit before they complete their taxes.

The FHA had no estimate of how many borrowers would qualify. But the agency, which backs about a quarter of new-home loans, is projected to guarantee about 2.2 million loans in the next budget year."

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First-time homebuyers can get short-term loans for $8,000 tax credit

FBI cracks down on foreclosed-home strippers

"Despite efforts to stop them, former owners of foreclosed homes are stripping and plundering the houses and frustrating hard-working neighbors who watch helplessly as property values fall.

Northeast Valley resident Stacey Huscher was stunned when a former neighbor brought in a crane earlier this month to remove a hot tub from the backyard of his foreclosed home.

'It's making the whole real-estate nightmare even worse,' she said of home strippers."

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FBI cracks down on foreclosed-home strippers

The $4 trillion housing headache

"House prices are taking a long ride in the wayback machine. Unfortunately, Americans' housing-related debt isn't going anywhere fast.

Prices in big U.S. cities posted their biggest-ever decline in the first quarter, according to the most recent S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price index. After nearly three years of declines, house prices nationwide are back at 2002 levels -- and still falling.

Yet as bad as that is for overburdened homeowners and their bankers, the mighty mountain of mortgage debt Americans have taken on is an even bigger concern - especially for those who believe an economic recovery is in sight."

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The $4 trillion housing headache