Existing-Home Sales Increased 2.0 Percent In May
Sales of existing-home sales increased in May with buyers responding to lower home prices, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – increased 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate 1 of 4.99 million units in May from a level of 4.89 million in April, but are 15.9 percent below the 5.93 million-unit pace in May 2007.
U.S. Home Prices Fall 0.8% From March To April
U.S. home prices fell 0.8 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis from March to April, according to OFHEO’s monthly House Price Index. For the 12 months ending in April, U.S. prices fell 4.6 percent. As April 2007 was the peak of the monthly HPI, 4.6 percent is also the total fall from the peak.
For the nine Census Divisions, seasonally-adjusted monthly price changes from March to April ranged from -2.0 percent in the Pacific Census Division (which includes Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and California) to 0.9 percent in the East South Central Division (which includes Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama).
Slow Economic Growth Is Lowering Demand For Commercial Space
Commercial real estate vacancies are trending up modestly, while investment has dropped sharply in the wake of the credit crunch, according to preliminary information for the latest COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE OUTLOOK* of the National Association of Realtors®.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said economic weakness is impacting commercial real estate. “Although the supply-demand fundamentals are broadly favorable in most commercial real estate markets, vacancy rates are rising modestly and rent gains are slowing,” he said. “Slow economic growth is lowering demand for commercial space, mostly in the office and industrial sectors. Despite the slowdown, the commercial real estate market is in much better shape compared to conditions during the 2001 recession.”
U.S. Home Foreclosure Activity Increases 7% In May
RealtyTrac®, today released its May 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 261,255 properties during the month, a 7 percent increase from the previous month and a 48 percent increase from May 2007. The report also shows one in every 483 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the month, the highest monthly foreclosure rate since RealtyTrac began issuing the report in January 2005.
Pending Home Sales Index Up 6.3% In April But Down 13.1% From April 2007
A modest gain in the level of home sales is possible over the next couple months, and an improvement is forecast for the second half of this year as more buyers are able to access affordable mortgages, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®.
The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in April, rose 6.3 percent to 88.2 from a reading of 83.0 in March. It’s the highest index since last October, but remains 13.1 percent lower than April 2007 when it stood at 101.5.
Percentage Of Mortgage Loans In The Foreclosure Process Reaches 2.47 Percent
The seasonally adjusted delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties stood at 6.35 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the first quarter of 2008 on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis, up 53 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2007, and up 151 basis points from one year ago, according to MBA’s National Delinquency Survey.The delinquency rate includes loans that are at least one payment past due but does not include loans in the process of foreclosure. The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process was 2.47 percent at the end of the first quarter, an increase of 43 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2007 and 119 basis points from one year ago.