City Lakes November Showings It’s easy to get overwhelmed by real estate statistics — even for professionals. For starters, there’s monthly sales data; “pending” sales data (under contract, but not closed); median and average sale prices; number of active listings (inventory), etc. Those data are available locally, regionally, and nationally. Further complicating matters: different “scorekeepers”...Read More
Big Bump in July Housing Sales The federal government’s $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers appears to be doing its job: according to NAR, sales of single-family homes increased 7.2% in July from a month earlier. So, what will happen come Nov. 30, when the credit is set to expire? I’m hearing — and...Read More
Barry Ritholtz Talk I’m in NY the next few days, mainly to serve as a chaperone to a few kids (at least they’re my own!). However, I did manage to break away to hear Barry Ritholtz, of The Big Picture blog (see, my Blog Roll) at a midtown Barnes & Noble. Or, more accurately, see...Read More
January Numbers: Down 7.7% According to the National Association of Realtors (“NAR”), pending home sales fell 7.7% in January. A home sale is considered “Pending” once the inspection contingency is removed, but before the Buyer’s financing is finalized and the title is transferred at closing. In a typical deal locally, the interval between a “Pending”...Read More
Underwater . . vs. Drowned According to The New York Times, “about $500 billion in mortgage debt is already underwater” (“Bailout Likely to Focus on Most Afflicted Homeowners“). That’s realtor-speak for a house being worth less than the mortgage against it. Unfortunately, based on my calculations, that number appears to be conservative. Using industry statistics,...Read More
Foreclosures Explain Latest Housing Price DropThe most recent batch of housing statistics — from S&P/Case-Shiller and NAR — show that housing prices are continuing to fall nationally. Depending on how you slice and dice the market (sale pairs, top 20 markets vs. all markets, all homes vs. those under $417k, etc.), the year-over-year annual decline...Read More
