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Dallas Real Estate Blog 
Spring Housing Market Remains On Track
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013 at 11:02am. 27 Views, 0 Comments.
New single-family home sales have grown to a seasonally adjusted rate of
417,000 units, a 1.5% increase according to the Commerce Department. New home
inventory has also seen an increase, growing 2.0% with a total of 153,000 units.
Sales have jumped 18.5% from this time last year while prices have also
experienced a 3.0% increase. Experts expect home prices to continue to rise as
inventory remains below average, but is expected to inch closer to average
levels as the spring season continues. More here
Report Forecasts Continued Gains For Housing Market
Wednesday, April 17th, 2013 at 9:32am. 28 Views, 0 Comments.
A recent report from Fitch Ratings
forecasts continued gains for the housing market through the end of the year.
According to the report, modest growth in the economy, combined with fewer
distressed sales and higher rental costs, will lead to continued improvement in
both housing starts and home sales.
Fitch predicts housing starts will end the
year up 19 percent, new home sales will increase 19.5 percent, and existing-home
sales will post a 8.5 percent gain. They also expect home prices to continue to
increase with additional gains in 2013. Despite their optimistic outlook, they
caution that, though recent data suggests the housing recovery has taken hold,
there are still a number of looming challenges that could…
Existing Home Sales Rise 11 Percent From Last Year
Wednesday, April 17th, 2013 at 9:28am. 35 Views, 0 Comments.
Sales of previously owned homes
slipped 1.7 percent in January but remain 11.0 percent above year-before
levels, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. Total
existing-home sales, which include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums,
and co-ops, fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.75 million from an
upwardly revised 4.83 million in November.
Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist,
said the overall trend is upward and, despite month-to-month setbacks, we're
experiencing a genuine recovery. According to Yun, more people are attempting to
buy homes and recent price increases are not deterring buyer interest. The
national median existing-home price for all housing types was $183,900, up…
Home Price Trends Point To Further Increases
Wednesday, April 17th, 2013 at 9:23am. 32 Views, 0 Comments.
If the current year-to-date price
trend continues, 2012 will be the first year that home prices have increased
since 2006. Trulia's Price Monitor, which is among the earliest leading
indicators of price trends, shows September asking prices were up 2.5 percent
year-over-year and increased 3.5 percent when excluding foreclosures.
Jed Kolko,
Trulia's chief economist, said prices are recovering across the country with the
strongest gains seen where job growth has boosted demand and declining inventory
has lead to tighter supply. States where prices saw significant gains include
Nevada, Florida, Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, and Virginia. More here.
Housing Starts Up 15 Percent In March
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013 at 8:33pm. 35 Views, 0 Comments.
Estimates released by the U.S.
Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development show housing
starts and building permits both surged in March. Privately-owned housing
starts jumped 15 percent above the revised December estimate of 758,000 to a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000. The improvement puts new residential
construction 34.8 percent above last year's level.
Additionally, single-family
housing starts were up 11 percent for the month. Building permits, which are an
indicator of future activity, also saw large gains in March. Permits were up
11.6 percent for the month and are now 45.1 percent above last March's
estimate. Single-family authorizations rose 6.7 percent. More here and…
Mortgage Purchase Activity Hits Four Month High
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013 at 8:26pm. 29 Views, 0 Comments.
According to the Mortgage Bankers
Association's Weekly Applications Survey, the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index
rose 1.0 percent last week, reaching its highest level since October. But despite
the gains in purchase activity, the Market Composite Index, which measures both
refinance and purchase loan volume, fell 4.2 percent due to a 5.0 percent slide
in the Refinance Index.
Still, the refinance share of all mortgage activity was
82 percent. Mortgage rates also rose slightly last week. The average contract
interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances
increased to 3.57 percent from 3.56 percent the previous week. The week's
results include an adjustment for the Easter holiday.…
Builder Confidence Up For Sixth Straight Month
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013 at 7:40pm. 37 Views, 0 Comments.
The National Association of Home
Builders Housing Market Index measures builder confidence in the market for new,
single-family homes on a scale where any number above 50 indicates more builders
view the market as good than poor. In March, the index increased to 41. It was
the sixth straight month of gains and put confidence at its highest level since
June 2006. Barry Rutenberg, NAHB's chairman, said many builders are reporting
increases in the number of serious buyers visiting their sales offices and the
overall confidence measure is much higher than it was a year ago.
March's
gains were driven by a five point increase in the component measuring traffic of
prospective buyers, which rose to its strongest reading…
Why Dallas is the most affordable place to live in the U.S.
Tuesday, March 26th, 2013 at 11:58am. 80 Views, 0 Comments.
A recent article came out in the Dallas business journal that shows why the Dallas Housing market is out preforming all other markets. If you're from outside the Dallas Real Estate area and would like additional information for the Plano Real Estate, Frisco Real Estate or McKinney Real Estate markets please feel free to contact Dream Realty for all of your real estate needs.
Here is the article - Dallas Most Affodtable in US
Americans Optimistic About The Economy, Housing Market
Tuesday, March 26th, 2013 at 11:41am. 53 Views, 0 Comments.
The results of Fannie Mae's
September 2012 National Housing Survey show consumers' optimism about the
economy and housing market continued to climb as the summer season wound down.
Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist of Fannie Mae, said
consumers are showing increasing faith in the housing recovery due to improved
home-price expectations, gains in the job market, and low mortgage rates.
Among
the highlights of the survey, 41 percent of respondents said the economy is on
the right track, which is the highest level ever recorded and an 8.0 percent
jump from the month before. Also, home-price expectations remained positive for
the eleventh straight month, with 37 percent of Americans…
Foreclosure Activity Falls To Five Year Low
Tuesday, March 26th, 2013 at 11:37am. 46 Views, 0 Comments.
In September, foreclosure filings
were reported on 180,427 properties, down 7.0 percent from August and 16 percent
below last year's level. September's total was the lowest since July 2007 and
helped lower third-quarter foreclosure numbers 5.0 percent from the second
quarter and 13 percent from the third quarter of 2011.
The numbers, from
RealtyTrac's U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, show it was the ninth straight
quarter with an annual decrease in foreclosure activity. Daren Blomquist,
RealtyTrac's vice president, said analysts have been waiting for the other
foreclosure shoe to drop but instead it's being carefully lowered to the floor,
making little noise in the housing market at a national level. More here.
