By Jim Perskie A pair of housing reports released Tuesday provided fresh insight into the strength of the housing market early in the year – and how the sector is slowly starting to rebound from the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic. The National Association of Realtors reported that 96 percent of the nation’s metro areas experienced price increases in the first quarter, with 174 of 181 markets showing price gains from the same period in 2019. At the same time, Zillow said more houses are coming on to the market in recent weeks after bottoming out last month – though remain far below the 2019 levels. “The first quarter price jumps mostly reflect conditions prior to the coronavirus outbreak…
After a surge in sales the first two months of the year, home prices jumped in March before the coronavirus took hold in the United States. An analysis released Tuesday by analytics firm CoreLogic found that home prices nationally increased 4.5 percent over March 2019 and 1.3 percent over the month before. The increase, however, is expected to slow considerably. The firm’s Home Price Index calls for annual price growth of 0.5 percent between March 2020 and March 2021 – and a 0.6 percent increase in April over March levels. “Home prices for March reflect transactions negotiated primarily in the previous two months, prior to the implementation of the shelter-in-place policies. Rapid decline of purchase activity starting in the middle…
Home sales will drop as much as 60 percent this spring, though home prices should not drop more than 3 percent due to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus, according to a housing forecast released Monday by Zillow. Zillow Chief Economist Svenja Gudell said the recovery is expected to look like a checkmark, with transactions building at a pace of about 10 percent each month through the end of next year. “Much uncertainty still exists, particularly with some states beginning to reopen and experts warning of a possible second wave of the coronavirus in the fall. However, housing fundamentals are strong – much more so than they were leading into the Great Recession – and that bodes well for…
Home sellers are largely holding steady on prices, while buyers are expecting to find better deals amid the coronavirus pandemic. That’s according to the latest survey of members released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors, which found that 76 percent of their clients hadn’t reduced listings to attract buyers. “Nearly 70 percent of Americans have secure employment and those interested in purchasing homes are looking at the enticing mortgage rates,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “One in five potential buyers have dropped out of the market due to job loss concerns, hopes are the massive financial stimulus package can help replace a good portion of lost income until the economy steadily reopens. More home sellers are needed to…
A trio of housing reports released Thursday found that home prices aren’t dropping amid the ever-changing housing market brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, though sales are down. While price increases have slowed, Zillow found that the median list price of homes for sale in the United States was 0.4 percent higher than a year ago as of April 19. List prices were up about 7 percent year over year at this time in 2019. Additionally, the National Association of Realtors says 74 percent of members surveyed say their clients haven’t reduced listing prices to attract buyers. And he Census Bureau also announced Wednesday that new home sales tumbled 15.4 percent in March from February – and 9.5 percent below March…
Home prices in the United States rose 0.7 percent in February over the previous month – and 5.7 percent over a year earlier, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Wednesday. “U.S. house prices posted a strong increase in February,” said Dr. Lynn Fisher, Deputy Director of the Division of Research and Statistics at FHFA. “The growth in home prices coincides with other data showing robust housing market activity in early 2020 preceding the current crisis. House prices had positive monthly gains in every census division. Transactions still do not reflect much, if any, influence from the COVID-19 outbreak as of February.” Seasonally adjusted monthly house price changes from January 2020 to February 2020 were up in all nine census divisions of…
