89% of U.S. Homes Ended 2014 With Equity

Eighty-nine percent of all U.S. properties with a mortgage — or about 44.5 million — had equity by the end of the fourth quarter of 2014, according to CoreLogic.

If home prices rise by 5 percent, an additional 1 million HOME OWNERS currently in negative equity could come back into the black.

The majority of properties with equity are concentrated at the high end of the housing MARKET, according to the report. Ninety-four percent of homes valued at more than $200,000 have equity compared with 84 percent of homes valued less than $200,000.

While more HOME OWNERS are regaining equity overall, the number with negative equity is still high.

"Negative equity continued to be a serious issue for the housing MARKET and the U.S. economy at the end of 2014, with 5.4 million home owners still underwater," says Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "We expect the situation to improve over the course of 2015."

The states with the highest number of properties in negative equity in the fourth quarter were:

Nevada: 24.2%
Florida: 23.2%
Arizona: 18.7%
ILLINOIS: 16.2%
Rhode ISLAND: 15.8%
On the other hand, the following STATES had the most homes with (positive) equity:

Texas: 97.4%
Alaska: 97.2%
Montana: 97%
HAWAII: 96.3%

NORTH Dakota: 96.2%


Source: “CoreLogic Q4 2014 Equity Report,” CoreLogic (MARCH 17, 2015)

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Hilton Head Island Real Estate Market Overview, February 2015

There has been talk of abundant cold and snow this winter (unless you happen to
live in California!). When weather patterns turn bad, like wicked bad, real estate
industry pundits tend to go gloom, assuming that Americans hungry for
homeownership are bothered by a little frozen precipitation. The nation will unfreeze,
inventory is expected to rise and home sales are widely expected to increase. These
are good times, indeed, and many of us now have an enchanting shared experience
that we can walk uphill to school both ways.
New Listings were down 1.5 percent to 474. Pending Sales increased 9.5 percent to
323. Inventory shrank 5.6 percent to 2,300 units.
Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 6.6 percent to $264,250. Days
on Market increased 8.2 percent to 119 days. Months Supply of Inventory was down
5.1 percent to 7.5 months, indicating that demand increased relative to supply.

In national financial news, rumors that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could one day
be a thing of the past have people wondering about the future of the 30-year fixedrate
mortgage. But let's not sound the alarm just yet. A drastic change to lending's
gold standard is certainly not on the immediate horizon. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve
Chair Janet Yellen seems to have no immediate interest in raising interest rates for
the first time since 2006. The economy remains stable, which should keep housing
rolling through the short-named months.

Angelina Singleton Keller Williams Realty

Hilton Head Island & Bluffton

843-290-6513

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Pending Home Sales Surge to 18-Month High

A rise in buyer demand pushed pending home sales upward in January to the highest level since August 2013, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings. All regions across the country posted gains in January, except for the Midwest.

The Pending Home Sales Index rose 1.7 percent in January to a 104.2 reading – 8.4 percent above levels from a year ago.

"Contract activity is convincingly up compared to a year ago despite comparable inventory levels," says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. "The difference this year is the positive factors supporting stronger sales, such as slightly IMPROVING CREDITconditions, more jobs, and slow price growth."

Yun also notes improving conditions for traditional buyers looking to enter the market. All-cash sales and sales to investors are falling, which has created less competition for the traditional buyer who has already been faced with a tight supply of homes for-sale.

"All indications point to modest sales gains as we head into the spring buying season," says Yun. "However, the pace will greatly depend on how much upward pressure the impact of low inventory will have on home prices. Appreciation anywhere near double-digits isn’t healthy or sustainable in the current economic environment."

A Regional Look

Here’s a closer look at the performance of pending home sales across the country in January, according to NAR’s index:

Northeast: the Pending Home Sales Index moved up slightly by 0.1 percent in January to an 84.9 reading. It is 6.9 percent above year ago levels.
Midwest: the index fell 0.7 percent to 99.3 in January; it is 4.2 percent above January 2014.
South: the index rose by the largest amount in the South, up 3.2 percent in January to a reading of 121.9 – the highest since April 2010; the index is 9.7 percent above where it was a year ago.
West: the index climbed 2.2 percent in January to 96.4 and is 11.4 percent above a year ago.

Source: National Association of REALTORS®

Nearly 80% of Housing Markets Are Stabilizing

Nearly 80% of Housing Markets Are Stabilizing

Thirty-eight of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, are now SHOWING an improving three-month trend in housing activity, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Multi-Indicator Market Index. What’s more, 40 of the 50 major metros Freddie Mac tracks are also showing a three-month improving trend.
Yet, Freddie Mac’s national MiMi value stands at 74.9, which still indicates a weak housing market overall. The all-time MiMi high was 121.7, recorded in April 2006; its lowest point was 57.2 in October 2010, when the housing market was at its weakest point. Since its low in 2010, the housing market has rebounded 31 percent.
Freddie Mac’s MiMi index monitors the stability of the nation's housing market by assessing each single-family housing market relative to its long-term stable range. It takes into account such data as home purchase applications, payment-to-income ratios, on-time MORTGAGE PAYMENTS, and the employment market.

Overall, "housing markets are getting back on track,” says Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s deputy chief economist. “The national MiMi improved for the fourth consecutive month. Nearly 80 percent of the state and metro housing markets MiMi tracks are improving or in their stable range of activity. … Low MORTGAGE RATES and moderating house price growth are helping to keep payment-to-income ratios favorable for the typical family in most of the country. In fact, Los Angeles is the only metro market with an elevated MiMi payment-to-income indicator whereas most other markets remain quite affordable. And of course, labor markets are generally improving.”

The most improving states on a year-over-year basis, according to the index, were:

Nevada
Colorado
Rhode Island
Illinois
Ohio
Meanwhile, the most improving metros year-over-year were:

Las Vegas
Denver
Chicago
Providence, R.I.
Columbus, Ohio

Source: “U.S. Housing Stability Improves for Fourth Consecutive Month,” Freddie Mac (Feb. 25, 2015)

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Income Increases Boosting Housing Optimism

The number of households saying their income is significantly higher than it was a year ago is on the rise, as is the number expecting their financial situation to continue to move significantly higher over the next year — both reaching all-time survey highs in Fannie Mae’s January 2015 National Housing Survey, a poll of 1,000 Americans’ attitudes toward owning and renting a home.

Twenty-nine percent of households say their income is “significantly higher” now than it was 12 months ago. Also, 48 percent say they expect their personal financial situation to improve over the next year.

The increases in income are translating into higher optimism about the housing market. The number of households who said it was a good time to buy a home rose 3 percentage points in January to 67 percent, according to the survey. Also, the share of households who say they’d rather buy than rent if they were to move rose 5 percentage points to 66 percent, marking the first increase since September 2014, the survey shows. What’s more, 44 percent of households now say it’s a good time to sell, tying an all-time survey high.

"Consumers are as positive about their personal finances at the start of 2015 as they have been since we launched the National Housing Survey in 2010, and this optimism seems to be spilling over into housing market attitudes," says Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. "Consumers are more optimistic about the environment both for buying and for selling a home today, and the share who plan to own on their next move has jumped back up, reversing a three-month trend toward renting. … Overall, these are good signs to start off 2015 and are consistent with our expectation that strengthening employment and economic activity will boost the speed of the housing recovery."

Additional findings from Fannie Mae’s January survey include:

The majority of households believe home prices will rise over the next year, an average of 2.5 percent over the next 12 months.
45 percent of respondents say they believe mortgage rates will also rise over the next year, falling by 3 percentage points compared to one month earlier.
52 percent of respondents believe home rental prices will rise over the next year — a slight decrease month over month. The average 12-month rental price expectation fell to 3.6 percent.

Source: “Consumers’ Positive Financial Attitudes a Good Sign for Housing,” Fannie Mae (Feb. 9, 2015)