Home Market News Archives - Page 32 of 43

Housing Recovery Picks Up Steam According to WSJ

June 2, 2016 By Troy Stavros

Yesterday, I ran a post quoting major housing experts on the increasing strength of the U.S. housing market. I was pleasantly surprised that, on the same day, the Wall Street Journal decided to run a front page story titled, “Housing Recovery Picks Up Steam” (article available to WSJ subscribers).

The first paragraph of the article says it best:

“Home prices are back to near-record highs across the U.S. amid rising demand and supply constraints, a sign that the lopsided housing-market recovery of the past five years is gaining some strength.” (emphasis added).

What about the struggles in the economy?

Some openly question how the real estate market can be gaining ground if the overall economy is still struggling. According to the WSJ, it is:

“Despite the unbalanced recovery, Federal Reserve officials have seen housing as a bright spot for the U.S. economy in recent years. Residential construction has contributed to overall economic output for eight straight quarters, expanding at a 17% annual rate in a first quarter marked by slow growth in other sectors.”

Bottom Line

The housing market is gaining strength and all indicators point to an even stronger real estate market moving forward.

Interested in talking more about buying or selling a home? Contact me, Troy Stavros with Gables & Gates, REALTORS today and let’s set up a time to sit down and talk!

VIDEO: Shaping Up To Be A Great Year For Real Estate!

April 2, 2016 By Troy Stavros

VIDEO: Some of the housing headlines are causing concern for some consumers who are in the process of either buying or selling a home. Pundits are concerned over the lack of new construction or the month-over-month sales numbers. Let’s set the record straight; 2015 was a good year for residential real estate in the United States and 2016 is starting out stronger.

Here is a graph of total homes sold (new construction and existing homes) in the first two months in 2016 compared to last year:

Will this momentum continue?

If we look at foot traffic (the number of purchasers currently out looking at homes), we can see that the spring buying market has started early and all indicators point to the fact that we may have the best spring in over a decade.

Bottom Line

The 2016 housing market started out well and looks to be gaining steam. If you are thinking of buying or selling a home, now may be a great time.

SPRING 2016 Real Estate Guides Ready for Download!

March 30, 2016 By Troy Stavros

My Spring 2016 Real Estate Guides are done and ready to be downloaded. Feel free to share with your friends and family and as always, don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or if I can help you in any way. You know I’m always here for you! CLICK HERE for the guides: http://vid.us/or55yo Thanks for visiting! Troy Stavros, Gables & Gates, REALTORS 865-777-9191.

Home Sales Up Year Over Year (INFOGRAPHIC)

March 25, 2016 By Troy Stavros

Some Highlights

This is the 48th consecutive month with year-over-year price gains.
Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist says that, “The main issue continues to be a supply & affordability problem. Finding the right property at an affordable price is burdening many potential buyers.”
Inventory is still below historic norms at a 4.4 month supply.

Existing Home Sales Jump in December

January 26, 2016 By Troy Stavros

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) just released their latest Existing Home Sales Report on Friday. Sales of existing homes rose by the largest increase ever recorded as they rebounded 14.7% over November’s numbers and now stand at 7.7% higher than a year ago.

While this is great news for the housing market, there is one big reason for such a large increase in sales. As I explained last month, the implementation of the “Know Before You Owe” (TRID) initiative delayed some closings, pushing a portion of November’s scheduled transactions into December.

“December’s rebound in sales is reason for cautious optimism that the work to prepare for ‘Know Before You Owe’ is paying off,” says NAR PresidentTom Salomone.

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist, had this to say about the surge in December sales:

“While the carryover of November’s delayed transactions into December contributed greatly to the sharp increase, the overall pace taken together indicates sales these last two months maintained the healthy level of activity seen in most of 2015. Additionally, the prospect of higher mortgage rates in coming months and warm November and December weather allowed more homes to close before the end of the year.”

The most important information to come out of the report is the fact that national inventory of existing homes for sale dropped dramatically from a 5.1-month supply in November to the lowest figure since January 2005, at a 3.9-month supply.

A normal market, where prices rise with inflation, is defined as having a 6-7-month supply of homes for sale. As you can see in the chart below, inventory levels in 2015 were at or below a 5.2-month supply for the entire year.

If inventory levels do not recover, this could be a challenge for sales moving forward, as buyer demand remains strong and competition for the homes that are on the market continues to rise.

Bottom Line

If you are considering listing your home for sale in 2016, now is the time! With inventory levels at their lowest mark in over 10 years, listing your home for sale now will give you the most exposure to buyers and allow you to get the best price for your home.

To discuss listing your home for sale or if you just want an idea of the current market value of your home contact me, Troy Stavros with Gables & Gates, REALTORS at 865-999-0925 via phone or text message. For an instant estimate on what your Knoxville area home is worth CLICK HERE.

Home Sales Reportedly Dropped Last Month. Is That Accurate?

December 28, 2015 By Troy Stavros

Last week, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their latest Existing Home Sales Report which covered sales in November. The report revealed that sales:

“…fell 10.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.76 million in November (lowest since April 2014 at 4.75 million)…”

That report gave birth to a series of industry articles, some questioning whether the housing market was slowing. The truth is, there is one rather simple explanation to much of the falloff in sales last month. It is likely the implementation of the “Know Before You Owe” mortgage rule, commonly known as the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule, which went into effect on October 3. These regulations caused house closings to be delayed by an extra three days in November as shown in the graph below.

Three days might not sound like a big deal. However, since there are only aabout 20 days in a month that a closing would normally take place (Mondays through Fridays), losing three days constitutes well over 10% of all closings. These sales aren’t lost, they’ve just moved into the next month’s numbers. In a DS News article on the subject yesterday, Auction.com EVP Rick Sharga explained:

“The most likely cause for the weak sales numbers is a delay in processing loans due to the new TRID mortgage requirements imposed by the CFPB. This is the biggest change in mortgage document processing in many years, and there have been numerous reports within the industry of problems implementing the process and the new documentation that comes with it.”

So how is the housing market actually doing?

A better way to look at how well the housing market is doing, is to look at the Foot Traffic Report from NAR, which quantifies the number of prospective buyers that are actively looking for a home at the current time:

We can see immediately that demand to buy single family homes is increasing over the last few months – not decreasing.

What does this mean for you?

No matter what last month’s sales numbers show, the housing market is still doing well as demand remains strong.