Housing starts to regain ground in November 2009

Nationwide housing production rose 8.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 574,000 units in November 2009

RISMEDIA, December 18, 2009—Nationwide housing production rose 8.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 574,000 units in November 2009, according to figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department. The gain represented a partial bounce-back from an exceptionally slow month for housing activity in October, and was largely attributed to a big increase on the multifamily side.

“The fact that both starts and permits for new housing production rose last month is a good sign that we’re headed in the right direction, albeit slowly, on the road to a housing recovery,” said Joe Robson, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. “That said, the November improvement was primarily on the multifamily side, and poor job markets and other economic factors are still keeping many potential buyers on the fence for the time being.”

“Home builders remain very cautious about starting new homes, and overall housing production is still down on a three-month average basis,” noted NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “Understandably, it will take some time for the newly extended and expanded home buyer tax credit to start boosting sales in individual markets–just as it did the last time such an incentive was enacted. However, the fact that permits increased in November is a hopeful indication that the desired impact of the tax credit on housing demand may be forthcoming early in 2010. In the meantime, credit for new housing production remains extremely difficult to come by, posing significant obstacles to builders with viable projects.”

Single-family housing starts made up some of the ground they lost in October, posting a modest 2.1% gain to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 482,000 units in November. Meanwhile, multifamily starts rebounded from an all-time record low in the previous month with a 67.3% gain to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 92,000 units in November.

Gains in housing production were registered across all regions of the country in November, with a 16.4% increase in the Northeast, a 3% gain in the Midwest, a 12.3% increase in the South and a nearly 2% gain in the West.

Permit issuance, which can be an indicator of future building activity, rose 6% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 584,000 units, its highest level in a year. Single-family permits rose 5.3% to 473,000 units, while multifamily permits rose 8.8% to 111,000 units.

Three out of four regions posted gains in housing permits for November, with a 4.7% increase reported in the Northeast, a 10.7% increase posted in the South, and a 2.7% gain registered in the West. The Midwest posted a 1.9% decline.

For more information, visit http://www.nahb.org.

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Posted by Mark Gipple on 12/18/2009 in Kansas City Market, — Add a Comment

House Prices Increase Slightly in 3rd Qtr 2009

U.S. house prices rose modestly in the third quarter of 2009 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA)

RISMEDIA, November 25, 2009—U.S. house prices rose modestly in the third quarter of 2009 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index (HPI). The HPI, calculated using home sales price information from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-acquired mortgages, was 0.2% higher on a seasonally adjusted basis in the third quarter than in the second quarter of 2009. Over the past year, seasonally adjusted prices fell 3.8% from the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2009.

FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for September 2009 was unchanged from August. The monthly change for the July-to-August period was revised to -0.5%, from an initial estimate of -0.3%. “These data provide some evidence of short-term stabilization in housing prices, a likely result of the many ongoing efforts to stabilize markets,” said DeMarco. “Given the headwinds facing markets across the country, including high unemployment rates and continued high levels of delinquency and foreclosures, the longer-term view remains uncertain.”

While the national, purchase-only house price index fell 3.8% from the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2009, prices of other goods and services fell 2.8%. Accordingly, the inflation-adjusted price of houses fell approximately 1.0% over the latest year.

Unlike the FHFA purchase-only index, FHFA’s all-transactions house price index, which includes data from mortgages used for both home purchases and refinancings, fell over the latest quarter. The index declined 2.4% in the latest quarter and 4.1% over the four-quarter period.

Additional findings include:
-Of the nine Census Divisions, the Mountain and Pacific Divisions, both in the Western U.S., experienced the most significant price movements in the latest quarter. Prices fell 1.4% in the Mountain Division, while prices increased 1.9% in the Pacific Division.

-Seasonally adjusted, purchase-only indexes indicate that prices rose in the latest quarter in 19 states and Washington, D.C. Prices rose over the latest four quarters in only seven states.

-The purchase-only index for California rose 2.1% between the second and third quarters of this year.

-Of the purchase-only indexes for the 25 most-populated metropolitan areas in the U.S., four-quarter price declines were greatest in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ Metropolitan Statistical Area. In that area, prices declined 22.0% between the third quarters of 2008 and 2009. Prices held up best in the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO Metropolitan Area, where prices rose 3.3% over that period.

Read more: http://rismedia.com/2009-11-24/house-prices-increase-slightly-in-third-quarter-2009-first-quarterly-increase-since-second-quarter-2007/#more-42152#ixzz0Xzssf9Nj

Posted by Mark Gipple on 11/26/2009 in Kansas City Market, — Add a Comment

Choosing a New Path

I understand there's more to buying or selling a home than getting from point A to point B and obvious formalities

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Posted by Mark Gipple on 07/01/2009 in Kansas City Market, — Add a Comment