Wednesday, March 28, 2012

February Las Vegas Region Press Release

Las Vegas Region February Home Sales

The number of homes sold in the Las Vegas area rose last month to the highest level for a February in six years, with new-home transactions at a four-year high and resale activity the strongest since 2005. The median price paid for a home in the region edged up slightly from January, while the median’s year-over-year decline was the smallest in a year, a real estate information service reported.
 
In February, 4,240 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area (Clark County). That was up 5.0 percent from January and up 8.9 percent from February 2011, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.
 
An increase in sales between January and February is normal. On average, sales have risen 5.6 percent between those two months since 1994, when DataQuick’s complete Las Vegas region statistics begin. The sales tally for this February got a boost from the leap year, which added one extra business day to the month.
 
In February, 3,744 homes resold (excludes newly built homes), up 5.1 percent year-over-year. It was the 14th consecutive month in which resales have posted an annual gain, and marked the highest number of February resales since 3,875 sold in February 2005.
 
February’s 496 sales of newly-built homes represented a 51.2 percent year-over-year increase. It was the highest new-home total for a February since 2008, when 911 new homes closed escrow. The average number of new homes sold in the month of February since 1994 is 1,351. New-home sales have risen year-over-year for eight consecutive months.
 
Total February sales were 11.5 percent higher than the average number of homes sold in that month since 1994, while resale activity was 52.7 percent above average for a February.
 
Continuing a months-long trend, February sales were strongest in the lower price ranges. The number of transactions below $100,000 rose 18.9 percent compared with a year earlier and represented 42.8 percent of all deals, compared with 39.2 percent of all sales in February 2011. The number of February 2012 sales below $200,000 rose 11.2 percent year-over-year. February sales above $300,000 rose 1.1 percent compared with a year ago, while sales above $500,000 rose 4.4 percent.
 
The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Las Vegas metro area in February was $112,000, up 1.8 percent from $110,000 in January and down 5.9 percent from $119,000 in February 2011. (The January 2012 median was the lowest since the median was also $110,000 in April 1994.) Last month’s figure was 64.1 percent below the November 2006 peak of $312,000. The median sale price has fallen on a year-over-year basis for 17 consecutive months. The median’s 5.9 percent year-over-year decline in February was the smallest for any month since February 2011, when it fell 5.7 percent.
 
The median’s recent decline to levels not seen since the mid 1990s can be attributed to several factors: home price depreciation; robust sales of low-cost foreclosures; robust sales to investors, who mainly target low-cost properties; relatively low new-home sales (new homes tend to sell for more than resale homes); and higher-than-usual condo resales (condos tend to be the least expensive homes).
 
February's new-home sales represented 11.7 percent of all transactions, compared with a monthly average of about 28 percent of all sales over the last decade. February’s condo sales represented 18.6 percent of total Las Vegas sales, compared with a 10-year monthly average of about 14 percent.
 
An alternative home-price gauge – the median paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses – inched up in February to $65, up 1.6 percent from January and down 7.1 percent from a year earlier. (January’s figure was the lowest since at least 1994.) Last month’s median paid per square foot was 65.8 percent lower than the peak $190 paid per square foot in May and June 2006.
 
Cash buyers purchased 52.9 percent of the Las Vegas-area homes that sold in February. That was down from a cash-buyer share of 53.7 percent of total sales in January and down from a record 56.7 percent a year earlier. Cash purchases are where there is no sign of a corresponding purchase mortgage in the public record.
 
February’s cash buyers paid a median $84,500, up from $80,000 in January and down from $90,242 a year earlier.
 
Absentee buyers – mainly investors and vacation-home buyers – purchased a near-record 48.2 percent of all Las Vegas-area homes sold in February. That compares with 49.1 percent in January and 49.7 percent a year earlier. The record was 49.9 percent in March last year. Absentee buyers paid a median $90,000 in February, the same as in January and down from $97,563 a year earlier. Absentee buyers are those who indicated at the time of sale that the property tax bill will go to a different address.
 
Distressed property sales – the combination of foreclosure resales and “short sales” – made up nearly two-thirds of the Las Vegas resale market last month.
 
Foreclosure resales – homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 48.7 percent of Las Vegas resale activity in February. That was down from 52.6 percent in January and 56.7 percent a year ago. Foreclosure resales peaked at 73.7 percent of the resale market in April 2009. Last month’s figure was the lowest since foreclosure resales made up 45.2 percent of the resale market in June 2010.
 
Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 14.7 percent of the resale market last month. That compares with an estimated 13.9 percent the prior month and 14.0 percent a year ago.
 
In the wake of a new Nevada law that creates additional requirements for lenders trying to foreclose on properties, the number of notices of default (“NODs”) filed in Clark County plummeted in recent months. In February, lenders filed 914 NODs, down 12.8 percent from the 1,048 filed in January and down 84.2 percent from the 5,793 NODs filed in February 2011. The notice of default is the first step in the formal foreclosure process.

The number of homes lost to foreclosure in the Las Vegas region in February fell to 1,723, down 12.1 percent from January and down 26.7 percent from a year earlier. So far this year, lenders have foreclosed on 3,683 single-family house and condo units, down 26.5 percent from the same two-month period last year.
Full chart available at DQNews.com.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Thursday, March 15, 2012

February California Home Sale Press Release

California February Home Sales

March 15, 2012

An estimated 29,630 new and resale houses and condos were sold across California last month. That was up 5.4 percent from 28,111 in January, and up 8.5 percent from 27,320 in February 2011.
 
A slight increase in sales from January to February is normal for the season. Last month's sales were the strongest for a February since 31,228 homes were sold in 2007. On a year-over-year basis, sales have increased the past seven months. Statewide sales for the month of February have varied from a low of 20,513 in 2008 to a high of 48,409 in 2004, while the average is 32,017. DataQuick's statistics go back to 1988.
 
The median price paid for a California home last month was $239,000, up 1.3 percent from $236,000 in January, and down 2.0 percent from $244,000 for February a year ago. The median has decreased on a year-over-year basis for the last 17 months. The median’s low point for the current cycle was $221,000 in April 2009, while its peak was $484,000 in early 2007.
 
Distressed property sales – the combination of foreclosure resales and “short sales” – continued to make up more than half of California’s resale market.
 
Of the existing homes sold last month, 34.3 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That was unchanged from January and down from 40.1 percent in February a year ago. The high point for the current cycle was in February 2009 at 58.5 percent.
 
Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 20.9 percent of the resale market last month. That was down from 21.2 percent the month before and up from 18.7 percent a year earlier. Two years ago short sales made up an estimated 17.5 percent of the resale market.
 
The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $901. That was up slightly from January's $893, which was the lowest since $882 in February 1999. Adjusted for inflation, last month's typical payment was 59.8 percent below the 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle, and 67.4 percent below the 2006 peak of the current cycle.
 
DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.
 
Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity is high, but well below peak levels. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, down payment sizes are stable, and cash and non-owner occupied buying remain at or near record levels, DataQuick reported.
 
Media calls: Andrew LePage (916)456-7157 or alepage@dqnews.com

Source: DataQuick; DQNews.com

February Bay Area Press Release

Bay Area February Home Sales at Five-year High

March 15, 2012

La Jolla, CA.--Last month’s Bay Area home sales bounced up a bit more off bottom, fueled in large part by investors with cash who were buying discounted properties in the lower half of the price spectrum. The median price paid for a home dropped year-over-year for the 17th month in row, a real estate information service reported.
 
A total of 5,702 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area in February. That was up 4.1 percent from 5,479 in January, and up 14.2 percent from 4,991 in February 2011. The year-over-year sales increase was the eighth in a row, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.
 
A January-to-February sales increase is normal for the season. Last month’s sales count, which got a lift from an extra business day thanks to the leap year, was the highest for a February since 6,305 were sold in 2007. It was 9.0 percent below the February average of 6,268 sales going back to 1988. The sales pace for most months last year was 25 percent to 38 percent below average.
 
“The market is still strange, just a little less strange than it was. We also need to keep in mind that, when it comes to statistical trends, February is the least typical month of the year. Over the winter you’re left with a higher concentration of investors and people who must buy or sell because of a major life event. In the spring, when many traditional buyers return, we’ll get a much better read on the market. Meanwhile, many potential buyers are still waiting for the lending spigot to open more. Drum-tight credit conditions continue to undermine housing, along with negative equity and the various uncertainties plaguing would-be buyers,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.
 
The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Bay Area last month was $325,500. That was down 0.3 percent from $326,000 in January, and down 3.6 percent from $337,250 in February 2011. The median has declined on a year over year basis every month since October 2010.
 
The low point of the current real estate cycle was $290,000 in March 2009. The peak was $665,000 in June/July 2007. Around half of the median’s peak-to-trough drop was the result of a decline in home values, while the other half reflected a shift in the sales mix.
 
Last month distressed property sales – the combination of foreclosure resales and “short sales” – made up about half of the Bay Area’s resale market.
 
Foreclosure resales – homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 27.4 percent of resales in February. That was up from a revised 27.2 percent in January, and down from 32.6 percent a year ago. Foreclosure resales peaked in the current cycle at 52.0 percent in February 2009. The monthly average for foreclosure resales over the past 15 years is about 9 percent.
 
Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 23.1 percent of Bay Area resales last month. That was down slightly from an estimated 23.5 percent in January – the high point for this cycle – and up from 20.1 percent a year earlier.
 
Last month 28.0 percent of Bay Area sales were for $500,000 or more, up from a revised 27.4 percent in January, and down from 30.6 percent in February 2011. The low for the current cycle was January 2009, when just 22.7 percent of sales crossed the $500,000 threshold. Over the past 10 years, a monthly average of 47.7 percent of homes sold for $500,000-plus.
 
The number of homes that sold for $500,000 or more last month rose 1.8 percent from February 2011, while sales under $500,000 rose 14.9 percent year-over-year and sales below $300,000 increased 16.8 percent.
 
Government-insured FHA home purchase loans, a popular choice among first-time buyers, accounted for 23.2 percent of all Bay Area home purchase mortgages in February, up from 23.0 percent in January and 23.1 percent a year earlier.
 
One indicator of mortgage availability that had seen improvement last year was low again in February, when 11.8 percent of the Bay Area’s home purchase loans were adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs). That was up from a revised 11.7 percent in January, and the same as in February last year. Over the last decade, ARMs have accounted for 50.8 percent of all purchase loans. ARMs hit a low of 3.0 percent of loans in January 2009.
 
Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 26.6 percent of last month’s purchase lending, up from a revised 23.5 percent in January, and down from 26.9 percent a year ago. Jumbo usage dropped to 17.1 percent in January 2009. Before the credit crunch struck in August 2007, jumbos accounted for nearly 60 percent of the Bay Area purchase loan market.
 
Last month absentee buyers – mostly investors – purchased a record 26.0 percent of all Bay Area homes sold, up from a revised 25.2 percent in January and 23.4 percent a year ago. The monthly average for absentee purchases is 14.2 percent since January 2000, when the absentee data series begins. Absentee buyers paid a median $230,000 in February, up from $225,000 in January and down from $243,000 a year ago.
 
Buyers who appear to have paid all cash – meaning no corresponding purchase loan was found in the public record – accounted for 32.0 percent of sales in February. That was an all-time high in DataQuick’s records back to 1988. Last month’s figure was up from 29.9 percent in January, and up from 30.6 percent a year ago. The monthly average going back to 1988 is 12.0 percent. Cash buyers paid a median $247,000 in February, up from $237,500 in January and down from $250,000 a year earlier.
 
San Diego-based DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. Because of late data availability, sales were estimated in Alameda, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.
 
The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,225, down from $1,233 in January, and down from $1,440 a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, last month’s payment was a record low. It was 55.7 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 67.3 percent below the current cycle's peak in July 2007.
 
Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity remains high by historical standards but below peak levels reached over the last three years. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, down payment sizes are stable, DataQuick reported.

See County chart at DQNews.com.

Source: DataQuick, http://www.dqnews.com/
 
Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

February Southland Press Release

Southland Home Sales Jump in February, Prices Still Down Yr/Yr

March 14, 2012
La Jolla, CA---The Southland housing market posted the highest number of February home sales in five years as record levels of investor and cash buyers helped spur robust activity under $300,000. The median price paid for homes across the six-county region inched up from January but dropped below the year-earlier level for the 12th consecutive month, a real estate information service reported.
 
A total of 15,573 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 7.2 percent from 14,523 in January, and up 8.4 percent from 14,369 in February 2011, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.
 
The increase in sales between January and February was larger than usual. On average, sales have risen 1.1 percent between those two months since 1988, when DataQuick’s statistics begin. Southland sales have increased year-over-year for two consecutive months and for six out of the last seven months. However, last month’s sales tally was 12.3 percent below the average for all the months of February since 1988.
 
Sales did not rise across the price spectrum last month. Transactions below $300,000 rose 9.5 percent from a year earlier, while the number of $300,000-$800,000 deals dipped 0.8 percent year-over-year and sales above $800,000 fell 12.6 percent.
 
“February sales got a big boost from investors and others paying cash for relatively affordable homes, as well as from an extra day’s worth of sales thanks to the leap year. Without the latter, sales might have been up a bit, but not to a five-year high. It’s just one more reason for us to remind everyone that January and February usually aren’t good months to use for forecasting purposes. The big picture remains one where the bottom of the housing market continues to see much of the action, while move-up activity remains sluggish. Financing is still difficult for many and lots of potential move-up buyers and sellers are stuck because they owe more than their homes are worth,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.
 
The median price paid for a Southland home last month was $264,750, up 1.8 percent from $260,000 in January but down 3.7 percent from $275,000 in February 2011.
 
Last month’s median was 7.2 percent above the low point for the current real estate cycle – $247,000 in April 2009 – and 47.6 percent below the $505,000 peak in mid 2007. The peak-to-trough drop was due to a decline in home values as well as a shift in sales toward lower-cost homes, especially inland foreclosures.
 
Distressed sales continued to make up more than half of the resale market.
 
Foreclosure resales – properties foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 32.5 percent of the resale market last month, down from a revised 32.6 percent in January and down from 37.0 percent a year earlier. Foreclosure resales hit a high for the current cycle of 56.7 percent in February 2009 and a low of 31.6 percent last November.
 
Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 20.5 percent of Southland resales last month. That compares with 21.1 percent in January, which was a high point for the current real estate cycle, and 19.7 percent in February 2011.
 
Credit conditions remained tight.
 
Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) accounted for 5.7 percent of last month’s Southland home purchase loans, down from 6.0 percent in January and 7.7 percent a year ago. Since 2000, a monthly average of about 37 percent of purchase loans were ARMs.
 
Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 14.4 percent of last month’s purchase lending, down from 15.2 percent in January and down from 15.6 percent a year earlier. In the months leading up to the credit crisis that struck in August 2007, jumbos accounted for 40 percent of the market.
 
Absentee buyers – mostly investors and some second-home purchasers – bought a record 29.7 percent of the Southland homes sold in February, up from a revised 28.0 percent in January and 26.4 percent a year earlier. Last month’s absentee buyers paid a median $192,750, down from $195,000 in February and $202,000 a year earlier. The Inland Empire saw absentee purchases rise to a record 37.2 percent of all sales. Since 2000, the Southland’s absentee buyers have purchased a monthly average of 17.0 percent of all homes sold.
 
Cash purchasers accounted for a record 32.8 percent of February home sales, up from 32.2 percent in January and up from 32.3 percent a year earlier. Cash buyers paid a median $200,000 last month, the same as in January and down from $205,000 a year earlier. Since 2000, the monthly average for Southland homes purchased with cash is 15.2 percent. Cash purchases are where there was no indication in the public record that a corresponding purchase loan was recorded.
 
Government-insured FHA loans, a popular low-down-payment choice among first-time buyers, accounted for 31.2 percent of all purchase mortgages in February. Last month’s FHA level was up from 31.1 percent in January and down from 32.2 percent a year earlier. Two years ago FHA loans made up 36.8 percent of the purchase loan market, while three years ago it was 36.9 percent.
 
Last month 16.5 percent of all sales were for $500,000 or more, up a hair from a revised 16.4 percent in January but down from 18.7 percent a year earlier. The low point for $500,000-plus sales was in January 2009, when only 13.8 percent of sales were above that threshold. Over the past decade, a monthly average of 28.1 percent of homes sold for $500,000 or more.
 
DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.
 
The typical monthly mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $998 last month, compared with $983 in January, which when adjusted for inflation was the lowest in DataQuick’s records back to 1988. Last month’s figure was down from $1,174 for the same month last year. Adjusted for inflation, current payments are 56.9 percent below typical payments in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. They are 64.7 percent below the current cycle’s peak in July 2007.

Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity remains high by historical standards but is lower than peak levels reached over the last few years. Financing with multiple mortgages is very low, and down payment sizes are stable, DataQuick reported.

County chart is available at DQNews.com.

Source: DQNews.com Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Monday, March 12, 2012

January Denver Area Press Release

Denver Area January Home Sales

The number of homes sold in the Denver region in January fell more than usual from December but rose year-over-year to the highest level for that month since 2008. The median sale price also dipped month-to-month but was higher than a year earlier for the first time since last June. Some other price measures also showed modest year-over-year gains, a real estate information service reported.
 
A total of 2,467 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in January across the eight-county Denver-Aurora metro area. That was down 27.7 percent from the prior month but up 4.4 percent from a year earlier, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.
 
A drop in sales between December and January is normal for the season, with the decline averaging 21.8 percent since 1998, when DataQuick's complete Denver-area statistics begin. January sales fell 31.6 percent below average for that month.
 
Denver-area sales for all of 2011 totaled 44,416, up 1.6 percent from 2010 and the highest since 2009. New-home sales totaled 4,011 in 2011 and were the lowest for any year since at least 1998.
 
The Denver metro area statistics in this report and in the table below reflect sales in Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson and Park counties.
 
The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Denver region during January was $205,000, down 2.4 percent from the month before and up 6.8 percent from a year earlier. It was the first annual gain in the all-home median sale price since June 2011, when it rose 1.1 percent year-over-year.
The January median was 17.2 percent lower than the Denver area's peak $247,569 median in June 2006. After peaking, the region's median sale price fell to as low as $170,000 in January 2009.
 
The median price paid in January for resale single-family detached houses fell 3.1 percent from December but rose 4.6 percent above a year earlier - the first annual gain since last June, when the resale house median posted a 0.4 percent increase. The median paid for resale condos in January dipped 5.5 percent month-to-month and fell 1.5 percent year-over-year.
 
An alternative price gauge analysts track, the median price paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses, slipped to $133 in January, down 0.7 percent from the prior month and up 3.9 percent from a year earlier - the first annual gain since last June. The January figure was 21.5 percent lower than the peak $169 paid per square foot in March 2001.
 
The region's larger counties recorded the following year-over-year changes in January to their median price paid per square foot for resale houses: Adams County, down 1.3 percent; Arapahoe County, up 4.2 percent; Denver County, up 5.0 percent; Douglas County, up 1.4 percent; and Jefferson County, up 2.2 percent.
 
Absentee buyers, a group that includes investors and vacation-home buyers, accounted for a near-record 27.9 percent of the Denver area's January home sales, up from 26.7 percent the month before and 27.4 percent a year earlier. The record was 28.4 percent in February 2011. Absentee buyers paid a median $141,500 in January, up 1.1 percent from the prior month and up 8.8 percent from a year earlier.
 
Buyers who appeared to have bought with cash represented 28.0 percent of January sales, up from 26.6 percent the prior month and down from 31.2 percent a year earlier. The figure peaked at 32.1 percent in February 2011. All-cash buyers paid a median $150,000 in January, up 7.2 percent from the prior month and up 20.5 percent from a year earlier. Government-insured FHA loans, which are popular with first-time buyers and others using low down payments, accounted for 35.1 percent of all home purchase loans used in January. That was up from 32.8 percent the month before and down from 38.3 a year earlier. FHA use in the current cycle peaked at 53.4 percent of all purchase loans in November 2009.
 
Short sales - transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property - made up an estimated 12.2 percent of the Denver region's resale transactions in January, up from 11.1 percent the prior month and 10.4 percent a year earlier.

In neighboring Boulder County, 233 new and resale houses and condos sold in January, down 22.8 percent from the prior month and down 3.3 percent from a year earlier. The median price paid for all homes sold in the county during January was $290,850, down 6.2 percent from the prior month and up 1.1 percent from a year earlier. Boulder County's median price paid per square foot for resale detached houses dipped in January to $183, down 6.2 percent from the month before and down 3.7 percent from a year earlier.

Denver Chart is available at DQNews.com.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Source: DataQuick; DQNews.com

Friday, March 9, 2012

January Portland Region Press Release

Portland Region January Home Sales

The number of homes sold in the Portland area during January rose to the highest level for that month in four years, while the median price paid for those houses and condos dropped to a seven-and-a-half-year low. Distressed property sales and purchases by absentee buyers hovered near record levels, a real estate information service reported.
 
A total of 1,729 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow during January in the five-county Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton metro area. Sales fell 23.5 percent from the prior month but rose 10.5 percent from a year earlier, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.
 
A drop in sales between December and January is normal for the season, with the decline averaging 23.9 percent since 1994, when DataQuick's complete Portland-area statistics begin.
 
The January sales total was the highest for that month since 2008, when 1,985 homes sold. This January's sales fell 29.3 percent below the average sales tally for the month since 1994.
 
The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos that closed escrow in the Portland region during January was $195,000, down 4.9 percent from the prior month and down 8.4 percent from a year earlier.
 
January's median was 32.5 percent lower than the peak $289,000 median in October 2007, and it was the lowest for any month since it was $193,000 in June 2004.
 
Another price measure analysts track, the median paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses, fell to $123 in January. That was down 3.1 percent month-to-month and down 4.7 percent year-over-year, while it was 36.2 percent below its June 2007 peak of $193.
 
The region's median price paid per square foot for existing (not new) condos was $113 in January, up slightly from $112 the prior month but down 8.1 percent from a year earlier.
 
Among the Portland region's counties, the median paid per square foot in January for resale single-family detached houses fell 1.4 percent from a year ago in Clackamas County, while the median rose 3.1 percent year-over-year in Multnomah County. The price per square foot figure dipped 7.3 percent year-over-year in Washington County, dropped 8.3 percent in Yamhill County and fell 10.4 percent in Clark County, Washington.
 
Sales of distressed properties represented roughly 42 percent of the resale market in January - just off the February 2011 peak of 43.4 percent.
 
Foreclosure resales - homes foreclosed on in the prior 12 months - made up 26.0 percent of January's resale market, up from 21.2 percent the prior month but down from 30.4 percent a year earlier. January's figure was the highest since it was 26.3 percent last May.
 
Short sales - transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property - accounted for an estimated 15.8 percent of January's resale market, up from an estimated 14.4 percent the prior month and 11.8 percent a year earlier.
 
On the foreclosure front, lenders foreclosed on 487 single-family houses and condo units in the five-county Portland area during January, up 0.4 percent from the month before and up 3.7 percent from a year earlier. During all of 2011, foreclosures totaled 5,940, down 21.7 percent from 2010. The foreclosure figures are based on the number of Trustees Deeds filed with county recorder offices. The document signals that a home was lost to foreclosure.
 
Many foreclosed properties are bought by investors and first-time buyers.
 
Absentee buyers, which includes investors and vacation-home buyers, accounted for 23.7 percent of total January home sales, up from 18.2 percent the month before and 20.9 percent a year ago. The peak for absentee buyers was 24.4 percent in January 2006 (the data series goes back to 2000). Absentee buyers paid a median $165,000 in January, up from $155,000 the month before and $163,450 a year earlier.
Among these investors are many buyers who pay cash - a group that accounted for 27.3 percent of all homes sold during January. That was up from 26.1 percent the month before but down from 31.6 percent a year earlier. Cash buyers paid a median $152,000 in January, down from $165,000 the month before and $173,238 a year earlier.
 
Government-insured FHA loans, a popular, low-down-payment option for many first-time buyers, represented 28.8 percent of all home purchase loans used in the Portland area in January. That was up from 27.5 percent the month before but down from 31.5 percent a year ago. The peak for FHA use during the current housing cycle was 42.3 percent in November 2009.
 
The Portland metro area statistics in this report and in the table below reflect sales in Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington.

See chart at DQNews.com

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Source: DataQuick; DQNews.com

Thursday, March 8, 2012

January Seattle Region Press Release

Seattle Region January Home Sales

Seattle-area home sales rose to the highest level for a January in four year as increased affordability helped drive sub-$200,000 sales up more than 30 percent from a year earlier. Regional price measures continued to trend lower, with the overall median sale price dipping to its lowest point in eight years, a real estate information service reported.
 
A total of 2,513 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow during January in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area encompassing King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. January's total sales fell 31.7 percent from the month before but increased 13.5 percent from a year earlier, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.
 
A drop in sales between December and January is normal, with that decline averaging 25.5 percent since 1994, when DataQuick's complete Seattle-area statistics begin.
 
January sales were the highest for that month since 2,828 homes sold in January 2008, but this January's sales were still 24.7 percent below the historical average for the month.
 
Total sales were tugged lower by the weak new-home market. Although January sales of newly built houses and condos rose 19.6 percent from a year earlier, they were still the second-lowest on record for that month. The Seattle-area resale market continues to fare much better, posting a 12.6 percent sales gain from a year earlier. Resales of houses and condos in January were the highest for that month in five years, though they were 18.2 percent below the historical average for the month.
 
January's year-over-year sales gain was mainly the result of plentiful sales of lower-cost homes. The number that sold for less than $200,000 rose 32.4 percent from a year earlier, at least partly the result of improved affordability resulting from price declines and ultra-low mortgage rates. Sales between $200,000 and $600,000 fell 2.5 percent in January compared with a year earlier, while sales in the $600,000 to $900,000 range increased 2.8 percent. (Note: $600,000-to-$900,000 sales represented 6.4 percent of January transactions, while sub-$200,000 deals accounted for 38.5 percent of the market and $200,000-to-$600,000 sales accounted for 52.5 percent).
 
Across all price segments in January, buyers paid a median $238,000 for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the three-county Seattle region. That was down 5.7 percent from the prior month and down 8.5 percent from a year earlier. The median has fallen on a year-over-year basis for 18 consecutive months.
 
January's median was 34.8 percent lower than the Seattle area's peak $365,200 median in June 2007. The last time the median was lower than January's was when it was $235,000 in January 2004.
 
Another key price measure, the median paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses, dipped to $143 in January - the lowest since it was also $143 in April 2003. January's figure fell 5.9 percent from December and fell 7.1 percent from a year earlier. The median paid per square foot has fallen year-over-year for 17 consecutive months and in January was 40.2 percent lower than the peak $239 median paid per square foot in June 2007.
 
At the county level in January, the median price paid per square foot for resale detached houses fell 1.6 percent year-over-year in King County, while it dropped 10.6 percent from a year ago in Pierce County and fell 0.5 percent in Snohomish County.
 
Distressed property sales - foreclosure resales and "short sales" combined - represented 46.0 percent of the Seattle area's resale market in January, which was the highest since it was 47.1 percent last September.
 
Foreclosure resales - properties foreclosed on in the prior 12 months - represented 32.5 percent of the resale market in January, up from 29.1 percent the prior month and up from 30.1 percent a year earlier. The peak was 32.8 percent in March 2011.
 
Short sales - transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property - made up an estimated 16.9 percent of the Seattle-area's January resales. That was up from an estimated 16.2 percent the month before and up from 15.9 percent a year earlier.
 
In January, lenders foreclosed on 601 single-family houses and condo units in the region, down 40.8 percent from the month before and down 45.4 percent from a year earlier. During all of last year, 13,089 homes were foreclosed on in the Seattle area, up 12.3 percent from 2010. The figures are based on the number of Trustees Deeds filed with county recorder offices.
 
Investors and first-time buyers continue to snap up many of the distressed properties.
 
Absentee buyers - mainly investors - accounted for 19.9 percent of the Seattle area's January home sales, about even with 19.3 percent the month before and up from 18.7 percent a year earlier. Absentee buyers paid a median $169,900 in January, down 12.8 percent from the month before and down 18.9 percent from a year earlier. While many of these buyers are investors, they can include second-home buyers and others who indicated at the time of sale that the property tax bill would be sent to a different address.
 
Many investors are among the cash buyers, who accounted for 21.7 percent of January sales, down from 24.7 percent the prior month and 23.4 percent a year earlier. Cash buyers paid a median $172,000 in January, down 22.5 percent month-to-month and down 20.0 percent year-over-year.

In January, 26.7 percent of Seattle-area purchase mortgages were government-insured FHA loans, a popular, low-down-payment choice among first-time home buyers. That was up from 23.7 percent of home purchase loans the prior month but down from 29.3 percent a year earlier. The region's FHA level peaked for the current cycle at 39.9 percent in October 2009.

The full home sale chart is available at DQNews.com.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157
Source: DataQuick; DQNews.com

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

January Phoenix Region Press Release

Phoenix Region January Home Sales

Phoenix-area January home sales rose to the highest level for that month in five years as several price measures trended higher again on a year-over-year basis, a real estate information service reported.
 
A total of 7,123 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow during January in the combined Maricopa-Pinal counties metro area. That was down 17.9 percent from the month before but up 3.2 percent from a year earlier, according to San Diego-based DataQuick, which tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.
 
It’s normal for sales to drop between December and January, with that decline averaging 21.7 percent since 1994, when DataQuick’s complete Phoenix region statistics begin.
 
Total January home sales fell 3.1 percent short of the average number sold in January since 1994, but that was only because new-home sales remained very low. Resale volume in January was 17.5 percent higher than the January average, and it was the highest for that month since January 2006. January sales of newly built homes rose 31.3 percent year-over-year, to the highest level for a January since 2009. But this January’s new-home sales were still 66.0 percent below average for the month.
 
January home sales rose year-over-year in most price segments above $100,000. The number of new and resale homes that sold for less than $100,000 fell 7.3 percent from a year earlier, while sales between $100,000 and $200,000 increased 3.3 percent. Deals in the $200,000 to $600,000 range rose 9.0 percent from a year earlier, while above $800,000 sales increased 3.6 percent.
 
The median price paid in January for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Phoenix region was $127,500. That was down 1.2 percent from the month before but up 7.1 percent from a year earlier. January marked the second month in a row in which the overall median sale price rose year-over-year. (In December 2011 the Phoenix area’s median posted a 7.5 annual gain.)
 
January’s median was 51.7 percent below the all-time peak of $264,100 in June 2006, but it was 7.7 percent above the median’s post-peak trough of $118,347 last August.
 
The median price paid for resale single-family detached houses in January rose to $125,900, up 0.7 percent from the prior month and up 5.0 percent from a year earlier, marking the second consecutive month to post a year-over-year gain (the December 2011 resale house median rose 4.2 percent from a year earlier). The $78,500 median resale price for condos in January dipped slightly month-to-month but rose 9.0 percent from a year earlier – the third consecutive month with a year-over-year gain.
 
Another key price gauge analysts watch, the median price paid per square foot for existing single-family detached houses, increased in January to $71 – the highest since August 2010. January’s figure was up from $70 the month before and up 9.2 percent year-over-year, marking the second consecutive month to post an annual gain, and the third consecutive month without an annual decline. The January figure stood 58.5 percent below the $171 peak median price paid per square foot in May and June of 2006.
 
At the county level in January, the median price paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses in Maricopa County rose to $74, up 1.4 percent from the prior month and up 8.6 percent from a year earlier. It was the second consecutive month with a year-over-year gain. The Pinal County median paid per square foot rose to $51 in January, up 2.0 percent from the prior month and up 13.7 percent from a year earlier, marking the fourth consecutive month to post a year-over-year gain.
 
Other Phoenix region January highlights:
 
*Buyers paying cash represented 45.6 percent of all January sales, up from 41.0 percent the month before and down from 46.0 percent a year earlier. The record for cash buying was 48.0 percent in February 2011. January’s cash buyers paid a median $97,700, up from $94,900 the month before and up 10.0 percent from $88,854 a year earlier.
 
*Distressed property sales dropped to 52.1 percent of all January resale activity – the lowest level for any month since the figure was 48.2 percent in June 2008. Distressed sales are made up of sales of foreclosed properties, as well as “short sales,” where the sale price falls short of what was owed on the property.
 
*Foreclosure resales, defined as homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months, fell to 36.3 percent of January resales – the lowest level since May 2008. January’s figure was down from 37.7 percent the month before and 54.5 percent a year earlier. The peak level for foreclosure resales was 66.2 percent in March 2009.
 
*Short sales represented an estimated 15.8 percent of January’s resale activity, down from 17.2 percent the prior month but up from an estimated 12.9 percent a year ago.

*Lenders foreclosed on 2,939 Phoenix-area homes in January, down 9.2 percent from the month before and down 41.3 percent from a year earlier.

See home sale chart at DQNews.com.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Friday, March 2, 2012

January Miami Region Press Release

Miami Region January Home Sales

March 2, 2012

The number of homes sold in the Miami area in January dipped below the year-ago level as sub-$200,000 transactions fell, tugging down the region's overall sales tally despite annual gains for mid- to high-end deals. The median sale price rose on a year-over-year basis for the first time in 52 months - just one of several indications of widening price stability, a real estate information service reported.
 
In January, 7,443 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the metro area encompassing Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties. That was down 17.1 percent from the prior month and down 3.3 percent from a year earlier, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.
 
It's normal for sales to drop between December and January. On average, sales between those two months have fallen 19.1 percent since 1997, when DataQuick's complete Miami-area statistics begin.
 
January's total sales were 19.0 percent lower than the average January sales tally of 9,187 since 1997. However, if newly built homes are excluded from the sales mix, then the number of houses and condos that closed escrow in January was just 3.3 percent below the historical average for that month. Although the Miami region's new-home sales rose 7.4 percent in January compared with a year earlier, they were still the second-lowest on record for that month. New-home sales have risen year-over-year for the past three months.
 
When sliced up by price segment, January sales saw year-over-year gains in the middle and top of the market and declines at the bottom. Sales below $100,000 fell 11.6 percent from a year earlier (the decline was 8.1 percent for sub-$200,000 sales), compared with a 4.2 percent annual gain for sales between $200,000 and $600,000 and a 24.1 percent annual increase for deals over $800,000.
 
In the Miami region's multi-million-dollar luxury market, the 56 homes that sold for $2 million or more in January represented a 14.3 percent increase from a year earlier. In all of 2011, $2 million-plus home sales rose 13.5 percent compared with 2010. The figures are based on public property records, where either a price or loan amount was available.
 
In the overall market, the median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Miami region in January was $130,000, down 3.7 percent from December but up 6.1 percent from a year earlier. January's year-over-year increase was the first since September 2007. The median stopped falling on a year-over-year basis in December 2011, when it was exactly the same as a year earlier.
 
The January median stood 55.2 percent below the peak $290,000 median in June 2007.
The median price paid for resale houses in the three-county area was $162,000 in January, down 1.8 percent from December but up 1.3 percent from a year earlier, marking the first year-over-year gain since May 2010. January's $90,000 resale condo median sale price was the same as the month before (and each month back to last October) and was 12.5 percent higher than a year earlier. The resale condo median has risen on a year-over-year basis for four consecutive months, with January's gain being the largest.
 
Another key price gauge analysts watch, the median price paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses, dipped slightly in January to $85. That was down 1.4 percent from $86 in both December 2011 and January 2011. January's year-over-year decline was the smallest since the median paid per square foot went negative year-over-year in July 2010. The January figure stood 55.9 percent below the peak of $211 reached in May 2006 and was just slightly higher than the post-peak trough of $84, which it reached last February and October.
 
For resale condos, Miami region buyers paid a median $82 a square foot in January, down from $84 in December but up 8.2 percent from a year earlier. January's year-over-year gain was the fourth in a row, and the largest. The January median was 60.9 percent lower than the all-time peak of $199 paid per square foot for resale condos in June 2007, but it was also 10.3 percent higher than the post-peak trough of $75 last March.
 
At the county level in January, the median paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses rose to $76 in Broward County, up 2.3 percent from December and up 2.0 percent from a year earlier. The figure dipped slightly to $93 in Miami-Dade County, down 1.4 percent from December but up 2.0 percent from a year earlier. For both Broward and Miami-Dade counties it was the first year-over-year increase since last September. Palm Beach County's median paid per square foot fell to $91 in January, down 5.2 percent from December and down 6.8 percent from a year earlier.
 
For resale condos, Broward County saw it's median price paid per square foot dip month-to-month to $70 in January, compared with $74 in December. But the figure rose 6.6 percent from a year earlier, marking the eighth consecutive month in which Broward's median paid per square foot for resale condos has risen year-over-year. Miami-Dade saw it's resale condo price per square foot dip to $120 in January compared with December's $122, but on a year-over-year basis it was up 23.3 percent, marking the seventh consecutive month to post a year-over-year gain. Palm Beach County saw it's median paid per square foot for condos drop to $65 in January, down 2.3 percent from December and down 4.6 percent from a year earlier.
 
Driving much of the demand for condos and other lower-cost homes are absentee buyers, who purchased a record 39.9 percent of all homes sold in the Miami area in January. That was up from 38.0 percent in December and 37.4 percent a year earlier. The former high was 39.4 percent in March 2011. Absentee buyers are investors, second-home buyers and others who indicate at the time of sale that their property tax bill will be sent to a different address. (Absentee statistics go back to January 2000).
 
Absentee buyers paid a median $94,899 for all new and resale houses and condos that they purchased in January, down slightly from $96,000 in December but up 11.6 percent from $85,000 in January 2011.
 
January buyers who had a foreign mailing addresses in the public record represented 5.6 percent of total Miami-area home sales for the month, and accounted for more than 9 percent of all sales of existing (not new) condos. Of all homes bought with a foreign mailing address, 79 percent were existing condos. (Note: Not all foreign buyers use a foreign mailing address, hence cannot be tracked with public records.)
 
Nearly 70 percent of the Miami-area's January buyers with a foreign mailing address were from Canada, while the rest were split among more than 30 other nations, including Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, France, Columbia and the United Kingdom.
 
Many absentee buyers are also cash buyers, who purchased 64.4 percent of the Miami-area homes sold in January. That was down slightly from 65.4 percent the prior month and down from 65.4 percent a year earlier. The peak for cash purchases was 68.6 percent in March 2011. Cash deals are where there was no indication of a purchase loan recorded at the time of sale
 
January's cash buyers paid a median $95,000, down from $98,000 in December but up from $85,000 a year earlier.
 
Meanwhile, use of a form of low-down-payment financing that's popular with first-time homebuyers - government-insured FHA loans - rose slightly in January, to 37.9 percent of all home purchase loans. That was up from an FHA share of 37.0 percent of purchase loans the prior month but down from 42.6 percent a year earlier and 46.0 percent two years ago.

See full Miami Home Sale Chart as DQNews.com.