Tuesday, December 16, 2014

November Bay Area Home Sales Press Release

Bay Area Home Sales Slowest in Six Years; Single-Digit Price Increase


December 16, 2014

CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, today released its November San Francisco Bay Area housing market report. Home sales dropped to the lowest level for the month of November since 2008, the result of a limited number of homes for sale, cautious buyers, a challenging mortgage market and a quirk of the calendar that resulted in a relatively low number days for recording deals. The single-digit, year-over-year rise in the median sale price was the lowest since May 2012.

A total of 6,003 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area in November 2014. That was down 22.0 percent from 7,693 in October of this year and down 9.9 percent from 6,659 in November 2013, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

A decline in sales from October to November is normal for the season. It’s likely that this November’s sales decline from October was especially sharp because of a calendar issue: There were only 17 days on which home sales could be recorded at county recorders’ offices this November, compared with 22 or 23 days in October, depending on the county. Over the last decade, there has been an average of about 19 days for such recordings in the month of November.

The November 2014 sales count was the lowest for any November since 5,756 homes sold in November 2008. Sales for the month of November have varied from 5,127 in 2007 to 11,906 in 2004. The average November sales since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick’s statistics begin, is 7,772.

The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area was $601,000 in November. That was the same as in October and up 9.3 percent from $550,000 in November 2013. The year-over-year increase was the lowest since May 2012, when it was 7.5 percent. The Bay Area’s median sale price peaked at $665,000 in June and July 2007 and dropped to a post-boom low of $290,000 in March 2009.

“Each calendar month has its own set of characteristics, its own personality. November is always kind of an interlude month, and the statistics aren’t really very good for predicting upcoming activity. That said, we did see a continuation of long-term trends: Low supply levels, a dysfunctional mortgage market and dormant market categories. This could change fast, and the big question then will be just how much pent-up demand is out there. No one knows,” said John Karevoll, CoreLogic DataQuick analyst.


Other Bay Area housing market highlights from November 2014:


• Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), an important indicator of mortgage availability, accounted for 23.4 percent of the Bay Area’s home purchase loans in November, up from a revised 23.1 percent in October, and up from 20.1 percent in November 2013. ARMs hit a low of 3.0 percent of purchase loans in January 2009 and reached a post-housing-bust peak of 27.8 percent in April 2014. Since 2000, ARMs have accounted for 46.5 percent of all Bay Area purchase loans.

•Jumbo loans, or mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 56.9 percent of purchase lending in November, up from a revised 55.6 percent in October, and up from 50.0 percent in November 2013. Jumbo usage dropped to as low as 17.1 percent in January 2009. It reached 56.4 percent in May of this year and has stayed close to that percentage since.

•Foreclosure resales accounted for 2.8 percent of all resales in November, unchanged from a revised 2.8 percent in October, and down from 3.7 percent in November 2013. Foreclosure resales in the Bay Area peaked at 52.0 percent in February 2009, while the monthly average over the past 17 years is 9.7 percent. Foreclosure resales are purchased homes that had been previously foreclosed upon in the prior 12 months.

•Short sales made up an estimated 4.3 percent of Bay Area resales in November, up from an estimated 3.4 percent in October and down from 7.2 percent in November 2013. Short sales are transactions in which the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property.

•Absentee buyers – mostly investors – purchased 18.6 percent of all Bay Area homes in November, which was the lowest absentee level for any month since September 2010, when it was 18.5 percent. This November's absentee level was down from a revised 19.2 percent in October, and down from 20.4 percent in November 2013.

•Cash buyers accounted for 18.9 percent of sales in November – the lowest level for any month since it was 18.5 percent in October 2008. This November's absentee level was down from a revised 20.9 percent in October and down from 22.4 percent in November 2013.

•Bay Area home buyers used $2.06 billion of their own money in the form of a down payment or as an outright cash purchase in November. They borrowed $3.05 billion in mortgage money from lenders.

•The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed to in November was $2,268. Adjusted for inflation, that payment was 21.8 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 42.2 percent below the current cycle's peak in July 2007 and 77.1 percent above the February 2012 bottom of the current cycle.

To view the county-by-county chart, please visit DQNews.com.

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick. Data available at DQNews.com
© 2014 CoreLogic, Inc. All rights reserved.

Monday, December 15, 2014

November Southland Home Sales Press Release

Southern California November Home Sales Fall Sharply; Median Sale Price Holds Steady Again


December 15, 2014

CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, today released its November Southern California housing market report. Home sales dropped to the lowest level for the month of November in seven years, the result of a relatively low number of days for recording deals, as well as fewer investor purchases and other market factors. There were also more signs of home prices flattening out: The region's median sale price has changed little over the last three months and November marked the sixth consecutive month in which the median had a single-digit year-over-year gain, following 22 months of double-digit increases.

A total of 15,643 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in November 2014. That was down 18.8 percent from 19,271 sales in October, and down 9.5 percent from 17,283 sales in November 2013, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

On average, Southern California sales have fallen 8.4 percent between October and November since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick data began. It’s likely that this November’s sales decline from October was especially sharp because of a calendar issue: There were only 17 days on which home sales could be recorded at county recorders' offices this November, compared with 22 or 23 days in October, depending on the county. Over the last decade, there has been an average of about 19 days for such recordings in the month of November.

November home sales have ranged from a low of 13,173 in 2007 to a high of 31,987 in 1988. November 2014 sales were 26.7 percent below the November average of 21,340 sales. Between January and November of this year, home sales were down 9.8 percent from the same 11-month period in 2013.

"Southern California home sales are closing on a low note in 2014,” said Andrew LePage, data analyst for CoreLogic DataQuick. “Inventory still lags demand in many markets and traditional buyers haven’t filled the void left by the investors who’ve pulled out. Among would-be buyers, affordability and mortgage availability remain as hurdles, as do concerns about job security and the direction of the housing market. But there are reasons to expect more housing demand ahead. According to recent data from the federal government, job and income growth has improved. Many people who became renters after a foreclosure or short sale over the past seven years will want to buy again. And potential home buyers sitting on the fence might be tempted to jump off if they see evidence that mortgage rates will spike from today’s exceptionally low levels.”

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the six-county region in November 2014 was $412,000, up 0.5 percent from $410,000 in October and up 7.0 percent from $385,000 in November 2013. The median hasn't moved much since September this year, when it was $413,000. The median's peak for 2014 was $420,000 in August.

Southern California's $412,000 November median sale price was 18.4 percent below the peak $505,000 median reached in March, April, May and July of 2007. Among the region’s six counties, the November 2014 median in Orange County ($585,000) was the closest – within about 9 percent – to its peak of $645,000 in June 2007.

Home prices in Southern California have been rising at different rates depending on price segment. In November, the lowest-cost third of the region's housing stock saw a 12.9 percent year-over-year increase in the median price paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses. The annual gain was 6.3 percent for the middle third of the market and 2.3 percent for the top, most-expensive third.

The number of homes that sold for $500,000 or more this November fell 3.3 percent compared with November 2013. Sales below $500,000 fell 16.9 percent year-over-year, and sales below $200,000 dropped 35.4 percent.

Other Southern California housing market highlights from November 2014:

•Foreclosure resales represented 5.3 percent of the Southern California resale market in November. That was up from a revised 4.9 percent in October and down from 6.3 percent a year earlier. In recent months the foreclosure resale rate has been the lowest since early 2007. In the current cycle, foreclosure resales hit a high of 56.7 percent in February 2009. Foreclosure resales are purchased homes that had been previously foreclosed upon in the prior 12 months.

•Short sales made up an estimated 6.2 percent of resales in November, up from a revised 6.0 percent in October and down from 10.5 percent in November 2013. Short sales are transactions in which the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property.

•Absentee buyers – mostly investors – bought 23.5 percent of the homes sold in November. That was up slightly from a revised 23.2 percent in October and down from 26.8 percent in November 2013. The October 2014 level was the lowest for any month since October 2010, when 22.1 percent of homes were sold to absentee buyers. The peak absentee share was 32.4 percent in January 2013, while the monthly average since 2000, when the CoreLogic DataQuick absentee data begin, is about 19 percent. Absentee buyers include those who purchase vacation homes or other properties that public property records suggest are not used as primary residences.

•Cash buyers accounted for 23.9 percent of November home sales, up from 23.5 percent in October and down from 28.1 percent in November 2013. The October 2014 cash level was the lowest for any month since January 2009, when 22.0 percent of homes were bought with cash. The peak was 36.9 percent in February 2013, and since 1988 the monthly average is 16.7 percent.

•Southern California home buyers committed a total of $3.28 billion of their own money in the form of down payments or all-cash purchases in November. That was down from a revised $4.09 billion in October. The out-of-pocket total peaked in May 2013 at $5.41 billion.

•Jumbo loans, or mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 31.0 percent of purchase lending in November, down from a revised 31.7 percent in October and up from 27.9 percent in November 2013. The July/August 2014 level of 32.3 percent was the highest since the credit crunch struck in August 2007. Prior to August 2007 jumbo loans accounted for around 40 percent of the home-loan market. The jumbo level dropped to as low as 9.3 percent in January 2009.

•Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) represented 12.3 percent of home purchase loans in November, down slightly from 12.9 percent in October and up from 11.2 percent in November 2013. The ARM share dropped to as low as 1.9 percent of home purchase loans in May 2009. Since 2000, a monthly average of about 30 percent of purchase loans have been ARMs.

•All lenders combined provided a total of $4.78 billion in mortgage money to Southern California home buyers in November, down from a revised $6.1 billion in October and down from $4.93 billion in November 2013.

•The typical monthly mortgage payment Southern California home buyers committed to was $1,560 in November, down from $1,574 in October and up from $1,517 in November 2013. Adjusted for inflation, the November 2014 typical payment was 35.9 percent below the typical payment in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was also 47.5 percent below the current cycle’s peak in July 2007.

To view the county-by-county home sale chart, please visit DQNews.com.

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick. Data available at DQNews.com
Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Copyright 2014 CoreLogic. All rights reserved.


Thursday, November 13, 2014

October California Home Sales Press Release

California October Home Sales


November 13, 2014

An estimated 36,830 new and resale houses and condos sold statewide in October 2014. That was up 1.4 percent from 36,316 in September, and up 1.0 percent from 36,468 sales in October 2013.

Statewide sales have increased slightly on a year-over-year basis for two consecutive months. The October sales tally was the highest for that month in two years. October sales have varied from a low of 25,832 in 2007 to a high of 70,152 in 2003. The October 2014 sales were 14.1 percent below the average of 42,860 sales for the month of October since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick data begin. California sales haven’t been above average for any particular month in more than eight years.

The median price paid for a home in California in October was $382,000, down 1.8 percent from $389,000 in September and up 7.0 percent from $357,000 in October 2013. The median sale price has declined slightly month-over-month over the past two months. However, October marked the 32nd consecutive month in which the state's median price has been higher than a year earlier. Those year-over-year price increases peaked at 29.2 percent in July last year and since then they have gradually ratcheted down, with single-digit annual gains since July this year.

The October 2014 median was 21.1 percent lower than California’s peak $484,000 median reached in March/April/May 2007, and it was nearly 73 percent higher than the post-peak trough of $221,000 in April 2009. (That trough was reached during a period when distressed property sales were at unusually high levels and sales of mid- to high-end homes were at relatively low levels.)

Of the existing homes sold statewide in October, 5.3 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That was down from a revised 5.4 percent in September and down from 6.7 percent in October 2013. Foreclosure resales peaked at 58.8 percent in February 2009.

Short sales - transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property - made up an estimated 6.1 percent of the homes that resold in October. That was up insignificantly from 6.0 percent in September and down from 10.3 percent in October 2013.

The typical California monthly mortgage payment in October was $1,466, down from a revised $1,515 in September and up from $1,395 in October 2013. Adjusted for inflation, the October 2014 payment was 37.7 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 49.5 percent below the current cycle's peak in June 2006. It was 55.9 percent above the January 2012 bottom of the current cycle.

Indicators of market distress continue to decline. Foreclosure activity remains well below year-ago and peak levels reached in the last five years. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, while down payment sizes are stable.

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick; DQNews.com

Copyright 2014 CoreLogic. All rights reserved.

October Bay Area Home Sales Press Release

San Francisco Bay Area Home Sales Edge Higher; Price Growth Ratchets Down Again


November 13, 2014

CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, today released its October San Francisco Bay Area homes sales report. The Bay Area housing market posted another modest uptick in sales during October but activity remained below average as cash purchases continued to taper off and buyers faced a limited inventory as well as affordability and mortgage availability challenges. Home prices appear to have plateaued in recent months, although the October median sale price was still about 11 percent higher than a year earlier.

A total of 7,693 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area in October 2014. That was up 3.4 percent from 7,443 in September and up 1.3 percent from 7,595 in October 2013, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data..

A small gain in sales from September to October is normal for the season. The October sales count was the highest for that month since 7,902 homes sold in October 2012. October sales have ranged from a low of 5,486 in 2007 to a high of 13,392 in 2003. October 2014 sales were 9.7 percent below the October average of 8,521 sales since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick’s data began.

The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area in October 2014 was $601,000. That was down 0.5 percent from $604,000 in September, and up 11.3 percent from $539,750 in October 2013.

The median sale price lurched above $600,000 in April this year, when it was $610,000, and then reached a 2014 high of $618,000 in June. Since June the median price has declined on a month-over-month basis and the October median was the lowest since March, when it was $579,000. The 11.3 percent year-over-year gain in the October median price was the second-lowest, behind this July's 9.8 percent increase, since June 2012, when the median rose 10.4 percent compared with June 2011.

The Bay Area median sale price peaked at $665,000 in June and July 2007, then dropped to a low of $290,000 in March 2009. The $601,000 October 2014 median price was 9.6 percent below the peak, which is the closest any major region of the state has come to its peak median sale price.

“After hitting what many view as a stratospheric level, Bay Area home prices have shown signs of leveling off,” said Andrew LePage, data analyst for CoreLogic DataQuick. “To some extent it’s the result of sticker shock and a modest pickup in inventory. A bigger jump in inventory would make price spikes less likely. Still, if we see more job and wage growth heading into 2015 it's easy to imagine demand and price pressures building again. People torn from homeownership by a foreclosure or short sale over the past seven years will be looking to buy again. And there’s pent-up demand from those who've delayed a purchase as they repaired their finances, struggled to qualify for a loan, or wrestled with doubts about job security or the direction of the housing market.”

A variety of market indicators continue to trend slowly, and sometimes inconsistently, toward long-term norms.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), an important indicator or mortgage availability, accounted for 24.0 percent of the region’s home purchase loans in October. That was down slightly from a revised 24.2 percent in September and up from 20.5 percent in October 2013. The ARM share hit a low of 3.0 percent of purchase loans in January 2009. Since 2000, ARMs have accounted for a monthly average of 39.4 percent of Bay Area purchase loans.

Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 55.3 percent of October purchase lending, up from a revised 54.7 percent in September and up from 47.8 percent in October 2013. In recent months the jumbo loan level has ranged from about 55 percent to 57 percent of purchase loans – the highest level since the credit crunch hit in August 2007. Prior to that crunch, Bay Area jumbo loans accounted for more than 60 percent of home purchase loans. The jumbo loan share dropped to as low as 17.1 percent in January 2009.

Foreclosure resales accounted for 2.7 percent of resales in October, down from a revised 2.8 percent the month before, and down from 3.7 percent a year ago. Foreclosure resales in the Bay Area peaked at 52.0 percent in February 2009, while the monthly average since 1995 is 9.7 percent. Foreclosure resales are homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months.

Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 3.5 percent of Bay Area resales in October. That was down from an estimated 3.8 percent in September and down from 7.3 percent in October 2013.

Absentee buyers – mostly investors – purchased 19.4 percent of all Bay Area homes that sold in October. That was down from a revised 19.6 percent in September, and down from 20.3 percent in October 2013. In recent months the absentee buyer share has hovered near its lowest level since late 2010.

Buyers paying cash accounted for 20.5 percent of sales in October, down from a revised 20.7 percent in September and down from 24.2 percent in October 2013. The cash level in October was the second-lowest, behind 20.3 percent this July, since November 2008, when cash buyers purchased 20.2 percent of all homes sold.

The typical monthly mortgage payment in the Bay Area was $2,307 in October. Adjusted for inflation, the October payment was 20.4 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 41.2 percent below the current cycle's peak in July 2007. It was 78.8 percent above the February 2012 bottom of the current cycle.

Indicators of market distress continue to decline. Foreclosure activity remains well below year-ago and far below peak levels. Financing with multiple mortgages is very low, and down payment sizes are stable. Because of late data availability, sales were estimated in Alameda, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.

For view the county-by-county home sales chart, please visit DQNews.com.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

October Southland Home Sales Press Release

Southern California Home Sales Dip To Three-Year Low; Smaller Year-Over-Year Gain for Median Sale Price


November 12, 2014

CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, today released its October Southern California homes sales report. Southland homes sold at the slowest pace for the month of October in three years as sales to investors and cash buyers continued to run well below October 2013 levels. Additionally, the median price paid for a home fell month-over-month again and the single-digit gain from a year earlier was the smallest in 28 months.

A total of 19,271 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in October 2014. That was down 0.4 percent from 19,348 sales in September, and down 4.4 percent from 20,150 sales in October 2013, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

Last month’s sales decline from September was not unusual. On average, Southern California sales have fallen 0.3 percent between September and October since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick data begin.

October home sales have ranged from a low of 12,913 in 2007 to a high of 37,642 in 2003. October 2014 sales were 17.7 percent below the October average of 23,413 sales.

"It was another sub-par month for Southern California home sales. We've yet to see traditional buyers fill the void left by the drop-off in investor and cash buyers, which began in spring last year,” said Andrew LePage, data analyst for CoreLogic DataQuick. “Of course, there are multiple reasons for this year's lackluster sales. New-home transactions are still running at about half their normal level. The resale market is hampered by constrained inventory in many areas, in part because some people who want to put their homes up for sale still haven't regained enough equity to purchase their next home. Then there are the would-be buyers who continue to struggle with affordability and mortgage availability, if not uncertainty over their employment or the direction of the housing market."

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the six-county region in October 2014 was $410,000, down 0.7 percent from $413,000 in September and up 6.8 percent from $383,750 in October 2013. The median price also fell month-over-month between September and August this year. The August median of $420,000 was the highest for any month since December 2007, when it was $425,000.

The 6.8 percent year-over-year gain for the October median sale price marked the fifth consecutive month with a single-digit annual increase following 22 straight months of double-digit gains as high as 28.3 percent. The last time the year-over-year increase in the median sale price was lower than last month’s gain was in June 2012, when it was 5.3 percent.

The $410,000 October median stood at 18.8 percent below the peak $505,000 median reached in spring/summer 2007. Among the region’s six counties, the October 2014 median in Orange County ($595,000) was the closest – within about 8 percent – to its peak of $645,000 in June 2007.

Home prices in Southern California have been rising at different rates depending on price segment. In October, the lowest-cost third of the region's housing stock saw a 13.6 percent year-over-year increase in the median price paid per square foot for resale houses. The annual gain was 5.1 percent for the middle third of the market and 3.6 percent for the top, most-expensive third.

The number of homes that sold for $500,000 or more rose 2.6 percent in October compared with a year earlier. Sales below $500,000 fell 10.4 percent year-over-year, and sales below $200,000 dropped 30.8 percent.

In October 2014, 35.8 percent of all Southern California home sales were for $500,000 or more, down from 36.4 percent in September and up from 32.8 percent in October 2013.

Also in the region, distressed property sales continued to wane last month.

Foreclosure resales represented 4.8 percent of the Southern California resale market in October. That was up insignificantly from 4.7 percent the prior month and down from 6.3 percent a year earlier. In recent months the foreclosure resale rate has been the lowest since early 2007. In the current cycle, foreclosure resales hit a high of 56.7 percent in February 2009. Foreclosure resales are homes foreclosed on in the prior 12 months.

Short sales made up an estimated 5.9 percent of resales last month. That was down from 6.1 percent the prior month and down from 10.8 percent a year earlier. Short sales are transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property.

Other Southern California housing market highlights from October 2014:

•Absentee buyers – mostly investors and some second-home purchasers – bought 23.6 percent of the homes sold last month. That tied the September 2014 revised absentee level as the lowest since October 2010, when 22.1 percent of homes were sold to absentee buyers. The October figure was down from 27.1 percent a year earlier. The peak absentee share was 32.4 percent in January 2013, while the monthly average since 2000, when the CoreLogic DataQuick absentee data begin, is about 19 percent.

•Buyers paying cash accounted for 23.5 percent of October home sales, down from a revised 24.2 percent the prior month and down from 28.6 percent a year earlier. Last month’s figure was the lowest since January 2009, when 22.0 percent of homes were bought with cash. The peak was 36.9 percent in February 2013, and since 1988 the monthly average has been 16.7 percent.

•In October, Southern California home buyers committed a total of $4.12 billion of their own money in the form of down payments or cash purchases. That was down from a revised $4.50 billion in September. The out-of-pocket total peaked in May 2013 at $5.41 billion.

•Jumbo loans, or mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 31.3 percent of purchase lending in October, up from a revised 30.9 the month before and up from 26.3 percent a year earlier. The July/August 2014 level of 32.3 percent was the highest since the credit crunch struck in August 2007. Prior to August 2007 jumbo loans accounted for around 40 percent of the home loan market. The jumbo level dropped to as low as 9.3 percent in January 2009.

•In October, 12.9 percent of home purchase loans were adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), down slightly from 13.3 percent the month before and up from 12.0 percent a year earlier. The ARM share dropped to as low as 1.9 percent of home purchase loans in May 2009. Since 2000, a monthly average of about 30 percent of purchase loans have been ARMs.

•All lenders combined provided a total of $5.58 billion in mortgage money to Southern California home buyers in October, down from a revised $5.63 billion the month before and down from $5.63 billion a year earlier.

•The typical monthly mortgage payment in Southern California was $1,574 in October 2014, down from $1,608 the month before and up from $1,499 a year earlier. Adjusted for inflation, the typical payment in October was 35.5 percent below the typical payment in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was also 47.2 percent below the current cycle’s peak in July 2007.

To view the county-by-county chart, please visit DQNews.com.

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick. Data available at DQNews.com
Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Copyright 2014 CoreLogic. All rights reserved.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

September Las Vegas Region Home Sales Press Release

Las Vegas Region September Home Sales


Las Vegas-area homes sold at the slowest pace for a September in seven years as the share of homes purchased by investors and other absentee buyers fell to a 69-month low. The median price paid for a home edged up from August to a six-year high, CoreLogic DataQuick reported.

In September, 3,930 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area (Clark County). That was down 1.9 percent from the month before and down 7.8 percent from a year earlier, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data. Last month's sales were the lowest for a September since 2007, when 3,054 homes sold.

Las Vegas region home sales typically dip between August and September. On average sales have fallen 5.4 percent between those two months since 1994, when Irvine-based CoreLogic DataQuick's complete Las Vegas-area statistics begin.

Last month's home sales were 15.8 percent below the average number sold during all months of September since 1994. However, resales of houses and condos combined were 5.3 percent above average for a September, while sales of newly built homes were nearly 58 percent below the September average. Condo resales were 19.2 percent higher than the September average, while resales of detached houses were 2.0 percent above average.

From January through September this year a total of 34,877 homes sold in the Las Vegas region, down 14.5 percent from the same nine-month period last year.

Las Vegas-area buyers paid a median $196,816 for all new and resale houses and condos purchased in September, up 0.9 percent from August and up 12.5 percent from $175,000 a year earlier. Last month’s median was the highest since it was $205,000 in September 2008. The median’s 12.5 percent year-over-year increase last month was up from a 9.9 percent annual gain in August but it was far below the September 2013 year-over-year increase of 27.7 percent.

The median has risen year-over-year for 30 straight months, with those gains ranging from 1.7 percent to 36.5 percent. In the second half of this year the median’s annual gains have ranged from 9.6 percent to last month's 12.5 percent.

The September median was 36.9 percent below the region’s peak $312,000 median in November 2006.

The run-up in home prices varies somewhat depending on price segment. In September, the lowest-cost third of the region’s housing stock saw a 13.5 percent year-over-year gain in the median price paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses. The annual increase was 12.7 percent for the market’s middle third and 8.6 percent for the top, most-expensive third.

In September, the number of homes that sold for less than $100,000 dropped 22.7 percent compared with a year earlier. That’s the result of both home price appreciation (i.e. homes that would have sold for less than $100,000 a year ago would now sell for significantly more) as well as the thin supply of lower-cost homes for sale. Sub-$200,000 transactions fell 21.0 percent year-over-year. Meanwhile, the number of homes that sold for $200,000 or more in September rose 7.4 percent year-over-year. Sales of homes priced from $200,000 to $500,000 – a range that would include many move-up purchases – rose 7.7 percent from a year earlier, while the number selling for $500,000 or more rose 4.5 percent.

Absentee buyers, which include investors and some vacation-home buyers, purchased 33.2 percent of the homes sold in September, down from 35.0 percent the month before and down from 42.8 percent a year earlier. Last month's absentee buyer share of total sales was the lowest since December 2008, when it was 31.3 percent. The monthly average for the absentee buyer share since January 2000 is 35.3 percent, while the peak was 51.2 percent in March 2012.

The drop in investment activity corresponds with a decline in all-cash purchases, mainly because many investors pay with cash. In September, cash was used to purchase 35.8 percent of all homes sold, up a tad from 34.7 percent the month before and down from 52.7 percent a year earlier. Last month’s cash share was the second-lowest, behind this August, for any month since December 2008, when 32.6 percent of homes were bought with cash. Since 1994 a monthly average of 23.9 percent of all homes have been bought with cash.


To view additional Las Vegas region September highlights, please visit DQNews.com.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157


Copyright 2014 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

Friday, October 17, 2014

3Q2014 California Home Foreclosure Press Release

Golden State Foreclosure Starts Continue to Decline


October 17, 2014

La Jolla, CA.--Lending institutions initiated formal foreclosure proceedings last quarter on the lowest number of California homes in more than eight years, the result of a recovering real estate market and the dwindling pool of toxic home loans made in 2006 and 2007, Irvine-based CoreLogic DataQuick reported.

A total of 16,833 Notices of Default (NoDs) were recorded at county recorders offices during the July-through-September period. That was down 3.9 percent from 17,524 for the prior quarter, and down 17.1 percent from 20,314 in third-quarter 2013, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

Last quarter's NoD tally was the lowest since fourth-quarter 2005, when 15,337 NoDs were recorded. NoDs peaked in first-quarter 2009 at 135,431, while the low was 12,417 NoDs in third-quarter 2004. The NoD statistics go back to 1992.

A Notice of Default is recorded at a county recorder's office and marks the first step of the formal foreclosure process.

"This home repo pipeline isn't exactly drying up, but it sure is diminishing. Its negative effect on the overall market is only a fraction of what it was several years ago, and is really only still noticeable in some pockets of the hardest-hit markets of the Inland Empire and Central Valley," said John Karevoll, a CoreLogic DataQuick analyst.

To some extent the level of NoD filings in recent quarters probably reflects the rate at which servicers are able to process paperwork. The 20,314 NoDs filed in third-quarter 2013 were followed by 18,120 the following quarter and then 19,215 in 2014Q1; 17,524 in 2014Q2; and 16,833 last quarter.

Most of the loans going into default are still from the 2005-2007 period. Last quarter the median origination quarter for defaulted loans was third-quarter 2006. That has been the case for more than five years, indicating that weak underwriting standards peaked then.

On primary mortgages, California homeowners were a median 12.5 months behind on their payments when the lender filed the Notice of Default. Borrowers owed a median $28,684 on a median $316,651 mortgage.

On home equity loans and lines of credit in default, borrowers owed a median $6,706 on a median $67,500 credit line. The amount of the credit line that was actually in use cannot be determined from public records.

The most active "beneficiaries" in the formal foreclosure process last quarter were Wells Fargo (2,244), Bank of America (1,372) and Nationstar (1,346).

The trustees who pursued the highest number of defaults last quarter were Quality Loan Service Corp (mostly for Wells Fargo), Clear Recon Corp (mostly Bank of America), and NBS Default Services (mostly Wells Fargo and Nationstar).

Although 16,833 default notices were filed last quarter, they involved 16,432 homes because some borrowers were in default on multiple loans (e.g. a primary mortgage and a line of credit).

Among the state's larger counties, loans were least likely to go into default last quarter in Marin, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. The probability was highest in Tulare, Madera and Fresno counties.

Lenders' shift toward short sales as a foreclosure alternative has helped lower foreclosure activity in recent years. Short sales - transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property - made up an estimated 5.5 percent of the state's resale market last quarter. That was down from an estimated 6.1 percent the prior quarter and 11.3 percent a year earlier.

To view a county-by-county NOD chart, please visit DQNews.com.

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick; DQNews.com

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Copyright 2014 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

September California Home Sales Press Release

California September Home Sales


October 14, 2014

An estimated 36,316 new and resale houses and condos sold statewide in September. That was down 2.4 percent from 37,228 in August, and up 0.8 percent from 36,027 sales in September 2013, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

Last month’s slight year-over-year sales increase was the first in a year, and sales were the highest for the month of September in five years. September sales have varied from a low of 24,460 in 2007 to a high of 69,304 in 2003. Last month's sales were 15.5 percent below the average of 42,996 sales for all the months of September since 1988, when Irvine-based CoreLogic DataQuick's statistics begin. California sales haven’t been above average for any particular month in more than eight years.

The median price paid for a home in California last month was $389,000, down 1.0 percent from $393,000 in August and up 9.6 percent from $355,000 in September 2013. Last month was the 31st consecutive month in which the state's median sale price rose year-over-year. In March/April/May 2007 the median peaked at $484,000. The post-peak trough was $221,000 in April 2009.

Of the existing homes sold last month, 5.3 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That was down from a revised 5.4 percent in August and down from 7.1 percent a year earlier. Foreclosure resales peaked at 58.8 percent in February 2009.

Short sales - transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property - made up an estimated 5.9 percent of the homes that resold last month. That was the same as in August and down from 10.8 percent a year earlier.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that California buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,507, down from $1,523 the month before and up from $1,437 a year earlier. Adjusted for inflation, last month's payment was 36.0 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 48.1 percent below the current cycle's peak in June 2006. It was 60.5 percent above the January 2012 bottom of the current cycle.

Indicators of market distress continue to decline. Foreclosure activity remains well below year-ago and peak levels reached in the last five years. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, while down payment sizes are stable, CoreLogic DataQuick reported.

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick; DQNews.com

Copyright DataQuick. All rights reserved.

September Bay Area Home Sales Press Release

Strongest September for Bay Area Home Sales in Five Years; Prices Flat


October 14, 2014

Irvine, CA.----The number of homes sold in the Bay Area last month edged up to its highest level for a September since 2009, the result of some spillover summer activity and sustained demand in a strong regional economy. Prices appear to have flattened out at a level reached this spring, Irvine-based CoreLogic DataQuick reported.

A total of 7,443 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area last month. That was down 1.8 percent from 7,578 in August and up 4.2 percent from 7,141 in September last year, according to CoreLogic DataQuick.

A decline in sales from August to September is normal for the season. Last month’s sales count was the highest for any September since 7,879 homes were sold in 2009. Sales for the month of September have varied from 5,014 in 2007 to 13,343 in 2003. The average since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick’s statistics begin, is 8,479.

The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area was $604,000 in September. That was down 0.5 percent from $607,000 in August, and up 14.0 percent from $530,000 in September last year. The median sale price lurched above $600,000 this April, when it was $610,000, and then reached a 2014 high of $618,000 in June. Since then the median has declined slightly on a month-to-month basis.

The Bay Area’s median sale price peaked at $665,000 in June and July 2007, then dropped to a low of $290,000 in March 2009.

“Some analysts are re-calculating what they consider to be normal sales levels, taking out the ‘loans-gone-wild’ years of over-available credit. And if you do that, current sales are right in the normal range. We still have issues today, though. The mortgage market is still dysfunctional. There are categories of buying and selling that are still inactive, and nobody really has any idea just how much pent-up demand there is out there,” said John Karevoll, CoreLogic DataQuick analyst.

A variety of market indicators are trending slowly toward long-term norms.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), an important indicator of mortgage availability, accounted for 24.4 percent of the Bay Area’s home purchase loans in September, up from a revised 23.6 percent in August, and up from 20.3 percent in September last year. ARMs hit a low of 3.0 percent of loans in January 2009. Since 2000, ARMs have accounted for 46.5 percent of all Bay Area purchase loans.

Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 55.7 percent of last month’s purchase lending, down from a revised 56.1 percent in August, and up from 46.7 percent a year ago. Jumbo usage dropped to as low as 17.1 percent in January 2009.

Last month foreclosure resales – homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 2.8 percent of resales, unchanged from a revised 2.8 percent the month before, and down from 3.6 percent a year ago. Foreclosure resales in the Bay Area peaked at 52.0 percent in February 2009, while the monthly average over the past 17 years is 9.7 percent, CoreLogic DataQuick reported.

Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 3.6 percent of Bay Area resales last month. That was down from an estimated 3.8 percent in August and down from 7.5 percent a year earlier.

Last month absentee buyers – mostly investors – purchased 19.1 percent of all Bay Area homes. That was up from August’s revised 18.6 percent, and down from 20.9 percent in September last year.

Buyers who appear to have paid all cash – meaning no sign of a corresponding purchase loan was found in the public record – accounted for 20.9 percent of sales in September, down from a revised 21.8 percent in August and down from 23.3 percent a year earlier.

Bay Area home buyers used $2.13 billion of their own money in the form of a down payment or as an outright cash purchase last month. They borrowed $2.8 billion in mortgage money from lenders last month.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $2,340. Adjusted for inflation, last month’s payment was 19.4 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 39.1 percent below the current cycle's peak in July 2007. It was 82.4 percent above the February 2012 bottom of the current cycle.

Indicators of market distress continue to decline. Foreclosure activity remains well below year-ago and far below peak levels. Financing with multiple mortgages is very low, and down payment sizes are stable, CoreLogic DataQuick reported. Because of late data availability, sales were estimated in Alameda, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.

To view the county-by-county chart, please visit DQNews.com.

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick, www.DQNews.com

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157
Copyright 2014 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

Monday, October 13, 2014

September Southland Home Sales Press Release

Southland Home Sales Edge Higher; Price Growth Slows


October 13, 2014

Irvine, CA---Southern California home sales hit a five-year high for a September, rising slightly above a year earlier for the first time in 12 months amid gains for mid- to high-end deals. The median sale price fell below an 80-month high reached in August and for the first time in more than two years none of the Southland counties posted a double-digit year-over-year price gain, CoreLogic DataQuick reported.

A total of 19,348 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 2.9 percent from 18,796 sales in August, and up 1.2 percent from 19,112 sales in September 2013, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

On average, sales have fallen 9.4 percent between August and September since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick statistics begin. Last month marked the first time sales have risen on a year-over-year basis since September last year, when sales rose 7.0 percent from September 2012.

September home sales have ranged from a low of 12,455 in 2007 to a high of 37,771 in 2003. Last month’s sales were 18.3 percent below the September average of 23,695 sales.

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the six-county region last month was $413,000, down 1.7 percent from $420,000 in August and up 8.1 percent from $382,000 in September 2013. The August 2014 median was the highest for any month since December 2007, when it was $425,000.

The median’s 8.1 percent year-over-year gain in September marked the fourth consecutive month with a single-digit annual increase following 22 straight months of double-digit gains of as much as 28.3 percent.

“Price appreciation has dipped into single-digit territory as more would-be buyers get priced out, investors back off and incomes rise modestly at best. Yet there are still upward forces on home prices: Jobs are being created and families started at a time when the supply of existing homes for sale, as well as the number of new homes being built, remains relatively low. The good news for those looking to buy a home now is that mortgage rates remain very low in an historical context, and we're past the peak home-buying season. Today's home shoppers are more likely to find a less-crowded market with fewer intense multiple-offer situations and more serious, realistic sellers,” said Andrew LePage, an analyst with Irvine-based CoreLogic DataQuick.

Last month was the first since June 2012 in which none of the six Southland counties posted a double-digit, year-over-year gain in its median sale price (all had single-digit increases). Orange County’s $585,000 September median was the closest – within 9.3 percent – to its all-time peak of $645,000 in June 2007.

For the Southland overall the September median stood 18.2 percent below the peak $505,000 median in spring/summer 2007.

Home prices have been rising at different rates depending on price segment. In September, the lowest-cost third of the region's housing stock saw a 10.9 percent year-over-year increase in the median price paid per square foot for resale houses. The annual gain was 6.6 percent for the middle third of the market and 4.5 percent for the top, most-expensive third.

The number of homes that sold for $500,000 or more last month rose 9.0 percent compared with a year earlier. But sales below $500,000 fell 6.7 percent year-over-year. Sales below $200,000 dropped 24.7 percent. Sales in the lower price ranges are hampered by, among other things, the drop in affordability over the last year, a fussy mortgage market and a relatively low inventory of homes for sale.

In September, 36.7 percent of all Southland home sales were for $500,000 or more, down from 38.5 percent in August – an 81-month high – and up from 33.2 percent in September 2013.

Distressed property sales continued to play a lesser role in the market.

Foreclosure resales – homes foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – represented 4.7 percent of the Southland resale market last month. That was down from a revised 5.0 percent the prior month and down from 6.4 percent a year earlier. In recent months the foreclosure resale rate has been the lowest since early 2007. In the current cycle, foreclosure resales hit a high of 56.7 percent in February 2009.

Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 6.0 percent of Southland resales last month. That was up insignificantly from 5.9 percent the prior month and down from 10.9 percent a year earlier.

Absentee buyers – mostly investors and some second-home purchasers – bought 23.3 percent of the Southland homes sold last month. That was the lowest absentee share since October 2010, when 22.1 percent of homes sold to absentee buyers. Last month’s figure was down from 23.8 percent the prior month and down from 27.0 percent a year earlier. The peak was 32.4 percent in January 2013, while the monthly average since 2000, when the CoreLogic DataQuick absentee data begin, is about 19 percent.

Buyers paying cash accounted for 24.3 percent of September home sales, down from a revised 24.5 percent in August and down from 28.7 percent in September last year. Last month’s figure was the lowest since June 2010, when 24.2 percent of Southland homes were bought with cash. The peak was 36.9 percent in February 2013, and since 1988 the monthly average is 16.7 percent.

In September, Southern California home buyers committed a total of $4.03 billion of their own money in the form of down payments or cash purchases. That was down from a revised $4.51 billion in August. The out-of-pocket total peaked in May 2013 at $5.41 billion.

Although credit conditions remain fairly tight, the use of larger “jumbo” home loans and adjustable-rate mortgages has generally trended higher this year compared with last, edging toward more normal levels.

Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 28.1 percent of last month’s Southland purchase lending, the same as the month before and up from 26.5 percent a year earlier. The July 2014 level of 32.3 percent was the highest since the credit crunch struck in August 2007. Prior to August 2007 jumbos accounted for around 40 percent of the home loan market. The jumbo level dropped to as low as 9.3 percent in January 2009.

In September, 13.4 percent of Southland home purchase loans were adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), the same as the August ARM rate and up from a year earlier, when 12.0 percent of purchase loans were ARMs. The ARM share dropped to as low as 1.9 percent of home purchase loans in May 2009. Since 2000, a monthly average of about 30.2 percent of Southland purchase loans have been ARMs.

All lenders combined provided a total of $5.85 billion in mortgage money to Southern California home buyers in September, down from a revised $6.2 billion in August and up from $5.43 billion in September last year.

The typical monthly mortgage payment Southland buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,608, down from $1,624 the month before and up from $1,547 a year earlier. Adjusted for inflation, last month’s typical payment was 34.1 percent below the typical payment in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 46.0 percent below the current cycle’s peak in July 2007.

To view the county-by-county home sale chart, please visit DQNews.com.

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

Copyright 2014 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

August Portland Region Home Sales Press Release

Portland Region August Home Sales


Portland-area home sales dipped month-to-month in August but rose slightly from a year earlier and reached a seven-year high thanks to a nine-year high in condo resales. The median price paid for all homes sold declined a bit from a nearly seven-year high in July, while the median's year-over-year increase was the smallest in almost two years, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 3,762 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow during August in the five-county Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton metro area. Sales fell 2.1 percent from the prior month and rose 0.1 percent from a year earlier, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

On average, sales between July and August have increased 3.2 percent since 1994, when CoreLogic DataQuick's complete Portland-area statistics begin.

The August 2014 sales tally was the highest for that month since 4,191 homes sold in August 2007, and it was 6.1 percent short of the average sales total for all months of August since 1994. Sales of existing (not new) single-family detached houses were 5.6 percent below the historical August average, while new-home sales were 35.7 percent below average. August condo resales, which rose 9.7 percent from a year earlier, were 76.3 percent above the August average. The 372 condo resales in August were the highest for that month since 405 condos resold in August 2005.

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos that closed escrow in the Portland region in August was $279,900, down 1.3 percent from $283,500 in July and up 7.2 percent from $261,000 a year earlier. The July median was the highest for any month since the median was $289,000 in October 2007. The 7.2 percent year-over-year gain in the August median marked the lowest annual increase since the $230,000 November 2012 median rose 5.3 percent.

The median has risen on a year-over-year basis for 30 consecutive months, including a 12-month string of double-digit increases as high as 18.1 percent between December 2012 and November 2013. Over the past six months the median's year-over-year gains have been single-digit.

This August's median sale price was 3.1 percent below the peak $289,000 median in October 2007, and it was 43.5 percent higher than the post-peak trough of $195,000 in January 2012. During the most recent housing bust the Portland area's median fell 32.5 percent from peak to trough.

Sales of mid- to high-end homes continued to rise year-over-year in August, while lower-cost deals declined. August sales below $200,000 dropped 29.6 percent from a year earlier, while sales below $300,000 fell 8.3 percent. The number of August home sales above $300,000 rose 12.5 percent year-over-year, while sales over $500,000 rose 24.6 percent.

It appears investors were as active as they were a year ago. Absentee buyers - mostly investors and some second-home buyers - purchased 26.8 percent of all homes sold in August, up from 26.6 percent the prior month and up from 25.8 percent a year earlier. The absentee buyer rate peaked at 31.7 percent in April 2012, and the monthly average for absentee purchases since January 2000 is 20.0 percent.

The Portland metro area statistics in this report and in the tables below reflect sales in Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington.

To view additional Portland region August highlights, please visit DQNews.com.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick; DQNews.com

Copyright 2014 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

August Seattle Region Home Sales Press Release

Seattle Region August Home Sales


Seattle-area homes sold at a near-average pace in August but sales fell short of July and a year ago amid a four-year low in the share of homes bought by investors and other absentee buyers. The median sale price fell from a six-year high reached this June and July but rose 3 percent year-over-year - the smallest annual gain in more than two years, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 5,788 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow during August in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area encompassing King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Seattle-area sales fell 5.5 percent from the prior month and fell 3.8 percent from a year earlier, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

Seattle-area sales typically rise a bit between July and August, increasing an average of 2.4 percent between those two months since 1994, when CoreLogic DataQuick's complete Seattle-area statistics begin. August marked the second consecutive month and the fifth so far this year to log a year-over-year decline in total sales.

So far this year overall Seattle-area sales are running a bit lower than last year. A total of 39,709 home sold between January and August, down 1.3 percent from the same eight-month period in 2013.

Total August home sales were 0.1 percent below average for all months of August since 1994. Sales of existing (not new) resale condos were 37.7 percent above the August average, while resales of single-family detached houses were 1.3 percent above average and new-home sales were 34.9 percent below average.

Buyers paid a median $335,000 for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the three-county Seattle region in August. That was down 2.9 percent from July's $345,000 and up 3.1 percent from $325,000 in August 2013. The $345,000 median paid in both June and July this year marked the highest level for any month since the median was $345,200 in June 2008.

The August median's 3.1 percent year-over-year gain was the smallest for any month since April 2012, when the region's $274,659 median sale price rose 1.7 percent from April 2011.

August marked the 29th consecutive month in which the Seattle area's median sale price rose on a year-over-year basis. However, the August median was 8.3 percent lower than the region's peak $365,200 median in June 2007. The $345,000 median paid for resale single-family detached houses in August was 12.5 percent below the June 2007 peak of $394,500 for that home-type category. The $248,150 median paid for resale condos in August was 11.4 percent lower than that category's June 2008 peak of $280,000.

In an ongoing trend, the number of homes selling in the higher price ranges rose in August compared with a year earlier, while sales of lower-cost homes fell. The number of sales for less than $200,000 dropped 9.1 percent year-over-year, while August sales below $500,000 fell 5.5 percent. Sales above $500,000 rose 4.7 percent year-over-year, while home sales over $700,000 increased 15.4 percent.

In the Seattle region's multi-million-dollar luxury housing market, sales have trended higher this year. During the first eight months of this year a total of 255 homes sold for $2 million or more, up 48.3 percent from the same period in 2013. Multi-million-dollar sales are identified based on a price or loan amount found in the public record.

Meanwhile, the share of all homes sold to absentee buyers - the combination of investors and vacation-home buyers - fell in August to 14.6 percent, the lowest since absentee buyers accounted for 13.1 percent of all sales in June 2010.

To view other Seattle area August highlights, visit DQNews.com.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick; DQNews.com

Copyright 2014 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

August Miami Region Home Sales Press Release

Miami Region August Home Sales


September 30, 2014

Miami-area home sales fell on a year-over-year basis for the third consecutive month in August, when cash and investor purchases, as well as overall sub-$200,000 sales, continued to run well below year-ago levels. The August median sale price dipped below a 68-month high reached in July but rose year-over-year, though that single-digit annual gain was the lowest in two years, a real estate information service reported.

In August, 10,236 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the metro area encompassing Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties. August sales dipped 11.0 percent from the prior month and fell 8.5 percent from a year earlier, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

Between January and August this year a total of 83,085 homes sold in the Miami region, down 3.3 percent from the same eight-month period last year.

It's normal for Miami-area sales to dip slightly between July and August. On average, Miami sales have fallen 2.9 percent between those two months since 1997, when CoreLogic DataQuick's complete Miami-area statistics begin.

This August's total sales were 12.6 percent below the average number of sales for the month of August since 1997. August's condo resales were 15.9 percent above average for the month, while single-family detached house resales were 11.6 percent below the long-term average and new-home sales were 74.5 percent below the August average.

Condo resales fell 11.8 percent in August compared with a year earlier but continued to account for an above-average share of overall home sales. In August, condo resales represented 44.9 percent of total sales, compared with an historical monthly average of about 35.9 percent. The August resale condo share was up from 44.2 percent in July and down from 46.6 percent a year earlier.

In August, the median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Miami region was $198,350, down 3.2 percent from $205,000 the month before and up 7.2 percent from $184,950 a year earlier. The July 2014 median of $205,000 was the highest for any month since the median was $210,000 in November 2008.

The August median's 7.2 percent year-over-year increase marked the first single-digit annual gain following 24 consecutive months of double-digit year-over-year increases. The region's median has risen year-over-year for 32 consecutive months, with those gains ranging from 5.8 percent to 27.1 percent.

This August's median stood 31.6 percent below the Miami area's peak $290,000 median in June 2007.

August sales activity varied by price segment: The number of homes that sold below $100,000 dropped 23.3 percent year-over-year, while sales below $200,000 fell 13.6 percent. The number of homes sold in the typical move-up range between $200,000 and $600,000 declined 3.7 percent year-over-year in August, while the number of homes that sold for $800,000 and above increased 4 percent from August 2013.

In the Miami region's multi-million-dollar luxury home market, 126 homes sold for $2 million or more in August, down from 158 in July and up from 91 in August last year. During the first eight months of this year, 1,166 homes sold for at least $2 million, up 17.3 percent from the same period in 2013 and the highest number on record for the January-through-August period. The figures are based on public property records, where either a price or loan amount was available.

To view other Miami region August highlights, please visit DQNews.com.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick; DQNews.com

Copyright 2014 DataQuick. All rights reserved.


Monday, September 29, 2014

August Las Vegas Region Home Sales Press Release

Las Vegas Region August Home Sales


The Las Vegas region logged its slowest August home sales in 16 years last month amid affordability and inventory constraints as well as the lowest level of all-cash purchases since late 2008. Although home price appreciation continued to run well below last year’s pace, the median sale price rose to a nearly six-year high, a real estate information service reported.

In August, 4,007 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area (Clark County). That was down 5.9 percent from the month before and down 15.7 percent from a year earlier, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

Sales in the Las Vegas region typically increase slightly between July and August. On average sales have risen 2.6 percent between those two months since 1994, when Irvine-based CoreLogic DataQuick's complete Las Vegas-area statistics begin. Sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis for the past 11 months.

Last month's home sales were the lowest for the month of August since 1998, when 3,657 homes sold, and they were 20.0 percent below the average number sold during all months of August since 1994. However, resales of houses and condos combined were 0.8 percent above average for August, while sales of newly built homes were nearly 64 percent below the August average. Condo resales were 6.8 percent higher than the August average, while resales of detached houses were 0.5 percent below average.

Las Vegas region buyers paid a median $195,000 for all new and resale houses and condos purchased in August, up 2.6 percent from the July median and up 9.9 percent from $177,500 a year earlier. The August median was the highest since it was $196,000 in October 2008. However, the median’s 9.9 percent annual increase last month was less than one-third of the August 2013 year-over-year gain of 33.5 percent.

Over the last 29 consecutive months the median’s year-over-year increases have ranged from 1.7 percent to 36.5 percent. August marked the second consecutive month in which the median had a single-digit annual increase following two years of double-digit year-over-year gains each month.

The August median was 37.5 percent below the region’s peak $312,000 median in November 2006.

The run-up in home prices varies somewhat depending on price segment. In August, the lowest-cost third of the region’s housing stock saw a 17.6 percent year-over-year gain in the median price paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses. The annual increase was 11.9 percent for the market’s middle third and 7.9 percent for the top, most-expensive third.

In August, the number of homes that sold for less than $100,000 dropped 31.5 percent compared with a year earlier. That’s the result of both home price appreciation (i.e. homes that would have sold for less than $100,000 a year ago would now sell for significantly more) as well as the thin supply of lower-cost homes for sale. Sub-$200,000 transactions fell 24.4 percent year-over-year. Meanwhile, the number of homes that sold for $200,000 or more in August declined 1.8 percent year-over-year. August sales of homes priced from $200,000 to $500,000 – a range that would include many move-up purchases – dipped 3.3 percent from a year earlier, while the number selling for $500,000 or more rose 14.6 percent.

Absentee buyers, which include investors and some vacation-home buyers, purchased 34.9 percent of the homes sold in August, up a tad from 34.3 percent the month before and down from 42.3 percent a year earlier. This July’s absentee buyer share of total sales was the lowest since January 2009, when it was 33.8 percent. The monthly average for the absentee buyer share since January 2000 is 35.3 percent, while the peak was 51.2 percent in March 2012.

The drop in investment activity corresponds with a decline in all-cash purchases, mainly because many investors pay with cash. In August, cash was used to purchase 34.7 percent of all homes sold, down from 38.7 percent the month before and down from 53.4 percent a year earlier. Last month’s cash share was the lowest for any month since December 2008, when 32.6 percent of homes were bought with cash. The monthly average for cash sales since 1994 is 23.9 percent.


To view additional Las Vegas region August highlights, please visit DQNews.com.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157


Copyright 2014 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

August California Home Sales Press Release

California August Home Sales


September 11, 2014

An estimated 37,228 new and resale houses and condos sold statewide in August. That was down 6.0 percent from 39,608 in July, and down 12.5 percent from 42,546 sales in August 2013, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

August sales have varied from a low of 29,764 in 1992 to a high of 73,285 in 2005. Last month's sales were 21.6 percent below the average of 47,456 sales for all the months of August since 1988, when Irvine-based CoreLogic DataQuick's statistics begin. California sales haven’t been above average for any month in more than eight years.

The median price paid for a home in California last month was $393,000, up 0.3 percent from $392,000 in July and up 8.9 percent from $361,000 in August 2013. Last month was the 30th consecutive month in which the state's median sale price rose year-over-year. In March/April/May 2007 the median peaked at $484,000. The post-peak trough was $221,000 in April 2009.

Of the existing homes sold last month, 5.4 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That was down from 5.6 percent in July and down from 7.8 percent a year earlier. Foreclosure resales peaked at 58.8 percent in February 2009.

Short sales - transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property - made up an estimated 6.0 percent of the homes that resold last month. That was unchanged from the month before and down from 11.4 percent a year earlier.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that California buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,523, up from $1,521 the month before and up from $1,456 a year earlier. Adjusted for inflation, last month's payment was 35.5 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 47.7 percent below the current cycle's peak in June 2006. It was 61.8 percent above the January 2012 bottom of the current cycle.

Source: CoreLogic DataQuick; DQNews.com

Copyright DataQuick. All rights reserved.

August Bay Area Home Sale Press Release

Bay Area Home Sales Slow in August; Prices Increases Ease Back


September 11, 2014

Irvine, CA.----The number of Bay Area homes that sold last month declined again, as potential buyers continued to struggle with constrained supply, tricky mortgage availability and affordability issues. The median price paid for a Bay Area home dropped somewhat, as it usually does from July to August, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 7,578 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area last month. That was down 10.6 percent from 8,474 in July and down 12.0 percent from 8,616 in August last year, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

August sales have varied from 6,688 in August 1992 to 13,940 in August 2004. The average since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick’s statistics begin, is 9,526.

“Among the professional number crunchers, there’s been talk lately of a ‘new normal’ and maybe even the need to re-benchmark key statistical indicators like sales and price levels. The fact is that the housing market is still slowly moving back toward long-term norms that were thrown out of whack back during the Great Recession. The most congestion in the various pipelines that comprise the housing market today is caused by abnormalities in the mortgage market,” said John Karevoll, an analyst with Irvine-based CoreLogic DataQuick.

The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area was $607,000 in August. That was down 1.6 percent from $617,000 in July, and up 12.4 percent from $540,000 in August a year ago. A seasonal late-summer decline in median price is normal in the Bay Area. The Bay Area’s median sale price peaked at $665,000 in June and July 2007, then dropped to a low of $290,000 in March 2009.

While bouncing around somewhat from month to month, a variety of market indicators are trending incrementally toward long-term norms.

Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 58.2 percent of last month’s purchase lending, up from a revised 57.3 percent in July, and up from 47.9 percent a year ago. Jumbo usage dropped to as low as 17.1 percent in January 2009.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), an important indicator of mortgage availability, accounted for 24.5 percent of the Bay Area’s home purchase loans in August, down from a revised 25.4 percent in July, and up from 19.4 percent in August last year. ARMs hit a low of 3.0 percent of loans in January 2009. Since 2000, ARMs have accounted for 46.6 percent of all Bay Area purchase loans.

Last month foreclosure resales – homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 2.9 percent of resales, up from 2.7 percent the month before, and down from 4.3 percent a year ago. Foreclosure resales in the Bay Area peaked at 52.0 percent in February 2009, while the monthly average over the past 17 years is 9.8 percent, CoreLogic DataQuick reported.

Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 3.8 percent of Bay Area resales last month. That was down from an estimated 4.0 percent in July and down from 7.6 percent a year earlier.

Last month absentee buyers – mostly investors – purchased 18.4 percent of all Bay Area homes. That was down from a revised 18.9 percent the prior month, and down from 20.3 percent a year earlier.

Buyers who appear to have paid all cash – meaning no sign of a corresponding purchase loan was found in the public record – accounted for 21.8 percent of sales in August, up slightly from a revised 20.0 percent the month before and down from 23.7 percent a year earlier.

Bay Area home buyers committed $2.53 billion of their own money in the form of a down payment or as an outright cash purchase last month, while they borrowed $3.64 billion in mortgage money from lenders.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $2,352. Adjusted for inflation, last month’s payment was 19.2 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 40.3 percent below the current cycle's peak in July 2007. It was 82.9 percent above the February 2012 bottom of the current cycle.

Because of late data availability, sales were estimated in Alameda, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.

To view the county-by-county chart, please visit DQNews.com.

Source: DataQuick, www.DQNews.com

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157
Copyright 2014 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

August Southland Home Sale Press Release

Southland Home Sales Sputter; Median Sale Price Hits 80-Month High


September 11, 2014

Irvine, CA---Southern California home sales slipped to a four-year low for August as would-be buyers faced inventory and affordability challenges and investor purchases held at the lowest level in several years. The median sale price climbed to a post-recession high, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 18,796 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was down 7.7 percent from 20,369 sales in July, and down 18.5 percent from 23,057 sales in August 2013, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.

On average, sales have risen 3.7 percent between July and August since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick statistics begin. Southland sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis for 11 consecutive months. Sales during the month of August have ranged from a low of 16,379 in 1992 to a high of 39,562 in 2003. Last month’s sales were 28.2 percent below the August average of 26,169 sales.

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the six-county region last month was $420,000, up 1.7 percent from $413,000 in July and up 9.1 percent from $385,000 in August 2013. Last month’s median was the highest for any month since December 2007, when it was $425,000. The median’s 9.1 percent year-over-year gain in August was the highest in three months. But it also marked the third consecutive month with a single-digit annual increase following 22 months of double-digit year-over-year gains as high as 28.3 percent.

“There was certainly pressure on home values this summer but some of that jump in the August median sale price appears to reflect a shift in market mix. A slightly higher share of sales occurred in the more expensive coastal markets, and that can nudge up the median. Nevertheless, prices are high enough to be a hurdle for a lot of potential buyers, even though mortgage rates have fallen in recent months. And price isn’t the only impediment. Some still struggle to qualify for a loan or to mend their household finances in the wake of the Great Recession. Others are simply waiting for price appreciation to give them enough equity in their homes to make a move up,” said Andrew LePage, an analyst with Irvine-based CoreLogic DataQuick.

Last month three counties – San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange – logged single-digit, year-over-year gains in their median sale prices, while Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties saw double-digit increases. Orange County’s $590,000 August median was the closest – within 8.5 percent – to its all-time peak of $645,000 in June 2007.

For the Southland overall the August median stood 16.8 percent below the peak $505,000 median in spring/summer 2007.

Home prices have been rising at different rates depending on price segment. In August, the lowest-cost third of the region's housing stock saw a 13.1 percent year-over-year increase in the median price paid per square foot for resale houses. The annual gain was 7.9 percent for the middle third of the market and 4.3 percent for the top, most-expensive third.

The number of homes that sold for $500,000 or more last month fell 0.6 percent compared with a year earlier. But sales below $500,000 fell 16.3 percent year-over-year. Sales below $200,000 dropped 35.6 percent. Sales in the lower price ranges are hampered by, among other things, the drop in affordability over the last year, a fussy mortgage market and a relatively low inventory of homes for sale.

In August, 37.2 percent of all Southland home sales were for $500,000 or more, up from 37.1 percent in July and up from 33.3 percent in August 2013. The $500,000-plus level peaked for this year in June at 38.1 percent.

Distressed property sales continued to fade as a market force.

Foreclosure resales – homes foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – represented 5.0 percent of the Southland resale market last month. That was down from 5.2 percent the prior month and down from 7.0 percent a year earlier. In recent months the foreclosure resale rate has been the lowest since early 2007. In the current cycle, foreclosure resales hit a high of 56.7 percent in February 2009.

Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 5.9 percent of Southland resales last month. That was up slightly from 5.8 percent the prior month and down from 11.5 percent a year earlier.

Absentee buyers – mostly investors and some second-home purchasers – bought 23.5 percent of the Southland homes sold last month. That tied the July level as the lowest absentee share since December 2010, when 23.4 percent of homes sold to absentee buyers. Last month’s figure was down from 26.7 percent a year earlier. The peak was 32.4 percent in January 2013, while the monthly average since 2000, when the CoreLogic DataQuick absentee data begin, is about 19 percent.

Cash purchases hovered near a 5.5-year low last month. Buyers paying cash accounted for 24.4 percent of August home sales, up a hair from a revised 24.1 percent in July and down from 28.4 percent in August last year. The July 2014 figure was the lowest since January 2009, when 22.0 percent of Southland homes were bought with cash. The peak was 36.9 percent in February 2013, and since 1988 the monthly average is 16.6 percent.

In August, Southern California home buyers committed a total of $4.57 billion of their own money in the form of down payments or cash purchases. That was up from a revised $4.49 billion in July. The out-of-pocket total peaked in May 2013 at $5.41 billion.

Although credit conditions remain fairly tight, the use of larger “jumbo” home loans and adjustable-rate mortgages has generally trended higher this year compared with last, edging toward more normal levels.

Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 32.3 percent of last month’s Southland purchase lending, which is unchanged from July and the highest level since the credit crunch struck in August 2007. Last month's figure was up from 27.0 percent a year earlier. Prior to August 2007 jumbos accounted for around 40 percent of the home loan market. The jumbo level dropped to as low as 9.3 percent in January 2009.

In August, 13.3 percent of Southland home purchase loans were adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), down slightly from 13.6 percent in July and up from 11.7 percent a year ago. ARM use dropped to as low as 1.9 percent of all purchase loans in May 2009. Since 2000, a monthly average of about 31 percent of Southland purchase loans have been ARMs.

All lenders combined provided a total of $6.36 billion in mortgage money to Southern California home buyers in August, down from a revised $6.51 billion in July and down from $6.51 billion in August last year.

The typical monthly mortgage payment Southland buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,624, up from a revised $1,602 the month before and up from $1,553 a year earlier. Adjusted for inflation, last month’s typical payment was 33.6 percent below the typical payment in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 45.6 percent below the current cycle’s peak in July 2007.

To view the county-by-county chart, please visit DQNews.com.

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

Copyright 2014 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

July Las Vegas Region Home Sales Press Release

Las Vegas Region July Home Sales


Las Vegas-area home sales changed little last month from June and were the lowest for a July in six years as the share of homes sold to investors and other absentee buyers dropped to a 67-month low. The median price paid for a home held steady with June and its increase from a year earlier was the smallest in more than two years, a real estate information service reported.

In July, 4,260 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area (Clark County). That was up 1.1 percent from the month before and down 11.8 percent from a year earlier, according to CoreLogic DataQuick, which tracks real estate trends nationally.

Sales in the Las Vegas region typically dip from June to July. On average sales have fallen 5.3 percent between those two months since 1994, when CoreLogic DataQuick's complete Las Vegas-area statistics begin. Sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis for the past 10 months.

Last month's home sales were the lowest for the month of July since 2008, when 4,134 homes sold, and they were 12.2 percent below the average number sold during all months of July since 1994. However, resales of houses and condos combined were 9.3 percent above average for July, while sales of newly built homes were nearly 62 percent below the July average. Condo resales were 22.6 percent higher than the July average, while resales of detached houses were 6.2 percent above average.

Las Vegas region buyers paid a median $190,000 for all new and resale houses and condos purchased in July, the same as the June median and up 9.6 percent from $173,350 a year earlier. The June and July medians are the highest since the median was also $190,000 in November 2008.

The median sale price’s year-over-year gains over the past 28 consecutive months ranged from 1.7 percent to 36.5 percent. This July’s 9.6 percent year-over-year increase in the median was the lowest for any month since June 2012 and it marked the median's first single-digit annual increase following two years of double-digit year-over-year gains each month.

July’s median was 39.1 percent below the region’s peak $312,000 median in November 2006.

The run-up in home prices varies somewhat depending on price segment. In July, the lowest-cost third of the region’s housing stock saw a 15.9 percent year-over-year gain in the median price paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses. The annual increase was 12.1 percent for the market’s middle third and 11.4 percent for the top, most-expensive third.

In July, the number of homes that sold for less than $100,000 dropped 32.1 percent compared with a year earlier, the result of both higher prices this year as well as the thin supply of lower-cost homes for sale. Sub-$200,000 transactions fell 20.8 percent year-over-year. Meanwhile, the number of homes that sold for $200,000 or more rose 1.8 percent year-over-year. July sales of homes priced from $200,000 to $500,000 – a range that would include many move-up purchases – increased 0.9 percent from a year earlier, while the number selling for $500,000 or more rose 10.9 percent.

Absentee buyers, which include investors and some vacation-home buyers, purchased 34.7 percent of the homes sold in July, down from 36.3 percent the month before and down from 46.2 percent a year earlier. In July the absentee buyer share of total sales was the lowest since it was 33.8 percent in January 2009. The monthly average for the absentee buyer share since January 2000 is 35.4 percent, while the peak was 51.2 percent in March 2012.

The drop in investment activity corresponds with a decline in all-cash purchases, mainly because many investors pay with cash. In July, cash was used to purchase 38.7 percent of all homes sold, up a tad from 37.3 percent the month before and down from 58.5 percent a year earlier. The June 2014 cash level was the lowest for any month since December 2008, when 32.6 percent of homes were bought with cash. The monthly average for cash sales since 1994 is 23.8 percent.

To view additional Las Vegas region July highlights, please visit DQNews.com.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157


Copyright 2014 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

July California Home Sale press release

California July Home Sales


August 14, 2014

An estimated 39,608 new and resale houses and condos sold statewide in July. That was up 0.9 percent from 39,254 in June, and down 8.7 percent from 43,381 sales in July 2013, according to Irvine-based CoreLogic DataQuick.

July sales have varied from a low of 30,596 in 1995 to a high of 71,186 in 2004. Last month's sales were 14.0 percent below the average of 45,935 sales for all months of July since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick statistics begin. California sales haven’t been above average for any particular month in more than eight years.

The median price paid for a home in California last month was $392,000, down 0.3 percent from $393,000 in June and up 8.0 percent from $363,000 in July 2013. Last month was the 29th consecutive month in which the state's median sale price rose year-over-year. It was the first year-over-year increase below 10 percent since June 2012, when the $274,000 median was up 8.3 percent. This cycle's year-over-year increases peaked at 29.2 percent in July last year.

In March/April/May 2007 California's median sale price hit an all-time peak of $484,000. The post-peak trough was $221,000 in April 2009.

Of the homes that resold last month, 5.6 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That was down from 5.8 percent in June and down from 8.3 percent a year earlier. Foreclosure resales peaked at 58.8 percent of the resale market in February 2009.

Short sales - transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property - made up an estimated 6.6 percent of the homes that resold last month. That was up slightly from an estimated 6.3 percent the month before and down from 12.7 percent a year earlier.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that California buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,521, down from $1,530 the month before and up from $1,449 a year earlier. Adjusted for inflation, last month's payment was 35.6 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 47.8 percent below the current cycle's peak in June 2006. It was 61.6 percent above the January 2012 bottom of the current cycle.

Source: DataQuick; DQNews.com

Copyright DataQuick. All rights reserved.

July Bay Area Home Sale Press Release

Sluggish Bay Area Home Sales in July; Prices Up – at a Slower Pace


August 14, 2014

Irvine, CA.----Bay Area home sales dipped last month, the result of continued constrained supply, the decline in affordability, and a still-tight mortgage market. While still rising year-over-year, the median sale price stayed at a three-month plateau, CoreLogic DataQuick reported.

A total of 8,474 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area last month. That was up 7.1 percent from 7,915 in June and down 9.3 percent from 9,339 in July last year, according to Irvine-based CoreLogic DataQuick, a real estate information service.

Bay Area sales usually decline around 5 percent from June to July. Sales for the month of July have varied from 6,666 in 1995 to 14,258 in 2004. The average since 1988, when CoreLogic DataQuick statistics begin, is 9,333.

“The Bay Area housing market is still in transition, still dealing with the remnants of the Great Recession. That said, it's also a market that is in the process of re-balancing itself with the region's on-the-ground economic realities, mainly decent economic growth and job creation. There still seems to be a bit of buyer and seller reticence. Meanwhile, many analysts are still drumming their fingers on the table, waiting for the mortgage market to normalize,” said John Karevoll, CoreLogic DataQuick analyst.

The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area was $617,000 in July. That was down 0.2 percent from $618,000 in June, and up 9.8 percent from $562,000 in July last year. The May median was $617,000. Last month’s was the first single-digit year-over-year increase since May 2012, when the median rose 7.5 percent. A year ago the median jumped 33.5 percent year-over-year, the steepest part of the off-bottom bounce.

The Bay Area’s median sale price peaked at $665,000 in June and July 2007, then dropped to a low of $290,000 in March 2009. Last month's median was 7.2 percent off the peak.

The number of homes that sold last month for less than $500,000 dropped 17.2 percent year-over-year, while the number that sold for more rose 3.2 percent.

Over the past year, a variety of market indicators have trended incrementally toward long-term norms, though they sometimes vacillate month-to-month.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), an important indicator of mortgage availability, accounted for 25.6 percent of the Bay Area’s home purchase loans in July, down from a revised 26.6 percent in June, and up from 19.3 percent in July last year. ARMs hit a low of 3.0 percent of loans in January 2009. Since 2000, ARMs have accounted for 46.7 percent of all Bay Area purchase loans.

Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 56.6 percent of last month’s purchase lending, down from a revised 56.7 percent in June, and up from 49.9 percent a year ago. The June jumbo level was the highest since the credit crunch struck in August 2007. During the last housing downturn, jumbo usage dropped to as low as 17.1 percent in January 2009.

Government-insured FHA home purchase loans, a popular choice among first-time buyers, accounted for 10.9 percent of all Bay Area purchase mortgages in July, up from 10.4 percent in June and up from 9.8 percent a year earlier.

Last month foreclosure resales – homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 2.7 percent of resales, down from a revised 2.9 percent from the month before, and down from 4.6 percent a year ago. Foreclosure resales in the Bay Area peaked at 52.0 percent in February 2009, while the monthly average over the past 17 years is 9.8 percent.

Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 4.2 percent of Bay Area resales last month. That was down from an estimated 4.4 percent in June and down from 8.5 percent a year earlier.

Last month absentee buyers – mostly investors – accounted for 18.8 percent of all Bay Area home sales, which was the lowest absentee share of purchases since that figure was 18.5 percent in September 2010. Last month’s absentee share was down from a revised 19.1 percent the month before and down from 20.5 percent a year earlier.

Buyers who appear to have paid all cash – meaning no sign of a corresponding purchase loan was found in the public record – accounted for 20.2 percent of sales in July, down from a revised 20.8 percent in June and down from 23.5 percent a year earlier. July’s cash level was the lowest since cash buyers also purchased 20.2 percent of all homes in November 2008.

Bay Area home buyers put $2.52 billion of their own money on the table in the form of a down payment or as an outright cash purchase last month. They borrowed $3.69 billion in mortgage money from lenders last month, the most since $3.82 billion in August 2007.

The most active lenders to Bay Area home buyers in July were Wells Fargo with 13.2 percent of the purchase loan market, Bank of America with 4.7 percent and RPM Mortgage with 4.0 percent, CoreLogic DataQuick reported.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $2,394. Adjusted for inflation, last month’s payment was 17.8 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 39.2 percent below the current cycle's peak in July 2007. It was 86.2 percent above the February 2012 bottom of the current cycle.

To view the county-by-county home sale chart, please visit DQNews.com.

Source: DataQuick, www.DQNews.com

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Copyright 2014 DataQuick. All rights reserved.