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.