January Seattle Region Press Release

Seattle Region January Home Sales

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

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

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

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

January Phoenix Region Press Release

Phoenix Region January Home Sales

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

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

See home sale chart at DQNews.com.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

January Miami Region Press Release

Miami Region January Home Sales

March 2, 2012

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

See full Miami Home Sale Chart as DQNews.com.

Las Vegas Area January Press Release

Las Vegas Region January Home Sales

The number of homes sold in the Las Vegas area last month was the highest for a January in five years thanks to robust sales below $200,000, and especially under $100,000. The median price paid sank to its lowest point since April 1994 as distressed property sales made up two-thirds of all resale activity and investor purchases reached a near-record level, a real estate information service reported.
 
In January, 4,038 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area (Clark County). That was down 16.6 percent from December but up 8.5 percent from January 2011, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.
 
A sharp drop in sales between December and January is normal. On average, sales have fallen 23.7 percent between those two months since 1994, when DataQuick’s complete Las Vegas region statistics begin.
 
In January, the number of homes that resold rose 7.0 percent on a year-over-year basis, marking the 13th consecutive month in which resales have posted an annual gain. It was the highest number of resales for a January since 2005. January sales of newly-built homes also rose from a year earlier, by 26.3 percent, and were the highest for that month since 2008, but they remained far below average. New-home sales have risen year-over-year for seven consecutive months.
 
Total January sales were 15.6 percent higher than the average number of homes sold in that month since 1994, while resale activity (excludes new homes) was 55.5 percent above average for a January.
 
Continuing a months-long trend, January sales were strongest in the lower price ranges. The number of transactions below $100,000 shot up 26.0 percent compared with a year earlier and represented 44.6 percent of all deals, compared with 38.4 percent of all sales in January 2011. The number of January 2012 sales below $200,000 rose 11.2 percent year-over-year, while the number above $200,000 fell 3.2 percent from a year earlier. January sales above $300,000 fell 9.1 percent compared with a year ago.
 
The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Las Vegas metro area in January was $110,000, down 4.3 percent from $115,000 in December and down 7.6 percent from $119,000 in January 2011. The January 2012 median, which was the lowest since the median was also $110,000 in April 1994, was 64.7 percent below the November 2006 peak of $312,000. The median has fallen on a year-over-year basis for 16 consecutive months.
 
The median’s recent decline to levels not seen since the mid 1990s can be attributed to several factors: home price depreciation; robust sales of low-cost foreclosures; robust sales to investors, who mainly target low-cost properties; historically low new-home sales (new homes tend to sell for more than resale homes); and higher-than-usual condo resales (condos tend to be the least expensive homes).
 
January's new-home sales represented 9.4 percent of all transactions, compared with a monthly average of 28.0 percent of all sales over the last decade. January’s condo sales represented 17.7 percent of total Las Vegas sales, compared with a 10-year monthly average of 13.9 percent.
 
An alternative home-price gauge – the median paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses – dipped again in January, to $64, down 1.5 percent from December and down 8.6 percent from a year earlier. January’s figure was the lowest since at least 1994 and was 66.3 percent below the peak $190 paid per square foot in May and June 2006.
 
In January, cash buyers purchased 53.7 percent of the Las Vegas-area homes that sold. That was up from a cash-buyer share of 50.9 percent of sales in December and down from 54.5 percent a year earlier. The record was 56.7 percent in February 2011. Cash purchases are where there is no sign of a corresponding purchase mortgage in the public record.
 
Cash buyers in January paid a median $80,000 for a home in the Las Vegas area, down from $81,000 in December and down from $92,250 a year earlier.
 
Absentee buyers – mainly investors and vacation-home buyers – purchased a near-record 49.1 percent of all homes sold in January. That compares with 47.2 percent in December, 49.2 percent a year earlier and a record 49.9 percent in March 2011. Absentee buyers paid a median $90,000 in January, down from $95,000 in December and down 10.0 percent from $100,000 a year earlier. Absentee buyers are those who indicated at the time of sale that the property tax bill will go to a different address.
 
Distressed property sales – the combination of foreclosure resales and “short sales” – made two-thirds of the Las Vegas resale market.
 
Foreclosure resales – homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 52.6 percent of the Las Vegas resale market in January. That was up slightly from 52.3 percent in December but down from 54.7 percent a year ago. Foreclosure resales peaked at 73.7 percent of the resale market in April 2009.
 
Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 13.9 percent of the resale market in January. That compares with an estimated 13.7 percent in December, 14.4 percent a year ago, and 13.6 percent two years ago.
 
In the wake of a new Nevada law that creates additional requirements for lenders trying to foreclose on properties, the number of notices of default (“NODs”) filed in Clark County plummeted in recent months. In January, lenders filed 1,048 NODs, up 13.8 percent from the 921 filed in December but down 80.9 percent from the 5,497 NODs filed in January 2011. The notice of default is the first step in the formal foreclosure process.

The number of homes lost to foreclosure in the Las Vegas region in January rose from December but fell well below a year earlier. Lenders foreclosed on 1,960 single-family house and condo units in January, up 11.9 percent from December but down 26.3 percent from a year earlier.

Home Sale Chart is posted at DQNews.com

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

January Bay Area Home Sale Press Release

Bay Area Housing Market Logs Higher Sales, Lower Prices

 

February 16, 2012

 
La Jolla, CA.----Bay Area home sales rose last month to the highest level for the month of January in five years, boosted by lower prices, ultra-low mortgage rates, a modestly improved economy and a record level of investor purchases. The median price paid for a home fell year-over-year for the 16th consecutive month as “distressed” sales rose to the highest level since early last year, a real estate information service reported.
A total of 5,479 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area in January. That was down 26.9 percent from 7,494 in December, and up 10.3 percent from 4,966 in January 2011. The year-over-year sales increase was the seventh in a row, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.
 
The December-to-January drop was normal for the season. On average, sales have fallen 28.0 percent between those two months since 1988, when DataQuick’s statistics begin. Last month’s sales were 10.5 percent below the average number of homes sold during January. Since 1988, January sales have varied from 3,586 in 2008 to 8,298 in 2005.
 
The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Bay Area last month was $326,000. That was down 2.8 percent from a revised $335,500 in December, and down 3.6 percent from $338,000 in January 2011. Last month’s median was the lowest since April 2009, when it was $304,000.
The median’s low point of the current real estate cycle was $290,000 in March 2009. The peak was $665,000 in June/July 2007. Around half of the median’s peak-to-trough drop was the result of a decline in home values, while the other half reflected a shift in the sales mix.
 
“While it’s clear prices have edged lower in some areas recently, last month’s Bay Area median of just $326,000 is a reflection of how skewed the market has become toward distressed, lower-cost properties. The higher-end sales have slowed in recent months as many struggle to qualify for loans and others just sit tight. This is also the time of year that we caution people not to try to read too much into the statistics. The winter numbers are based on a smaller pool of buyers and they haven’t proved very predictive,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.
 
“Meanwhile, we’ll be watching to see how the purchase market might be impacted by the government’s recently announced efforts to help homeowners refinance, or otherwise avoid foreclosure. The federal-state settlement with five major banks reportedly calls for billions to be spent in California to help certain underwater homeowners reduce their principal or do a short sale. The state Attorney General says there are ‘incentives’ to ensure much of that money is spent in hard-hit counties ‘within the first year.’ What’s not clear is the extent to which these efforts will kick in during the first half of 2012, which could alter the course of some who are on the brink of foreclosure right now.”
 
Last month distressed property sales – the combination of foreclosure resales and “short sales” – rose to 51.9 percent of the Bay Area resale market. That’s up from 48.5 percent in December and down slightly from 54.5 percent in January 2011.
 
Foreclosure resales – homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 28.0 percent of resales in January. That was up from a revised 27.8 percent in December, and down from 35.0 percent a year earlier. Foreclosure resales peaked at 52.0 percent in February 2009. The monthly average for foreclosure resales over the past 15 years is about 9 percent.
 
Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 23.9 percent of Bay Area resales last month – the highest for the current housing cycle. That was up from 20.7 percent in December and up from 19.5 percent a year earlier.
 
Last month 27.4 percent of Bay Area sales were for $500,000 or more, down from a revised 29.6 percent in December, and down from 29.9 percent in January 2011. The low for the current cycle was January 2009, when just 22.7 percent of sales crossed the $500,000 threshold. Over the past 10 years, a monthly average of 47.6 percent of homes sold for $500,000-plus.
 
The number of homes sold for $500,000 or more last month fell 3.7 percent from January 2011, while sales under $500,000 rose 12.1 percent year-over-year.
 
Government-insured FHA home purchase loans, a popular choice among first-time buyers, accounted for 24.3 percent of all Bay Area home purchase mortgages in January, up from a revised 22.4 percent in December and down from 25.0 percent a year earlier.
 
One indicator of mortgage availability that had seen improvement last year dropped again in January, when 11.2 percent of the Bay Area’s home purchase loans were adjustable-rate mortgages, down from a revised 11.6 percent in December, and down from 11.3 percent in January 2011. Over the last 10 years, ARMs have accounted for a monthly average of 44.0 percent of purchase loans. ARMs hit a low of 3.0 percent of loans in January 2009.
 
Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 24.8 percent of last month’s purchase lending, down from a revised 26.5 percent in December, and down from 26.9 percent a year earlier. Jumbo usage dropped to 17.1 percent in January 2009. Before the credit crunch struck in August 2007, jumbos accounted for nearly 60 percent of the Bay Area purchase loan market.
 
Last month absentee buyers – mostly investors – purchased a record 25.4 percent of all Bay Area homes sold, up from 23.8 percent in December and 22.8 percent a year earlier. Absentee buyers paid a median $222,000 in January, down from $235,000 in December and $230,000 a year earlier.
 
Buyers who appear to have paid all cash – meaning no corresponding purchase loan was found in the public record – accounted for 30.0 percent of January sales, up from 27.2 percent in December, and up from 28.7 percent a year earlier. The record was 30.5 percent last February, while the monthly average going back to 1988 is 12.2 percent. Cash buyers paid a median $220,000 in January, down from $225,000 in December and up slightly from $217,500 a year earlier.
 
San Diego-based DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. Because of late data availability, sales were estimated in Alameda, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.
 
The typical monthly mortgage payment Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,233, down from $1,336 in December, and down from $1,412 a year earlier. Adjusted for inflation, last month’s typical payment was the lowest in DataQuick’s records back to 1988, and was 55.2 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 66.9 percent below the current cycle's July 2007 peak.
 
Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity remains high by historical standards but below peak levels reached over the last three years. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, down payment sizes are stable, DataQuick reported.
 
See DQNews.com for the county chart.
 
Source: DataQuick, www.DQNews.com
Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

January Southland Home Sales Press Release

Southland Home Sales Flat, Prices Edge Down

Februry 15, 2012

La Jolla, CA---The Southland housing market started 2012 with slightly higher sales and slightly lower prices despite record-low mortgage interest rates. Home sales skewed toward the lower price ranges, which is normal for January, as many traditional buyers retreated and investors snapped up homes at a record level, a real estate information service reported.
 
A total of 14,523 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was down 24.5 percent from 19,247 in December, and up 0.4 percent from 14,458 in January 2011, according to DataQuick of San Diego.
 
Sales have increased year-over-year for five of the last six months. The sharp sales decline from December is normal for the season. Last month’s sales count was 17.8 percent below the 17,671 average for all the months of January since 1988.
 
A total of 669 newly built homes sold in January, the lowest number for any month since DataQuick started keeping track in 1988.
 
“January numbers have never been very good at providing an indication of what upcoming activity will be like. For that we need to wait until March. What we can determine is that the mortgage market remains dysfunctional. It will be interesting to see how a potential surge of refinance activity plays into the purchase market once the administration’s new guidelines are implemented,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.
 
The median price paid for a Southland home last month was $260,000, down 3.7 percent from $270,000 for both December and January last year. The median was the lowest since $249,000 in May 2009. The median’s low point for the current real estate cycle was $247,000 in April 2009, while the high point was $505,000 in mid 2007. The peak-to-trough drop was due to a decline in home values as well as a shift in sales toward lower-cost homes, especially inland foreclosures.
 
Distressed sales made up more than half of January’s resale market.
 
Foreclosure resales – properties foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – made up 32.6 percent of resales last month, up from a revised 32.4 percent in December and down from 36.8 percent a year earlier.
 
Foreclosure resales hit a high of 56.7 percent in February 2009 and a low of 32.8 percent last June.
 
Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 21.3 percent of Southland resales last month. That was a high for the current real estate cycle and compares with 19.6 percent in both December and January 2011.
 
Meanwhile, credit conditions remained tight.
 
Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) accounted for 6.0 percent of last month’s Southland home purchase loans, down from 6.4 percent in December and 7.0 percent a year ago. Since 2000, a monthly average of about 35 percent of purchase loans were ARMs.
 
Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 13.6 percent of last month’s purchase lending, down from 15.2 percent in both December and a year earlier. In the months leading up to the credit crisis that struck in August 2007, jumbos accounted for 40 percent of the market.
Absentee buyers – mostly investors and some second-home purchasers – bought a record 26.8 percent of the Southland homes sold in January, paying a median $193,500. The Inland Empire saw absentee purchases rise to a record 33.6 percent of all sales. Since 2000, the Southland’s absentee buyers purchased a monthly average of 16.9 percent of all homes sold.
 
Cash purchasers accounted for a near-record 31.4 percent of January home sales, paying a median $199,000. That was up from 29.8 percent in December, and up from 30.4 percent a year earlier. The 10-year monthly average for Southland homes purchased with cash is 15.1 percent. Cash purchases are where there was no indication in the public record that a corresponding purchase loan was recorded.
 
Government-insured FHA loans, a popular low-down-payment choice among first-time buyers, accounted for 31.2 percent of all purchase mortgages in January. Last month’s FHA level was up from 30.7 percent in December but down from 33.2 percent in January 2011. Two years ago FHA loans made up 35.0 percent of the purchase loan market, while three years ago it was 38.9 percent.
 
Last month 16.0 percent of all sales were for $500,000 or more, down from a revised 18.4 percent in December and down from 18.3 percent a year earlier. The low point for $500,000-plus sales was in January 2009, when only 13.8 percent of sales were above that threshold. Over the past decade, a monthly average of 27.2 percent of homes sold for $500,000 or more.
 
Viewed differently, Southland zip codes in the top one-third of the housing market, based on historical prices, accounted for 35.1 percent of total sales last month. That was down from 36.4 percent in December but up from 33.6 percent a year earlier. Over the last 10 years, those higher-end areas contributed a monthly average of 36.7 percent of regional sales. Their contribution to overall sales hit a low of 26.2 percent in January 2009.
 
DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.
 
The typical monthly mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $983 last month, the lowest since it was also $983 in May 1999. Adjusted for inflation, last month’s typical monthly mortgage payment is the lowest in DataQuick’s records, which go back to 1988.

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

See DQNews.com for the county chart.


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

December Las Vegas Region Press Release

Las Vegas Region December Home Sales

Las Vegas-area home sales rose year-over-year for the sixth consecutive month in December as increased activity below $200,000 continued to compensate for a decline in sales in higher price ranges. Home prices remained flat, with the overall median sale price parked at $115,000 for the fourth month in a row, a real estate information service reported.
 
In December, 4,823 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area (Clark County). That was up 8.1 percent from November and up 3.0 percent from December 2010, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.
 
A rise in sales between November and December is normal, given some buyers, especially investors, want to close their deals by the end of the year for tax purposes. On average, sales have risen 12.5 percent between those two months since 1994, when DataQuick’s complete Las Vegas region statistics begin.
 
In December, the number of homes that resold rose 1.7 percent on a year-over-year basis, marking the 12th consecutive month in which resales have posted an annual gain. It was the highest number of resales for a December since 2009, and the second-highest since 2005. December sales of newly-built homes also rose from a year earlier, by 15.6 percent, but were still the second-lowest on record for a December. New-home sales have risen year-over-year for six consecutive months.
 
Total sales in December were 9.1 percent lower than the average number of homes sold in that month since 1994, while resale activity (excludes new homes) was 33.1 percent above average for a December.
 
In all of 2011 a total of 55,409 new and resale houses and condos sold in the Las Vegas area, up 6.6 percent from 2010 and the highest since 55,522 sales in 2009. Last year’s total sales were the second-highest since 2006, when 80,388 sold. Over the past 10 years an average of 66,812 homes have sold annually. Resales totaled 49,926 in 2011, up 8.6 percent from 2010 but slightly below the 50,184 resales in 2009. However, 2011 resales were the second-highest for any year since 2005, when 61,016 homes resold.
 
Continuing a months-long trend, December sales were strongest in the lower price ranges. The number of transactions below $100,000 climbed 17.8 percent from a year earlier and made up 42.0 percent of all deals, compared with 36.6 percent of all sales in December 2010. The number of December sales below $200,000 rose 4.9 percent year-over-year, while the number above $200,000 fell 5.1 percent from a year earlier. Above $300,000 sales fell 14.1 percent from December 2010.
 
The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Las Vegas metro area in December was $115,000, the same as in November and virtually the same as each month since September last year. The December median was 7.3 percent lower than the $124,000 median in December 2010, and marked the 15th consecutive month in which the median has fallen year-over-year.
 
The December 2011 median was 63.1 percent short of the peak $312,000 median in November 2006.
The median’s recent decline to levels not seen since the mid 1990s can be attributed to several factors: home price depreciation; robust sales of low-cost foreclosures; robust sales to investors, who mainly target low-cost properties; extraordinarily low new-home sales (new homes tend to sell for more than resale homes); and higher-than-usual condo resales (condos tend to be the least expensive homes).
 
December’s new-home sales represented 11.1 percent of all transactions, compared with a monthly average of 28.3 percent of all sales over the last decade. December’s condo sales represented 18.1 percent of total Las Vegas sales, compared with a 10-year monthly average of 13.8 percent.
 
An alternative home-price gauge – the median paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses – dipped slightly in December to $65, down 1.5 percent from November and down 9.7 percent from a year earlier. December’s figure was the lowest since at least 1994 and was 65.8 percent below the peak $190 paid per square foot in May and June 2006.
 
In December, cash buyers purchased more than half – 50.9 percent – of the Las Vegas-area homes that sold. That was up from a cash-buyer share of 48.9 percent of sales in November and 50.6 percent a year earlier. The record was 56.7 percent in February 2011. Cash purchases are where there is no corresponding purchase mortgage in the public record.
 
Cash buyers in December paid a median $81,180 for a home in the Las Vegas area, down from $82,000 in November and down from $89,250 a year earlier.
 
Absentee buyers – mainly investors and vacation-home buyers – purchased a near-record 47.2 percent of all homes sold in December. That compares with 46.1 percent in November, 45.9 percent a year ago and a record 49.9 percent in March 2011. Absentee buyers paid a median $95,000 in December, up from $90,000 in November but down 7.8 percent from $103,000 a year earlier. Absentee buyers are those who indicated at the time of sale that the property tax bill will go to a different address.
 
Distressed property sales – the combination of foreclosure resales and “short sales” – again made up around two-thirds of the Las Vegas resale market.
 
Foreclosure resales – homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 52.4 percent of the Las Vegas resale market in December – the same as in November and down from 56.3 percent a year earlier. Foreclosure resales peaked at 73.7 percent of the resale market in April 2009. The December and November level was the lowest since September 2010, when foreclosure resales made up 50.8 percent of the resale market.
 
Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 13.8 percent of the resale market in December. That compares with an estimated 14.8 percent in November, 19.5 percent a year ago, and 12.8 percent two years ago.
 
In the wake of a new Nevada law that creates additional requirements for lenders trying to foreclose on properties, the number of notices of default (“NODs”) filed in Clark County plummeted in recent months. In December, lenders filed 921 NODs, down 28.1 percent from the 1,281 filed in November and down 81.9 percent from the 5,125 NODs filed in December 2010. The notice of default is the first step in the formal foreclosure process.
 
The number of homes lost to foreclosure in the Las Vegas region in December fell from both November and a year earlier. Lenders foreclosed on 1,744 single-family house and condo units in December, down 9.7 percent from November and down 22.6 percent from a year earlier.

In all of 2011, however, lenders foreclosed on 32,730 house and condo units in Clark County, up 12.8 percent from 2010. The peak year was 2009, when 33,833 homes were lost to foreclosure. The figures are based on the number of Trustees Deeds filed at the county recorder’s office.

Home Sale Chart is posted at DQNews.com.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157