March Bay Area Home Sale Press Release

Bay Area Home Sales Dip Below 2012 Level Again; Median Sale Price Rises

March 18, 2013

La Jolla, CA.--Bay Area home sales fell below a year earlier for the second consecutive month in March as demand continued to outstrip supply in many markets. While low-end sales fell sharply compared with March 2012, $500,000-plus transactions jumped, helping to push the median sale price up on a year-over-year basis for the 12th consecutive month, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 7,263 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area last month. That was up 34.4 percent from 5,404 the month before, and down 6.0 percent from 7,723 in March 2012, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.

It’s normal for sales to jump between February and March, with that gain averaging 39.5 percent since 1988, when DataQuick’s statistics begin. March sales have ranged from a low of 4,898 in 2008 to a high of 12,645 in 2004. Last month's sales were 17.1 percent lower than the March average of 8,758.

The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area last month was $436,000. That was up 7.7 percent from $405,000 in February and up 21.8 percent from $358,000 in March last year.

The median has risen on a year-over-year basis for 12 consecutive months, with double-digit year-over-year gains the last ten months, and increases above 20 percent for the past five months.

Still, last month's median was 34.4 percent lower than the $665,000 peak in June and July of 2007. In March 2009 the median hit its post-peak low of $290,000. That trough was an almost absurdly low level for the Bay Area, reflecting both widespread price declines as well as robust sales of heavily discounted inland foreclosures at a time high-end sales were all but dormant.

It appears that well over half of the 21.8 percent year-over-year increase in March's median sale price reflects rising home prices. It's Economics 101: Prices go up as growing demand meets an exceptionally low supply of homes for sale. However, a portion of the March median's year-over-year gain reflects a change in market mix – sales of low-cost distress homes have fallen sharply, while sales of pricier move-up homes have shot up.

“Higher sales in the middle and top of the housing market reflect improved consumer confidence, ultra-low mortgage rates and the unleashing of more pent-up demand than many anticipated. There’s been a shift in psychology, where more people worry prices will rise and fewer fear a decline. It’s drawn a lot of folks off the fence following a long stretch of sub-par sales, especially in the higher price ranges. In the more affordable markets, we’ve seen a big drop in foreclosures, which limits the supply of homes for sale. Then you have homeowners who still can't sell because they owe more than their homes are worth,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

“The more prices rise, though, the more likely we'll see a lot more people put their homes on the market,” Walsh added. “There’s pent-up demand among potential sellers, too, and many will try to move as soon as it makes sense. A substantial jump in inventory would at least moderate home price growth.”

Last month the number of homes that sold for less than $500,000 fell 18.9 percent compared with March 2012, while the number that sold for $500,000 or more rose 25.2 percent, DataQuick reported.

Distressed property sales – the combination of foreclosure resales and “short sales” – made up about 30 percent of the resale market in March. Last month’s figure, which was the lowest in five years, was down from about 35 percent in February and down from about 49.0 percent a year ago.

Foreclosure resales – homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 10.7 percent of Bay Area resales last month, down from 14.0 percent in February, and down from 25.5 percent a year ago. Last month’s level was the lowest since foreclosure resales were 10.1 percent of the resale market in November 2007. Foreclosure resales peaked at 52.0 percent in February 2009. The monthly average over the past 18 years is 10.2 percent.

Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 19.0 percent of Bay Area resales last month. That was down from an estimated 20.5 percent in February and down from 23.8 percent a year earlier.

Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 39.7 percent of last month’s purchase lending, up from 37.1 percent in February, and up from 30.7 percent a year ago. Jumbo usage dropped as low as 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.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), another indicator of mortgage availability, accounted for 12.7 percent of the Bay Area’s home purchase loans last month. That was up from 11.0 percent in February, and up from 11.6 percent a year ago. Since 2000, ARMs have accounted for a monthly average of about 42 percent of all purchase loans. ARMs hit a low of 3.0 percent of purchase loans in January 2009.

Government-insured FHA home purchase loans, a popular, low-down-payment choice among first-time buyers, accounted for 12.3 percent of home purchase mortgages in March. That was down from 14.6 percent in February and down from 20.9 percent a year earlier. In recent months the FHA level has been the lowest since summer 2008, reflecting both tougher qualifying standards and the difficulties first-time buyers have competing with investors and other cash buyers.

The most active lenders to Bay Area home buyers last month were Wells Fargo with 14.8 percent of the purchase loan market, Stearns Lending with 4.5 percent, and RPM Mortgage with 3.6 percent.

Last month absentee buyers – mostly investors – purchased 27.3 percent of all Bay Area homes. That was down from 28.7 percent in February, and up from 24.2 percent a year ago. Absentee buyers paid a median $324,000 in March, up 29.6 percent from $250,000 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 31.1 percent of sales in March. That was down from 32.3 percent the month before and up from 29.4 percent a year earlier. The monthly average going back to 1988 is 12.9 percent. Cash buyers paid a median $325,000 in March, up 30.0 percent from $250,000 a year earlier.

San Diego-based DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. Because of late data availability, sales were estimated for Alameda and San Francisco counties.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,579. That was up from $1,460 in February, and up from $1,359 a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, last month’s payment was 44.1 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 58.7 percent below the current cycle's peak in July 2007.

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

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

Source: DataQuick, www.DQNews.com

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157
Copyright 2013 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

March Southland Home Sale Press Release

Southland Median Home Sale Price Climbs Again; Sales Rise Slightly Yr/Yr

April 17, 2013

The median price paid for a Southern California home hit a 56-month high in March, rising 23.4 percent from a year earlier as the impact of foreclosures continued to fade and sales of mid- to high-end homes shot up. Total sales were the highest in six years for a March despite a sharp drop in sub-$300,000 deals, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 20,581 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 29.1 percent from 15,945 sales in February, and up 3.1 percent from 19,953 sales in March 2012, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.

Sales normally jump between February and March, with that month-to-month gain averaging 36.4 percent since 1988, when DataQuick’s statistics begin.

Last month’s sales were the highest for the month of March since 21,856 Southland homes sold in March 2007, but they were still 15.1 percent below the March average of 24,254 sales. The low for March sales was 12,808 in 2008, while the high was 37,030 in March 2004.

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the six-county Southland was $345,500 last month, up 8.0 percent from $320,000 in February and up 23.4 percent from $280,000 in March 2012. Last month's median was the highest since July 2008, when it was $348,000.

The median has risen on a year-over-year basis for 12 consecutive months, and those gains have been double-digit – between 10.8 percent and 23.5 percent – since last August.

“It’s remarkable how much the housing scene has changed in a year. At this point in 2012 there were still plenty of folks sitting on the market’s sidelines, waiting to be sure the recovery was real. But gradually the psychology shifted as the economy picked up steam and mortgage rates fell to historic lows. We’re seeing the release of a lot of pent-up demand, especially in the middle and higher-priced neighborhoods where activity had been sluggish for years,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

“Price measures continue to rise for two simple reasons,” Walsh added. “First, demand for homes has risen at a time when the available supply is unusually low. Prices have had nowhere to go but up in many areas. Second, the gains are especially high right now because of the change in market mix: Sales of lower-cost homes have fallen at the same time activity in the higher price ranges has risen.”

It appears that better than half of last month’s 23.4 percent year-over-year gain in the Southland median sale price reflects rising home prices, with the balance reflecting the change in market mix.

Some of the biggest price gains have come in the lower end of the market, which was hit hardest by foreclosures and price declines during the downturn. In March, the lowest-cost third of Southern California's housing stock saw a 24.6 percent year-over-year increase in the median price paid per square foot for resale houses. The gain from a year earlier was 17.1 percent for the middle third of the market and 14.3 percent for the top third.

Sales continued to surge in move-up markets last month. The number of homes sold in March for between $300,000 and $800,000 – a range that would include many move-up buyers – rose 29.5 percent year-over-year. The number of homes sold for $500,000 or more jumped 40.2 percent from one year earlier, while sales of $800,000-plus homes increased 33.4 percent year-over-year.

Last month, 27.2 percent of all Southland home sales were for $500,000 or more, compared with a revised 24.4 percent in February and 19.6 percent a year earlier.

Sales continued to fall on a year-over-year basis in many lower-cost communities. The number of homes that sold below $200,000 last month declined 33.3 percent year-over-year, while sales below $300,000 dipped 24.5 percent. Sales in many affordable markets have been limited not by a lack of demand, but by a lack of supply. The latter has two main causes: First, a relatively high percentage of owners can’t afford to put their homes up for sell because they owe more than the homes are worth. Second, foreclosures are way down.

Last month foreclosure resales – homes foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 13.9 percent of the Southland resale market. That was down from 16.2 percent the month before and down from 31.5 percent a year earlier. Last month’s figure was the lowest since it was 13.6 percent in September 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 21.5 percent of Southland resales last month. That was down from an estimated 22.3 percent the month before and 24.6 percent a year earlier.

The share of investor and cash buying remained near all-time highs.

Absentee buyers – mostly investors and some second-home purchasers – bought 30.6 percent of the Southland homes sold last month. That was down from 32.3 percent in February and up from 28.2 percent a year earlier. The record was 32.4 percent in January, while the monthly average since 2000, when the absentee data begin, is 18.0 percent. Last month’s absentee buyers paid a median $274,000, up 29.2 percent from a year earlier.

The share of homes flipped has trended higher in recent months, though it edged lower last month. In March, 6.1 percent of all Southland homes sold on the open market had previously sold in the prior six months, down from a flipping rate of 6.7 percent in February and up from 4.0 percent a year ago. (The figures exclude homes that were resold after being purchased at public foreclosure auction sales on the courthouse steps.)

Buyers paying with cash accounted for 34.1 percent of last month's home sales, compared with a record 36.9 percent the month before and 32.4 percent a year earlier. Since 1988 the monthly average is 16.0 percent. Cash buyers paid a median $280,750 last month, up 30.6 percent from a year ago.

Credit conditions have shown signs of modest improvement.

Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 23.8 percent of last month’s Southland purchase lending – the highest since September 2007, when jumbos made up 26.9 percent of the market. Last month’s figure was up from 21.1 percent the prior month and 16.4 percent a year earlier. In the months leading up to the credit crunch that struck in August 2007, jumbos accounted for around 40 percent of the home loan market.

With fixed rates on 30-year loans so low, and aversion to risk in the marketplace high, the use of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) remains very low in an historical context. Last month 7.4 percent of Southland home purchase loans were ARMs, up from 5.6 percent the prior month and up from 6.2 percent a year earlier. Last month's figure was the highest since ARMs were 8.5 percent of the purchase loan market in August 2011. Since 2000, a monthly average of about 33 percent of Southland purchase have been ARMs.

The most active lenders to Southern California home buyers last month were Wells Fargo with 8.2 percent of the purchase loan market, imortgage.com with 2.8 percent, and both Prospect Mortgage and Bank of America with 2.4 percent.

Government-insured FHA loans, a popular low-down-payment choice among first-time buyers, accounted for 22.9 percent of all purchase mortgages last month. That was down from 24.6 percent the month before and 30.0 percent a year earlier. In recent months the FHA share has been the lowest since summer 2008. The decline reflects tighter FHA qualifying standards implemented in recent years as well as the difficulties first-time buyers are having competing with investors.

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 Southland buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,252, up from $1,154 the month before and up from $1,063 a year earlier. Adjusted for inflation, last month’s typical payment was 47.8 percent below the typical payment in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 57.3 percent below the current cycle’s peak in July 2007.

Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. 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, DataQuick reported.

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

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

Copyright 2013 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

February Phoenix Home Sales Press Release

Phoenix Area February Home Sales

Home sales in the Phoenix region fell on a year-over-year basis for the third month in a row during February as the foreclosure resale level dipped and the overall supply of homes on the market remained tight. The median sale price rose to its highest level in nearly four and a half years, the result of demand outstripping supply combined with the ongoing shift in the sales mix toward fewer low-cost transactions and more mid- to high-end deals, a real estate information service reported.

Buyers paid a median $175,000 for all new and resale houses and condos sold during February in the combined Maricopa-Pinal counties metro area. That was up 2.9 percent from January and up 35.7 percent from February 2012. It was the median's 15th consecutive month with a year-over-year gain, according to San Diego-based DataQuick, which tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

The February median was the highest for any month since the median was also $175,000 in October 2008, but it was still 33.7 percent below the Phoenix area's all-time peak of $264,100 in June 2006.

The big year-over-year gains in the region's median sale price since last March – ranging from 13.8 percent to 35.7 percent – reflect several trends. Prices have risen as greater demand has met a relatively low supply of homes for sale. But the median has also risen because of a large shift in the types of homes selling: More selling today are higher-cost move-up homes and fewer are lower-cost foreclosed properties.

If demand remains high and prices continue to rise, the market will eventually respond with a larger supply of homes for sale, which would tame price appreciation. More would-be sellers who've been holding out for higher prices will put their homes on the market. Fewer people will owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, enabling them to sell. Lenders could clear their backlogs of distressed properties faster. And there will be more sales of newly built homes, which in February rose 24.4 percent from a year earlier, to the highest level for a February since 2008.

The continuing decline in the number of lender-repossessed properties on the market helps explain the smaller inventory of homes for sale. Foreclosure resales, defined as homes that were foreclosed on in the prior 12 months, fell to 15.8 percent of all the homes that resold in February. That was the lowest level for any month since December 2007, when foreclosure resales were 15.3 percent of the resale market. February’s foreclosure resale level was down from 18.5 percent the month before and 34.3 percent a year earlier. At their peak in March 2009, foreclosure resales represented 66.2 percent of all the homes sold in the Phoenix area.

Last month a total of 7,710 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the two-county Phoenix region, up 16.2 percent from the month before and down 6.3 percent from a year earlier.

In the Phoenix area it's normal for sales to rise between January and February. On average since 1994, when DataQuick’s complete Phoenix region statistics begin, the number of homes sold in February has been 9.8 percent higher than in January.

Total sales have fallen year-over-year the past three months, as have the number of houses and condos (excludes new homes) that have resold. However, February resales were 11.7 percent higher than average for a February. Last month's new-home sales were 52.1 percent below the February average.

Sales continued to fall hard in the Phoenix-area’s lowest price ranges last month, while the middle and upper-price categories posted big gains again. The number of new and resale homes sold in February for less than $100,000 dropped 55.0 percent from a year earlier, while sub-$150,000 sales fell 41.1 percent. Deals between $200,000 and $400,000 rose 42.8 percent year-over-year, while $300,000-plus transactions shot up 51.5 percent year-over-year. The number of homes selling for $800,000 or more rose 71.4 percent from the same month last year.

Other Phoenix region February highlights:

•A key price gauge analysts watch, the median price paid per square foot for existing single-family detached houses, rose to $99 in February, up from $96 in January and up 37.5 percent from a year earlier. The February figure was the highest since it was also $99 in September 2008. The median paid per square foot has risen year-over-year for 15 consecutive months, but in February it remained 42.1 percent below the $171 peak in May and June of 2006.
•Lenders foreclosed on 1,232 Phoenix-area houses and condo units last month, up 103.6 percent from the month before and down 52.1 percent from a year earlier. The number of homes lost to foreclosure during the first two months of this year totaled 5,522, down 66.7 percent from the same period last year.
•Absentee buyers, who are mainly investors and vacation-home buyers, bought 38.2 percent of all Phoenix-area homes sold last month, up from 37.3 percent the month before and down from 43.4 percent a year earlier. The peak was 47.1 percent in March 2011. February’s absentee buyers paid a median $138,000, up 34.6 percent from a year earlier.
•In February, 333 Phoenix-area buyers purchased two or more homes on the open market (excludes foreclosure auctions). That was up about 31 percent from the same month last year, based on an analysis of buyer names in the public record. (Note: In some cases individuals and partnerships buy under different names). This February these multi-home buyers purchased 1,003 homes, which amounts to about 13 percent of all homes sold and represents a 38.3 percent increase from the number of properties that multi-home buyers purchased in February last year. The largest buyer identified in February, appearing in public records as "THR Phoenix LP" and "THR Phoenix LLC," purchased 159 homes, or about 16 percent of all homes purchased by multi-home buyers in February. There were 18 buyers in February that each purchased five or more homes, but only seven of them bought 10 or more. Combined, the buyers who purchased 10 or more homes in February acquired 260 homes, or about 26 percent of all homes bought by multi-home buyers.
•Buyers paying cash bought 40.2 percent of all Phoenix-area homes sold last month. That was up from 37.2 percent the prior month and down from 45.5 percent a year earlier. The record for cash buying was 48.0 percent in February 2011. This February’s cash buyers paid a median $145,000, up 43.6 percent from a year earlier.
•Home flipping has trended higher the past year. The number of homes sold in February that had previously sold within the prior six months represented 6.7 percent of all open-market sales (excludes homes previously purchased at public foreclosure auctions). Last month's flipping rate was down from 7.1 percent the month before and up from 5.7 percent a year earlier.
•The market share for government-insured FHA home loans, a popular low-down-payment choice among first-time buyers, was 26.9 percent of all purchase loans in February. That was down from an FHA share of 28.5 percent the month before and down from 31.6 percent a year earlier. In the current housing cycle the FHA share peaked at 55.3 percent of the purchase loan market in September 2008.

To view the home sale chart, visit DQNews.com.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916)456-7157 or alepage@dqnews.com

Copyright 2013 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

February California Home Sale Press Release

California February Home Sales

March 14, 2013

An estimated 28,719 new and resale houses and condos sold statewide last month. That was down 0.5 percent from 28,871 in January, and down 3.1 percent from 29,630 sales in February 2012, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.

Sales are generally flat from January to February. February sales in California have varied from a low of 20,513 in 2008 to a high of 48,409 in 2004. Last month's sales were 9.9 percent below the average of 31,890 sales for all the months of February since 1988, when DataQuick's statistics begin.

The median price paid for a home in California last month was $289,000, down 0.3 percent from $290,000 in January and up 20.9 percent from $239,000 in February 2012. February was the 12th 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, then it declined to a low of $221,000 in April 2009.

Of the existing homes sold in February, 17.5 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That was down from a revised 19.0 percent in January and down from 33.9 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 22.5 percent of the homes that resold last month. That was down from an estimated 23.6 percent the month before and 26.5 percent a year earlier.

The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,042. That was up from $1,030 in January and up from $901 a year earlier. Last month's typical payment was 54.3 percent below the 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle, and 63.0 percent below the 2006 peak of the current cycle.

DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.

Indicators of market distress continue to decline. Foreclosure activity remains well below peak levels reached several years ago. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, while down payment sizes are stable, DataQuick reported.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916)456-7157 or alepage@dqnews.com

Source: DataQuick; DQNews.com

Copyright DataQuick. All rights reserved.

February Bay Area Home Sale Press Release

Bay Area Home Sales Ease Amid Tight Supply; Median Price Up Again from 2012

March 14, 2013

La Jolla, CA.--Bay Area home sales eased back a notch while prices continued their upward off-bottom bounce last month, the result of a slow rebalancing act in a market environment of constrained supply and finicky mortgage lending, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 5,404 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area in February. That was down 1.8 percent from 5,501 the month before, and down 6.1 percent from 5,753 for February a year ago, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.

Sales are generally flat from January to February. The average February, going back to 1988, when DataQuick’s statistics begin, had 6,241 sales. February sales have ranged from 3,989 in 2008 to 8,901 in 2002.

The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area last month was $405,000. That was down 2.4 percent from $415,000 in January and up 24.6 percent from $325,000 for February a year ago.

The median has had a double-digit year-over-year increase the last nine months, and the past four months have seen gains above 20 percent.

“Isn’t this Economics 101? Supply and demand? If demand outstrips supply in a free market, the price goes up. The last time the number of homes sold exceeded the historical average for a given month was back in 2006. So a lot of demand has accumulated. Now, with a recovering economy, prices still closer to the bottom than to the top, with ultra-low mortgage interest rates and tight supply, the stage is set for price gains. This spring is going to be interesting,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

The Bay Area's median sale price reached a high of $665,000 in June/July 2007 and then fell to a low of $290,000 in March 2009. On a year-over-year basis the median dropped more than 30 percent each month from August 2008 through May 2009.

At the median's rate of increase over the past year, it's likely that sometime this spring or summer it will have recovered about half of its loss since its peak.

At least half of February's 24.6 percent, year-over-year increase in the median sale price is the result of changes in market mix, with sales shifting away from low-cost distress homes toward more mid-market and move-up homes.

Last month the number of homes that sold for less than $500,000 decreased 14.4 percent year-over-year, while the number sold for $500,000-plus increased 27.7 percent, DataQuick reported.

Last month distressed property sales – the combination of foreclosure resales and “short sales” – made up about 35.0 percent of the resale market. That was down from 36.0 percent in January and down from 53.4 percent a year ago.

Foreclosure resales – homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 13.6 percent of resales in February, down from a revised 14.1 percent in January, and down from 26.4 percent a year ago. Last month was the lowest since 10.1 percent in November 2007. Foreclosure resales peaked at 52.0 percent in February 2009. The monthly average for foreclosure resales over the past 17 years is about 10 percent.

Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 21.4 percent of Bay Area resales last month. That was down from an estimated 21.9 percent in January and down from 27.0 percent a year earlier.

Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 37.5 percent of last month’s purchase lending, up from a revised 35.8 percent in January, and up from 27.2 percent a year ago. Jumbo usage dropped as low as 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.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), an important indicator of mortgage availability, accounted for 11.1 percent of the Bay Area’s home purchase loans. That was up from a revised 10.9 percent in January, and down from 12.1 percent in February last year. Since 2000, ARMs have accounted for 48.5 percent of all purchase loans. ARMs hit a low of 3.0 percent of loans in January 2009.

Government-insured FHA home purchase loans, a popular choice among first-time buyers, accounted for 15.3 percent of all Bay Area home purchase mortgages in February, up from 15.0 percent in January and down from 22.9 percent a year earlier. In recent months the FHA level has the been the lowest since summer 2008, reflecting both tougher qualifying standards and the difficulties first-time buyers have competing with investors and other cash buyers.

The most active lenders to Bay Area home buyers last month were Wells Fargo with 15.0 percent of the market, Stearns Lending with 4.0 percent, and RPM Mortgage with 3.7 percent.

Last month absentee buyers – mostly investors – purchased 28.2 percent of all Bay Area homes, an all-time high (absentee statistics go back to January 2000). Last month's absentee level was up from a revised 26.7 percent in January, and up from 25.6 percent a year ago. Absentee buyers paid a median $290,000 in February, up 18.4 percent from $245,000 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 a record 31.9 percent of sales in February. That was up from 28.4 percent the month before and 31.5 percent a year earlier. The monthly average going back to 1988 is 12.9 percent. Cash buyers paid a median $303,000 in February, up 23.7 percent from $245,000 a year earlier.

San Diego-based DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. Because of late data availability, sales were estimated in Alameda and San Francisco counties.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,460. That was down from $1,479 in January, and up from $1,243 a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, last month’s payment was 48.1 percent below the typical payment in spring 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 61.6 percent below the current cycle's peak in July 2007.

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

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

Source: DataQuick, www.DQNews.com

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157
Copyright 2013 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

February SoCal Home Sale Press Release

Southland Begins 2013 With Sales and Price Gains Vs. Year Earlier

March 13, 2013

La Jolla, CA---Southern California logged the highest February home sales in six years last month amid relatively strong sales of mid- to high-end properties and a record share of homes sold to absentee buyers. The median sale price edged slightly lower from January but rose nearly 21 percent from a year earlier, marking the 11th straight month in which the median has risen year-over-year, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 15,945 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was down 0.7 percent from 16,058 sales in January, and up 1.0 percent from 15,780 sales in February 2012, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.

Typically there's not much change in the number of sales between January and February. On average, sales have risen 0.7 percent between those two months since 1988, when DataQuick’s statistics begin.

Last month’s sales were the highest for the month of February since 17,680 homes sold in February 2007, but they were 9.9 percent below the February average of 17,696 sales. The low for February sales was 10,777 in 2008, while the high was 26,587 in 2004.

“Our January and February stats certainly indicate housing remains a big target for investors. But typically those two months don't offer much insight into how the market will behave the rest of the year. These are sales that closed in January and February, meaning many of the buyers were out home shopping during the holiday season late last year. That's when many traditional buyers and sellers drop out of the market, leaving a relatively high concentration of very motivated market participants, especially investors,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

“March and April will offer a better view of how broader market trends are shaping up this year. One of the real wild cards will be how many more homes go up for sale. More people who've long been thinking of selling will be tempted to list their homes at today's higher prices. Fewer people will be underwater and therefore could at least break even on a sale. Some investors who've held for a while will consider cashing in. A meaningful rise in the supply of homes on the market should at least tame price appreciation.”

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the six-county Southland was $320,000 last month, down 0.3 percent from $321,000 in January and up 20.9 percent from $264,750 in February 2012. The median has eased back slightly on a month-to-month basis since December's $323,000 median, which was the highest since it was $330,000 in August 2008. The median's year-over-year gains have been double-digit – between 10.8 percent and 23.5 percent – since last August.

“Most every gauge shows prices are up significantly over the past year, even after adjusting for changes in the types of homes selling, ” Walsh said. “But to keep today's price levels in context, consider that last month's median sale price was still around 37 percent below its early 2007 peak of $505,000, and it was about where the median was back in mid 2003.”

Around half of the median's ups and downs the last five years can be attributed to shifts in the types of homes sold. Last month's 20.9 percent year-over-year gain in the Southland median sale price reflects the combination of price appreciation as well as a shift toward more mid- to high-end sales in coastal markets and fewer sales, especially foreclosed properties, in inland areas.

Looking at a single sub-category to help adjust for this change in market mix: The median price paid for a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom, 1,250-to-1,450-square-foot house built between 1950 and 1985 was $316,500 last month. That was down 0.2 percent from $317,000 in January, and up 13.4 percent from $279,000 in February 2012.

Move-up markets continued to show big sales gains from a year earlier. The number of homes sold in February for between $300,000 and $800,000 – a range that would include many first-time move-up buyers – rose 33.4 percent year-over-year. The number that sold for $500,000 or more jumped 54.0 percent from one year earlier, while sales of $800,000-plus homes increased 62.7 percent compared with February 2012.

Last month, 24.9 percent of all Southland home sales were for $500,000 or more, compared with a revised 22.2 percent in January and 17.4 percent in February 2012.

Sales continued to fall on a year-over-year basis in many lower-cost communities. The number of homes that sold below $200,000 in February fell 26.7 percent year-over-year, while sales below $300,000 dipped 15.4 percent. Sales in many affordable markets have been limited not by a lack of demand, but by a lack of inventory, caused largely by the slowdown in foreclosures and the relatively high percentage of owners who can’t afford to move because they owe more than their homes are worth.

Last month foreclosure resales – properties foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 15.8 percent of the Southland resale market. That was down from a revised 17.2 percent the month before and down from 32.6 percent a year earlier. In recent months foreclosure resales have been at the lowest level since September 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 22.0 percent of Southland resales last month. That was down from an estimated 24.0 percent the month before and 26.9 percent a year earlier.

Investor and cash buying was at or near all-time highs.

Absentee buyers – mostly investors and some second-home purchasers – bought a record 31.4 percent of the Southland homes sold in February. That was up from 30.4 percent the prior month and up from 29.9 percent a year earlier. The monthly average since 2000, when the absentee data begin, is 17.9 percent. Last month’s absentee buyers paid a median $250,000, up 26.3 percent from a year earlier.

The share of homes that were flipped has risen, too: 6.9 percent of all homes sold on the open market last month had previously sold in the prior six months, up from a flipping rate of 6.6 percent in January and 3.7 percent in February 2012. (The figures exclude homes that were resold after being purchased at public foreclosure auction sales on the courthouse steps.)

Buyers paying with cash accounted for 35.6 percent of last month's home sales, compared with 33.7 percent both the month before and a year earlier. The peak was 35.8 percent last December. Since 1988 the monthly average is 15.9 percent. Cash buyers paid a median $260,000 last month, up 23.8 percent from a year ago.

Credit conditions don't appear to have changed much so far this year.

Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 21.0 percent of last month’s Southland purchase lending, up from 19.3 percent the prior month and 14.4 percent a year earlier. In the months leading up to the credit crunch that struck in August 2007, jumbos accounted for around 40 percent of the home loan market.

With fixed rates on 30-year loans so low, and aversion to risk in the marketplace high, the use of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) remains very low in an historical context. Last month 5.6 percent of Southland home purchase loans were ARMs, the same as the prior month and down slightly from 5.8 percent a year earlier. Since 2000, a monthly average of about 33 percent of Southland purchase loans were ARMs.

Government-insured FHA loans, a popular low-down-payment choice among first-time buyers, accounted for 25.0 percent of all purchase mortgages last month. That was about the same as 25.1 percent the month before and down from 30.9 percent a year earlier. In recent months the FHA share has been the lowest since summer 2008. The decline reflects tighter FHA qualifying standards implemented in recent years as well as the difficulties first-time buyers are having competing with investors.

The most active lenders to Southern California home buyers last month were Wells Fargo with 8.7 percent of the market, Prospect Mortgage with 2.7 percent, and JP Morgan Chase with 2.5 percent. Bank of America, which had 2.2 percent of the Southern California market last month, recently announced that it was gearing up for a “new run” at the mortgage market. The bank had around 8 percent of the Southland market two years ago.

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 Southland buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,154, up from a $1,140 the month before and up from $998 a year earlier. Adjusted for inflation, last month’s typical payment was 51.1 percent below the typical payment in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 60.0 percent below the current cycle’s peak in July 2007.

Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity remains far below peak levels. Financing with multiple mortgages is very low, and down payment sizes are stable, DataQuick reported.

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

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

Copyright 2013 DataQuick. All rights reserved.

January Seattle Home Sale Press Release

Seattle Region January Home Sales

Seattle-area home sales hit a six-year high for the month of January, rising above a year earlier for the 19th consecutive month. The median sale price fell from December, as it normally does, but increased year-over-year for the 10th consecutive month, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 3,102 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 26.0 percent from the month before and increased 25.1 percent from a year earlier, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

A dip in sales between December and January is normal, with that decline averaging 25.6 percent since 1994, when DataQuick's complete Seattle-area statistics begin.

The number of homes sold this January was the highest for that month since January 2007, when 4,223 homes sold. This January's sales total was still 6.7 percent below the average number of homes sold during all months of January since 1994. Resale single-family house sales were 9.2 percent below the historical average for January, while condo resales were 28.4 percent above average and sales of newly built homes were 20.4 percent below average.

The Seattle-area resale market - existing single-family houses and condos combined - posted a 19.4 percent increase in sales compared with a year earlier, while sales of newly built homes logged a 63.7 percent increase. January sales of new Seattle-area houses and condos combined were the highest for that month in five years.

The year-over-year increase in total January sales was driven by big gains for sales above $200,000, while the number of homes that sold for less than $200,000 rose just 1.0 percent year-over-year and sub-$150,000 sales fell 12.2 percent. Sales of homes priced above $200,000 rose 42.6 percent year-over-year, while $300,000-plus sales rose 50.5 percent. The number of homes that sold in January between $200,000 and $600,000, a typical move-up range, rose 24.3 percent from a year earlier. Sales over $700,000 rose 41.4 percent year-over-year, though sales in that price category represented a relatively small portion (6.4 percent) of total sales.

In January, 13 homes sold for $2 million or more in the three-county region, down from 24 in December but up 160.0 percent from five $2 million-plus sales in January 2012. During the six months ending in January this year, multi-million-dollar homes sales rose 32.5 percent from the same six-month period one year earlier. The figures are based on public property records, where either a sale price or loan amount indicating a $2 million-plus sale was available.

Across all price ranges in January, buyers paid a median $267,750 for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the three-county Seattle area. That was down 7.4 percent from the prior month and up 11.6 percent from a year earlier. The median price has risen on a year-over-year basis each month since April 2012, following 20 consecutive months of year-over-year declines.

January's median was 26.7 percent lower than the Seattle area's peak $365,200 median in June 2007, and it was 11.6 percent higher than the post-peak trough of $238,000 in January 2012.

Another key price measure, the median paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses, was $154 in January, down 3.9 percent from the month before and up 10.5 percent from a year earlier. The January figure was 35.8 percent lower than the peak $239 median paid per square foot in June 2007.

Distressed property sales - foreclosure resales and "short sales" combined - represented roughly 40.0 percent of the Seattle area's resale market in January, down from about 53 percent a year earlier.

Foreclosure resales - properties foreclosed on in the prior 12 months - represented 14.7 percent of the resale market in January. That was up from 12.2 percent the prior month and down from 32.5 percent a year earlier.

Short sales - transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property - made up an estimated 25.0 percent of the Seattle-area's January resales. That was up from an estimated 24.2 percent the month before and 20.6 percent a year earlier.

In January, lenders foreclosed on 908 single-family houses and condo units in the Seattle region, down 3.5 percent from the prior month and up 51.1 percent from a year earlier. The foreclosure figures are based on the number of Trustees Deeds filed with county recorder offices. The steep year-over-year gain in foreclosures likely reflects lenders playing catch-up after a lull in foreclosure activity following the July 2011 passage of a new state foreclosure law. The law allows many borrowers in distress to request "foreclosure mediation," where a mediator helps the homeowner and lender try to negotiate an agreement to avoid foreclosure, such as with a loan modification.

Absentee buyers - mainly investors - accounted for 21.9 percent of the Seattle area's January home sales, up from 19.9 percent a year earlier and up from a decade-long monthly average of 16.7 percent. Absentee buyers paid a median $211,000 in January, up 24.2 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 23.4 percent of January home sales, up from 21.7 percent a year earlier. Cash buyers paid a median $211,500 in January, up 21.6 percent year-over-year.

In January, 21.2 percent of Seattle-area purchase mortgages were government-insured FHA loans, a popular, low-down-payment choice among first-time home buyers. That was down from an FHA share of 26.2 percent a year earlier. The FHA share of the purchase loan market has been in the 19 percent to 22 percent range for the past nine months, well below the region's peak FHA level for the current housing cycle, which was 39.9 percent of all homes loans in October 2009.

To view the Seattle January home sale chart, visit DQNews.com.

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157

Source: DataQuick; DQNews.com

Copyright 2013 DataQuick. All rights reserved.