The Christy Allen Team

Housing Scorecard Shows Continued Signs of Stabilization

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury released the October edition of the Housing Scorecard (www.hud.gov/scorecard). The latest housing figures show continued signs of stabilization in house prices and high home affordability due in part to record low interest rates. The housing scorecard is a comprehensive report on the nation's housing market.

"Over the last 21 months, the Obama Administration's swift action in the housing market has kept millions of families in their homes and provided responsible borrowers with incentives to refinance or to become a homeowner," said HUD Assistant Secretary Raphael Bostic. "But, with many unavoidable foreclosures still in the pipeline, it's clear that we have a hard road ahead. That's why we're focused on successfully implementing the programs we've put in place-such as additional assistance on refinancing and helping unemployed homeowners stay in their homes-and ensuring that help is available to homeowners as soon as possible."

"HAMP is not only an important part of the Administration's efforts to stabilize the housing market, it has also redefined the loan modification standard for the mortgage industry overall. That has led to more than 3.5 million modification arrangements directly benefitting families in communities across the country still healing from the crisis," said acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Tim Massad. "Early data shows that well beyond the trial phase, the majority of homeowners are maintaining their HAMP modifications, reflecting the rigorous standards the program uses to provide assistance to responsible homeowners."

The October Housing Scorecard features key data on the health of the housing market including:

• Families continued to benefit from the lowest rates in history on 30-year fixed mortgages. Since April 2009, record low interest rates have helped more than 7.1 million homeowners refinance, resulting in more stable home prices and $12.7 billion in total borrower savings.

• As expected with the expiration of the Home Buyer Tax Credit, new and existing home sales remained below levels seen in the first half of 2010. At the same time, home prices remained level in the past year after 33 straight months of decline and homeowners added $95 billion in home equity in the second quarter.

• More than 3.52 million modification arrangements were started between April 2009 and the end of August 2010-nearly triple the number of foreclosure completions during that time. These included more than 1.3 million trial Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) modification starts, more than 510,000 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loss mitigation and early delinquency interventions, and more than 1.6 million proprietary modifications under HOPE Now. While some homeowners may have received help from more than one program, the number of agreements offered nearly tripled foreclosure completions for the same period (1.3 million).

• At nine months, almost 90% of homeowners remain in their permanent HAMP modification, with 11% defaulted. Early data indicate that HAMP permanent modifications are performing well over time, with lower delinquency rates than those reported by the industry at large. At nine months, less than 16% of permanent modifications are 60+ days delinquent.

Data in the scorecard also show that the recovery in the housing market continues to remain fragile. For example, foreclosure completions continue to move upward and a large supply of homes are being held off the market. While the recovery will take place over time, the Administration remains committed to its efforts to prevent avoidable foreclosures and stabilize the housing market.

For more information, visit www.hud.gov.

Posted at 12:25AM Jan 26, 2011 by Christy Allen in General  |  Comments[0]

Charlotte home prices climb, but worry persists

Posted at 01:58PM Aug 31, 2010 by Christy Allen in General  |  Comments[0]

Charlotte home prices inched up in May

Charlotte-area home prices barely inched up in May as the impact of homebuyer tax credits disappeared, according to a closely watched index released this morning.

In May, area prices rose 0.3 percent from April, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. That was the largest monthly gain since prices began falling two years earlier. Prices rose from the previous month in 19 of the 20 market areas tracked by the index.

The monthly bump-ups were generally expected because spring is typically the best selling season. Tax credits, which expired April 30, also drove sales and buoyed prices. The tax-credit-induced sales will continue influencing results for the next month or so as the deals go through final closing.

Locally and nationally, the housing market continues to struggle with high unemployment and foreclosures. June results for sales and construction have shown weakening trends. Charlotte has held up better in some respects, but is lagging on the Case-Shiller index.

Compared with a year ago, Charlotte prices are down 2.8 percent. That’s well below the average gain of 4.6 percent for the index’s 20 markets.

The index is one of the most precise measures of home values because it tracks repeat sales of houses. Like stock market indexes, Case-Shiller reflects changes in prices, not an actual price. For Charlotte, prices remain at levels of about five years ago.

Las Vegas prices reached a new low, with the May index at 2000 levels. Detroit is the worst off, with prices at 1994 levels.

“It still looks possible that the housing market might bounce along the bottom for the foreseeable future, before showing any real improvement that will filter through to the rest of the economy,” said David Blitzer, chairman of S&P’s index committee.

Posted at 11:01AM Jul 27, 2010 by Christy Allen in General  |  Comments[0]

Investors Snap Up High-Quality Multifamily Properties as Rents, Occupancy

With apartment vacancies appearing to have peaked, and U.S. rents even starting to edge up slightly, offerings of quality multifamily assets have attracted multiple bidders and secured premium prices in the first half of 2010, with investors having an especially keen appetite for institutional-grade assets in attractive coastal markets.

However, as with most asset classes in the current commercial real estate market, multifamily sales are largely divided between the asset haves and have-nots. With few high-quality performing apartment assets for sale and an abundance of pent-up capital seeking to invest, some properties have drawn multiple, even dozens, of bids.

Recovery and transaction activity in the broader investment market for apartments and condominiums has not been nearly as swift or as strong as some experts predicted at the beginning of the year, despite modestly improving occupancies and rents, according to CoStar Group Real Estate Economist Mark Hickey.

Through the first six months of 2010, $11.6 billion in multifamily property traded hands, up from $7.7 billion in the first half of last year, according to preliminary 2010 CoStar first-half sales statistics. The first half total is expected to increase as CoStar continues to tabulate market transactions that closed in the second quarter. Despite a flurry that brought $19.9 billion in activity at the end of last year, the prorated dollar volume for all of 2010 still pencils out to $23.3 billion, or a 17% increase over 2009, Hickey said. Although this year’s projected volume would still be a 44% drop from the bubble-driven sales level in 2008 and a 74% drop from 2007, he said.

CoStar real estate economist Katie Pelczar memorably likened the scramble for the highest grade Class A assets seen on both coasts to old wartime photos where "hundreds of people are pushing and shoving to get their hands on a single loaf of pumpernickel." Deals for those coveted morsels, in this case well-occupied and higher priced properties in core markets like Washington, D.C. or New York, have thus far accounted for much of the sales activity this year.

Buyers in general are assuming they’re going to see hefty rent increases and continued demand recovery due to the shutdown of the supply pipeline and the improving economy, said CoStar Global Strategist Michael B. Cohen.

“The flip side to that is people are looking at the velocity of transactions and beginning to feel like the market is getting a little frothy,” Cohen said. “We’re generally seeing cap rate compression in those high-quality assets in coastal markets that people are paying high prices for. The returns are not the type of opportunistic returns investors thought they would see a year ago. Instead of a heavy distress play, we’ve seen a heavy core play.”

Meanwhile, supply is tightening, home ownership remains soft and vacancies appear to have topped out, even declining in some markets. While asking rents are trending flat, the market is seeing some positive growth in effective rents as concessions burn off in such markets as Phoenix. Landlords are starting to feel the balance of power shift in their favor, Cohen said.

The appetite of investors for the prime markets, however, has largely driven the increase in dollar volume, while the number of trades has flattened. The weighted average price per unit, which was about $28,000 in the first half of 2009, is an estimated $40,400 in first-half 2010, according to available data.

REITs and other investors flush with equity are the most active players in the apartment sales arena, with financing challenges still playing out across the market.

"Gap financing continues to be an issue for buyers that need some amount of leverage before an asset stabilizes," noted a participant in the second-quarter PricewaterhouseCoopers Korpacz Real Estate Investor Survey. The bid-ask gap has narrowed, mostly because sellers have acknowledged current market conditions. Betraying continued uncertainty, Korpacz survey participants offered mixed views on asset values, with some foreseeing increases of as much as 15% and others expecting continued declines of as much as 25%.

Investor interest isn’t relegated solely to Class A properties, and pockets of strength have turned up in some interesting markets, notably Phoenix, hard hit by the single-family housing crisis and shadow supply of homes and condominiums.

"There’s more of an investor appetite for Class A properties, but at the same time, you’ve seen more price declines and fundamentals declines on the lower properties. There’s a large number of groups that want distressed assets, B-minus and under," said Jack Hannum, vice president with Transwestern. Hannum and Vice President Bret Zinn are co-leaders of Transwestern’s multifamily team in Phoenix. "There’s just a tremendous appetite for all multifamily product here. If a deal goes to market, there’s high demand for it."

On the financing side, government-sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have long been the dominant providers of debt capital in multifamily, a trend expected to continue despite the political and market challenges the agencies face. However, one increasing trend since the beginning of the year is the growing participation of life insurance companies, noted Jeff Majewski, executive managing director, capital markets, for Grubb & Ellis. For most of 2008 and 2009, the insurers were out of that market and effectively ceded that business to the GSE agencies, but they’re back strongly this year.

"The life companies have come into the space and they are aggressively competing with the agencies -- and in many instances winning many of the top-tier Class A projects -- primarily because they’re willing to take on a little bit more lease-up risk," Majewski said. "We think that’s going to continue through 2010. We don’t see any slowdown in their appetite for multifamily."

Hannum and Zinn recently represented Weidner Investment Services, based in Kirkland, WA, in a $16.65 million off-market acquisition of the 258-unit Monterra apartment community in Phoenix from Aslan Realty Group, a deal which closed in under two months. Weidner said it plans to hold onto the property long term to take advantage of increasing net rental income and falling vacancies as the Phoenix market continues its expected recovery over the next 18 months.

Weidner "just flat-out told Jack and I they wanted to buy 3,000 units and wanted to be in Phoenix," Zinn said.

With so much demand and lack of high-end product on the market, apartment buyers are willing to pay the so-called ‘scarcity premium’ for quality assets, Zinn said. At the same time, many investors who raised funds two or three years ago but were forced to wait on the sidelines for the market to stabilize may now face deadlines to deploy that capital.

"We get calls daily from new groups that want to be in Phoenix and are ready to buy. We just don’t have enough product to show them," Zinn said. "A year ago, no one in the market was convinced we were at the bottom. Over the last three to six months, there’s a lot more investor comfort in Phoenix that the market is at bottom and now is the time to buy."

"Prices are where they were 10 years ago. In the C market, prices are where they were 15 to 20 years ago," Hannum added. "Net effective rents aren’t going any lower. You’ve still got good sources of financing with Freddie and Fannie. A lot of these buyer groups aren’t concerned with timing the bottom perfectly; they’re going to cost-in their acquisitions and average in the bottom."

Also in the Phoenix market, Colliers International recently negotiated the sale of two Class B apartment assets in Mesa, AZ, to San Mateo, CA based Acacia Capital for $33.35 million. The 304-unit Verona Park property sold for $15.2 million, or $50,000 per unit. Argenta, 395 units, sold for $18.15 million, or $45,949 per unit.

"We had a very strong response with multiple offers at, or over, list price," said Brad Cooke, vice president with Colliers’ Phoenix office, who along with vice president Cindy Cooke, represented the undisclosed seller. "It came down to who had the funds to close all-cash on both properties, could move fast, and had an in depth knowledge of the two submarkets."

REITs and institutions targeted large properties in major markets this year, but private equity players were also in the mix. A sampling of other significant multifamily transactions tracked by CoStar in the first two quarters includes the following:

Posted at 01:40PM Jul 07, 2010 by Christy Allen in General  |  Comments[0]

Charlotte home sales jump amid warning signs

Posted at 11:05AM Jun 10, 2010 by Christy Allen in General  |  Comments[0]

Make your home more inviting

Have you ever walked into a home and instantaneously felt a pleasant feeling of welcoming? Many would like to create that same ambience in their homes. The good news is that creating such atmosphere and ambience may not even impact your wallet. Here are some helpful tips that will make you fall in love with your home again, and give your guests that pleasant cozy feeling when they walk through your front door.

First, focus on the lighting. If you know you are expecting company, open all the curtains and turn on any lamps, and light fixtures even if it is daytime. Light not only opens up a room, but also creates a sensation that the room is actually larger than it is. Another way to establish character in a room is to create visual impact by adding a mirror, painting, or sculpture to an empty space. This is a great opportunity to bring the whole room together or highlight a particular aspect of your decor, so consider what you already have in place. One more way to make your guests feel comfortable in your home is with the use of scents. There are many ways to add wonderful smells to your home, but be careful not to go overboard with scents as a little can go a long way. Lighting a softly fragranced candle or perhaps just the smell of a brewing coffee pot is all you need to finish off the overall sense of welcoming.

Posted at 10:56AM Apr 20, 2010 by Christy Allen in General  |  Comments[0]

Charlotte home sales manage another gain; weakness ahead?

The Charlotte-area housing market eked out another sales gain in February, despite a dreary economy and nasty weather, and there are signs the upward trend could continue.

However, a leading indicator from a Charlotte research firm points to continued weakness for new home construction.

The number of houses, townhouses and condos sold last month rose 3.6 percent from a year ago during the deepest part of the slump, according to results released today by the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association. February marked the fifth month of sales gains, although the increase was well below the double-digit jumps last fall.

Recent gains still leave sales below the levels of at least 2003, before the boom.

Prices also continued moving up, with the average sales price of $191,288 rising 4.6 percent from a year ago, when the area saw its steepest declines. That marked the fourth consecutive month of gains for transactions through the association’s Carolina Multiple Listing Services.

Home sales are typically strongest during the spring, as families aim to move and get settled before children start a new school year. Home buyer tax credits of as much as $8,000 are set to expire April 30, another potential boost to the spring selling season. But there are conflicting signals, as high unemployment sidelines buyers and loads of foreclosures weigh on prices in the Charlotte area and nationwide.

On the upside, the number of pending MLS contracts jumped 14 percent from a year ago. Those contracts, representing signed deals that haven’t yet closed, are a sign of rising demand. February’s pending contracts also reached their highest level since October. At that time, buyers were rushing to take advantage of the tax credit, which had been scheduled to expire Nov. 30 but was later extended and expanded.

MLS transactions account for the vast majority of the area’s home sales, but the reporting doesn’t distinguish between sales of new and existing homes.

Other recent housing data show the area’s sales gains have been driven solely by existing homes, many of them heavily discounted foreclosures or houses that have languished on the market. That inventory means stiff competition for new homes.

Data from a Charlotte firm that tracks lumber sales could foreshadow a weak spring for the nation’s homebuilders. Orders and shipments of southern yellow pine used to frame new homes have been dropping sharply for the last four weeks, according to Forest2Market.

The Charlotte firm tracks what amounts to about 55 percent of U.S. deals for the lumber. The company doesn’t break out local results, but executives routinely talk with lumber mills and buyers in many regions, so they have a good inside view of industry thinking.

During January, sales jumped, likely driven at least in part by optimism that the tax credits would fuel sales, and improved economic reports.

“Homebuilders thought they were going to sell some houses in the next four months because the economy looked like it was turning around,” said Pete Stewart, president of Forest2Market. “They took on orders to make sure they were ready for that build up, but it never came.”

Blizzards, heavy rain and unusually cold weather in many areas contributed to the construction weakness, said Daniel Stuber, the firm’s operations manager. But the biggest weight on the industry is the weak economy and existing homes, often with prices slashed.

About one-third of the yellow pine is used for home building, and the rest is made into treated lumber, used for decks and other outside or high-moisture applications and to deter termites. So the drop off in shipments means two things, Stewart said: “Homebuilders are not building new homes, and…the remodeling, outdoor decking market is very soft.”

Posted at 02:45PM Mar 11, 2010 by Christy Allen in General  |  Comments[0]

Charlotte home prices fall, just a bit

Charlotte-area home prices posted their smallest monthly price decline in four months, and four cities showed the nation's first annual gains in at least two years as the housing industry creeps toward stability.

Area sales prices fell 0.3 percent in November, compared with October, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index released this morning. That's a smaller loss than the previous three months. Compared with a year earlier, Charlotte home prices were down 5.5 percent, a big improvement over the spring's double-digit declines and the area's smallest annual decline in a year. Dallas, Denver, San Diego and San Francisco inched into positive territory compared with a year ago.

Posted at 11:18AM Jan 26, 2010 by Christy Allen in General  |  Comments[0]

Mecklenburg home losses could skyrocket

Despite the struggling economy, fewer people lost their Mecklenburg County homes to foreclosure last year, but the small decline could be sharply reversed this year.

There were 3,045 final foreclosures last year in Mecklenburg, down 2 percent from the previous year's record, according to court records. However, a surge in court filings that start the foreclosure process means there may be a big backlog that could drive a jump in homes lost this year.

Foreclosure filings rose more than 17 percent statewide to top 63,000 last year. Mecklenburg accounted for more than one-fifth of those filings, an increase of 52 percent from a year earlier, according to Observer analysis of court data.

If Mecklenburg's final foreclosures had risen as fast as filings, about 1,700 more homes would have been lost last year in the county. Those losses may only have been delayed because the system is bogged down.

More foreclosures are expected this year, largely because unemployment is forecast to remain high.

"It's an alarming increase," said Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx. "There's work on every level of government ... but when you have an unemployment rate at 12 percent, it's hard to help stem the tide."

Foreclosure filings are a barometer of people at risk of losing their homes. Some will work out payment plans. Others will lose their homes in final foreclosure sales, which have widespread ramifications, including depressing surrounding home values and increasing the drain on taxpayer-funded social services.

"It's a huge concern because with foreclosures comes a whole host of other issues, including homelessness," Foxx said.

In a telling sign of the struggle, about 40,000 people turned out last month for a five-day mortgage modification marathon in Charlotte. The national nonprofit that ran the session, Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, announced plans last year to expand its operations in Charlotte and hire a total of 2,000 workers here.

Posted at 04:55PM Jan 10, 2010 by Christy Allen in General  |  Comments[0]

$6500 Current Home Owner Tax Credit

The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 has established a tax credit of up to $6,500 for qualified move-up/repeat home buyers (existing home owners) purchasing a principal residence after November 6, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010 (or purchased by June 30, 2010 with a binding sales contract signed by April 30, 2010).

The following questions and answers provide basic information about the tax credit. If you have more specific questions, we strongly encourage you to consult a qualified tax advisor or legal professional about your unique situation.

1. Who is eligible to claim the $6,500 tax credit?
2. What is the definition of a move-up or repeat home buyer?
3. How is the amount of the tax credit determined?
4. Are there any income limits for claiming the tax credit?
5. What is “modified adjusted gross income”?
6. If my modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is above the limit, do I qualify for any tax credit?
7. Can you give me an example of how the partial tax credit is determined?
8. How is this home buyer tax credit different from the tax credit that Congress enacted in July of 2008? How is this different than the rules established in early 2009?
9. How do I claim the tax credit? Do I need to complete a form or application? Are there documentation requirements?
10. What types of homes will qualify for the tax credit?
11. I read that the tax credit is "refundable." What does that mean?
12. Instead of buying a new home from a home builder, I hired a contractor to construct a home on a lot that I already own. Do I still qualify for the tax credit?
13. Can I claim the tax credit if I finance the purchase of my home under a mortgage revenue bond (MRB) program?
14. I am not a U.S. citizen. Can I claim the tax credit?
15. Is a tax credit the same as a tax deduction?
16. Is there a way for a home buyer to access the money allocable to the credit sooner than waiting to file their 2009 or 2010 tax return?
17. HUD allows “monetization” of the tax credit. What does that mean?
18. If I’m qualified for the tax credit and buy a home in 2009 (or 2010), can I apply the tax credit against my 2008 (or 2009) tax return?
19. For a home purchase in 2009 or 2010, can I choose whether to treat the purchase as occurring in the prior or present year, depending on in which year my credit amount is the largest?
20. How can two unmarried buyers allocate the tax credit if one qualifies for the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit and the other qualifies for the $6,500 repeat home buyer credit?
21. Does a married couple qualify for any home buyer tax credit in the following situation? Spouse A has lived in and owned the same principal residence for at least five years. Spouse B has lived in and owned the same principal residence for less than five years.

Posted at 10:31AM Jan 07, 2010 by Christy Allen in General  |  Comments[0]

Nine Consecutive Gains for Pending Home Sales

Pending home sales have risen for nine months in a row, a first for the series of the index since its inception in 2001, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in October, increased 3.7 percent to 114.1 from 110.0 in September, and is 31.8 percent above October 2008 when it was 86.6. The rise from a year ago is the biggest annual increase ever recorded for the index, which is at the highest level since March 2006 when it was 115.2.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said home sales are experiencing a pendulum swing. “Keep in mind that housing had been underperforming over most of the past year. Based on the demographics of our growing population, existing-home sales should be in the range of 5.5 million to 6.0 million annually, but we were well below the 5-million mark before the home buyer tax credit stimulus,” he said. “This means the tax credit is helping unleash a pent-up demand from a large pool of financially qualified renters, much more than borrowing sales from the future.”

By Region

• Pending sales in the Northeast surged 19.9 percent to 100.2 in October and is 44.2 percent above a year ago.

   

• In the Midwest, the index rose 11.6 percent to 109.6 and is 36.6 percent higher than October 2008.

   

• Sales in the South increased 5.4 percent to an index of 115.4, which is 31.6 percent above a year ago.

   

• In the West, the index fell 11.2 percent to 127.7 but is 21.9 percent above October 2008.

   

Not Out of the Woods Yet
Yun cautioned that home sales could dip in the months ahead. “The expanded tax credit has only been available for the past three weeks, but the time between when buyers start looking at homes until they close on a sale can take anywhere from three to five months. Given the lag time, we could see a temporary decline in closed existing-home sales from December until early spring when we get another surge, but the weak job market remains a major concern and could slow the recovery process.

“Still, as inventories continue to decline and balance is gradually restored between buyers and sellers, we should reach self-sustaining housing conditions and firming home prices in most areas around the middle of 2010. That would mean broad wealth stabilization for the vast number of middle-class families,” Yun said.

Posted at 12:10AM Dec 08, 2009 by Christy Allen in General  |  Comments[0]

Pending Home Sales Rise for Ninth Consecutive Month

RISMEDIA, December 2, 2009—Pending home sales have risen for nine months in a row, a first for the series of the index since its inception in 2001,according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in October, increased 3.7% to 114.1 from 110.0 in September, and is 31.8% above October 2008 when it was 86.6. The rise from a year ago is the biggest annual increase ever recorded for the index, which is at the highest level since March 2006 when it was 115.2.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said home sales are experiencing a pendulum swing. “Keep in mind that housing had been underperforming over most of the past year. Based on the demographics of our growing population, existing-home sales should be in the range of 5.5 million to 6.0 million annually, but we were well below the 5-million mark before the home buyer tax credit stimulus,” he said. “This means the tax credit is helping unleash a pent-up demand from a large pool of financially qualified renters, much more than borrowing sales from the future.

The PHSI in the Northeast surged 19.9% to 100.2 in October and is 44.2% above a year ago. In the Midwest the index rose 11.6% to 109.6 and is 36.6% higher than October 2008. Pending home sales in the South increased 5.4% to an index of 115.4, which is 31.6% above a year ago. In the West the index fell 11.2% to 127.7 but is 21.9% above October 2008.

Yun cautioned that home sales could dip in the months ahead. “The expanded tax credit has only been available for the past three weeks, but the time between when buyers start looking at homes until they close on a sale can take anywhere from three to five months. Given the lag time, we could see a temporary decline in closed existing-home sales from December 2009 until early spring when we get another surge, but the weak job market remains a major concern and could slow the recovery process.

“Still, as inventories continue to decline and balance is gradually restored between buyers and sellers, we should reach self-sustaining housing conditions and firming home prices in most areas around the middle of 2010. That would mean broad wealth stabilization for the vast number of middle-class families,” Yun said.

Posted at 01:52PM Dec 02, 2009 by Christy Allen in General  |  Comments[0]

Charlotte-area home sales take off

Fueled in part by a hefty tax credit, Charlotte-area home sales jumped nearly 20 percent last month, the first gain in more than two years.

There were 2,210 houses, townhouses and condos sold last month through the Carolina Multiple Listing Services. That compares with 1,848 in October 2008, when the economy took a nosedive.

The hefty increase marks the first time since February 2007 that sales rose on an annual basis. That’s the most robust signal yet of the industry’s recovery but still leaves sales below the 2003 level.

The first time homebuyer’s tax credit, just extended and expanded to existing homeowners, is likely to continue propelling sales.

As evidence of the Charlotte market’s staying power, MLS pending sales were up one-third compared with a year ago, according to data recently released by the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association. That’s the second month in a row of increases. Those sales represent signed contracts that haven’t yet closed and are an important barometer.

Sales prices continued a downward trend, falling 9.5 percent from a year ago, to an average of $196,204. Foreclosures and other distressed sales are weighing on prices.

MLS transactions account for the bulk of area sales.

Posted at 01:46PM Nov 11, 2009 by Christy Allen in General  |  Comments[0]

Homebuyer tax credit extension advances in Senate with new, broader terms

An extension of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit seems to be gaining momentum through the Senate. The Obama administration called upon Congress to give home buyers the ability to claim the tax credit until April 30, 2010.

Qualified first time home buyers will be able to claim $8,000 for house purchases under $800,000. To be able to qualify couples must make under $225,000 and single buyers under $125,000, which is up from the previous $150,000 for couples and $75,000 for individuals. The bill was expanded to include current homeowners as long as the house they are vacating has been their primary residence for a minimum of 5 consecutive years of the past 8. They can claim $6,500 when purchasing a “move up” home.

Under the current provisions the home must be closed by November 30th, 2009. The new terms state that the sales contract must be signed by April 30, 2009 and the closing must take place by June 30th, 2010.

Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com predicts that this credit would generate more home sales that the current one. He says, “It’s broader, and the industry is geared up to take advantage of it now.

Critics say that the tax credit is not an efficient use of federal resources because it has cost almost $10 billion as of now and the extension could cost as much if not more. Also that that it is overly generous to allow people who make over $200,000 per year to claim the credit and has been linked to widespread abuse.

Currently over 1.2 million borrowers have claimes $8.5 billion of the $13.6 billion that was set aside.

The agreement has to make it out of the congressional chamber but with the show of support from the White House it seems that the extension will pass….Stay tuned we should know by the end of the day.

Posted at 12:11PM Nov 04, 2009 by Christy Allen in General  |  Comments[0]

New home sales fall 3.6 percent

Posted at 11:09AM Oct 28, 2009 by Christy Allen in General  |  Comments[0]