April New-Home Sales Rise
May 27, 2008 | Filed Under Real Estate News, Real Estate Trends and Statistics | 1 Comment
Sales of new single-family homes rose 3.3 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 526,000, according to data released this morning by the U.S. Commerce Department. This is 42.0 percent below the estimate of 907,000 from April of last year. The median sale price of a new home increased 1.5 percent from $242,500 in April 2007 to $246,100 last month. There were 456,000 new homes available for sale at the end of April, which represents a 10.6-month supply at the current sales rate, down from the 11.1-month supply in March, but up from a 7.4-month supply last year.
April Existing-Home Sales Fall, Inventory Rises
May 23, 2008 | Filed Under Real Estate News, Real Estate Trends and Statistics, Real Estate Investment, Mortgage and Finance | Leave a Comment
Existing-home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million units in April, which is 1.0 percent below the 4.94 million units in March and 17.5 percent below the 5.93 million-unit level a year ago, NAR announced this morning. The median existing-home price in April was $202,300, down 8.0 percent from April 2007.
Total housing inventory increased 10.5 percent last month to 4.55 million homes available for sale. This represents an 11.2-month supply, up from a 10.0-month supply available last month.
Existing-home sales increased month-over-month in the West by 6.4 percent, remained unchanged in the South, and decreased in the Northeast and Midwest by 4.4 percent and 6.0 percent respectively. All regions saw decreases from a year ago: 15.3 percent in the West; 18.6 percent in the South; 14.7 percent in the Northeast; and 19.7 percent in the Midwest.
NAR President Richard F. Gaylord pointed to some good signs in the market. “In the past week, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae announced that they were eliminating their ‘declining market’ policies, effective June 1,” he said in a statement. “This means consumers across the country will have access to safe, affordable financing with down payments of only 5 percent on most mortgages, with 100 percent financing available on some loan products, and we could see an upturn in home sales this summer.”
The Ever Rosy National Association of Realtors
May 19, 2008 | Filed Under Real Estate News, Real Estate Trends and Statistics, Real Estate Investment, Mortgage and Finance, Boston Real Estate | 1 Comment
In my last few posts I have been going after some local journalists for not localizing their real estate articles. Well, today I am going after one of my own, Mr. Lawrence Chen, Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors. In a recent statement, Mr. Chen denied we are facing a national recession. I guess he got me on a technicality there, as the definition of a recession is two concecutive quarters of negative GDP growth…but he can’t be serious about the second part of his statement. Mr. Chen predicted across the board growth with markets such as Miami, Pheonix and Las Vegas seeing a possible 50 percent value increase by the end of 2008. Really? Miami, Pheonix and Las Vegas? These are some of the hardest hit cities in the country in terms of real estate values, partically due to subprime loans. They also don’t seem to have a bottom in sight, certainly not a 50 percent upswing by December.
Now everyday I preach that real estate is local, but this is our National representative. I know that the Boston Real Estate Market has far outperformed the national average lately, which is why I get so annoyed with local jouranlists who simply repackage national news. At the same time, Mr. Chen has continued to deny a national downturn even thought the numbers cannot be interpreted any other way. I will be the first one to realize there are always two sides to the coin. A depreciated area with high foreclosures can have some very lucrative investments for buyers who want to make it big. However, Mr. Chen will not even admit there is another side of the coin. His persistance at denying the obvious makes all Realtors look bad, and Mr. Chen, that’s personal!
Foreclosures Continue to Rise in April
May 19, 2008 | Filed Under Real Estate News, Real Estate Trends and Statistics, Real Estate Investment, Mortgage and Finance | 1 Comment
Foreclosure filings increased 4 percent in April from the previous month and were up 65 percent compared to April 2007, according to a report released this morning by RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosure properties. The 243,353 foreclosure filings that were reported in April — including default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — is the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began tracking foreclosures in January 2005.
The April national foreclosure rate stood at one foreclosure filing for every 519 households. Nevada, California and Arizona posted the highest state foreclosure rates for the month, while North Dakota, West Virginia and South Dakota had the lowest rates.
Another deceiving real estate article…come on people! A little research!
May 15, 2008 | Filed Under Real Estate News, Real Estate Trends and Statistics, Boston Real Estate | 1 Comment
Oh boy. Why is it that local reporters continue to look at the real estate glass as half empty rather than half full? Actually, I think journalists have perfected the art of bad news, even when it doesn’t exist. Take the recent Boston Herald article about the pending sale of Dr. John Meola’s stunning Weston estate. The estate recently went under agreement after years on the market. The asking price was $10.9m, which it has been for almost the past three years. The article states that Dr. Meola hoped to get $18m at one point, but had to sell the property at a “bargain”. The author therefore seems to justify that because the super-wealthy are selling for less than they would like, the ultra-luxury market has taken a hit.
Well, first of all I highly doubt the author ever took a logic class in college. His justifications simply don’t make sense. Both in up and down markets, guess what…sellers almost always sell for less than what they hoped. Quite the epiphany moment, isn’t it? People simply tend to overvalue their own personal property. We Realtors know that if someone hopes to get $18m but ends up with far less, this by no means indicates a down market. In fact, Dr. Meola made a decent profit on this sale. Not only that, the sale of this estate will actually break the highest sales price record for a single family home in Weston! Now that’s news! Instead of writing about the most expensive home ever to sell in Weston, the author decided to deceivingly spin his article to fit his agenda. Shame on you Mr. Scott Van Voorhis.
The other point dear Scotty mentions is the drop in the number of $3m+ properties in Weston as compared to last year. While inventory sales is one indicator of market statistics, it is just that, ONE indicator. Do the 10 sales this year represent 90 percent of the current inventory or 20 percent? Has the average marketing time increased or decreased and by how much? What about average and median sales prices? Most importantly, has average price per square foot increased? It is easy to whip up an article based on only ONE of the many factors Realtors use to determine market conditions, but you will inevitably end up with a hollow and deceptive piece.
Close-out SALE at The Modern South End
May 15, 2008 | Filed Under Boston Lofts, Boston Condos, Boston Real Estate | Leave a Comment
The developers of The Modern in the South End have canceled the auction for the remaining ten units that was scheduled for this Sunday. Instead, they will be offering a close-out sale price for offers received by Sunday. Word on the real estate street says that the developers are considering leasing unsold units and pushing forward with stage two of the project.
To get more information about this promotion, please call or email us today.
Making the situation look far worse than it is
May 10, 2008 | Filed Under Real Estate Trends and Statistics, Real Estate News, Boston Lifestyle, Boston Condos, Boston Luxury Developments, Boston Real Estate | Leave a Comment
The relationship between the mass media and local journalism is an interesting animal. I noticed that when the major papers write about national real estate woes and economic conditions, many of our local journalists seem to think that they can just localize the headline and ignore the numbers. Real Estate is not that simple and not only can you not ignore the numbers, you need to look beyond them to see the big picture.
For example, Banker and Tradesman recently ran an article titled “High-End Condo Market Takes A Hit in First Quarter” and highlighted that 16.5 percent fewer $1m+ condos sold in Boston in the 1Q 2008 than in the 1Q 2007. Do fewer sales mean that the Boston luxury real estate market is feeling a pinch…absolutely not. The closings of new devlopments, in this case The Residences at the Intercontinental, will inevitably alter the numbers as units at new developments may “sell” pre-construction but do not actually close until a year or so later. That will make sales in one quarter spike. In fact, the entire article after the headline and first paragraph goes on to prove that the numbers are distorted and Boston luxury real estate brokers dismissed the numbers all together. The article even states that 14 of the 85 luxury sales in the 1Q of 2007 WERE at the Intercontinental! Considering that 71 luxury condos sold this quarter without any new development sales, I’d say we are doing fine. We will also see a spike in luxury sales next quarter, and no I am not clairvoyant..The Battery Wharf will begin closings. This is not rocket science people.
It is also interesting that though the article mentioned longer marketing time, it mentioned nothing about average sales price, median sales price, average price per square foot, inventory and market absorbtion rate. Call us today to get more information on these numbers and see the big picture.
House passes massive homeowner rescue plan, defying Bush veto threat
May 9, 2008 | Filed Under Real Estate News | Leave a Comment
Yahoo! Finance reports today that the Democratic-controlled House, on Thursday, passed a homeowner rescue plan that would provide cheaper, government-backed mortgages to half a million debt-ridden borrowers and bolster an economy crippled by the housing crisis. Opponents of the plan say more prudent home buyers and renters shouldn’t be called upon to bail out borrowers who gambled on ever-rising housing prices and lost. The plan is projected to cost $2.7 billion over the next five years.
What do you think?
Milton, Mass. made it to CNN Money’s top 10 Best Places to live
May 9, 2008 | Filed Under Real Estate News, Real Estate Trends and Statistics, Real Estate Investment, Boston Real Estate | Leave a Comment
As every year, CNN Money prepares a list of the 100 best places to live in the US. This year’s list focused on smaller places that offered the best combination of economic opportunity, good schools, safe streets, things to do and a real sense of community.
Milton, MA made it to number 7 in the prestigious list, and this is why: “Just eight miles south of the heart of Boston, Milton borders the Blue Hills Reservation, a 7,000-acre park with hiking, swimming and skiing. Proximity to the city is what brings - and keeps - Milton residents where they are. Its loyal citizens do age, but even then they don’t move.”
CNN Money: 10 Markets Set For Steep Losses
May 9, 2008 | Filed Under Real Estate News, Real Estate Trends and Statistics, Real Estate Investment | Leave a Comment
The worst isn’t over for Miami, Phoenix, and hard hit areas of California, which are forecast to see big price drops in the next 12 months, according to Money Magazine. Here are the top 3:
Miami, FL: -29.9%
Fort Lauderdale, FL: -22.2%
Orland, FL: -20%
Boston was not on the list…
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