Current Housing Indicators |
| CURRENT | PREVIOUS | ||
| Existing Home Sales | 4.49m | ▼ | 4.74m |
| New Home Sales | 309,000 | ▼ | 344,000 |
| Housing Starts | 583,000 | ▲ | 477,000 |
| Building Permits | 547,000 | ▲ | 531,000 |
| HMI | 9 | UNCH | 9 |
| Existing Home Prices | $170,300 | ▼ (annually) | $199,800 |
| New Home Prices | $201,100 | ▼ (annually) | $232,400 |
- BofA On Proposed Changes In The Housing Bailout Program
- Predictions 2010: Real Estate
- Treasury Threatens Banks, Not Borrowers
- Treasury On Mortgage Modifications
- Citi Mortgage Reveals What Treasury Won't
- Investors May Skew Housing Reality
- 100% Mortgage Financing From USDA
- Despite Government Aid, Foreclosure Crisis is Not Improving
- Housing Data Delivers Mixed Messages
- Appraisals Now Center Stage in Housing Recovery
MOST SHARED
- Cisco Has 84% of Tandberg, Won't Extend Bid
- UK Economy Turned, Inflation to Spike: BoE Economist
- Kohlberg Kravis Bidding for Morgan Stanley's CICC Stake
- Case Closed but Woods Scrutiny Continues
- Australia Regulator Opposes Caltex-Exxon Deal
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- Mortgage Applications Up as Rates Continue to Decrease
- Somali Sea Gangs Create Pirate Stock Exchange
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- Whitacre Will Change GM, But Will He Bring Better Results?
- Chipmaker Sees Options Upside After a Strong Sector Report
- Treasury Assistance Comes at High Price For GM
- Unemployment to Peak at 10.5%: Moody's Economist
- 8 Stocks to Gain on Obama's Afghan Plan: Analysts
- BofA On Proposed Changes In The Housing Bailout Program
- The Future of The Media Landscape
- November Auto Sales Muddle Along
- Mortgage Applications Up as Rates Continue to Decrease
- Tiger Woods Admits 'Transgressions'; Issues Apology
- Wal-Mart Targets Video Games with Latest Price Cuts
- 'Black Swan' Shuns Public Life Because of Bernanke
- Dubai World To Meet with Creditors Next Week
- FHA to Toughen Mortgage Rules in Lenders Crackdown
- Obama to Send More Troops; Seeks Afghanistan Exit
- Blog: Will Whitacre Bring Better Results to GM?
- Geeks Replacing Swashbucklers on Wall Street
RSS FEED
Realty Check
![]() |
Prices are putting buyers back in the game in some of the most distressed markets, especially out West. Prices in the West have fallen 16 percent year over year, while the national rate is more like right around 6% in May from May of 2007.
I asked the Realtors how much of these sales are “distressed” properties, that is, short sales (where the seller works with the lender to sell at a price below the mortgage value--that way the seller and the lender avoid foreclosure, which usually ends in bigger losses) and REO sales which are bank-owned properties (homes that have already gone through foreclosure).
According to the Realtors, a full one third of sales are distressed properties. Think about that. Five million home sales expected this year and of those about 1.65 million will be homes that a seller couldn’t afford to keep.
And these numbers are only for May, not even half the year yet. Given the increase in foreclosures, I wonder at the end of the year how much of all existing home sales will be distressed properties.
Questions? Comments?








