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 |
More Videos
- 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
- Underwater Mortgages Could Sink Even Deeper
- First Time Buyers Rescue Housing: Realtors
- Housing Recovery 'Still In Uncharted Territory': HUD Secretary
MOST SHARED
- US Shoppers Spent Less Over Black Friday: NRF
- Dubai Stocks Shed 7%, Abu Dhabi Tumbles 8%
- Tiger Woods Wants to Protect Family Privacy: Agent
- Dubai's Nakheel Seeks Suspension $5.25 Billion in Bonds
- US Senator Opposes Fed Chief Bernanke Renomination
- South Korea Sees Exports Bouncing, but Risks Remain
- Japan Won't Intervene to Weaken Yen: Finance Minister
- Sands China Ends 10.2% Lower in Hong Kong Debut
- BofA Aims to Clearly Spell Out Credit Card Terms
- Diving Partridge Demand Can't Keep Lid on '12 Days' Cost
- Tamminen: Copenhagen And Beyond
- Dubai is Harsh Reminder of Prolonged Global Recovery
- Tiger Woods Wants to Protect Family Privacy: Agent
- Portfolio Prep for Next Week: 'Don't Get Crazy'
- U.S. Stocks Fall on Dubai Worries
- Black Friday at Best Buy
- Strategists on Dubai: Avoid 'Rash Moves' Now
- Longer Lines, Fuller Carts This Black Friday
- White House to Expand Program to Stem Foreclosures
- Regulators Compile Global List of 'Systemic Risk' Banks
- Dubai Stocks Shed 7%, Abu Dhabi Tumbles 8%
- The World's Biggest Debtor Nations
- BofA Aims to Clearly Spell Out Credit Card Terms
- What Black Friday Shoppers Spent on – And Where
- Partridge Demand Slump Doesn't Offset '12 Days' Costs
- Dubai's Nakheel Seeks Suspension $5.25 Billion in Bonds
- A Weak IPO Debut for Las Vegas Sands' Macau Unit
RSS FEED
Realty Check
Text Size 
 |
CNBC.com |
I don’t think it’s politically prudent for me to say what I think of those comments, especially since he has an hour show that makes lots of money, and I’m just a day-laborer with a housing beat, but suffice it to say, there are other opinions, and then there are facts.
Let’s talk about value for a moment, because that’s fundamentally what any consumer is looking for. Prices on a nationwide basis are falling, down further for new homes than existing homes, but down nonetheless. That’s on a nationwide average. Market to market there are certainly cities where prices are in the midst of a free-fall, like San Diego, Detroit, and Tampa, while others are still rising, like Portland, OR and Seattle, and still others are improving in their declines, like Boston and Chicago.
If you’re looking to buy a new home, happy days for buyers are here. Builders are offering every incentive in the book, and your dollar is going farther than ever before. Will prices continue to come down? Probably a bit, but they’re already off their highs, and base sticker price doesn’t mean much anymore. You can negotiate everything including the kitchen sink.
On existing homes, you have to look at your market. I live in a very nice section of Washington, DC, where sales really and truly slowed over the spring and summer, but are picking up this month. I think sellers have dropped prices, and now may be a great time to buy before prices start skooching back up again. Is this the case in Miami? Hell no! If you’re looking to buy an existing condo in Miami, wait a few months and you’ll get a better deal.
All I’m trying to say is don’t be a generalist. I’ve said it a hundred times, and now I’ll say it 101. All real estate is local, and while there are overreaching factors affecting everything, like the mortgage issue, some markets are responding differently than others. For sellers, overall, not a great time, but homes are selling, in fact, more than 5.5 million of them this year. And not everyone is losing money on them either. Remember, home price appreciation during the boom was positively historic, which means that even if the price comes down a bit, it may still be well above what it was five years ago (again, not everywhere, but in most places).
Am I bullish on housing? No. But the plain fact is that while people didn’t need the latest .com technology, people do need a roof over their heads. Demand is still there, it’s just in a holding pattern. Do your homework, listen to the facts reported, and you decide what’s the best course of action. Your call.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes