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
- Kuoni CEO Sees Recovery in Travel Sector
- Gold Retreats from Record High as Dollar Rebounds
- Dubai Struggles to Ease Debt Fears; Investors Rattled
- Chinese Overcapacity is Worsening, EU Chamber Warns
- Wal-Mart Price Pressure Hurts China Workers: Report
- Fannie Mae to Tighten Lending Standards: Report
- Great Britain, No Longer That Great: Investor
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
- Euro Shares Record Biggest Drop in 7 Months
- 4 Thanksgiving Week Buys For Your Portfolio: Market Pros
- There's a 'Great Chance' For a Double-Dip Recession: Strategist
- Revenge of the Gangsta Nerds
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
- Retail Earnings and Sales to Improve in Q4: Analyst
- Consumers Catching the Holiday Spirit
- It's Beginning To Look A Lot More Riskless
- Crescenzi: Claims Level Suggests End to Job Losses
- Hedge Funds Take Early Lead in Warren Buffett's 'Big Bet'
- Dubai Struggles to Ease Debt Fears; Investors Rattled
- US Companies Already Moving on Curbing Emissions
- Fannie Mae to Tighten Lending Standards: Report
- Investing in Good Karma – and Making a Profit
- Retailers Should Believe in Christmas Miracles
- Wal-Mart Price Pressure Hurts China Workers: Report
- Bankruptcies Jump, Hitting Highest Level in Four Years
- Steepest Black Friday Discounts, Revealed
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
RSS FEED
Realty Check
Text Size 
 |
AP |
Poring over this quarter’s metro home price report from the National Association of Realtors, I was searching for a glimmer of hope (yes, believe it or not, I don’t relish the nasty stats that you all think I just luuuv to report).
I’m happy for the folks in Binghamton, NY, Spartanburg, SC, and Peoria, IL, all seeing double-digit gains. And yes, the biggest price dips are in California, Florida and Michigan, the usual suspects. But some other spots show that it’s not all about the big speculator states or the troubled Midwest.
Memphis, TN is seeing home prices down 18 percent from a year ago, Jackson, MS down 13 percent, Minneapolis, MN down 10 percent; these were not exactly investor hotbeds during the housing boom. And the sales numbers really make you pause.
The Realtors do the quarterly sales figures by state, and only 3 states showed positive figures in the first quarter of this year from a year ago: Alaska, Indiana and New Jersey. On the other hand, seven states showed a more than 30 percent dip in sales from a year ago and more than twice that were in the 20 percent negative range.
A lot of folks seem to be ready to call a bottom to the housing market after this spring. I’m not exactly sure why. Some site a moderation in the foreclosure crisis. But I have to point out that the numbers are looking smaller now because we’re comparing them year over year, and we’re already over a year into the foreclosure boom, so the percentage numbers won’t look quite as drastic.
The real figures, which tend to come after the headlines, are still pretty nasty. Realtors claim the “pent-up” demand is there, but it’s clearly not showing up in the sales figures of existing or new homes. So I'll keep asking my question and hope for a good answer: What's it going to take?
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes