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
#DIANAOLICK ON TWITTER
- Under Pressure, FHA Skews to Wealthier Home Buyers
- Huge Spike in Home Prices Is Not Real
- Investor Caution: Beware of Heat in Distressed Housing
- Foreclosures Move East as Hardest-Hit Markets Clear
- Foreclosures Fall...And That's a Bad Thing?
- After a Dip, Homebuilder Sentiment Surges Again
- Obama’s ‘Responsible’ Reno Homeowners: Are They?
- Mortgage Market Still Hampers Housing Recovery
- Bank of America Offers Principal Reductions to 200,000 Homeowners
- Short Sales: Necessary Compromise or Scamming the System?
MOST SHARED
- Europe May Be Unprepared for Greece Exit: Official
- How Boaz Weinstein and Hedge Funds Outsmarted JPMorgan
- Marc Faber: 100% Chance of Global Recession
- Buying the Right Sell-Off Stocks
- RIM May Cut at Least 2,000 Jobs in Restructuring: Report
- How Nasdaq Lost Control of Facebook IPO, by the Minute
- What Would Greek Exit Mean for the US Economy?
- Steve Jobs and Mickey Drexler: A Tale of Two Retailers
- Are Investors Running Out of Safe Havens to Put Money?
- A New Look at the ‘New Poor’
- Six Pack: Beer Buzz of the Week
- Greek Exit Could Trigger 50% Fall in Euro Stocks: Analyst
- Under Pressure, FHA Skews to Wealthier Home Buyers
- Big Stock Upside for Hudson City Deal: Analyst
- 5 High-Yield Stocks Ready to Boost Dividends
- Yoshikami: Four Things You Need to Know About Gold Now
- Steinbock: The Euro Zone Endgame Begins
- Option Bulls Take Another Shot on Idenix
- How Weinstein, Hedge Funds Outsmarted JPMorgan
- How Nasdaq Lost Control of Facebook IPO, by the Minute
- Week Ahead: Europe Has Wall Street Bull on Short Leash
- Citigroup Lost $20 Million on Facebook IPO Trades
- JPMorgan to Shake Up Risk Team After Big Loss: Report
- RIM May Cut at Least 2,000 Jobs in Restructuring: Report
- EU Finalizes Bank Reforms; Shifts Burden to Bondholders
- Spain's Bankia Eyes Stake Sales After Record Bailout
- EU Set to Launch Action Against China Over Telecom Aid
RSS FEED
Realty Check
Text Size 
Are Home Prices Really As Low As "Experts" Say?
 |
Is it just possible that the nationwide home price depreciation numbers are wildly skewed to the downside due to the fact that the only properties selling right now are either foreclosures, short sales, or people who really really have to move for some important reason?
I ask this because in reading a new study from Zillow.com, I was struck by the following:
In a separate survey of homeowner sentiment, one-third (31 percent) of homeowners said they would be at least somewhat likely to put their homes on the market in the next 12 months if they saw signs of a recovering real estate market.
The Realtors have told us that they guestimate about 50 percent of existing home sales in March were of distressed properties, and they only count what goes through real estate listings, not auctions, so the number could be far higher. So if there is all this pent up demand of not just buyers, but sellers, hanging out on the sidelines, then that tells me that the only regular people (not banks) selling homes now are being forced to sell their homes for financial or location or family reasons; that of course makes them desperate and makes them more amenable to price cuts.
If all this pent up demand of unforced sellers were to decide it's time to get back in the game, these sellers with higher expectations of price and less need to sell quickly, then would prices, in that nasty nationwide game of big overall numbers, actually bump up by a lot? It's just possible.
In any event, I now firmly believe that this housing recovery will be a segregated and segmented one, with some markets bouncing right back in sales and prices, and others languishing for longer.
I did, however, get a call today from a real estate investor who claims the housing crisis in California is over. He says a house listed under $200,000 got 20 (!) offers and wound up selling for over $200,000.
There you go.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
