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Tighter credit for home mortgages will measurably dampen home sales in the short term and postpone the recovery for existing-home sales until 2008, according to NAR's latest forecast. Subprime problems emerged in March and have now spread to jumbo loans, leaving many potential buyers on the sidelines. Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, says the jumbo loan market is beginning to settle, and FHA-insured loans are helping to fill the subprime vacuum. Existing-home sales are projected at 5.92 million this year, rising to 6.27 million in 2008, compared with 6.48 million in 2006. View forecast table>
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NAR's Pending Home Sales Index fell 12.2 percent in July to a reading of 89.9, but this reflects only part of the market challenges right now. Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, said even some pending contracts aren't closing because mortgage commitments have been falling through at the last moment. These temporary problems are primarily with jumbo and subprime loans. There are no serious problems for the majority of buyers who qualify for conventional financing or FHA-insured loans. Since mid-August the market has been stabilizing somewhat. The pending home sales index is down 16.1 percent from a year earlier. Read more>
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Get up-to-date market statistics on home sales, housing starts, retail sales, mortgage rates, economic growth and more -- all in one place. Check out the Economic Indicator page on Realtor.org for a snapshot of the most recent market and housing statistics. Each indicator includes a one-page summary for downloading. Look like a whiz kid in your next listing presentation! Check them out>
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Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke is looking for anecdotal information about the real estate market. Who better than the nation's REALTORS® to provide it? Take a minute to fill out the survey at the "Take the Survey" link below. There are just eight simple questions including one on "short sales," and another on types of mortgages your clients are getting or having difficulties getting. Your thoughts and insights could help shape the direction of interest rates and the housing market. Really! Take the survey>
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Channel your market expertise into something bigger than yourself. Participate in the REALTORS® Confidence Index – a new market tool that gets better as more REALTORS® chime in. Be a part of it to help give an accurate indication of market expectations. It's easy. We'll send you an e-mail once a month with five brief questions about your market expectations. We'll also send you the results of the latest survey. And, just to sweeten the deal a bit, each time you participate in the monthly survey you'll be entered in a drawing to win a $50 American Express Gift Cheque. It could be the easiest money you’ll make all year – and for a good cause, too! Read more>
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Sixty percent of buyers today take on remodeling projects within three months of closing, and they typically spend nearly $4,500. The most targeted room for improvement by these recent buyers is the kitchen, followed closely by bathrooms. NAR's 2007 Profile of Buyers' Home Feature Preferences looks at remodeling activities, as well as what buyers really want in the homes they're buying today. Read more>
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Commercial real estate sectors are benefiting from rises in industrial production, shipments of durable goods and wholesale trade according to NAR's latest Commercial Leading Indicator for Brokerage Activity. The index rose for the ninth consecutive time during the second quarter in spite of the slowing economy. "The rise in the index means net absorption of space in the industrial and office sectors is likely to expand over the next six to nine months," Lawrence Yun, NAR's senior economist, said. Read more>
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Report compiled by NAR's Research Division.
Questions about this report? Contact Research at lGiovaniello@realtors.org. |
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