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CoreLogic

Jun 30, 2011 | Uncategorized

Home Prices Down 7.4 Percent

Home prices in the U.S. increased by 0.8 percent in May 2011 compared to April 2011, the second consecutive month-over-month increase. On a year-over-year basis, home prices declined by 7.4 percent in May 2011 compared to May 2010 after declining by 6.7 percent* in April 2011 compared to April 2010. Excluding distressed sales, year-over-year prices declined by 0.4 percent in May 2011 compared to May 2010 and by 0.8* percent in April 2011 compared to April 2010. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

Highlights as of May 2011

  • Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: New York (+4.4 percent), Vermont (+3.9 percent), North Dakota (+3.8 percent), Hawaii (+2.5 percent) and the District of Columbia (+0.5 percent).
  • Including distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Idaho (-16.4 percent), Michigan (-12.9 percent), Arizona (-12.1 percent), Illinois (-11.8 percent) and Nevada (-11.6 percent).
  • Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: West Virginia (+10.1 percent), Hawaii (+9.0 percent), North Dakota (+8.6 percent), Vermont (+6.3 percent) and New York (+6.1 percent).
  • Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Nevada (-9.8 percent), Idaho (-7.9 percent), Arizona (-7.0 percent), South Dakota (-6.1 percent) and Minnesota (-5.0 percent).
  • Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to May 2011) was -32.7 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -21.2 percent.
  • Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, 91* are showing year-over-year declines in May, unchanged from April.

“Two consecutive months of month-over-month growth and continued relative strength in the non-distressed market segment are positive seasonal signs in the housing market. Slowly declining shadow inventory and stabilized negative equity levels are also positive signs.” said Mark Fleming, chief economist with CoreLogic. “Nonetheless, the fragile economic recovery is still critical to the long-term recovery in the housing market.” © 2011 CoreLogic. All rights reserved. http://www.corelogic.com/

Housing's silver lining

Jun 23, 2011 | Uncategorized

Housing may soon rise from the dead, argue some economists. And, the severity of the slump may in fact accelerate the arrival of a recovery.

Falling Mortgage Rates Spur Serial Refinancing

Jun 13, 2011 | Uncategorized

Negative economic reports of late have pushed the rate on the popular 30 year fixed to below 4.5 percent, the lowest this year and just about a quarter percent off the 50-year lows we saw last summer; adjustable-rate products are even lower. When investors see bad economic news, they pull money out of the stock market and park it in bonds. The price of bonds goes up, the yield goes down, and mortgage rates follow down.