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Market Review
Tucson Statistics from MLS / Estimating Your Homes Value
News from the National Market
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Last Update: 7:28 PM ET May 1, 2008By Chris Pummer
Commonly cited measures of U.S. home prices are overstating the degree to which the vast majority of Americans' home values have declined in the last year, producers of two of the most widely tracked indexes acknowledged this week.Top officials with the National Association of Realtors and Standard & Poor's, which issues the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, agreed this week their monthly reports are giving imprecise readings of price changes at all levels -- national, state and regional -- due to rare market conditions that are skewing survey results.The NAR reported last week that U.S median home prices fell 7.7% in March from a year ago. The decline resulted largely from a market anomaly -- a steep decline in costlier home sales due to tighter lending standards and high jumbo-mortgage rates, coupled with a foreclosure-driven spike in cheaper homes."If there are a lot more homes sold on the low end and fewer on the high end, the median price is bound to drop dramatically," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. "In normal times, a median price would reflect typical homeowner equity changes, but these are not normal times. The jumbo (mortgage) market is frozen and the buying activity is more concentrated in lower-value homes."
Fannie Mae Announces Single National Dwon Payment Policy
Replaces Policy Regarding Markets Where Home Prices are Declining WASHINGTON, DC – Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) today announced a new, national policy on down payment requirements for conventional, conforming mortgages the company will purchase or guarantee. Starting June 1, 2008, Fannie Mae will accept up to 97 percent loan-to-value ratios for conventional, conforming mortgages processed through its Desktop Underwriter® (DU®) automated underwriting system, and 95 percent loan-to-value ratios for loans underwritten outside of DU, in all geographic locations in the United States. The new national down payment policy will supersede the policy the company adopted in December 2007 that required higher down payments in markets where home prices are declining.
The Housing Crisis Is OverBy CYRIL MOULLE-BERTEAUX
May 6, 2008; Page A23
The dire headlines coming fast and furious in the financial and popular press suggest that the housing crisis is intensifying. Yet it is very likely that April 2008 will mark the bottom of the U.S. housing market. Yes, the housing market is bottoming right now.
How can this be? For starters, a bottom does not mean that prices are about to return to the heady days of 2005. That probably won't happen for another 15 years. It just means that the trend is no longer getting worse, which is the critical factor.
May 13, 2008, 3:37 pm
Losing Cities, and Some Winners, in Q1 Housing Price Data
The National Association of Realtors‘ quarterly numbers on home prices in metro areas were out this morning, and they don’t paint a pretty national picture.
The trade group said median prices for existing single-family homes dropped in 100 of 149 metropolitan areas in the first quarter, while 48 metro areas saw prices increase and one reported no change. The Associated Press noted that the price declines in 67% of the areas surveyed in January-March was the largest percentage of declines since the survey started in 1979. Prices had fallen in 34% of the cities surveyed in the October-December survey.
The biggest declines were concentrated in states that have often figured in housing stories: California, Michigan and Florida. The Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville area in California was down 29% year over year, the worst showing on the Realtors’ list, putting the median price at $258,500. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario was second, with cities such as Lansing, Mich.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, Calif.; Miami and San Diego among those filling out the bottom 10.
Still, there were some winners. Binghamton, N.Y.; Peoria, Ill.; Spartanburg, S.C.; Elmira, N.Y.; and Yakima, Wash.; topped the list of regions showing gains, with Binghamton up 11.8% from a year earlier, to $109,700.
IN TUCSON
Tucson’s Average Home Price
Tucson Home Inventory
Summary
So, what does this mean to you ?
Seller’s – the home you are selling has more competition in the market. That makes the pricing and “look” of the home more important than ever. Dress it up and price it right.
Buyer’s – Mortgage money is available and there are many homes to choose from. New construction builders are still offering incentives and many have their own financing companies to make the “deal” happen.
So is the timing right to pull the trigger on YOUR real estate decision? You make the call OR call ( 866 316 5575) – Ben & Kim Boldt at Premier Tucson Homes – Long Realty – to discuss your Tucson real estate interests and our view of the market.
We look forward to hearing from you.
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