How to Capitalize on Pinterest

By Charlie Allred

As Lynn Pineda, a south Florida real estate professional said, “If you are in real estate and you are not on Pinterest, something’s wrong with you.” I couldn’t agree with this sentiment more. Lynn is one of the few REALTORS® capitalizing on the benefits of Pinterest to her real estate business.

When I speak with real estate professionals, most aren’t sure how to get more visitors to their website or blog. Usually, they’ve built a pretty website and now it’s just sitting with no visitors. The goal of a real estate website is lead generation. The main benefit of Pinterest is driving more traffic to your real estate website, so why aren’t more agents capitalizing on Pinterest?

Top 3 benefits to using Pinterest:

1. Drive traffic to your website immediately.
2. Traffic to your real estate website brings Google ranking organically.
3. Grow your sphere fast by connecting with more potential clients.

Pinterest isn’t going anywhere; it’s one of the fastest growing websites. Pinterest drives more referral traffic than Twitter, and Pinterest drives more referral traffic than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined. If you are looking for more traffic to your website, Pinterest is the place to be.

Personally, I have never had much success with Twitter, most likely because I’m not tweeting enough. With Pinterest, you don’t have to pin every minute of every day to get seen. Eighty percent of all pins are repinned versus approximately one percent of tweets that are retweeted. Pins have a long lifespan, more than 50 percent of pins happen 3.5 months after a pin is originally published. What other marketing tool keeps bringing visitors to your website for 3.5 months after you post?
According to NAR, there are 997,148 REALTORS®, as of May 2013. From my count, there are only 984 REALTORS® on Pinterest. With Pinterest driving so much traffic to websites, why aren’t more REALTORS® taking advantage of Pinterest?

Picture your typical real estate marketing brochure, it is all about real estate right? It has your photo, a photo of a house or a few houses and this type of advertisement is technically junk mail, right?
Pinterest allows the agent to showcase in one glance who they are and what they do to potential clients. That in itself is the most amazing marketing tool I have ever seen. Plus, you’re generating web traffic to your real estate website or blog. Pinterest is a win all around for real estate practitioners.

Charlie Allred a Phoenix based real estate broker with Secure Real Estate, and is the author of the upcoming book “Pinnable Real Estate: Pinterest for Real Estate Agents.” Learn more at her blog: www.PinnableRealEstate.com.

Article curated from Realtor Mag Blogs

Home-Price Gains in U.S. Cities Cooled in Year to February

Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose at a slower pace in the year ended February as the residential real-estate market cooled. 

The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values increased 12.9 percent from February 2013, the smallest 12-month gain since August, after rising 13.2 percent in the year ended in January, a report from the group showed today in New York. The median projection of 33 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 13 percent advance.

Growth in property values eased as rising mortgage rates and severe winter weather restrained demand for dwellings in the first few months of the year. Cooling price appreciation combined with an improving job market will probably help home sales regain momentum later in the year.

“The days of very robust home-price gains are over,” said Thomas Costerg, a New York-based economist at Standard Chartered Plc, who projected the index would rise 12.8 percent. “Elevated price gains are a headwind, especially for first-time buyers. Prices will slow going forward, and the housing market needs that to recalibrate supply and demand.”

Stock-index futures held earlier gains after the report. The contract on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index maturing in June rose 0.3 percent to 1,871 at 9:22 a.m. in New York after results from Merck & Co. to Sprint Corp. topped estimates.

Survey Results

Economists’ estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from gains of 11.6 percent to 14 percent. The S&P/Case-Shiller index is based on a three-month average, which means the February figure was also influenced by transactions in January and December.

Home prices adjusted for seasonal variations increased 0.8 percent in February from the prior month, matching the Bloomberg survey median. Unadjusted prices were unchanged.

The year-over-year gauge, based on records dating back to 2001, provides better indications of trends in prices, the group has said. The panel includes Karl Case and Robert Shiller, the economists who created the index.

All of the 20 cities in the index showed a year-over-year gain, led by a 23.1 percent jump in Las Vegas and a 22.7 percent advance in San Francisco. Cleveland showed the smallest year-over-year increase, with prices rising 3 percent.

Just five cities showed larger year-to-year gains in February.

“Despite continued price gains, most other housing statistics are weak,” David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee, said in a statement. “Five years into the recovery from the recession, the economy will need to look to gains in consumer spending and business investment more than housing.”

Home Sales

Rising home values, climbing borrowing costs and bad weather took a toll on demand early in the year. The average rate on a 30-year home loan was 4.33 percent in the week ended April 24, up from 3.40 percent a year earlier, according to data from McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac.

Sales of previously owned properties fell in March for a third consecutive month, to a 4.59 million annual rate that was the lowest level since July 2012, the National Association of Realtors reported last week. At the current sales pace, it would take 5.2 months to sell houses, a reading that constitutes a tight market favoring sellers over buyers, the group said.

New-home sales in March plunged 14.5 percent to a 384,000 annualized pace, the slowest in eight months, according to Commerce Department figures issued last week. The median price climbed 12.6 percent from March 2013 to a record $290,000.

Some Stabilization

More recent reports signal residential real estate was starting to stabilize entering the spring selling season. The pending home sales index, which tallies contracts to purchase previously owned houses, climbed in March by the most in almost three years, the Realtors group reported yesterday.

Companies benefiting from higher house values and improving demand include D.R. Horton Inc. (DHI:US), whose average sales price in the fiscal second quarter ended March 31 was $278,900, up 10 percent from a year earlier. The largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue said orders rose 9 percent in volume and 20 percent in value.

“We are experiencing solid demand and profitability in the heart of our business,” D.R. Horton Chief Executive Officer Donald Tomnitz said on a conference call on April 24.

The same day, PulteGroup Inc. (PHM:US), the second-largest U.S. builder by market value, reported an increase in its first-quarter pretax income. 

“The industry is still in the early stages of what will be a sustained, multiyear recovery, but one that will develop at a more measured pace than past housing recoveries,” PulteGroup CEO Richard Dugas said on an April 24 conference call. 

Article curated from Bloomberg Business Week

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Low-priced home sales sink; high-priced ones rise

A home for sale in Miami in February. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Tuesday’s report on existing home sales last month highlights how tough the market is for buyers of lower-priced homes, especially in parts of the high-priced West.

March sales of previously owned homes fell to their slowest annual pace in 20 months, down 0.2% from February to 4.59 million, the National Association of Realtors reported. It was the third straight monthly decline.

Year over year, the sharpest drop-offs are at the low end of the housing market, continuing a trend visible for two years.

Sales of homes under $100,000 fell nearly 18% from March 2013 and those in the $100,000-$250,000 range fell about 10%. But sales of homes over $1 million rose almost 8%, according to supplemental data on the NAR website. The median existing-home price — half were below the median and half above — was $198,500.

The West is seeing the sharpest plunges in sales of lower-priced homes and has been for some time. Compared with a year earlier, March sales of under-$100,000 homes fell 45% in the West, 18% in the Midwest, 16% in the South and only 3% in the Northeast.

What’s behind this trend? Inventories at the lower end of the market are tighter than a couple of years ago as the number of bargain-priced foreclosures and other distressed properties for sale has dwindled. Many of those homes were snapped up by investors, who bid up prices, accelerating that segment’s rebound from the housing bust lows.

In January 2012, when investor home-buying was red-hot, homes under $100,000 held a 29% share of U.S. existing home sales, NAR data show. Last month, they were about 19%.
Over the same period, the share of home sales in the $250,000-$500,000 range has grown to 26.1% from 20.4%.

Investors’ influence on the market is waning, but demand from other buyers has not yet strengthened enough to replace it.

The reasons for that include tight lending standards for residential home buyers, higher mortgage rates than a year ago and higher home prices that make ownership less affordable, says economist Patrick Newport of IHS Global Insight.

Article curated from USA Today

March new home sales plunge 14.5%

Sales of new single-family homes dropped sharply last month as severe winter weather and higher mortgage rates continued to slow the housing recovery.

New home sales fell 14.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000, down from February's revised pace of 449,000, the Census Bureau said.

Although sales totals for December through February were revised up by a net 20,000, the unexpectedly weak March figure provided further evidence that the spring selling season got off to a sluggish start. Economists had predicted an annual sales rate of 450,000, according to the median forecast in Action Economics' survey.

Experts say cold and stormy weather continued to impede house-hunting. "Housing may be slower to rebound after the adverse winter than other sectors of the U.S. economy," Barclays Capital economist MIchael Gapen said in a research note.

A separate report this week showed existing-home sales fell slightly last month.

Still, the impact of the weather was far from clear-cut. Sales fell 16.7% in the West, which did not suffer harsh conditions last month, and rose 12.5% in the Northeast. Sales declined 21.5% in the Midwest and 14.4% in the South.

"The slowing appears to be more than just inclement weather," UBS said in a research note.

Both home prices and borrowing costs have drifted upward in the past year. Rates on 30-year mortgages have risen to 4.27% from 3.4% a year ago. UBS notes that an index of mortgage applications has weakened in recent months.

Meanwhile, the median price of new homes sold last month was $290,000 — 13% higher than in March 2013, the Census Bureau said.

The tepid sales helped push up new home inventories from a five-month to a six-month supply — which marks the highest level since September 2011 and typically signifies a balanced market

Overall, however, supplies have been limited. Builders have complained of rising construction costs, labor shortages and fewer available lots as obstacles to adding more inventory, says RBS Senior U.S. Economist Omair Sharif in a research note. With prices rising, builders may be hanging on to unbuilt or partially built properties until prices increase further, UBS says.

The good news is the housing market is still on the mend following the mid-2000s crash. The roughly 430,000 annual pace of new-home sales so far this year and in 2013 is up from 369,000 in 2012 and 305,000 in 2011. But it remains less than half the 1 million-plus average the industry posted from 2000 to 2006.

Sharif says job growth and rising household formation should lift the housing market further this year, but the pace "is likely to be gradual."

Article curated from USA Today

Home sales getting crimped by more than the weather

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The early-spring sales season for the housing market is looking decidedly tepid, economists say. 

Officials will release monthly sales data this week for new and existing homes, and economists polled by MarketWatch expect to hear that both series remained at lackluster rates in March.

An unusually tough winter hit sales in recent months. But data trends also signal a problem in underlying demand, with total home sales starting to slide over the summer as affordability dropped.

“I don’t think the slowdown is primarily due to the weather,” said Jed Kolko , chief economist at real estate site Trulia. “Even though mortgage rates are low by historical standards, they are higher than a year ago, and prices are higher than a year ago.” 

A low level of homes available for sale (would-be buyers like the ability to choose from a variety of options) and new mortgage rules for borrowers and lenders are also curbing deals, analysts note.

On Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors i is scheduled to release its report on sales of existing homes in March, and economists expect the seasonally adjusted annual rate to decline to 4.55 million from 4.6 million in February. If March’s rate does hit 4.55 million, that pace will be down 8% from the year-earlier period, and down 25% from the average monthly pace of more than 6 million over the five years leading up to a 2005 bubble peak. 

Recent sales trends for new homes are doing better, but they still remain at historically low levels, and builders are pessimistic. Economists expect the U.S. Commerce Department to report Wednesday that sales of new single-family homes hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 450,000 in March, compared with 440,000 in February . If the March rate rises to 450,000, that would be up 2% from a year earlier, but down 57% from the average monthly pace of almost 1.1 million over the five years leading up to the 2005 bubble peak. 

Although dropping affordability hits all buyers, it’s worth focusing on how it impacts two key chunks of the housing market: institutional investors and first-time home buyers. 

As prices and rates climb, there’s less opportunity for investors to make a real return on property, and so they buy fewer homes , especially as the number of ultra-cheap foreclosures thins out. For example, Blackstone Group’s Invitation Homes unit, which Bloomberg estimates is the country’s largest single-family rental business, has dramatically slowed down the pace of its property purchases since July. 

As Nobel Prize-winning economist and home-price expert Robert Shiller recently pointed out : “It’s not at all clear that momentum is a safe bet anymore.” 

Economists are concerned that prospective first-time buyers , who face high hurdles to obtain a home loan, won’t fill the gap left by investors.

Better housing data in coming months?

Future monthly housing reports could show an increase in activity as projects and purchases delayed by bad weather proceed. 

“We expect a sharp spring rebound in quarterly average U.S. housing starts following the exceptionally frigid winter,” analysts at UBS Securities wrote in a recent research note. 

Also, even though mortgage rates have trended higher over the past year, in 2014 the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has declined about one-quarter of a percentage point. 

“We are going to see some strengthening in home sales, whether it shows up in [next week’s] data or whether we have to wait another month,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at federally controlled mortgage-finance giant Freddie Mac. “It’s very helpful to have mortgage rates move lower over the past six weeks. That’s a nice additional boost because families perhaps can buy a little more house, and that will make it a little easier to qualify for a mortgage.” 

Banks may also make it easier to get a loan . Major lenders have seen mortgage originations plunge over the past year as rates rose and refinancing applications dried up. Hungry for loan revenue, some large banks are easing standards for loans. There may also be a freer flow of loans now that major lenders have put a large share of the financial and legal troubles associated with bad mortgages behind them. 

“There will be a push by the large banks to selectively loosen mortgage underwriting to boost business this year,” said Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, which closely monitors industry trends. 

Data signal that certain banks have already somewhat loosened standards. According to the Federal Reserve’s senior loan officer survey, 16.7% of large banks recently eased credit standards for prime purchase mortgages, while 5.6% tightened, and the rest left standards unchanged. 

Borrowers could use a bit more flexibility given how much pricier homes have become. Over the past year, home prices have raced up more than 13%, according to a gauge that tracks 20 major cities. On Tuesday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will released its barometers of home prices for February. 

Unfortunately for buyers, as home prices rose, home loans also became more expensive. According to Freddie’s FMCC -1.05%  weekly monitor, the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage recently hit 4.27%, up from 3.41% a year ago. 

Article curated from Market Watch

Manage Your Online Rep

Should you turn to a reputation management company to oversee what's being posted about you online?

With so many companies trying to establish themselves as the repository of customer reviews, naturally others are springing up to offer reputation management services. These businesses offer to help clients maintain a clean image online, using search-engine optimization to bury any negative comments posted on websites such as Facebook, Angie’s List, and Yelp.

 

Companies may claim they can push down disparaging remarks about you, but beware of strategies involving the use of writers who post fake glowing comments about you. Last fall, the New York state attorney general fined 19 SEO companies more than $350,000 for posting fake business reviews, saying the firms violated state laws against false advertising and deceptive business practices.

Real reputation management companies also focus on SEO. But they attempt to boost your online reputation by posting legitimate positive information about you and your business on micro-websites, blogs, social media, and news media outlets. For example, the company Reputation Changer says it can act like your own public relations firm, offering a multi-pronged approach to getting  positive stories about you and your brand spread throughout the Web.

Such strategies may include creating a company Wikipedia page or serving as a guest contributor on an established blog to boost other content about you online. The company will focus on keywords that surface in your negative reviews and aim to counter those with positive stories using the same keywords. On its site, the company says it will “flood major news outlets with articles and press releases” aimed at establishing you as an expert and getting your brand recognized on online channels with “positive, compelling coverage.”
Most likely, you don’t need an outside company to manage your online rep. Here are three strategies you can use yourself:

1. Monitor: Several sites will alert you to what’s being said about you and your company online. Set up alerts on such sites as Google’s “Me on the Web”; Trackur; and Social Mention.
2. React: When a negative review rolls in, what should you do? Todd Mobraten, former president of RES.Net, a real estate technology company, suggests reaching out to customers directly. Listen to and address their concerns. Then, ask if they’ll remove the comment or add a positive follow-up comment. “When somebody has felt wronged, you have to sometimes park the technology and use other ways,” Mobraten says. “The transaction doesn’t have to be perfect, but the communication has to be.”
3. Promote: Build up a wall in advance so negative comments don’t overtake your reputation, says Mike Zammuto, president of Brand.com. “The more prominent your online profile, the more likely any negative comments will seem less significant.”

 

Article curated from Realtor Mag

Housing starts increase 2.8% in March

 

US home building picked up in March, led by 6% gain in single-family home construction.
Builders started new homes at an annual rate of 946,000 last month. That was up from February's rate of 920,000, which was revised up from the earlier estimate of 907,000.

Builders say housing starts have been restrained in recent months by bad weather and a shortage of available lots and labor. In addition, buyers face tight credit conditions and mortgage rates that are about a percentage point higher than last spring, though still near all-time lows.

Article curated from USA Today

Homebuyers face spring sticker shock

 More potential buyers are out trolling the nation's neighborhoods for their dream homes. Unfortunately, they are finding little to look at and, even worse, they are finding higher prices than they expected.

"People quite frankly came out and got sticker shock because they're coming out to shop now, or they came out in January and February to shop, and they picked up the price sheet and saw, 'Wow that's way more than I thought' because home prices had gone up so much in 2013," said Brad Hunter, chief economist at Metrostudy.

Home prices are up 12.2 percent from a year ago, according to the latest February reading from CoreLogic. Meanwhile, wages are up just 2.1 percent from a year ago, according to Friday's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Investors, laden with cash, are buying fewer homes this spring, which leaves regular, mortgage-dependent buyers to pick up the slack.

While home prices are still well off their peak of the housing boom in 2006, it still costs the average homebuyer considerably more to buy a home today than it did then.

That is because mortgage lenders require larger down payments and higher incomes to support the debt. Despite the fact that the rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage is slightly lower than it was in 2006, it is now a far more popular product in the market, because all those "creative" mortgage products of the past are either gone or illegal.

Just 65 percent of mortgage originations in 2006 were fixed rate, while more than 95 percent of them are today, according to Black Knight Financial Services. In 2006, a buyer could put no money down on a teaser-rate loan with a rate as low as 1 percent for the first year. No more.

Rising mortgage rates and costs, tighter credit conditions, higher home prices. Add it all up, and affordability shrinks.

In fact, more than half the homes currently on the market in seven major American metros are currently unaffordable for local residents, according to a Zillow analysis of incomes at the end of last year with respect to mortgage and home value data.*

Among the 35 largest metros nationwide, more than half of homes currently listed for sale in Miami (62.4 percent), Los Angeles (57.2 percent), San Diego (55.3 percent), San Francisco (55.2 percent), Denver (52.8 percent), San Jose, Calif. (50.9 percent) and Portland, Ore. (50.3 percent) are unaffordable by historical standards, according to Zillow.

"As affordability worsens, we're already beginning to see more of the kinds of worrisome trends we saw en masse during the years leading up to the housing crash. These include a greater reliance on non-traditional home financing, smaller down payments and a greater pressure to move further away from urban job centers in order to find affordable housing options," said Zillow's chief economist, Stan Humphries. "We're not in a bubble yet, but we're beginning to see the early signs of one in some areas."

Housing markets like Houston, Phoenix and Charlotte, N.C., are also showing affordability far weaker than the national average. Thirty-three percent of homes nationwide are considered unaffordable for the average local resident.

Home builders, who raised prices dramatically in the past year, are seeing the worst of it; they are reporting higher buyer traffic, but far less pull-through on sales than normal. Some are now offering incentives, like free upgrades in the home. It is tougher for them to lower prices now, because they are still faced with higher costs for land, labor and materials.

Despite weakening affordability, home price growth is still historically strong. That is because there is so little supply on the market for sale nationwide. Millions of homeowners are still underwater on their mortgages, and therefore unable to move. Other homeowners see prices rising and want to wait longer to see how high they go.

On top of that, home builders, while increasing housing starts, are still well below normal rates of construction. And then there is basic consumer confidence, which is not fully back to where it needs to be.

"I think buyers are extremely fickle, and what's weird about it is the market is in a funk on both sides, it's like trying to get pandas to mate at the zoo," said Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin, a tech-powered real estate brokerage. "Sellers feel like, 'I can rent it out. I've got a very low mortgage rate on this place, and when I sell the house I'm also giving up a 30-year mortgage on it at 3.5 percent.'"

* Zillow determined affordability by analyzing the current percentage of an area's median income needed to afford the monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home, and comparing it to the share of income needed to afford a median-priced home in the pre-bubble years between 1985 and 2000. If the share of monthly income currently needed to afford the median-priced home is greater than it was during the pre-bubble years, that home is considered unaffordable for typical buyers.

 Article curated from CNBC

CoreLogic: Home Prices Likely to Moderate Soon

Home owners have been enjoying big home price rises across the country, but those increases – often by double-digit percentages – will likely level off soon, according to CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Index, which reflects February data. The index, which also includes distressed sales, was up 12.2 percent in February compared to year-ago levels. That marked the 24th consecutive month for annual home price increases, according to CoreLogic’s index.

“As the spring home-buying season kicks off, house price appreciation continues to be strong,” says Mark Fleming, CoreLogic’s chief economist. “Although prices should remain strong in the near term due to a short supply of homes on the market, price increases should moderate over the next year as home equity releases pent-up supply.”

The National Association of REALTORS®’ most recent existing-home sales report showed that the median existing-home price for all housing types was $189,000 in February, a 9.1 percent rise over February 2013. “Price gains have translated into an additional $4 trillion of housing wealth recovery over the past three years,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement.

According to CoreLogic’s index, no state had posted negative annual appreciation in February. CoreLogic’s index, including distressed sales, shows the following five states posted the highest annual home price appreciation:

• California: +19.8%
• Nevada: +18.5%
• Georgia: +14.2%
• Oregon: +13.8%
• Michigan: +13.5%

Source: CoreLogic and “Home Prices Will Keep Rising, But Level-Off Soon,” Mortgage News Daily (April 1, 2014)

Article curated from Realtor Mag

Are you popular? Google+ adds total number of views to profiles and pages

Have you ever wondered how many times your publicly available Google+ content has been seen? Well, Google has now started displaying the number on your Google+ profiles and pages. According to Googler Eddie Kessler, the figure that now sits next to the follower count underneath your profile photo, is the total of your posts, photos, and profile views since October 2012.

The new feature is available by default, but you can easily disable it from your account settings if you so choose. Simply uncheck the box labeled “show how many times your profile and content have been viewed” to hide the count.

The move seems to be a step in the right direction, as it would not only let people gauge their popularity, but would also help brands build better marketing strategies. There is, however, a limitation. The view count may not be exact, and it may not be updated in real time, the company says.

This is not the first time Google has started providing these kinds of statistics. In October last year, the search giant started displaying view counts on your Google+ photos, and just last month, the company announced that it is now possible to see Google Analytics stats from your Google+ dashboard.

Article curated from TechSpot

CoreLogic Reports Home Prices Rise by 12.2 Percent Year Over Year in February

RVINE, Calif., April 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- CoreLogic(R) (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, today released its February CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI(R) ) report. Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 12.2 percent in February 2014 compared to February 2013. This change represents 24 months of consecutive year-over-year increases in home prices nationally. On a month-over-month basis, home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased by 0.8 percent in February 2014 compared to January 2014.* 
 

At the state level, including distressed sales, 14 states showed double-digit year-over-year growth in February; and Colorado, Nebraska, North Dakota, Texas and the District of Columbia all reached new home price highs. Additionally, 22 states were at or within 10 percent of their price peaks. 

Excluding distressed sales, home prices nationally increased 10.7 percent in February 2014 compared to February 2013 and 0.9 percent month over month compared to January 2014. Also, all 50 states and the District of Columbia showed year-over-year home price appreciation when distressed sales were excluded. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions. 

Beginning with the February 2014 HPI report, CoreLogic is introducing a new forecast metric that provides an advanced indication of trends in home prices. Individual forecasts, making up the CoreLogic HPI Forecasts,(TM) provide forward-looking insight among the various categories of the CoreLogic HPI. Including distressed sales, the forecast indicates that home prices are projected to increase 0.5 percent month over month from February 2014 to March 2014. Furthermore, the forecast indicates that home prices, including distressed sales, are expected to increase 10.5 percent year over year from March 2013 to March 2014. Excluding distressed sales, home prices are poised to rise 0.4 percent month over month from February 2014 to March 2014 and 9.3 percent year over year from March 2013 to March 2014. The CoreLogic HPI Forecasts are a monthly forecast built on the CoreLogic HPI and other economic variables. Values are derived from state-level forecasts by weighting indices by the number of owner-occupied households for each state. 

"As the spring home-buying season kicks off, house price appreciation continues to be strong," said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. "Although prices should remain strong in the near term due to a short supply of homes on the market, price increases should moderate over the next year as home equity releases pent-up supply."
"February marks two straight years of year-over-year gains in national prices across the United States," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "The consistent upward movement, in home prices should ultimately prove to be an important stimulant for higher levels of sustained market activity and growth in the housing economy." 

Highlights as of February 2014: 

   -- Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price 
      appreciation were California (+19.8 percent), Nevada (+18.5 percent), 
      Georgia (+14.2 percent), Oregon (+13.8 percent) and Michigan (+13.5 
      percent). 
 
   -- Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price 
      appreciation were California (+15.9 percent), Nevada (+14.6 percent), 
      Florida (+13.1 percent), Washington (+11.5) percent and Hawaii (+11.5 
      percent). 
 
   -- Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the 
      national HPI (from April 2006 to February 2014) was -16.9 percent. 
      Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI 
      for the same period was -12.1 percent. 
 
   -- Including or excluding distressed sales, no state posted home price 
      depreciation in February 2014. 
 
   -- The five states with the largest peak-to-current declines, including 
      distressed transactions, were Nevada (-39.9 percent), Florida (-36.4 
      percent), Rhode Island (-30.9 percent), Arizona (-30.5 percent) and West 
      Virginia (-26.6 percent). 
 
   -- Ninety-six of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured 
      by population showed year-over-year increases in February 2014. The four 
      CBSAs that did not show an increase were Little Rock-North Little 
      Rock-Conway, Ark., Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis., Rochester, N.Y. 
      and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C. 

Article curated from Wall Street Journal

Pending Sales of Existing Homes in U.S. Decline for Eighth Month

 

Contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly fell in February for an eighth straight month, a sign of further weakness in the industry.

The index of pending home sales decreased 0.8 percent after a 0.2 percent drop the prior month that was previously reported as a gain, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 39 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 0.2 percent rise.

Colder-than-normal weather probably played a role in discouraging prospective buyers faced with rising mortgage rates, higher prices and limited supply of cheaper properties. At the same time, the Realtors group said buyer traffic is stabilizing, which may help spur demand as temperatures warm.

“For housing, it’s been primarily an issue of bad weather,” Russell Price, senior economist at Ameriprise Financial Inc. in Detroit, said before the report. “Not a lot of buyers were enticed to go out and look, and not a lot of sellers put their best foot forward” in terms of staging the property or hosting an open house. “Conditions will improve as the weather improves,” he said.

Estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from a drop of 3 percent to a gain of 4 percent after a previously reported increase of 0.1 percent. The index fell to 93.9, the lowest since October 2011.

Two of four regions -- the South and Northeast -- saw a decrease from the previous month, today’s report showed.

Contract signings decreased 10.2 percent from a year earlier on an unadjusted basis, the most since April 2011, after a 9.3 percent drop in the prior 12-month period.

Leading Indicator

Economists consider pending home sales a leading indicator because they track contract signings. Existing home sales are tabulated when a contract closes, typically a month or two later.

“Buyer traffic information from our monthly Realtor survey shows a modest turnaround, and some weather-delayed transactions should close in the spring,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement.

The weather also was a restraining factor in other parts of the housing market, recent reports showed.

Purchases of new homes fell in February to the lowest level in five months, according to Commerce Department data. Sales of previously owned properties declined last month to the lowest level since July 2012, the National Association of Realtors reported. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder confidence rose less than forecast in March.

Lennar Upbeat

Companies such as Lennar Corp. (LEN:US), the biggest homebuilder by market value, are optimistic about demand once the weather improves.

“In the first quarter, we have seen clear signs that volume is returning to the market even as severe weather made conditions difficult,” Stuart Miller, Lennar’s chief executive officer, said on a conference call on March 20. “The fundamental drivers of improvement in the housing market remain a steadily improving economy with a slowly improving employment picture unlocking pent-up demand.”

At the same time, an increase in borrowing costs and higher property values has curtailed some home buyers.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 4.32 percent in the week ended March 20, up from 3.54 percent around the same time a year ago, according to McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 cities climbed 13.2 percent from January 2013. Still, it was the smallest gain since August, indicating cooling prices may bring relief to buyers. 

Article curated from Bloomberg Business Week

Sales of New U.S. Homes Fell in February to Five-Month Low

Purchases of new homes in the U.S. fell in February to the lowest level in five months, a sign the industry may take time to pick up after inclement weather damped demand earlier in the year.
 

Sales declined 3.3 percent to a 440,000 annualized pace, following a 455,000 rate in the prior month that was the strongest in a year, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 77 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 445,000.

Unusually frigid temperatures added to restraints including rising mortgage rates, higher property values, and a lack of supply that kept prospective buyers away from the market for new and existing properties. Bigger gains in employment and consumer sentiment would help spur the recovery in homebuilding, sustaining its contribution to economic growth and boosting earnings at companies such as Lennar Corp. and KB Home. 

“There’s a big upside to new-home sales,” said Robert Dye, chief economist at Comerica Inc. in Dallas, who correctly projected the drop in sales last month. “We have a huge amount of pent-up demand and very tight inventories. Mortgage rates, although they’ve risen, are still very low. We expect to see continuing improvement in the housing market.”

Economists’ estimates ranged from 406,000 to 506,000. The reading for the prior month was revised down from a previously reported 468,000.

Slower Appreciation

Another report today showed prices of home resales climbed at a slower pace in the year through January than a month earlier, indicating momentum in property-value appreciation is cooling.

The S&P/Case-Shiller index of 20 cities increased 13.2 percent from January 2013, the smallest gain since August, after rising 13.4 percent in the 12 months through December. The median projection of 30 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 13.3 percent advance. Compared with the prior month, prices rose 0.8 percent.

Also today, another report showed consumer confidence unexpectedly jumped in March to the highest level in six years. The Conference Board’s sentiment index rose to 82.3 in March, the highest since January 2008, from 78.3 a month earlier, the New York-based private research group said.

The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 76 economists called for a reading of 78.5 this month. Estimates ranged from 75 to 80.

Shares Climb

Stocks held earlier gains after the reports. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased 0.6 percent to 1,868.76 at 10:23 a.m. in New York.

The median sales price of a new house decreased 1.2 percent from February 2013, to reach $261,800, according to today’s Commerce Department report. It was the biggest year-to-year decline since June 2012. The median can be affected by the mix of sales by region as prices are generally higher in the Northeast and West where demand declined.

Purchases (NHSLTOT) dropped in three of the four regions, led by a 32.4 percent slump in the Northeast. The West decreased 15.9 percent and the South fell 1.5 percent. Demand in the Midwest jumped 36.7 percent to the highest level since May 2013, after dropping almost 20 percent the prior month.

More Supply

The supply of homes at the current sales rate climbed to 5.2 months from 5 months in the prior month. There were 189,000 new houses on the market at the end of February, the most since December 2010.

New-home sales, which accounted for about 8 percent of the residential market in 2013, are tabulated when contracts are signed, making them a timelier barometer than purchases of previously owned dwellings. Sales of existing homes are tabulated when a deal closes, typically a month or two later.

The weather depressed parts of the housing market, recent reports showed. Sales of previously owned properties declined in February to the lowest level since July 2012, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder confidence rose less than forecast in March.

Warmer temperatures may revive construction and help bring more buyers out in coming months.

The recent weakness is “a temporary pause,” and the homebuilding industry is still in the early stages of recovery, Ara Hovnanian, chief executive officer of Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., New Jersey’s largest homebuilder, said in a statement on March 5.

Growing Profits

Lennar, the biggest U.S. homebuilder by market value, last week reported a fiscal first-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as it sold more homes at higher prices.

“The housing-market recovery continues as we begin to enter the more vibrant seasonal months of the year,” Chief Executive Officer Stuart Miller said on a March 20 conference call with analysts. “The fundamental drivers of improvement in the housing market remain a steadily improving economy with a slowly improving employment picture unlocking pent-up demand, while supplies remain constrained to meet that demand.”

Los Angeles-based KB Home also reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that beat estimates as it raised prices and opened communities in high-cost, land-constrained markets, such as parts of California.

Rising borrowing costs have limited affordability. The average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rate was 4.32 percent in the week ended March 20, up from 3.54 percent a year earlier, according to Freddie Mac in McLean, Virginia.

Federal Reserve policy makers last week gave themselves room to keep borrowing costs low at least until next year by dropping a link between the benchmark interest rate and a specific level of unemployment. The central bank also reduced the monthly pace of bond purchases by $10 billion, to $55 billion.

Household formation would ultimately generate new construction, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said during a news conference after the policy meeting. 

Article curated from Bloomberg

Constellation Web Solutions MLS Coverage Expansion

Constellation Web Solutions now runs over 85% of all MLS listings in the US and we've recently added 4 new MLS's including Greater Greenville Association of Realtors (SC), Traverse Area Association of Realtors (MI), Park City Board of Realtors (UT) and the Arkansas Regional MLS.  See the complete list below...

Constellation Web Solutions MLS Coverage List

Alabama

Birmingham Board of Realtors

Huntsville Area Association of Realtors

North Alabama Multiple Listing Service, Inc.

Arizona

Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS)

Tucson Association of REALTORS®

Arkansas

Arkansas Regional MLS (coming March 2014!)

Cooperative Arkansas REALTORS® MLS (CARMLS)

Little Rock Realtors® Association

California

Bakersfield MLS

Bay Area Real Estate Information Services (BAREIS)

Bay East Association of REALTORS® (MAXMLS)

Calaveras County Association of REALTORS® (CCAR)

California Desert Area Association of REALTORS®

California Regional MLS

CARETS Regional Data Share

Central Coast Regional MLS

Combined L.A. Westside (CLAW)

Conejo Valley Association of Realtors

Contra Costa Association of REALTORS®

CRISNET MLS (Southland Regional)

East Bay Regional Data Share

Fresno Association of REALTORS®

iTech MLS (Pasadena-Foothills & Glendale)

Greater Antelope Valley Association of REALTORS®

Kings County Board of REALTORS®

MetroList Services

MLSListings

Multi-Regional Multiple Listing Service (MRMLS)

Paradise Association of Realtors

Pasadena Foothills Association of Realtors

San Francisco Multiple Listing Service

SANDICOR

Santa Barbara Association of REALTORS®

Shasta Association of REALTORS®

Silicon Valley Association of Realtors

Southern California MLS (SOCAL) – Now known as CRMLS

Sutter-Yuba Association of REALTORS®

Tehama County Association of Realtors

Tulare County MLS

Tuolumne County Association of REALTORS®

Ventura County Regional Data Share

Colorado

Grand Junction Area Realtor® Association

Information and Real Estate Services (IRES)

Metrolist MLS

Pueblo Association of REALTORS®

Pikes Peak MLS

Connecticut

Connecticut Statewide MLS

Greenwich MLS

Greater Fairfield County MLS

Florida

Brevard County MLS (Space Coast MLS)

Daytona Beach Area Association of REALTORS®

Emerald Coast MLS

Beaches MLS (Formerly part of RMLS of FL)

Gainesville Alachua County Association of Realtors

Greater Tampa Association of Realtors

Hernando County Association of REALTORS Inc.

My Florida Regional MLS

Naples Board of REALTORS® (Now under SouthWest FL MLS)

Navarre Area Board of Realtors®

Northeast Florida MLS

Ocala Marion County Association of Realtors

Pensacola Association of REALTORS®

REALTOR® Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach (Now under SouthWest FL MLS)

REALTOR® Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale

South FL MLS (Formerly part of RMLS of FL)

SouthEast FL MLS (Formerly known as Miami MLS, Greater Miami and the Beaches, and South Broward)

Tallahassee Board of REALTORS®

Georgia

Athens Area Association of Realtors

Brunswick Glynn County Board of Realtors

Central Georgia MLS

Georgia MLS

Lake Country Board of Realtors

Middle Georgia Association of Realtors

Northeast Georgia MLS

Savannah Board of Realtors

Hawaii

HiCentral MLS

Idaho

Intermountain MLS

Illinois

Capitol Area Association of Realtors

Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED)

Peoria Area Association of REALTORS®

Rockford Area Association of Realtors

Southwestern IL MLS

Quad City MLS (QUAD)

Indiana

Evansville Area Association of Realtors

Knox County Board of Realtors

Lafayette Regional Association of Realtors

Metropolitan Indianapolis Association of REALTORS® (MIBOR)

Northeastern Indiana (NEIAOR)

Richmond Association of Realtors

Southern Indiana Realtors Association

Iowa

Des Moines Area Association of Realtors

Quad City MLS (QUAD)

Kansas

Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors (Heartland MLS)

Wichita Area Association of Realtors

Kentucky

Heart of Kentucky Association of Realtors

Henderson Audubon Association of Realtors

Greater Louisville Association of Realtors

Lexington-Bluegrass Area Board of REALTORS®

Louisiana

Bayou Board of Realtors

Greater Baton Rouge MLS

New Orleans Metro Association of Realtors (GSREIN)

Realtor Association of Acadania (Lafayette MLS)

Maine

Maine Real Estate Information System

Maryland

Metropolitan Regional Information Systems(MRIS)

Massachusetts

Cape Cod and Islands MLS – CCIMLS

MLS Property Information Network (MLSPIN)

Michigan

Detroit Association of Realtors

Grand Rapids Association of REALTORS®

Jackson Area Association of Realtors

Metropolitan Consolidated Association of Realtors (Southeastern Michigan)

Monroe County Association of Realtors

MiRealSource

RealComp II

Southwestern Michigan Regional Information Center (SWMRIC)

Traverse Area Association of Realtors (coming March 2014!)

Minnesota

Regional MLS (Northstar MLS)

Southeast Minnesota Association of REALTORS®

Mississippi

Mississippi Gulf Coast MLS

Missouri

Mid America Regional Information Systems (MARIS)

Nevada

Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS® (GLVAR)

Northern Nevada Regional MLS

New Hampshire

Northern New England Real Estate Network (NNEREN)

New Jersey

Cape May County Association of Realtors

Garden State MLS (GSMLS)

Middlesex County MLS

Monmouth/Ocean MLS – MOMLS

Ocean County Board of Realtors (Jersey Shore MLS)

New Jersey MLS

South Jersey Shore Regional MLS

New Mexico

Santa Fe Association of REALTORS®

Southwest MLS (SWMLS)

New York

Capital Regional MLS – Albany (GCAR)

Buffalo Niagara NY MLS

Chautauqua County Board of Realtors

Elmira Corning Regional Board of Realtors

Greater Binghamton Association of Realtors

Greater Hudson Valley MLS

Greater Syracuse Association of Realtors

Greater Utica-Rome Board of Realtors

Hudson Gateway MLS (Empire Access MLS)

Ithaca Board of Realtors

Jefferson-Lewis Board of Realtors

Mid-Hudson MLS

MLS of Long Island (MLSLI)

Otsego-Delaware Board of Realtors

Rochester Association of Realtors

Warren County Association of Realtors

North Carolina

Burlington-Alamance County Association Of Realtors

Albemarle Area Assoc. of REALTORS

Western NC Regional MLS, LLC

Brunswick County Association of Realtors

Catawba Valley Association of Realtors

Carolina MLS

Fayetteville Association of REALTORS®

Goldsboro-Wayne County Association of REALTORS

Greenville Pitt Association of Realtors

High Point Regional Association of Realtors

Jacksonville Board of REALTORS®

Neuse River Region Association of REALTORS, Inc

Outer Banks Association of Realtors

Pinehurst-Southern Pines Area association of REALTORS®

Roanoke Valley Lake Gaston Board Realtors

Topsail Island Association of Realtors

Triad MLS

Triangle MLS

Western North Carolina Regional MLS

Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors

Ohio

Ashland Board of Realtors

Cincinnati Area Board of REALTORS®

Columbus Board of REALTORS®

Dayton Area Board of Realtors (DABR)

Firelands Association of Realtors

Mansfield Board of Realtors

NORMLS

Toledo Board of REALTORS (NORIS)

Oklahoma

Norman Oklahoma MLS

Oklahoma City Metro MLS

Oregon

Central Oregon Association of Realtors

Klamath County Association of Realtors

Regional MLS of Oregon

Pennsylvania

Allegheny Highland Association of Realtors

Allegheny Valley Board of Realtors

Cambria Somerset Association of Realtors

Greater Erie Board of Realtors

Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors

Lancaster County Association of Realtors

Greater Meadville Board of Realtors

Pike/Wayne Association of Realtors

Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors

Realtors® Association Of Metropolitan Pittsburgh

Realtor's Association of York & Adams Counties

Trend MLS

Rhode Island

Statewide MLS

South Carolina

Aiken Board of Realtors

Beaufort County Association of Realtors

Consolidated Multiple Listing Service

Charleston Trident Association of Realtors

Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors (CCAR)

Consolidated MLS of South Carolina

Greater Greenville Association of Realtors (coming March 2014!)

Pee Dee Realtor Association

Piedmont Regional Association of Realtors

South Dakota

Black Hill Board of Realtors

Tennessee

Greater Chattanooga Association of REALTORS®

Knoxville Area Association of REALTORS®

Memphis Area Association of REALTORS®

REALTRACS

Texas

Austin Board of Realtors (ACTRIS MLS)

Beaumont Board of Realtors

Brazoria County Board of Realtors

Bryan College Station Regional Association of Realtors

Fort Hood Area Association of Realtors

Highland Lakes Association of Realtors

Houston Association of Realtors

Kerrville Board of Realtors

Port Neches, Port Arthur & Nederland Board of Realtors

North Texas Real Estate Information Systems (NTREIS)

Orange County Board of Realtors

San Antonio Board of Realtors

San Antonio Board of Realtors (SABOR)

Tyler County Board of Realtors

Utah

Park City Board of REALTORS® (coming March 2014!)

Washington County Board of REALTORS®

Vermont

Northern New England Real Estate Network (NNEREN)

Virginia

Greater Augusta Association of Realtors

Central Virginia Regional MLS

Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS

Lynchburg Association of Realtors

Real Estate Information Network (REIN)

Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors

Washington

Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS)

Tri-City Association of REALTORS®

Washington State Commercial Association of Realtors

Washington, DC

Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS)

West Virginia

Weirton Board of Realtors

Wheeling Board of Realtors

Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS)

Wisconsin

Central Wisconsin Board of REALTORS® & Central Wisconsin MLS

Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors (Metro MLS)

Realtors® Association of Northeast Wisconsin

Realtors® Association of South Central Wisconsin