Sales of newly built, single-family homes declined 1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 312,000 units in June, according to figures released today by the U.S. Commerce Department today.
Data through May 2011, released today by S&P Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices showed a second consecutive month of increase in prices for the 10- and 20-City Composites. The 10- and 20-City Composites were up 1.1% and 1.0%, respectively, in May over April. Sixteen of the 20 MSAs and both Composites posted positive monthly increases; Detroit, Las Vegas and Tampa were down over the month and Phoenix was unchanged.
Sales of new single-family houses in June 2011 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 312,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 1.0 percent (±12.5%)* below the revised May rate of 315,000, but is 1.6 percent (±14.1%)* above the June 2010estimate of 307,000.
The median sales price of new houses sold in June 2011 was $235,200; the average sales price was $269,000. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of June was 164,000. This represents a supply of 6.3 months at the current sales rate.
The RPX Composite Price declined 5.9 percent in May relative to May 2010, according to the May 2011 RPX Monthly Housing Market Report released today by Radar Logic Incorporated. The rate of year-on-year decline has been accelerating since June 2010 and the rate as of May was the fastest observed since September 2009.
Home prices typically increase in the spring due to seasonal factors, and the bulk of the gains usually occur by May. This year, however, the RPX Composite Price, which tracks home prices in 25 major metropolitan areas across the country, was virtually the same in May as it was in January. While the RPX Composite increased month over month in April and May, these gains barely offset declines in January. The below-average seasonal increase in home prices this spring foreshadows new post-bust lows this fall.
Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, declined 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.77 million in June from 4.81 million in May, and remain 8.8 percent below the 5.23 million unit level in June 2010, which was the scheduled closing deadline for the home buyer tax credit.
According to RE/MAX Valley Real Estate’s Mahoning Valley Housing Report (MVHR) for June, single family residential closed transactions (not seasonally adjusted) fell 14 percent from sales recorded in May to just 308 units, and declined 11.7 percent from June 2010 (the last month of the tax credit give-away) when 349 units were sold in the Valley. The seasonally adjusted, month over month comparison of closed transactions also fell slightly, down again for the 40th consecutive month.
CoreLogic , a provider of information, analytics and business services, released its May Home Price Index (HPI) which shows that home prices in the U.S. increased on a month-over-month basis. According to the CoreLogic HPI, national home prices 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.
The Pending Home Sales Index a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 8.2 percent to 88.8 in May from an upwardly revised 82.1 in April and is 13.4 percent higher than the 78.3 reading in May 2010. The data reflects contracts but not closings, which normally occur with a lag time of one or two months.
This is the first time since April 2010 that contract activity was above year-ago levels, and the monthly gain was the strongest increase since last November when the index rose 10.6 percent.
Sales of newly built, single-family homes declined 2.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 319,000 units in May, according to figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department today. In ‘something is greater than nothing mode’ the National Association of Home Builders noted that the decline only partially offsets a larger gain that was registered in April.
Existing-home sales (completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops), fell 3.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million in May from a downwardly revised 5.00 million in April, (you may recall that March was downwardly revised as well) and are 15.3 percent below a 5.68 million pace in May 2010 when sales were humming along to the beat of the home buyer tax credit.
With millions of owners stuck in homes worth less than they owe on their mortgages, existing home sales remain depressed while new home sales continue near record lows, concludes The State of the Nation’s Housing report released today by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Elevated vacancies and foreclosures continue to place downward pressure on prices. In places where foreclosures are concentrated, property markets are in turmoil. Indeed, just 10 percent of neighborhoods across the U.S. account for nearly half of all foreclosures in 2010.