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Pending Home Sales Jump in October
Washington, DC, November 30, 2011
Pending home sales rose strongly in October and remain above year-ago levels, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, surged 10.4 percent to 93.3 in October from 84.5 in September and is 9.2 percent above October 2010 when it stood at 85.5. The data reflects contracts but not closings.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said improved contract activity is a hopeful sign. “Home sales have been plodding along at a sub-par level while interest rates are hovering at record lows and there is a pent-up demand from buyers who normally would have entered the market in recent years. We hope this is indicates more buyers are taking advantage of the excellent affordability conditions,” he said.
“Many consumers are recognizing that home buyers in the past two years have had one of the lowest default rates in history. Moreover, continued inventory declines are another healthy sign for the housing market,” Yun added.
The PHSI in the Northeast surged 17.7 percent to 71.3 in October and is 3.4 percent above October 2010. In the Midwest the index jumped 24.1 percent to 88.7 in October and remains 13.2 percent above a year ago. Pending home sales in the South rose 8.6 percent in October to an index of 99.5 and are 9.7 percent higher than October 2010. In the West the index slipped 0.3 percent to 105.5 in October but is 8.1 percent above a year ago.
“Although contract signings are up, not all contracts lead to closings. Many potential home buyers inadvertently hurt their credit scores and chances of getting a mortgage through easily averted actions, such as cancelling an old credit line while taking on a new one,” Yun said. “Such actions could unwittingly prevent buyers from obtaining a mortgage if their credit score is close the margins of qualifying, or they might get a loan but with less favorable terms.”
NAR encourages consumers to be aware of their credit score and actions which could hurt or enhance it. HouseLogic.com, the association’s consumer website devoted to all aspects of homeownership, offers tips for improving credit scores at http://buyandsell.houselogic.com/articles/7-tips-improving-your-credit/.
The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
*The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.
The index is based on a large national sample, typically representing about 20 percent of transactions for existing-home sales. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months.
An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined as well as the first of five consecutive record years for existing-home sales; it coincides with a level that is historically healthy.
NOTE: Existing-home sales for November will be reported December 21 and the next Pending Home Sales Index will be released December 29; release times are at 10:00 a.m. EST.
Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org. This and other news releases are posted in the News Media section. Statistical data in this release, other tables and surveys also may be found by clicking on Research.
REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark which may be used only by real estate professionals who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics. Not all real estate agents are REALTORS®. All REALTORS® are members of NAR.
Source: www.Realtor.org
September Pending Home Sales Down, Still Higher Than a Year Ago
Washington, DC, October 27, 2011
Pending home sales declined in September, although activity remains above a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, fell 4.6 percent to 84.5 in September from 88.6 in August but is 6.4 percent higher than September 2010 when it stood at 79.4. The data reflects contracts but not closings.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the housing market is being excessively constrained. “A combination of weak consumer confidence and continuing tight lending criteria held back home buyers, even though the private sector added nearly 2 million net new jobs in the past 12 months,” he said.
The PHSI in the Northeast declined 4.7 percent to 60.6 in September but is 4.0 percent above a year ago. In the Midwest the index dropped 6.2 percent to 71.5 in September but remains 12.3 percent higher than September 2010. Pending home sales in the South fell 5.5 percent in September to an index of 91.6 but are 5.0 percent above a year ago. In the West the index declined 2.1 percent to 105.8 in September but is 5.6 percent higher than September 2010.
Read Full Story Here: http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2011/10/phs_sept
3 DFW Cities Make Money's List of Best Places to Live. August 19, 2011
We all want to find the perfect place to live, one with the amenities and reputation that make its residents proud to be there.
According to Money Magazine, three Dallas-Fort Worth area communities are those kinds of cities, having been named the magazine's list of the 100 Best Places to Live in America for 2011.
Murphy, the Collin County town of 10,700 residents was ranked 27th on the list, while The Colony was rated 68th and Keller was No. 93.
Louisville, Colo., was ranked the top small city in America.
"These terrific small towns stand out in the qualities American families care about most - great job opportunities, top-notch schools, safe streets, economic strength, nice weather, plenty to do, and more," Money said about its list.
Murphy was called a boom town, by Money:
"Twenty miles from downtown Dallas, Murphy is a boom town: Its population has exploded from a few thousand to nearly 20,000 in just a decade’s time. One big draw: Homes that are more affordable than many in the area. Murphy provides commuters easy access to the city while serving as a quiet retreat. However, fast growth doesn’t come without problems. For example, Murphy lacks its own school district. Most residents' children attend the nearby schools, which lay claim to having one of the best music education programs in the country," the publication wrote.
The Colony is in Denton and has roughly 46,100 residents, and according to Money's listing it, is noted for golf and its proximity to Lewisville Lake.
"Like to golf? You’ll like The Colony, which was created by a developer in the 1970s: One of the top-ranked courses in the state is located right here. Another big amenity: Lewisville Lake, with 23 scenic miles of shoreline. Add in safe streets (the crime rate is at a 20-year low), a long but doable commute to Dallas (it’s 30 miles away), and very good schools, and you understand why this town is one of the fastest growing in the area," according to CNN Money.
Here's what Money had to say about Keller, a city of more than 47,500 residents in northern Tarrant County.
"In this Dallas/Fort Worth suburb, you’d never know there had been a recession. An increase in home values and a steady, strong economy keeps and attracts residents. Offices of Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments
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Follow this company , plus a new Deloitte training center (it hired 400 employees from within Keller and surrounding areas this year), lie just outside town. There are also immaculate parks, good schools, and a town center that often hosts community events."
Source: Dallas Business Journal
Lance Murray
Next Hot Area To Buy in Frisco:
Phillips Creek Ranch, Starting at $300,000
The Phillips Creek Ranch development took a major step forward Tuesday night when the Frisco City Council approved the development with a 5-0 vote. The 948-acre development will be located east of FM 423 from Lebanon Road to Old Newman Road.
The project is being developed by Republic Property Group out of Dallas. The main hanging point in gaining council approval was a waiver filed by Republic relating to front-entry garages on some of the lots in the development.
City codes call for all lots less than 65-feet wide to have alleys and rear-entry garages. Republic wanted the option of including front entry garages on lots as short as 55-feet across. These front-entry lots would not have alleys. Planning and Zoning denied the request, meaning the council required a supermajority, five council members, to overturn the recommendation.
City officials said the reason for the ordinance is to prevent the street from being dominated with driveways. City staff also conducted a poll of 60 Frisco-based realtors who said that front-entry houses are not in demand.
Republic’s Jake Wagner said that the group has performed market research that told them front entry houses were what buyers were looking for. He said there is very little noticeable difference between houses on 55-foot and 65-foot wide, and that front-entry garages, if designed properly, can be attractive.
Wagner said one of the main features that makes front-entry garages attractable on 55-foot wide lots is a larger backyard. Wagner said the back on front-entry houses is about twice as large compared to the backyard on a house with a rear-facing garage.
The property that Phillips Creek Ranch will occupy was purchased out of foreclosure by Republic in 2008. Wagner said that master planned developments such as this one are tough to execute properly and if approval was not granted for the front-entry garages, the majority of homebuyers, up to 81 percent, would not be interested in what Republic is offering and would look for houses outside of Frisco. Wagner said the prices for the houses in Phillips Creek Ranch will begin at about $300,000.
During the public hearing, local realtors from Ebby Halliday, Keller Williams and other firms, as well as local homebuilders, spoke in favor of allowing the alley waiver. They also said that with thousands of real estate agents in Frisco, the 60 agent survey conducted by the city is not an accurate portrayal of the market.
After closing the public hearing, the council offered a compromise which the developers accepted. The compromise was approved 5-0 by the council.
Of the 1,000 potential 55-foot lots in the development, 500 may be front-entry. The developer also retains the option to come back before the council in the future and file an alley waiver for the rest of the lots.
Phillips Creek Ranch will contain up to 3,752 residential units. The units will range from single family homes on lots larger than 10,000-square feet, down to town homes and multifamily units. As approved, there will be 789 patio homes on 55-foot wide lots, but that number could increase to 1,000. There will be a minimum of 214 houses on 10,000-square-foot lots and 427 houses on 8,500-square-foot lots.
The council also approved $1.3 million to be used for lump sum payments to employees who did not receive raises in the most recent budget. The money became available when the revenues exceeded expenditures in the 2010 fiscal year.
Source: StarLocalNews-Frisco
"Builder list for Phillip's Creek Ranch in Frisco: Huntington, Belclaire, Shaddock, Drees, Darling, KHOV, Highland, Lion's Gate, and Standard Pacific. Lots are scheduled to be available Fall '12. This will be the next great neighborhood in Frisco". J.Cheney, Frisco City Council
The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Code of Ethics: What Does it Mean for Consumers?
How does the Code of Ethics affect everyday real estate practices?
If a REALTOR® represents you, whether you are buying or selling a home, you can count on that REALTOR® to:
1. Be honest with all parties in the transaction – not just with you, as his or her client, but also with the other real estate practitioner and his or her clients.
For example, if REALTORS® represent a buyer with a spotty credit history, they can’t be dishonest with sellers about this fact. At the same time, REALTORS® can help their buyer clients collect and assemble information, such as credit reports and audited tax returns, to demonstrate that the buyer has addressed the problem and improved their situation.
2. Put your interests ahead of his or her own, at all times.
A REALTOR® makes every effort to understand the housing needs of his or her client, thoroughly researches available inventory, and shares all relevant information with the buyer so that he or she can make an informed decision. This service is provided regardless of the compensation available.
3. Disclose all pertinent facts regarding the property and the transaction to both buyer and seller.
If a REALTOR® believes information provided by a seller is questionable, the REALTOR® is obligated to investigate. REALTORS® should recommend that buyers consult their own experts, such as home inspectors, to address concerns. For example, if a home seller asks his or her REALTOR® to conceal the fact that the roof leaks, the REALTOR® cannot comply; if the seller insists, the REALTOR® should end the business relationship with that seller.
4. Be truthful in all communications with the public.
When REALTORS® distribute newsletters, create Web sites, or place advertisements, they must be careful not to represent other real estate professionals’ work product as their own. If recently sold or listed properties in the community are publicized, it must be clear whether the REALTOR® was actually involved in the transaction, or whether that data came from the local multiple listing service or other source. This ensures that the public understands the REALTOR®’s experience and can make an informed decision when choosing real estate representation.
Read a summary of the principles embodied in the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®' Code of Ethics.
IRS's Top 10 Tax Tips for Home Sellers
As published in Inman News, August 15, 2011
1. In general, you are eligible to exclude the gain from income if you have owned and used your home as your main home for two years out of the five years prior to the date of its sale.
2. If you have a gain from the sale of your main home, you may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of the gain from your income ($500,000 on a joint return in most cases).
3. You are not eligible for the exclusion if you excluded the gain from the sale of another home during the two-year period prior to the sale of your home.
4. If you can exclude all of the gain, you do not need to report the sale on your tax return.
5. If you have a gain that cannot be excluded, it is taxable. You must report it on Form 1040, Schedule D, Capital Gains and Losses.
6. You cannot deduct a loss from the sale of your main home.
7. Worksheets are included in Publication 523, Selling Your Home, to help you figure the ad-justed basis of the home you sold, the gain (or loss) on the sale, and the gain that you can ex-clude.
8. If you have more than one home, you can exclude a gain only from the sale of your main home. You must pay tax on the gain from selling any other home. If you have two homes and live in both of them, your main home is ordinarily the one you live in most of the time.
9. If you received the first-time homebuyer credit and within 36 months of the date of purchase, the property is no longer used as your principal residence, you are required to repay the cred-it. Repayment of the full credit is due with the income tax return for the year the home ceased to be your principal residence, using Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit and Repayment of the Credit. The full amount of the credit is reflected as additional tax on that year's tax re-turn.
10. When you move, be sure to update your address with the IRS and the U.S. Postal Service to ensure you receive refunds or correspondence from the IRS. Use Form 8822, Change of Ad-dress, to notify the IRS of your address change.
These tips can be found on the IRS website:
www.IRS.gov/newsroom
'Urgency' sells homes
Don't rely on low interest rates in today's market.
After the tech bubble burst, people were leery about putting money into the stock market, and instead poured money into housing. It was easy to get financing -- too easy, as it turned out. The inventory of homes for sale was low, and demand was high. When the demand is high and supply is low, prices go up.
Rising prices created a sense of urgency; buyers couldn't buy fast enough. They wanted to own as soon as possible in order to take advantage of home-price appreciation that was rising rapidly in many areas.
This resulted in the housing bubble that burst in 2007. The housing market has been struggling ever since. Nationally, home prices have declined 30 percent to the level they were in 2002. Even low interest rates, coupled with low home prices, haven't been enough to ignite home sales.
Part of the problem is that there is still too much inventory of unsold foreclosure properties, mostly located in areas where people can't find work. Another factor holding the market back is the stringent mortgage qualification requirements. In the San Francisco Bay Area in 2006, more than 50 percent of home purchasers bought using loans that didn't require conventional qualification, such as stated-income or no-cash-down mortgages. Those loans aren't available today.
Many lenders today require a cash down payment equal to 20 percent of the purchase price. To get the best interest rate, your FICO (Fair Isaac Corp.) credit score needs to be 720 to 740. Before 2007, 620 got you a good rate. You also need to be able to verify a meticulous employment history.
The pool of qualified buyers has diminished significantly due to tightened lending criteria. Equity loss has kept many would-be trade-up buyers from moving forward. Of those who can afford to buy, many are nervous about buying now because of recent economic news indicating that the economy is slowing and unemployment is rising.
HOUSE-HUNTING TIP: This doesn't mean that all homes aren't selling, just a reduced number. This is because, in most cases, sellers are marketing their homes to fewer buyers. To be a successful seller in this environment, the goal is to create a sense of urgency by preparing the listing for sale and pricing it right for the market so that buyers feel that if they don't buy it now, someone else will.
Sellers are often in denial about how much a buyer will pay for their home. They have difficulty seeing their home from a buyer's perspective. This is unfortunate, because buyers know current market value better than most sellers do.
Today's buyers study the market carefully before they buy. They know the sale price of recent listings in the area that sold. They know when a listing is priced at, under or over market.
Sellers whose listings aren't selling should ask their real estate agent to give them feedback about buyers' reactions to their home. If the objections are about features that can't be changed, like a location on a busy street, the list price will need to be adjusted to account for the incurable defect.
During a hot seller's market, buyers often overlook incurable defects because they don't want to miss out on swift appreciation. Affordability is motivating today's buyers. They don't expect to see appreciation soon.
In some places, prices could decline further before turning around. Low interest rates make homes more affordable for buyers. So do lower home prices. Overpriced listings reduce affordability, and they don't sell.
THE CLOSING: The best time to reduce the price of an overpriced listing is as soon as the market indicates that it's priced too high.
Source: Inman News-Dian Hymer
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