housing market: Housing Market Will Have Excess Capacity for Five Years - 04/15/10 11:05 PM
On a continued gloomy note, business intelligence company, SNL Interactive interviewed homebuilding space analyst for Stifel Nicolaus & Co., Michael Widner, who predicted that the housing market will have excess capacity for at least the next five years.
If the number of housing starts continues at the current levels then capacity may shrink substantially within three years, but with the predicted ramping up of new housing starts by a number of the major builders, that excess capacity is likely to run for at least five years.
Widner does expect some of the major builders to return to profitability in 2010 and … (2 comments)

housing market: Barclay’s Take on the Housing Market????? - 04/12/10 10:53 PM
While I'm not sure what they had for lunch, but housing "experts" at Barclay’s Capital are convinced that the worst of the housing market decline is over. A look at the 4th quarter earnings documentation from 20 national and regional banks provided the data that led to Barclay’s conclusion.
The banks all seem to agree that the housing market has stabilized in all but a few parts of the country. The weakest areas where further declines may be seen are Arizona, Nevada and parts of Florida.
Housing still constitutes an area where troubled asset portfolios still trouble many banks, but the … (0 comments)

housing market: Why Some Housing Markets Dodged a Bullet - 04/12/10 11:04 AM
Ever wondered why some housing markets virtually disintegrated when the housing bubble burst, while others have survived quite well? This was the subject of a research report put out recently by the New York Federal Reserve Bank written by two of the Bank’s economists and researchers, Jaison R. Abel Richard Deitz. Deitz and Abel answer the question by focusing particularly on the upstate New York housing market.
During the housing boom of 2000 to 2006 home prices in upstate New York cities of Utica, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo did not appreciate rapidly like so much of the rest of the nation. … (0 comments)

housing market: And, the status of the economy is? - 03/21/10 09:46 PM
Some States Hit Record High Unemployment
The Labor Department has released January unemployment figures and has revealed record jobless rates in five states including South Carolina (12.6%), California (12.5%), Florida (11.9%), North Carolina (11.1%), and Georgia (10.4%).
Nine states saw a decrease in unemployment. Eleven states saw no change, and the other thirty experienced an increase in the jobless rate in January. The states with the highest rates overall are Michigan, Nevada, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and California.
The states with the lowest unemployment rates are North and South Dakota, and Nebraska. States with strong overseas exports seem to be seeing … (2 comments)

housing market: Home Equity is Headed Back Up! - 02/12/10 10:51 PM
Depending on who you read and, more importantly, who you believe, it's possible we are making that slow turn toward home equity recvering from the most recent recession. With all the bad news about underwater homeowners and strategic walkaways, you might think that American homeowners' equity  holdings are in the tank. But the least publicized recent statistic on real estate is that, despite these scary reports, home equity is again, on the rise.
According to housing market editor Ken Harney, the Fed's most recent "flow of funds" survey, homeowners' net equity grew by nearly $! trillion from the recession's lowest point … (5 comments)

housing market: Refinancing Hits a High Note - 02/11/10 08:54 PM
Homeowners are clearly worried about the possibility of higher interest rates later this year and are asking for refinancing at increasing rates. The Mortgage Banker's Association reported a jump the last week in January to a 6 week high for new and refinanced loan requests. The MBA mortgage index jumped 21% the last week of January, with a 26.3% jump in demand for refinancing and a home purchase loan application increase of 10.3%. People are still trying to take advantage of 30 year fixed interest rates that hover around 5% and that are expected to rise again soon.
The housing affordability … (0 comments)

housing market: New Agents: Influx or Glut?? - 09/16/06 09:59 PM
Despite what you read in the paper about the decline in overall market activity, new agents continue to come into our industry in record numbers. The number of real estate agents with active licenses is 120,141 in the Washington DC Metro Area! These people are surging into the field even though in many local areas, home sales have dropped by more than 25%. It's always interesting to see so many come in for the "easy money".  Normally I enjoy working with newer agents, that havn't had time to develop the bad habits some of their more "experienced" colleagues have. New agents … (0 comments)

housing market: Spring Market: Boom or Bust? - 09/15/06 10:46 PM
 
Some industry journals have already started talking about the Spring 2007 market with predictions that range from a continued slow-down and lower prices to more bullish predictions with a retrun to houses selling hot off the griddle. 
I agree the market is going to continue to improve, but I don't see a return to bidding wars.. I think there is pent-up buyer demand that is going re-surface next spring. Interest rated are still under 6.5%, inflation is low, the Northern VA economy is strong, less than 2% unemployment and rents have been going up steadily. Unless we bomb Iran or North Korea … (0 comments)