Market Continues to Show Encouraging Signs

Here are several exciting data that show signs of continuing improvement with the real estate market in the past couple of months.

1.  California median home price rises 13.6% - The median price of an existing home in California rose 13.6 percent in June.  C.A.R. President Steve Goddard said “Although we expect sales to be lower in the second half of the year because of the absence of the government stimulus [the federal home buyers tax credit that just expired], they should remain above the long-run average and be significantly higher than the trough in 2007, when sales bottomed out.”  He also added “Although the tax credits are no longer available, it’s important to keep in mind that home prices are substantially below their peaks and interest rates remain at historic lows, making this a very affordable time for many first-time home buyers.”

Read the C.A.R. June Sales Report

2.  New home sales rise 23.6% in June - Sales of new homes rose 23.6 percent in June compared with May, the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced this week.

3.  Home prices nationwide improve in May - The 10-City and 20-City Composites tracked as part of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices rose in May.  The 10-City Composite rose 5.4 percent in May compared with a year ago, and the 20-City Composite increased 4.6 percent compared with May 2009.  San Francisco had an 18.3% 1-Year Change from May 2009.  Nineteen of the 20 metro areas and both Composite showed an improvement in May compared with April.

4.  Housing starts rise in June - There was a 19 percent increase in permits pulled by California homebuilders compared with June 2009 and a 34 percent increase compared with May, according to the California Building Industry Association (CBIA).  According to statistics compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB), homebuilders pulled permits for single-family homes increased 33 percent from May’s total.  Multifamily permits were up 140 percent from a year ago and 35 percent from the prior month.  For the first half of the year, permits pulled increased 17 percent compared with the first half of 2009.  Single-family permits rose 8 percent while multi-family permits rose 25 percent.

Read the June Press Release from CBIA

5.  Foreclosure filings decrease 5% in first half of 2010 - Notices of default, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions declined 5 percent during the first six months of the year compared with the previous six months.  Filings in California decreased more than 15 percent from the previous six months and nearly 13 percent from the first six months of 2009.

Read the RealtyTrac Report