It may have
taken sever years, but the real estate market is closing in on getting back to
a stable healthy market. 2013 was the
rebound year for housing in that the industry marked the highest level of sales
since the housing boom year of 2006.
The National Association of
Realtors reported that 5.1 million previously owned homes were sold in 2013
which is an increase of 9.2% from 2012 and up nearly 20% from 2011. December sales were up slightly from November. As reported by most mortgage and real estate
professionals, it is likely that January and February closings will decline due
to a lack of purchase activity in December.
The good news is that these same professionals are reporting a surge in
early purchase activity in January which should lead to more improvement in the
housing data for March and April.
One slight concern about housing in
the coming months is that inventory of available homes for sale has fallen
sharply. In November home supply was
estimated at 5.1 months. In December the
supply declined sharply down to 4.6 months. The cold weather gripping most of
the nation may very well be partly to blame for the significant decline.
Mortgage rates over the last couple of weeks
have been dropping as the economic data has been rather lackluster and
investors have been pulling out of the stock market more than usual and placing
their money into government bonds. The
decline in mortgage rates is not very significant but it is certainly enough to
increase refinance activity.
The Mortgage Bankers Association
reported that for the week of January 17th refinance applications
jumped 10%. Applications for purchase
applications declined by 4% however many believe that incredibly cold
temperatures along with major snow storms in the Northeast have played a role
in slowing purchases.
The run up in home prices that took
place in 2013 appears to be slowing. The
Federal Housing Finance Agency reported on Wednesday that home prices in
November rose only a slight .1%. This is
the 22nd consecutive monthly increase in home values however it is
the smallest increase we have seen in almost 2 years. Home prices are still 7.6% higher than the
same time in the prior year. Most real
estate professionals remain very optimistic about the housing market in 2014. Many believe that we are just returning to a
more stable market demand and flow rather than spiking trends like we
experienced in the summer of 2013.
JJ Mack
916-517-1800x 300jj.mack@apmortgage.com
www.apmcroseville.com
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