HOUSING UPDATE AND HOUSING LINKS

Price of single homes rises at 10-year low
from MSNBC.com, reports that prices of single-family homes across the nation rose in October at the slowest rate in almost a decade, according to a new report from Standard & Poor. The S&P report showed a 2.4 percent year-over-year increase in the price of a single-family home based on prices of existing homes tracked over time in 10 metropolitan markets. For its 20 city composite index, S&P showed that prices grew 2.9 percent, the slowest rate ever for that data. "Home price gains are continuing their steep deceleration," said Chief Economist Robert Shiller of MacroMarkets, LLC. "We can clearly see that the monthly price declines are widespread nationally." The data was consistent with the NAR data, which showed the median price of existing single-family homes fell to $221,000 in October, a decline of 3.5 percent from a year ago.

A recovery in Housing? Not so fast, from MSNBC.com,
reports that a BusinessWeek analysis of the past three decades shows that if history repeats itself, it's likely to take 15 years or more for many parts of the country to get back to their inflation-adjusted peaks. The article states that for residential real estate, the outlook ranges from mildly positive to awful. The biggest losers will fall into one of these groups: cities like Detroit are suffering economic contractions; cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, and others in California where prices are extraordinarily high and have barely begun to adjust; and cities like Miami, Las Vegas, and Phoenix that have a huge overhang of unsold houses or condos. The article cites several economists predicting housing prices will fall from 3 to 10 percent from the end of 2006 to the end of 2007.

Valley home inventory slowly dropping from the East Valley Tribune,
reports that after shooting up rapidly in 2006, the number of existing Valley homes on the market has inched down in the past couple of months. About 43,800 homes are currently up for resale, down from a peak of roughly 48,000 two or three months ago, said Robert Rucker, CEO of the Arizona Regional MLS. "I think it's good to see the inventory levels dropping even if it's just 3,000 or 4,000," he said. Rucker said he expects to see inventory levels continue to drop to more normal levels in the coming months. Historically, the Valley has averaged 30,000 to 35,000 home listings at any given time, he said. Look for this trend to continue as builders and home sellers reduce prices to move the excess inventory.

New homes sales: Back from the dead? from MSNMoney,
New home sales rise more than expected and prices post gains despite continued rise in completed new homes on the market.
The median average home price came in at $251,700 in November, up from the $248,500 level in October. The median price, is the point at which half the homes sell for more and half sell for less, had shown declines earlier in the fall due to a glut of homes available for sale on the market.
And, More on November New Home Sales from Calculated Risk

Housing Bubble and Real Estate Market Tracker
on Dec 27th, 2006 in Market Overview by Judy Weil