December 18, 2008 - The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today expressed strong support for a plan put forth by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Sheila Bair to reduce foreclosures, noting that it would help to keep people in their homes and avoid further surges in the inventory of unsold homes.
“The FDIC plan to use TARP funds to bolster foreclosure relief efforts is a creative approach to help strapped borrowers on the verge of losing their homes,” said NAHB President and CEO Jerry Howard. “Effective foreclosure relief, along with a stimulus program that includes a meaningful tax credit and aggressive interest-rate buy-down program, are necessary to stabilize the housing market, prop up home values and turn the economy around.”
Under the FDIC proposal, lenders would agree to reduce the interest rate, defer some of the amount owed or extend the repayment period so that borrowers could afford to stay in their homes. In return, the government would guarantee that mortgage holders would be compensated for a portion of any losses should the home owner default on the reconfigured loan.
“NAHB believes that such an approach is essential in order to produce a significant reduction in impending foreclosures and commends the FDIC for its leadership in this area,” said Howard.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Fed Action Creates Best Interest Rates in 50 Years
The National Association of Realtors® applauds the actions of the Federal Reserve Board in lowering interest rates for home buyers and homeowners who need to refinance. This will significantly impact housing sales, home valuations, and the nation’s overall economy.
The Federal Reserve is purchasing large quantities of agency debt and mortgage-backed securities to provide support to the mortgage and housing markets.
“NAR has been aggressively calling for mortgage rate reductions, and the Fed’s action to slash interest rates, coupled with the actions by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Department of the Treasury, has driven down interest rates to make the dream of homeownership once again attainable for thousands of Americans,” said NAR President Charles McMillan.
Mortgage rates, which had averaged 6.3 percent in the third quarter, have recently fallen into the 4 percent range in some parts of the country. “That is the lowest rate in nearly 50 years and will bring buyers back to the market,” McMillan said. “We are pleased that the government heard our message and responded to our call for action.”
NAR has estimated that a one percentage point decrease in mortgage rates will increase home sales by more than 500,000 homes. “To boost the economy, it is critical to stem the rising tide of foreclosures and boost home buyer confidence in the housing market.” McMillan said. “Lower interest rates coupled with increased foreclosure mitigation are the key ingredients to stabilizing the housing market and preserving communities and homeownership.”
NAR continues to call on the federal government to maintain the higher loan limits passed in the economic stimulus bill earlier this year and to expand the $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers to all buyers and to eliminate the credit repayment requirement. “Together, all of these actions will stimulate and stabilize the housing market and begin an overall economic recovery,” McMillan said.
The Federal Reserve is purchasing large quantities of agency debt and mortgage-backed securities to provide support to the mortgage and housing markets.
“NAR has been aggressively calling for mortgage rate reductions, and the Fed’s action to slash interest rates, coupled with the actions by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Department of the Treasury, has driven down interest rates to make the dream of homeownership once again attainable for thousands of Americans,” said NAR President Charles McMillan.
Mortgage rates, which had averaged 6.3 percent in the third quarter, have recently fallen into the 4 percent range in some parts of the country. “That is the lowest rate in nearly 50 years and will bring buyers back to the market,” McMillan said. “We are pleased that the government heard our message and responded to our call for action.”
NAR has estimated that a one percentage point decrease in mortgage rates will increase home sales by more than 500,000 homes. “To boost the economy, it is critical to stem the rising tide of foreclosures and boost home buyer confidence in the housing market.” McMillan said. “Lower interest rates coupled with increased foreclosure mitigation are the key ingredients to stabilizing the housing market and preserving communities and homeownership.”
NAR continues to call on the federal government to maintain the higher loan limits passed in the economic stimulus bill earlier this year and to expand the $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers to all buyers and to eliminate the credit repayment requirement. “Together, all of these actions will stimulate and stabilize the housing market and begin an overall economic recovery,” McMillan said.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Fed Cuts Interest Rate To Historic Low - Details
RISMEDIA, Dec. 18, 2008-(MCT)-By cutting its benchmark lending rate to historic lows Tuesday and promising to combat the U.S. recession head-on and aggressively, the Federal Reserve served notice that more unconventional actions probably are ahead as it fights to reverse the nation’s economic woes.
The Fed pushed its federal funds rate from an already low 1% to a target range of 0 to 0.25%. This marks the lowest point ever for this target rate, which banks charge each other for overnight loans. The funds rate serves as a benchmark for a wide range of loans in the U.S. economy.
The Fed’s rate cut was larger than expected, and highly unusual, as the Fed usually targets a specific rate instead of a range. The move highlighted the Fed’s determination to act aggressively along with the reality that the U.S. recession is deepening rapidly.
Evidence of that came from the Commerce Department, which reported that housing starts fell 19% in November and 47% on a year-over-year basis. New residential construction has fallen to levels not seen in almost half a century.
On top of grim retail sales, mounting job losses and sagging exports, the U.S. economy is struggling on many fronts.
In theory, the Fed’s action should reduce the cost of borrowing for consumers and businesses, since the prime rate-what banks charge their best customers-moves in tandem with the federal funds rate.
The prime rate typically influences rates for car loans, student loans, credit cards and other debt. With Tuesday’s cut, the prime rate is expected to fall to 3.0 to 3.25% from 4%.
However, despite the attractive rates, banks aren’t lending to most consumers and businesses. Weak financial institutions continue to hoard cash and build their balance sheets, with little appetite for risk in new loans. That’s worsening the economic downturn, especially since it hurts consumers, who drive almost two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.
In a statement, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee said: “The outlook for economic activity has weakened further … the Federal Reserve will employ all available tools to promote the resumption of sustainable economic growth and to preserve price stability.”
The vow to deploy “all available tools” sparked a rally on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 359.61 points to close at 8924.14, while the S&P 500 finished up 44.61 points to 913.18 and the Nasdaq added 81.55 points to end the day at 1589.89.
A senior Fed official, briefing reporters late Thursday on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely, said that a rate range was chosen because the real federal funds rate-what banks actually charge-has been well below the Fed’s target in recent months.
The Fed’s statement said that “weak economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for some time.”
The Fed has little room left to maneuver on interest-rate policy now and will use other tools.
“They are saying that they have unlimited arrows. As the central bank of the United States, it is the only entity that can write checks on itself without limit, and that’s a very powerful weapon the Fed has against the downturn,” said Marvin Goodfriend, a former research director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond who’s now an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. “It won’t work immediately, but if it is used aggressively, it will work.”
Chief among those other tools is to keep lending aggressively; the Fed’s balance sheet already has gone from about $800 billion to $2.2 trillion as it pulls out all the stops to confront the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke next can scale up existing Fed lending facilities or create new ones, Goodfriend said. The Fed statement said that the central bank was weighing the possibility of purchasing long-term Treasury bonds, which would drive down their yield and make other investments such as corporate and municipal bonds more attractive.
“The Fed did it before in the 1940s and it could do it again,” said Vincent Reinhart, a former chief economist of the Fed’s rate-setting body who’s now a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative policy institute in Washington.
The Fed’s statement also said that it will extend credit to households and small businesses early next year. Other experts think that the Fed will increase its purchases of troubled assets to unclog credit markets.
“The Fed’s next step is to ramp up its purchases of various financial securities to bring down borrowing costs to households and businesses,” said Mark Zandi, the chief economist for forecaster Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pa.
The Fed already has become the buyer of last resort for financial products that aren’t moving in today’s frozen credit markets. It’s bypassed banks and is purchasing short-term promissory notes issued by big U.S. corporations, called commercial paper. It’s also announced plans to buy pooled car loans, student loans and credit card debt, collectively called asset-backed securities.
In another creative step to boost the housing market, the central bank also has been purchasing pooled mortgages-called mortgage-backed securities-and debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants that the government seized in September. The senior Fed official said that efforts to purchase mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were being ramped up.
The Fed will take additional aggressive steps along those lines in the weeks and months ahead, Zandi predicted.
“They will soon be buying long-term Treasury bonds and will then branch out to high-grade corporate bonds, private-label mortgage securities, asset-backed securities and, if conditions get particularly bad, corporate equity,” he said. “The Fed has the ability to purchase just about anything, and they will do so if they think it will help unfreeze credit markets.”
President-elect Barack Obama noted Tuesday during a Chicago news conference that the Fed has cut interest rates almost as low as possible. That makes it “critical that the other branches of government step up” and work to stimulate the economy as well, Obama said, underscoring his determination to push a massive stimulus program next month upon taking office.
“Look, we are going through the toughest time economically since the Great Depression, and it’s going to be tough,” Obama said. He reiterated that his program will save or create 2.5 million jobs and will work to spur an early rebound and long-term investments in a stronger economic foundation.
The Fed’s statement didn’t mention aid to Detroit’s Big Three automakers, but Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson did in an interview on CNBC. He said that the Treasury was studying how best to provide the Big Three with a bridge loan that would sustain them in the short term and help them restructure toward long-term viability.
“We want to do it right,” Paulson said, adding that no one wants to see the consequences of a Big Three failure in the current economic circumstances. Up to 3 million jobs could hang in the balance, analysts say.
The Fed got a bit of good news Tuesday before its announcement, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation fell in November. The BLS said that consumer prices fell 1.7%, the second straight month with a record decline in inflation.
On a year-over-year basis, consumer inflation rose 1.1% from November 2007 to last month.
© 2008, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
The Fed pushed its federal funds rate from an already low 1% to a target range of 0 to 0.25%. This marks the lowest point ever for this target rate, which banks charge each other for overnight loans. The funds rate serves as a benchmark for a wide range of loans in the U.S. economy.
The Fed’s rate cut was larger than expected, and highly unusual, as the Fed usually targets a specific rate instead of a range. The move highlighted the Fed’s determination to act aggressively along with the reality that the U.S. recession is deepening rapidly.
Evidence of that came from the Commerce Department, which reported that housing starts fell 19% in November and 47% on a year-over-year basis. New residential construction has fallen to levels not seen in almost half a century.
On top of grim retail sales, mounting job losses and sagging exports, the U.S. economy is struggling on many fronts.
In theory, the Fed’s action should reduce the cost of borrowing for consumers and businesses, since the prime rate-what banks charge their best customers-moves in tandem with the federal funds rate.
The prime rate typically influences rates for car loans, student loans, credit cards and other debt. With Tuesday’s cut, the prime rate is expected to fall to 3.0 to 3.25% from 4%.
However, despite the attractive rates, banks aren’t lending to most consumers and businesses. Weak financial institutions continue to hoard cash and build their balance sheets, with little appetite for risk in new loans. That’s worsening the economic downturn, especially since it hurts consumers, who drive almost two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.
In a statement, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee said: “The outlook for economic activity has weakened further … the Federal Reserve will employ all available tools to promote the resumption of sustainable economic growth and to preserve price stability.”
The vow to deploy “all available tools” sparked a rally on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 359.61 points to close at 8924.14, while the S&P 500 finished up 44.61 points to 913.18 and the Nasdaq added 81.55 points to end the day at 1589.89.
A senior Fed official, briefing reporters late Thursday on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely, said that a rate range was chosen because the real federal funds rate-what banks actually charge-has been well below the Fed’s target in recent months.
The Fed’s statement said that “weak economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for some time.”
The Fed has little room left to maneuver on interest-rate policy now and will use other tools.
“They are saying that they have unlimited arrows. As the central bank of the United States, it is the only entity that can write checks on itself without limit, and that’s a very powerful weapon the Fed has against the downturn,” said Marvin Goodfriend, a former research director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond who’s now an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. “It won’t work immediately, but if it is used aggressively, it will work.”
Chief among those other tools is to keep lending aggressively; the Fed’s balance sheet already has gone from about $800 billion to $2.2 trillion as it pulls out all the stops to confront the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke next can scale up existing Fed lending facilities or create new ones, Goodfriend said. The Fed statement said that the central bank was weighing the possibility of purchasing long-term Treasury bonds, which would drive down their yield and make other investments such as corporate and municipal bonds more attractive.
“The Fed did it before in the 1940s and it could do it again,” said Vincent Reinhart, a former chief economist of the Fed’s rate-setting body who’s now a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative policy institute in Washington.
The Fed’s statement also said that it will extend credit to households and small businesses early next year. Other experts think that the Fed will increase its purchases of troubled assets to unclog credit markets.
“The Fed’s next step is to ramp up its purchases of various financial securities to bring down borrowing costs to households and businesses,” said Mark Zandi, the chief economist for forecaster Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pa.
The Fed already has become the buyer of last resort for financial products that aren’t moving in today’s frozen credit markets. It’s bypassed banks and is purchasing short-term promissory notes issued by big U.S. corporations, called commercial paper. It’s also announced plans to buy pooled car loans, student loans and credit card debt, collectively called asset-backed securities.
In another creative step to boost the housing market, the central bank also has been purchasing pooled mortgages-called mortgage-backed securities-and debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants that the government seized in September. The senior Fed official said that efforts to purchase mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were being ramped up.
The Fed will take additional aggressive steps along those lines in the weeks and months ahead, Zandi predicted.
“They will soon be buying long-term Treasury bonds and will then branch out to high-grade corporate bonds, private-label mortgage securities, asset-backed securities and, if conditions get particularly bad, corporate equity,” he said. “The Fed has the ability to purchase just about anything, and they will do so if they think it will help unfreeze credit markets.”
President-elect Barack Obama noted Tuesday during a Chicago news conference that the Fed has cut interest rates almost as low as possible. That makes it “critical that the other branches of government step up” and work to stimulate the economy as well, Obama said, underscoring his determination to push a massive stimulus program next month upon taking office.
“Look, we are going through the toughest time economically since the Great Depression, and it’s going to be tough,” Obama said. He reiterated that his program will save or create 2.5 million jobs and will work to spur an early rebound and long-term investments in a stronger economic foundation.
The Fed’s statement didn’t mention aid to Detroit’s Big Three automakers, but Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson did in an interview on CNBC. He said that the Treasury was studying how best to provide the Big Three with a bridge loan that would sustain them in the short term and help them restructure toward long-term viability.
“We want to do it right,” Paulson said, adding that no one wants to see the consequences of a Big Three failure in the current economic circumstances. Up to 3 million jobs could hang in the balance, analysts say.
The Fed got a bit of good news Tuesday before its announcement, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation fell in November. The BLS said that consumer prices fell 1.7%, the second straight month with a record decline in inflation.
On a year-over-year basis, consumer inflation rose 1.1% from November 2007 to last month.
© 2008, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Fix Housing First Coalition Seeks To Revive Housing & Economy
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is spearheading Fix Housing First, one of the largest coalitions of housing advocates ever assembled in the United States, to push for a housing recovery plan that will revive the economy.
“If we are going to successfully pull our nation out of recession, we must address housing first,” said NAHB President and CEO Jerry Howard.
Fix Housing First, which consists of more than 600 organizations, home building companies and manufacturers continues to add new members on a daily basis, is pressing for a major stimulus package to stem the decline in home values, stabilize financial markets and reignite consumer demand. To get the economy moving again, the coalition is urging Congress to support enhancements to the home buyer tax credit and provide below-market 30-year fixed-rate mortgages for home purchases.
“If Congress enacts a meaningful tax credit, coupled with an aggressive interest rate buy-down program, we are confident that these measures will help to stabilize home prices, prevent future foreclosures, restore consumer confidence and start creating jobs,” said Howard.
The coalition cites a similar plan that worked in 1975, when the nation was also in the midst of a recession. Congress then passed a short-term $2,000 tax credit for all new homes ($12,000 adjusted for today's median home prices) along with subsidized mortgage rates. The stimulus jump started the depressed economy and the effects continued long after the measure expired.
"Entering this holiday season, we saw a sobering loss of more than half a million jobs in November, and major job cutbacks among the nation's top employers are being announced daily," said Howard. "We need to put a stop to this dangerous erosion on Main Street before it grows out of control.”
Enzo Perfetto, a third-generation home builder from Cleveland, has gone from constructing 20-to-30 homes annually to just one this year as a result of the economic downturn. The situation is critical and getting worse, he said. “Home building generates American jobs. You can’t outsource the construction of a home. But these jobs won’t return until the credit freeze ends and our government addresses the housing crisis.”
"We are leaving no stone unturned in conveying to our government and the public the message that a housing stimulus is urgently needed, and that restoring demand for housing is the fastest and most effective way of reviving the economy," Howard said.
The housing stimulus proponents are calling for significant enhancements to the current $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers. Among the improvements:
- All primary home purchases between April 9, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2009 would be eligible.
- The credit amount would be increased to 10 percent of the price of the home, capped at 3.5 percent of FHA loan limits, bringing the credit to a range of roughly between $10,000 and $22,000.
- The current recapture provision would be eliminated. Repayment would only be required if the home were sold within three years.
- The credit would be available at the time of closing, making it easier to be used as a downpayment.
The second component of the stimulus plan would provide qualified home buyers with 30-year fixed-rate mortgages at 2.99 percent on contracts closed until June 30, 2009 and 3.99 percent on closings between June 30 and Dec. 31, 2009.
The coalition has also announced its support for continuing foreclosure prevention measures to keep people in their homes.
To help buyers in California and other high-cost markets, NAHB is also calling on Congress to permanently keep the FHA/Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loan limits at $729,750. Under current law, the loan limits for high-cost areas will be reduced to $625,500 on Jan. 1, 2009.
Fix Housing First points out that 3 million home building-related jobs have been lost as a result of the slowdown in housing production, which represents $145 billion in lost wages and $4.9 billion in lost purchases. Deterioration in these jobs has now spilled over into virtually all sectors of the U.S. job market.
"Over the past two years, the new home construction market has experienced an unprecedented decline. This has led to major layoffs, lost business and production cutbacks by thousands of building product manufacturers and suppliers nationwide. Clearly, innovative and decisive government action is urgently needed to stem the decline and create positive traction in the housing market,” said Frank Cicero, Executive Vice President of Store Operations for 84 Lumber Company.
To learn more about Fix Housing First, go to www.fixhousingfirst.com.
“If we are going to successfully pull our nation out of recession, we must address housing first,” said NAHB President and CEO Jerry Howard.
Fix Housing First, which consists of more than 600 organizations, home building companies and manufacturers continues to add new members on a daily basis, is pressing for a major stimulus package to stem the decline in home values, stabilize financial markets and reignite consumer demand. To get the economy moving again, the coalition is urging Congress to support enhancements to the home buyer tax credit and provide below-market 30-year fixed-rate mortgages for home purchases.
“If Congress enacts a meaningful tax credit, coupled with an aggressive interest rate buy-down program, we are confident that these measures will help to stabilize home prices, prevent future foreclosures, restore consumer confidence and start creating jobs,” said Howard.
The coalition cites a similar plan that worked in 1975, when the nation was also in the midst of a recession. Congress then passed a short-term $2,000 tax credit for all new homes ($12,000 adjusted for today's median home prices) along with subsidized mortgage rates. The stimulus jump started the depressed economy and the effects continued long after the measure expired.
"Entering this holiday season, we saw a sobering loss of more than half a million jobs in November, and major job cutbacks among the nation's top employers are being announced daily," said Howard. "We need to put a stop to this dangerous erosion on Main Street before it grows out of control.”
Enzo Perfetto, a third-generation home builder from Cleveland, has gone from constructing 20-to-30 homes annually to just one this year as a result of the economic downturn. The situation is critical and getting worse, he said. “Home building generates American jobs. You can’t outsource the construction of a home. But these jobs won’t return until the credit freeze ends and our government addresses the housing crisis.”
"We are leaving no stone unturned in conveying to our government and the public the message that a housing stimulus is urgently needed, and that restoring demand for housing is the fastest and most effective way of reviving the economy," Howard said.
The housing stimulus proponents are calling for significant enhancements to the current $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers. Among the improvements:
- All primary home purchases between April 9, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2009 would be eligible.
- The credit amount would be increased to 10 percent of the price of the home, capped at 3.5 percent of FHA loan limits, bringing the credit to a range of roughly between $10,000 and $22,000.
- The current recapture provision would be eliminated. Repayment would only be required if the home were sold within three years.
- The credit would be available at the time of closing, making it easier to be used as a downpayment.
The second component of the stimulus plan would provide qualified home buyers with 30-year fixed-rate mortgages at 2.99 percent on contracts closed until June 30, 2009 and 3.99 percent on closings between June 30 and Dec. 31, 2009.
The coalition has also announced its support for continuing foreclosure prevention measures to keep people in their homes.
To help buyers in California and other high-cost markets, NAHB is also calling on Congress to permanently keep the FHA/Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loan limits at $729,750. Under current law, the loan limits for high-cost areas will be reduced to $625,500 on Jan. 1, 2009.
Fix Housing First points out that 3 million home building-related jobs have been lost as a result of the slowdown in housing production, which represents $145 billion in lost wages and $4.9 billion in lost purchases. Deterioration in these jobs has now spilled over into virtually all sectors of the U.S. job market.
"Over the past two years, the new home construction market has experienced an unprecedented decline. This has led to major layoffs, lost business and production cutbacks by thousands of building product manufacturers and suppliers nationwide. Clearly, innovative and decisive government action is urgently needed to stem the decline and create positive traction in the housing market,” said Frank Cicero, Executive Vice President of Store Operations for 84 Lumber Company.
To learn more about Fix Housing First, go to www.fixhousingfirst.com.
Friday, December 5, 2008
No Radon Health Risks Uncovered in New Granite Countertop Study
Responding to unsubstantiated news reports raising concerns over radon radiation in granite countertops, the Marble Institute of America reported on Nov. 17 that in the largest scientific study of the product ever it did not find a single stone slab that poses a health risk.“Quantities of radon and radiation emitted by stones included in the analysis all fell well below average background levels commonly found in the United States,” the institute said.The study included more than 400 tests of 115 different varieties of granite countertops — including stones cited in media reports as being potentially problematic, the most common types of granite used in countertops in the U.S. and the more exotic stones that represent a tiny share of the market. The types of stones tested comprise about 80% of those used in domestic countertops.The study found that:1. Not one stone slab contributed to radon levels that even reached the average U.S. outdoor radon concentration of 0.4 picocuries per liter — one-tenth the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency level for remedial action within a home.2. The stones found to emit higher radon levels — though still well below average outdoor background levels — represent less than 1% of U.S. granite countertop sales.3. Not a single stone emitted radiation levels that even approached a radiation dose of 0.13 milliSievert per year, the level determined by the European Commission to be negligible for human health risk; the U.S. has no such standard. However, this European standard is just 30% of the 1 milliSievert per year annual dose limit recommended for the general public by the National Council for Radiation Protection & Measurements.
“Unlike some media reports of questionable scientific accuracy, this study evaluated a large variety of stones and used a number of complementary, well-established scientific techniques to assess the exposures that people could have to radon and radiation in real-world environments and to determine whether the presence of these specific stones could compromise consumer health,” the Marble Institute said.“Our study included detailed mapping of radiation emitted from various stones that had areas that we identified as being elevated above levels for typical granite countertop material,” said Dr. John F. McCarthy, president of Environmental Health & Engineering, the independent environmental testing firm that conducted the study.“We found that it’s easy to get what appear to be high readings of radon or radiation from a small fraction of granite countertops, but those readings do not reflect the actual risk to consumers because they do not assess the real exposure, only isolated, extreme measurements,” he said.“As with any other type of environmental measurement, assessing the real risk to consumers must take into account more than isolated readings from small spots on a countertop,” McCarthy said. “It must reflect real-world exposure scenarios and be interpreted using well-established principles of environmental health.”For a list of HBA member professionals who sell and install granite, use our "Find-A-Pro" search feature. Click on the "Find-A-Pro" button on the HBA Home Page; then, enter the word "granite" in the Keyword Search field. Click here for the HBA Home Page!
“Unlike some media reports of questionable scientific accuracy, this study evaluated a large variety of stones and used a number of complementary, well-established scientific techniques to assess the exposures that people could have to radon and radiation in real-world environments and to determine whether the presence of these specific stones could compromise consumer health,” the Marble Institute said.“Our study included detailed mapping of radiation emitted from various stones that had areas that we identified as being elevated above levels for typical granite countertop material,” said Dr. John F. McCarthy, president of Environmental Health & Engineering, the independent environmental testing firm that conducted the study.“We found that it’s easy to get what appear to be high readings of radon or radiation from a small fraction of granite countertops, but those readings do not reflect the actual risk to consumers because they do not assess the real exposure, only isolated, extreme measurements,” he said.“As with any other type of environmental measurement, assessing the real risk to consumers must take into account more than isolated readings from small spots on a countertop,” McCarthy said. “It must reflect real-world exposure scenarios and be interpreted using well-established principles of environmental health.”For a list of HBA member professionals who sell and install granite, use our "Find-A-Pro" search feature. Click on the "Find-A-Pro" button on the HBA Home Page; then, enter the word "granite" in the Keyword Search field. Click here for the HBA Home Page!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
A Modest Home Remains National Norm
The typical American home, be it owned or rented, contains a median of 5.5 rooms, according to Census data.
The anatomy of the average American home, be it owned or rented, hasn't changed much in recent years, considering only 12 percent of the nation’s 112 million occupied housing units were built after the year 2000.
But data released by the U.S. Census Bureau this morning from the American Community Survey (ACS) does offer some insight into how the average Joe lives, and what new home builders are competing against in the resale landscape, which currently includes nearly 4.7 million units of existing inventory–an 11.2 month supply.
Currently, more than 69 percent of U.S. households reside in single-family homes, the Census reports, compared with 24.6 percent in attached units, and 6.3 percent in mobile homes or other structures. Slightly more than two-thirds (67.2 percent) of homes are owner-occupied, whereas 32.8 percent are rental units.
Big houses may have constituted the bread and butter of the housing boom, but they are not the norm in the bigger picture. In fact, the majority of U.S. residences (70.3 percent) contain just four to seven rooms, with a median overall room count of 5.5. Fewer than one in five housing units (17.4 percent) feature eight or more rooms.
Some 67.3 percent of housing units contain two or three bedrooms. The number of housing units outfitted with four or more bedrooms stands at 20.8 percent.
Roughly one-third (33.1 percent) of households have one car, whereas a slightly larger share (38.1 percent) have two cars. Only one in five households has three or more cars.
The average owner-occupied residence is home to 2.7 people (for rentals, that number is slightly lower, at 2.42). Only 33.9 percent of U.S. households now include children under 18–a reflection, no doubt, of an aging population with a larger percentage of Americans now entering retirement age.
[Original Release: http://www.builderonline.com/demographics/a-modest-home-remains-national-norm.aspx]
The anatomy of the average American home, be it owned or rented, hasn't changed much in recent years, considering only 12 percent of the nation’s 112 million occupied housing units were built after the year 2000.
But data released by the U.S. Census Bureau this morning from the American Community Survey (ACS) does offer some insight into how the average Joe lives, and what new home builders are competing against in the resale landscape, which currently includes nearly 4.7 million units of existing inventory–an 11.2 month supply.
Currently, more than 69 percent of U.S. households reside in single-family homes, the Census reports, compared with 24.6 percent in attached units, and 6.3 percent in mobile homes or other structures. Slightly more than two-thirds (67.2 percent) of homes are owner-occupied, whereas 32.8 percent are rental units.
Big houses may have constituted the bread and butter of the housing boom, but they are not the norm in the bigger picture. In fact, the majority of U.S. residences (70.3 percent) contain just four to seven rooms, with a median overall room count of 5.5. Fewer than one in five housing units (17.4 percent) feature eight or more rooms.
Some 67.3 percent of housing units contain two or three bedrooms. The number of housing units outfitted with four or more bedrooms stands at 20.8 percent.
Roughly one-third (33.1 percent) of households have one car, whereas a slightly larger share (38.1 percent) have two cars. Only one in five households has three or more cars.
The average owner-occupied residence is home to 2.7 people (for rentals, that number is slightly lower, at 2.42). Only 33.9 percent of U.S. households now include children under 18–a reflection, no doubt, of an aging population with a larger percentage of Americans now entering retirement age.
[Original Release: http://www.builderonline.com/demographics/a-modest-home-remains-national-norm.aspx]
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Feds Plan "An Important Move" for Real Estate, Mortgage Rates
RISMEDIA, Nov. 26, 2008-(MCT/RISMedia)-Following the Fed’s announcement of its plans to buy up to $600 billion in mortgage-backed assets, the housing industry welcomed this solution, citing Main Street and mortgage rates as the direct beneficiaries.”This is one of the key actions we’ve been advocating ever since the Treasury altered its course on how it would use the $700 billion recovery package passed in September. This is great news for home buyers and sellers and we applaud the Fed for taking this historic step,” said NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth. “Housing recovery is the key to economic recovery in this country and it always has been.”
To support the mortgage markets and bring down mortgage rates, the nation’s home builders also called on federal officials to clearly affirm that the government will provide long-term guarantees for the debt and securities purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Investors are confused over the extent of federal support for long-term obligations held by the housing government sponsored enterprise (GSEs) and that uncertainty has pushed spreads on GSE debt in relation to Treasury yields to record highs, Jerry Howard, president and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart.
“As a result, mortgage rates are at unacceptably high levels, which is forestalling recovery of the housing market and creating a major drag on the economy,” Howard added.
In yesterday’s announcement, the Fed said it would purchase mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae for up to $500 billion. “This will be critical to a housing recovery,” McMillan said.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said purchasing debt obligations of Fannie and Freddie is an important move. “We commend the Fed decision because it will directly bring down long-term interest rates,” he said. “The level of investment should be aggressive enough to bring interest rates down in a meaningful manner. As we’ve seen in past recessions, home sales rise when mortgage interest rates fall.”
Yun said that given the present state of the mortgage market, interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are too high. “If Fed action brings down mortgage interest rates by even 1 percentage point, it would increase homes sales by 500,000 units. That should help to draw inventory down and stabilize prices.”
Yun said higher home sales are critical now to absorb inventory and stabilize prices. “Only with stabilization in home prices can we have a healthy housing and economic recovery,” he said.
In its announcement, the Fed said it will purchase up to $100 billion of GSE debt from primary dealers through a series of competitive auctions to begin next week. Purchases of up to $500 billion in MBS will be conducted by selected asset managers before year-end. Both the direct obligations and MBS purchases are expected to take place over several quarters.
It also will purchase another $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities, which consist of mortgage loans that are packaged together and sold to investors. These securities, viewed as toxic now because so many mortgages are going unpaid, are at the heart of what’s weighing down troubled banks. Purchasing them is intended to free up bank lending, which would spur the economy.
In addition, Paulson said Treasury will provide $20 billion of credit protection to the Fed from last month’s $700 billion financial rescue package. The protection will be part of a new Fed program that could lend as much as $200 billion to investors in securities backed by credit card, auto and other loans.
Paulson noted that “credit market stresses led to a steep decline in the third quarter of 2008, and the market essentially came to a halt in October.”
Compounding the problem, he said, was that “credit card rates are climbing, making it more expensive for families to finance everyday purchases. This lack of affordable consumer credit undermines consumer spending (and) as a result weakens our economy.”
The new fund aimed at freeing up credit, Paulson said, “will enable a broad range of institutions to step up their lending, enabling borrowers to have access to lower cost consumer financing and small business loans.”© 2008, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
To support the mortgage markets and bring down mortgage rates, the nation’s home builders also called on federal officials to clearly affirm that the government will provide long-term guarantees for the debt and securities purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Investors are confused over the extent of federal support for long-term obligations held by the housing government sponsored enterprise (GSEs) and that uncertainty has pushed spreads on GSE debt in relation to Treasury yields to record highs, Jerry Howard, president and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart.
“As a result, mortgage rates are at unacceptably high levels, which is forestalling recovery of the housing market and creating a major drag on the economy,” Howard added.
In yesterday’s announcement, the Fed said it would purchase mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae for up to $500 billion. “This will be critical to a housing recovery,” McMillan said.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said purchasing debt obligations of Fannie and Freddie is an important move. “We commend the Fed decision because it will directly bring down long-term interest rates,” he said. “The level of investment should be aggressive enough to bring interest rates down in a meaningful manner. As we’ve seen in past recessions, home sales rise when mortgage interest rates fall.”
Yun said that given the present state of the mortgage market, interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are too high. “If Fed action brings down mortgage interest rates by even 1 percentage point, it would increase homes sales by 500,000 units. That should help to draw inventory down and stabilize prices.”
Yun said higher home sales are critical now to absorb inventory and stabilize prices. “Only with stabilization in home prices can we have a healthy housing and economic recovery,” he said.
In its announcement, the Fed said it will purchase up to $100 billion of GSE debt from primary dealers through a series of competitive auctions to begin next week. Purchases of up to $500 billion in MBS will be conducted by selected asset managers before year-end. Both the direct obligations and MBS purchases are expected to take place over several quarters.
It also will purchase another $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities, which consist of mortgage loans that are packaged together and sold to investors. These securities, viewed as toxic now because so many mortgages are going unpaid, are at the heart of what’s weighing down troubled banks. Purchasing them is intended to free up bank lending, which would spur the economy.
In addition, Paulson said Treasury will provide $20 billion of credit protection to the Fed from last month’s $700 billion financial rescue package. The protection will be part of a new Fed program that could lend as much as $200 billion to investors in securities backed by credit card, auto and other loans.
Paulson noted that “credit market stresses led to a steep decline in the third quarter of 2008, and the market essentially came to a halt in October.”
Compounding the problem, he said, was that “credit card rates are climbing, making it more expensive for families to finance everyday purchases. This lack of affordable consumer credit undermines consumer spending (and) as a result weakens our economy.”
The new fund aimed at freeing up credit, Paulson said, “will enable a broad range of institutions to step up their lending, enabling borrowers to have access to lower cost consumer financing and small business loans.”© 2008, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Realtors® Tell Congress Increased Housing Demand Will Stabilize the Market
WASHINGTON, November 18, 2008
In a statement to the House Financial Services Committee today, the National Association of Realtors® recommended a four-point plan to stimulate home sales and stabilize housing valuations.
“The only way to overcome today’s economic turmoil is to motivate and encourage worried or cautious housing consumers to enter the marketplace,” said NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth. “Stabilizing the housing market will lead to a quicker and greater economic recovery. Our goal is to ensure there is a healthy market and sufficient capital to support mortgage lending to qualified borrowers.”
NAR developed the plan for consideration by the current lame-duck session of Congress, and for the 111th Congress and the new administration. The four-point plan’s principles are consumer-driven to help foster a housing recovery to support an economic rebound. The plan calls for eliminating the repayment of the first-time home buyer tax credit that was passed in the February stimulus bill, and to expand the tax credit to include all home buyers. The plan also recommends making the increased FHA and conventional loan limits permanent to stimulate home sales and stabilize prices. In addition, the plan urges that the Troubled Asset Relief Program be put back on track by targeting the funds for mortgage relief through a mortgage interest rate buy-down. Finally, the plan recommends finalizing legislation to prohibit banks from entering into the business of real estate brokerage and property management.
“The federal government must ensure there is sufficient capital to support mortgage lending not only in strong markets but also in tumultuous ones,” said McMillan. “Realtors® are frustrated with the current mortgage lending environment that places a variety of barriers on families who wish to buy a home, impeding sales and price stabilization. We look forward to working with the Congress and the new administration to transition out of current instabilities and move toward strong and stable financial and housing markets.”
In a statement to the House Financial Services Committee today, the National Association of Realtors® recommended a four-point plan to stimulate home sales and stabilize housing valuations.
“The only way to overcome today’s economic turmoil is to motivate and encourage worried or cautious housing consumers to enter the marketplace,” said NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth. “Stabilizing the housing market will lead to a quicker and greater economic recovery. Our goal is to ensure there is a healthy market and sufficient capital to support mortgage lending to qualified borrowers.”
NAR developed the plan for consideration by the current lame-duck session of Congress, and for the 111th Congress and the new administration. The four-point plan’s principles are consumer-driven to help foster a housing recovery to support an economic rebound. The plan calls for eliminating the repayment of the first-time home buyer tax credit that was passed in the February stimulus bill, and to expand the tax credit to include all home buyers. The plan also recommends making the increased FHA and conventional loan limits permanent to stimulate home sales and stabilize prices. In addition, the plan urges that the Troubled Asset Relief Program be put back on track by targeting the funds for mortgage relief through a mortgage interest rate buy-down. Finally, the plan recommends finalizing legislation to prohibit banks from entering into the business of real estate brokerage and property management.
“The federal government must ensure there is sufficient capital to support mortgage lending not only in strong markets but also in tumultuous ones,” said McMillan. “Realtors® are frustrated with the current mortgage lending environment that places a variety of barriers on families who wish to buy a home, impeding sales and price stabilization. We look forward to working with the Congress and the new administration to transition out of current instabilities and move toward strong and stable financial and housing markets.”
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Could You Be Poised To Win In This Housing Market? (helpinghome)
Every set of market conditions has the potential to create both financial losers and financial winners in the marketplace, and the current set of housing market conditions is no exception. It wasn’t that long ago that an exploding “seller’s market” in real estate bloated home prices everywhere. Those who sold their homes cashed in big, often netting tens of thousands of dollars or more from their initial investment only a few years earlier. And, unless those sellers chose to become renters after cashing in (few did), they were immediately faced with the prospect of buying their next home in that same seller’s market. On the whole, some won and some lost.
Today, the tables are turned. It is now a “buyers’ market.” Real estate prices have fallen nationwide. In markets (particularly on the coasts) where housing price inflation had risen the fastest, prices have fallen the farthest. In markets like the Ozarks, the impact is far less extreme. And, just as with any other set of market conditions, a lot of people could be poised to win big in this buyers’ market. And many of them don’t even know the opportunity that lies before them. Who stands to benefit most from making their next move in today’s buyers’ market? Three profiles are poised to take prime advantage:
The cash buyer: In the Springfield/Branson housing market, cash buyers aren’t as uncommon as you might think. Relocations to this area often arrive with savings that go much further than they expected. Retirees from a career at an average income in a high-cost part of the country find their accumulated 401(k) savings add up to considerable wealth in a more affordable Midwestern community. Or, families that sold one of those high-priced homes on one of the coasts learn they can buy twice the home here for half the money they just collected. Cash buyers are well situated because they are not affected by credit limitations or fluctuating interest rates, and they aren’t at the mercy of someone else’s timetable to buy the home they already may own.
The first-time home buyer: For all the media coverage of the nation’s “credit crisis,” local banks are competing with one another to loan mortgage money to qualified borrowers. A first-time home buyer has many advantages. They have no existing home to sell in a buyers’ market. They can take advantage of historically low mortgage rates, even if those low rates may hover a half to three-quarters point higher than some recent rates (since they are not “trading” an existing interest rate for a new one, they have no downside to taking advantage of today’s traditionally low rates). In this buyers’ market, first-time home buyers can make sellers compete for their business. And, if all that weren’t enough, Uncle Sam is even willing to help. First-time home buyers – if they act soon – can receive a $7,500 federal tax credit to help with the purchase of their first home.
The “move-up” buyer: Any buyer planning to buy a home of higher market value than the home they are selling is in position to win big in a buyers’ market. Let’s assume a family is selling a home they believe is worth $100,000, to buy a home they believe is worth $200,000. Too many such buyers are hesitant to make their move because they believe they would “lose” money on the sale of their house in a “depressed housing market. A little quick math proves otherwise. Let’s say the market “depression” equates to about 25% (meaning, homes today will only bring 75% of what they would have brought a couple of years ago). That means that $100,000 home would only bring $75,000. So, the family considering a move has “lost” $25,000, right? Not so fast. In a “down” market, that home won’t be the only one bringing a lower price. The $200,000 home the family wants to buy is also down by 25%. It can be had for a mere $150,000. The family that “lost” $25,000 on the first house turned around and “made” $50,000 on its next home. That’s a net gain of $25,000 in equity! The more “down” the housing market is, the more this type of buyer stands to gain.
In periods of economic difficulty, someone always wins. Why shouldn’t that someone be you? If you fit the profile of one of these three types of potential home buyers, you could win big in today’s housing market – don’t wait!
Today, the tables are turned. It is now a “buyers’ market.” Real estate prices have fallen nationwide. In markets (particularly on the coasts) where housing price inflation had risen the fastest, prices have fallen the farthest. In markets like the Ozarks, the impact is far less extreme. And, just as with any other set of market conditions, a lot of people could be poised to win big in this buyers’ market. And many of them don’t even know the opportunity that lies before them. Who stands to benefit most from making their next move in today’s buyers’ market? Three profiles are poised to take prime advantage:
The cash buyer: In the Springfield/Branson housing market, cash buyers aren’t as uncommon as you might think. Relocations to this area often arrive with savings that go much further than they expected. Retirees from a career at an average income in a high-cost part of the country find their accumulated 401(k) savings add up to considerable wealth in a more affordable Midwestern community. Or, families that sold one of those high-priced homes on one of the coasts learn they can buy twice the home here for half the money they just collected. Cash buyers are well situated because they are not affected by credit limitations or fluctuating interest rates, and they aren’t at the mercy of someone else’s timetable to buy the home they already may own.
The first-time home buyer: For all the media coverage of the nation’s “credit crisis,” local banks are competing with one another to loan mortgage money to qualified borrowers. A first-time home buyer has many advantages. They have no existing home to sell in a buyers’ market. They can take advantage of historically low mortgage rates, even if those low rates may hover a half to three-quarters point higher than some recent rates (since they are not “trading” an existing interest rate for a new one, they have no downside to taking advantage of today’s traditionally low rates). In this buyers’ market, first-time home buyers can make sellers compete for their business. And, if all that weren’t enough, Uncle Sam is even willing to help. First-time home buyers – if they act soon – can receive a $7,500 federal tax credit to help with the purchase of their first home.
The “move-up” buyer: Any buyer planning to buy a home of higher market value than the home they are selling is in position to win big in a buyers’ market. Let’s assume a family is selling a home they believe is worth $100,000, to buy a home they believe is worth $200,000. Too many such buyers are hesitant to make their move because they believe they would “lose” money on the sale of their house in a “depressed housing market. A little quick math proves otherwise. Let’s say the market “depression” equates to about 25% (meaning, homes today will only bring 75% of what they would have brought a couple of years ago). That means that $100,000 home would only bring $75,000. So, the family considering a move has “lost” $25,000, right? Not so fast. In a “down” market, that home won’t be the only one bringing a lower price. The $200,000 home the family wants to buy is also down by 25%. It can be had for a mere $150,000. The family that “lost” $25,000 on the first house turned around and “made” $50,000 on its next home. That’s a net gain of $25,000 in equity! The more “down” the housing market is, the more this type of buyer stands to gain.
In periods of economic difficulty, someone always wins. Why shouldn’t that someone be you? If you fit the profile of one of these three types of potential home buyers, you could win big in today’s housing market – don’t wait!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Modern Kitchens and Bathrooms: Tips on Accenting with Light
RISMEDIA, Nov. 18, 2008-Turning your bathroom or kitchen into a modern masterpiece requires attention to several very important areas of design - and lighting is a big one. The right lighting can add sparkle to an otherwise ordinary kitchen or bathroom design and help draw focus and attention to modern faucets, fixtures, kitchen or bathroom accessories and other areas you’d like to showcase.
When establishing your kitchen or bathroom design, there are many new options available that mimic the same interesting, clean lines of your new fixtures.
Some things to keep in mind are:
- Cool colors and modern decor can be made more dramatic with halogen or GE Reveal(R) Bulbs, which give off cool, bright white light. Alternately, to warm up a modern room slightly, chose frosted or coated bulbs, or Soft White bulbs which cast more golden tones.
- Pendant lighting is another contemporary way to brighten your kitchen and put a spotlight on your prep spaces - like over a stainless steel sink to keep your task work well lit.
- On bathroom walls, try sconces that reflect light onto the walls in geometric shapes and boxy patterns; you’ll enhance the feel of the room by accenting sharp lines of modern faucets and bathroom accessories.
With some of today’s more modern faucets, like Moen’s Level Suite or the ShowHouse and Vivid Suites, using a particular detail of the faucet’s design to inspire the other elements of your redesign can go a long way toward tying the entire room together. For instance, the arc or shape of the faucet head or handles, or the color of the glass or plastic accents on kitchen or bathroom accessories can be picked up and carried into your light fixtures and mirrors. As with any design challenge, consistency is paramount.
Use these easy ideas to make your move toward modern today. Or, for a virtual “test drive” of what your new room will look like, try Moen’s interactive Design Center, here: http://www.moen.com/designcenter/athome/articles/index.cfm.
When establishing your kitchen or bathroom design, there are many new options available that mimic the same interesting, clean lines of your new fixtures.
Some things to keep in mind are:
- Cool colors and modern decor can be made more dramatic with halogen or GE Reveal(R) Bulbs, which give off cool, bright white light. Alternately, to warm up a modern room slightly, chose frosted or coated bulbs, or Soft White bulbs which cast more golden tones.
- Pendant lighting is another contemporary way to brighten your kitchen and put a spotlight on your prep spaces - like over a stainless steel sink to keep your task work well lit.
- On bathroom walls, try sconces that reflect light onto the walls in geometric shapes and boxy patterns; you’ll enhance the feel of the room by accenting sharp lines of modern faucets and bathroom accessories.
With some of today’s more modern faucets, like Moen’s Level Suite or the ShowHouse and Vivid Suites, using a particular detail of the faucet’s design to inspire the other elements of your redesign can go a long way toward tying the entire room together. For instance, the arc or shape of the faucet head or handles, or the color of the glass or plastic accents on kitchen or bathroom accessories can be picked up and carried into your light fixtures and mirrors. As with any design challenge, consistency is paramount.
Use these easy ideas to make your move toward modern today. Or, for a virtual “test drive” of what your new room will look like, try Moen’s interactive Design Center, here: http://www.moen.com/designcenter/athome/articles/index.cfm.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Springfield Ranks first in Missouri as "Best Performing City" in 2008
Springfield is first among Missouri cities for the fourth year for "creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth."
According to the 2008 “Best Performing Cities” index compiled by The Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners, Springfield ranked 42 overall on the list of the 200 largest metro cities.
This rank is up from 47th in 2007 and 77th in 2005. While no data was available in 2006, Springfield has steadily moved up in the ranks since 2005. In 2008, the index ranked St. Louis at 152 and Kansas City at 77.
The 2008 top ten best-performing metropolitan areas in order were Provo-Orem, Utah; Raleigh-Cary, NC; Salt Lake City, UT; Austin-Round Rock, TX; Huntsville, AL; Wilmington, NC; McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX; Tacoma, WA; Olympia, WA; and Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, SC.
According to the 2008 “Best Performing Cities” index compiled by The Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners, Springfield ranked 42 overall on the list of the 200 largest metro cities.
This rank is up from 47th in 2007 and 77th in 2005. While no data was available in 2006, Springfield has steadily moved up in the ranks since 2005. In 2008, the index ranked St. Louis at 152 and Kansas City at 77.
The 2008 top ten best-performing metropolitan areas in order were Provo-Orem, Utah; Raleigh-Cary, NC; Salt Lake City, UT; Austin-Round Rock, TX; Huntsville, AL; Wilmington, NC; McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX; Tacoma, WA; Olympia, WA; and Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, SC.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
No Economic Recovery Without Housing Stablilization
WASHINGTON, October 31, 2008
The National Association of Realtors® has stepped up its challenge to lawmakers encouraging them to take new, decisive actions to address the continuing problems in the housing industry, as well as the ongoing economic crisis.
“Our members see firsthand the impact that an unstable housing market is having on communities all across this great country,” said Richard F. Gaylord, NAR president. “The U.S. Treasury and Congress need to work together to ensure that the American people – not Wall Street and large banks – benefit from the economic recovery plan.”
NAR sent a letter last week to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson calling on him to refocus the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s efforts on restoring strength to the mortgage-backed securities market, which would help lower mortgage rates for all home buyers and for those who need to refinance.
NAR today provided an economic analysis demonstrating that a reduction, or a buydown, of interest rates by just 1 percentage point could result in up to 840,000 additional home sales and reduce the inventory of homes by as much as 20 percent. Inventories currently at 9.9 months’ supply would decrease to approximately a 7.5 month supply.
“These changes would help stabilize home values and the housing industry,” Gaylord said. “The Treasury Department has gotten off track by focusing too much attention and stimulus money on Wall Street and banks that are in turn using the money for mergers and acquisitions. The administration needs to get back to the original intent of the plan – stabilizing the mortgage and housing markets – to help families avoid foreclosure. Home price stabilization would bring clarity to the valuations of mortgage-backed securities, removing uncertainty in the financial markets and positively affecting the overall U.S. economy.”
A recent consumer survey conducted by NAR member Realogy Corp. reinforces the importance of housing in a broader economic turnaround. The survey found that nine out of 10 homeowners believe that owning a home is still the best long-term investment they can make, but nearly one-third of those surveyed said they were putting plans to buy a new or existing home on hold because of the current economic environment. In a related survey, nearly half of all brokers surveyed said that they would expect sales to increase 10- 25 percent if 4.5 percent mortgage rates were available today.
Realogy President and CEO Richard A. Smith said that substantially lower mortgage rates would stimulate both existing- and new-home sales. “When home sales increase, housing-related consumer purchasing follows, and we would expect this to help lead our economy to a recovery,” he said. Both NAR and Realogy have called on the federal government to take corrective actions that will result in lower mortgage rates.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair has presented some ideas aimed at helping millions of homeowners by guaranteeing their mortgages. “NAR would support this effort,” said Gaylord. “The government must focus on protecting homeowners and making the dream of homeownership once again attainable. This would help stabilize the housing market and strengthen the national economy.”
Toward this end, NAR submitted a stimulus plan to Congress and the administration earlier this month, calling on Congress to enact a new housing stimulus package that would help boost the economy. The plan includes consumer-driven provisions that would eliminate repayment of the first-time home buyer tax credit and expand the credit to all home buyers, make the increased mortgage loan limits permanent, and focus the economic stabilization efforts on supporting the housing and mortgage markets instead of providing capital to banks with no strings attached.
Reducing the interest rate, combined with removing the home buyer tax credit repayment, would result in an additional 10 percent reduction in inventory, down to a 6.5-month supply, and would produce modest home price gains of 2 to 4 percent. Such price gains would provide up to $760 billion in housing equity recovery for the nation’s 75 million homeowners.
“There is no question – there cannot be an economic recovery without a stabilized housing market. Congress and the new administration need to act immediately to help America’s families protect their homes, savings and futures,” Gaylord said.
The National Association of Realtors® has stepped up its challenge to lawmakers encouraging them to take new, decisive actions to address the continuing problems in the housing industry, as well as the ongoing economic crisis.
“Our members see firsthand the impact that an unstable housing market is having on communities all across this great country,” said Richard F. Gaylord, NAR president. “The U.S. Treasury and Congress need to work together to ensure that the American people – not Wall Street and large banks – benefit from the economic recovery plan.”
NAR sent a letter last week to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson calling on him to refocus the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s efforts on restoring strength to the mortgage-backed securities market, which would help lower mortgage rates for all home buyers and for those who need to refinance.
NAR today provided an economic analysis demonstrating that a reduction, or a buydown, of interest rates by just 1 percentage point could result in up to 840,000 additional home sales and reduce the inventory of homes by as much as 20 percent. Inventories currently at 9.9 months’ supply would decrease to approximately a 7.5 month supply.
“These changes would help stabilize home values and the housing industry,” Gaylord said. “The Treasury Department has gotten off track by focusing too much attention and stimulus money on Wall Street and banks that are in turn using the money for mergers and acquisitions. The administration needs to get back to the original intent of the plan – stabilizing the mortgage and housing markets – to help families avoid foreclosure. Home price stabilization would bring clarity to the valuations of mortgage-backed securities, removing uncertainty in the financial markets and positively affecting the overall U.S. economy.”
A recent consumer survey conducted by NAR member Realogy Corp. reinforces the importance of housing in a broader economic turnaround. The survey found that nine out of 10 homeowners believe that owning a home is still the best long-term investment they can make, but nearly one-third of those surveyed said they were putting plans to buy a new or existing home on hold because of the current economic environment. In a related survey, nearly half of all brokers surveyed said that they would expect sales to increase 10- 25 percent if 4.5 percent mortgage rates were available today.
Realogy President and CEO Richard A. Smith said that substantially lower mortgage rates would stimulate both existing- and new-home sales. “When home sales increase, housing-related consumer purchasing follows, and we would expect this to help lead our economy to a recovery,” he said. Both NAR and Realogy have called on the federal government to take corrective actions that will result in lower mortgage rates.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair has presented some ideas aimed at helping millions of homeowners by guaranteeing their mortgages. “NAR would support this effort,” said Gaylord. “The government must focus on protecting homeowners and making the dream of homeownership once again attainable. This would help stabilize the housing market and strengthen the national economy.”
Toward this end, NAR submitted a stimulus plan to Congress and the administration earlier this month, calling on Congress to enact a new housing stimulus package that would help boost the economy. The plan includes consumer-driven provisions that would eliminate repayment of the first-time home buyer tax credit and expand the credit to all home buyers, make the increased mortgage loan limits permanent, and focus the economic stabilization efforts on supporting the housing and mortgage markets instead of providing capital to banks with no strings attached.
Reducing the interest rate, combined with removing the home buyer tax credit repayment, would result in an additional 10 percent reduction in inventory, down to a 6.5-month supply, and would produce modest home price gains of 2 to 4 percent. Such price gains would provide up to $760 billion in housing equity recovery for the nation’s 75 million homeowners.
“There is no question – there cannot be an economic recovery without a stabilized housing market. Congress and the new administration need to act immediately to help America’s families protect their homes, savings and futures,” Gaylord said.
Friday, October 31, 2008
New Home Sales Rise 2.7% in September
October 27, 2008 - Sales of newly built single-family homes turned upward in September, posting a 2.7 percent gain to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000 units, according to U.S. Commerce Department numbers released today. The report also indicated that builders are making substantial progress in winnowing down the months’ supply of unsold units on the market.
“It’s great to see some upward movement in new-home sales, particularly in light of the strong efforts that home builders have been making to bring supply and demand back into balance by limiting new construction and offering substantial price- and non-price incentives on already-built units,” said NAHB Chairman Sandy Dunn, a home builder from Point Pleasant, W.Va. “Of course, it’s too soon to say the market has stabilized, and we still have a very difficult road ahead that will require additional government action to speed the recovery of housing and the national economy.”
“Keeping things in perspective, today’s gain in new-home sales followed a downward revision for August and was almost entirely concentrated in the West region, where sales bounced back from a very low level in August,” noted NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. “The fact is that housing demand remains fundamentally weak and the housing contraction continues to weigh heavily on the financial markets and the overall economy. Without question, an additional economic stimulus package – including substantial measures to spur home buying and limit foreclosures – is necessary to support home prices, stabilize financial markets and limit the severity of recession.”
The number of new homes for sale shrank to 394,000 units in September, down from 425,000 units in August. At the current sales pace, there was a 10.4 months’ supply of unsold new units on the market, versus an 11.4 months’ supply in August. Meanwhile, the median number of months that completed new homes have been on the market moved up to 9.1 – a new record.
Regionally, sales activity gained 22.7 percent in the West and 0.7 percent in the South in September, but at the same time declined 21.4 percent in the Northeast and 5.8 percent in the Midwest.
“It’s great to see some upward movement in new-home sales, particularly in light of the strong efforts that home builders have been making to bring supply and demand back into balance by limiting new construction and offering substantial price- and non-price incentives on already-built units,” said NAHB Chairman Sandy Dunn, a home builder from Point Pleasant, W.Va. “Of course, it’s too soon to say the market has stabilized, and we still have a very difficult road ahead that will require additional government action to speed the recovery of housing and the national economy.”
“Keeping things in perspective, today’s gain in new-home sales followed a downward revision for August and was almost entirely concentrated in the West region, where sales bounced back from a very low level in August,” noted NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. “The fact is that housing demand remains fundamentally weak and the housing contraction continues to weigh heavily on the financial markets and the overall economy. Without question, an additional economic stimulus package – including substantial measures to spur home buying and limit foreclosures – is necessary to support home prices, stabilize financial markets and limit the severity of recession.”
The number of new homes for sale shrank to 394,000 units in September, down from 425,000 units in August. At the current sales pace, there was a 10.4 months’ supply of unsold new units on the market, versus an 11.4 months’ supply in August. Meanwhile, the median number of months that completed new homes have been on the market moved up to 9.1 – a new record.
Regionally, sales activity gained 22.7 percent in the West and 0.7 percent in the South in September, but at the same time declined 21.4 percent in the Northeast and 5.8 percent in the Midwest.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Exsisting Homes Sales Rise in September
on Approved Affordability
WASHINGTON, October 24, 2008
Existing-home sales increased last month as buyers responded to improved housing affordability conditions, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 5.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of 5.18 million units in September from a level of 4.91 million in August, and are 1.4 percent higher than the 5.11 million-unit pace in September 2007.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said more markets are seeing year-over-year gains. “The sales turnaround which began in California several months ago is broadening now to Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Rhode Island,” he said. “The South was hampered by much lower home sales in Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.”
NAR President Richard F. Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif., said low home prices and low interest rates have been attracting buyers. “This is the first time since November 2005 that home sales have been above year-ago levels,” he said. “Credit tightened at the end of September, but the improvement demonstrates that buyers who’ve been on the sidelines want to get into the market to make a long-term investment in their future.”
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.04 percent in September from 6.48 percent in August; the rate was 6.38 percent in September 2007.
Yun said there may be market disruptions. “The credit markets are not settled yet, although the mortgage market stabilized with the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Inventory remains high, and price declines are pressuring owners,” he said. “Additional housing stimulus would stabilize prices more quickly, which in turn would bring faster stability to Wall Street. Removing the repayment feature on the first-time buyer tax credit and permanently raising loan limits would bring more buyers into the market and further reduce inventory.”
Total housing inventory at the end of September fell 1.6 percent to 4.27 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.9-month supply² at the current sales pace, down from a 10.6-month supply in August. This marks two consecutive monthly declines since inventories peaked in July.
The national median existing-home price3 for all housing types was $191,600 in September, down 9.0 percent from a year ago when the median was $210,500. “Compared to a fairly small share of foreclosures or short sales a year ago, distressed sales are currently 35 to 40 percent of transactions. These are pulling the median price down because many are being sold at discounted prices,” Yun explained. “The current market is not being dominated by speculative investors. Rather, 80 percent of current buyers are purchasing a primary residence, which is a bit higher than historic norms.”
Single-family home sales increased 6.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million in September from a pace of 4.35 million in August, and are 3.8 percent above the 4.45 million-unit level a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $190,600 in September, which is 8.6 percent below September 2007.
Existing condominium and co-op sales were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 560,000 units in September, but are 15.7 percent below the 664,000-unit pace in September 2007. The median existing condo price4 was $199,400 in September, down 10.2 percent from a year ago.
Regionally, existing-home sales in the West jumped 16.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.25 million in September, and are 34.4 percent higher than September 2007. The median price in the West was $253,600, down 18.5 percent from a year ago.
In the Midwest, existing-home sales increased 4.4 percent to an annual pace of 1.19 million in September, but are 2.5 percent below a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $152,500, which is 7.9 percent lower than September 2007.
Existing-home sales in the South rose 2.2 percent in September to a pace of 1.90 million but remain 7.8 percent below September 2007. The median price in the South was $167,200, down 4.1 percent from a year ago.
In the Northeast, existing-home sales slipped 1.2 percent to an annual pace of 840,000 in September, and are 7.7 percent lower than a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $246,800, down 5.4 percent from September 2007.
Call or Email me with any questions about the market in your area. Have a Great Week.
on Approved Affordability
WASHINGTON, October 24, 2008
Existing-home sales increased last month as buyers responded to improved housing affordability conditions, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 5.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of 5.18 million units in September from a level of 4.91 million in August, and are 1.4 percent higher than the 5.11 million-unit pace in September 2007.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said more markets are seeing year-over-year gains. “The sales turnaround which began in California several months ago is broadening now to Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Rhode Island,” he said. “The South was hampered by much lower home sales in Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.”
NAR President Richard F. Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif., said low home prices and low interest rates have been attracting buyers. “This is the first time since November 2005 that home sales have been above year-ago levels,” he said. “Credit tightened at the end of September, but the improvement demonstrates that buyers who’ve been on the sidelines want to get into the market to make a long-term investment in their future.”
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.04 percent in September from 6.48 percent in August; the rate was 6.38 percent in September 2007.
Yun said there may be market disruptions. “The credit markets are not settled yet, although the mortgage market stabilized with the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Inventory remains high, and price declines are pressuring owners,” he said. “Additional housing stimulus would stabilize prices more quickly, which in turn would bring faster stability to Wall Street. Removing the repayment feature on the first-time buyer tax credit and permanently raising loan limits would bring more buyers into the market and further reduce inventory.”
Total housing inventory at the end of September fell 1.6 percent to 4.27 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.9-month supply² at the current sales pace, down from a 10.6-month supply in August. This marks two consecutive monthly declines since inventories peaked in July.
The national median existing-home price3 for all housing types was $191,600 in September, down 9.0 percent from a year ago when the median was $210,500. “Compared to a fairly small share of foreclosures or short sales a year ago, distressed sales are currently 35 to 40 percent of transactions. These are pulling the median price down because many are being sold at discounted prices,” Yun explained. “The current market is not being dominated by speculative investors. Rather, 80 percent of current buyers are purchasing a primary residence, which is a bit higher than historic norms.”
Single-family home sales increased 6.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million in September from a pace of 4.35 million in August, and are 3.8 percent above the 4.45 million-unit level a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $190,600 in September, which is 8.6 percent below September 2007.
Existing condominium and co-op sales were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 560,000 units in September, but are 15.7 percent below the 664,000-unit pace in September 2007. The median existing condo price4 was $199,400 in September, down 10.2 percent from a year ago.
Regionally, existing-home sales in the West jumped 16.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.25 million in September, and are 34.4 percent higher than September 2007. The median price in the West was $253,600, down 18.5 percent from a year ago.
In the Midwest, existing-home sales increased 4.4 percent to an annual pace of 1.19 million in September, but are 2.5 percent below a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $152,500, which is 7.9 percent lower than September 2007.
Existing-home sales in the South rose 2.2 percent in September to a pace of 1.90 million but remain 7.8 percent below September 2007. The median price in the South was $167,200, down 4.1 percent from a year ago.
In the Northeast, existing-home sales slipped 1.2 percent to an annual pace of 840,000 in September, and are 7.7 percent lower than a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $246,800, down 5.4 percent from September 2007.
Call or Email me with any questions about the market in your area. Have a Great Week.
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