Huizenprijzen VS dalen met 12,4% in Q4

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Home prices in record plunge
National Association of Realtors reports that home prices dropped a record 12.4% in the final quarter of 2008 - the biggest decline in 30 years.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Home prices fell 12.4% during the fourth quarter of 2008, the largest year-over-year decline since the National Association of Realtors began keeping comprehensive records in 1979.

The median price for a U.S. home sold during the fourth quarter of 2008 fell to $180,100, down from $205,700 during the last quarter of 2007.

Prices fell by a record 9.5% in 2008, to $197,100, compared to $217,900 in 2007. In comparison, median home prices dipped a mere 1.6% between 2006 and 2007.

Distressed properties, the foreclosures and short sales that have flooded the market, accounted for 45% of all deals. That has driven sales volume up in Nevada, California and other states hit hard by foreclosures, but these heavily discounted homes have also pushed median prices down.

"People are responding to discounted prices and are slowly absorbing the excess inventory," said NAR President Charles McMillan. "Buyers clearly see value in today's pricing."

Pain is widespread
The vast majority of metropolitan areas, 134 out of 153, recorded price declines compared with the last quarter of 2007.

"Home markets are weak just about everywhere," said Pat Newport, an analyst with HIS Global Insight, "but in a few states, distressed sales are driving transactions."

In Cape Coral-Ft. Myers, Fla., which has the third highest rate of foreclosure filings in the nation, prices fell a devastating 50.8% for the year, to $110,900 from $225,300. That was the most precipitous plunge for any metro area.

In Saginaw, Mich., prices fell 41.4%; Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., prices dropped 40.8%; and San Jose, Calif., prices declined 37.7%.

The Beaumont-Port Arthur area of Texas bucked the national trend. Its median home price jumped 16.7% to $132,600 - the highest increase in the nation. Other winners included Bloomington, Ill., up 9.6%; Dover, Del., up 6.5%; and Bismarck, M.D., up 6%.

The high number of distressed sales pushed prices down for several reasons, according to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR. For one thing, many sales were in low- and moderate-income housing developments where buyers during the boom years financed their purchases using subprime mortgages. In higher-end areas, fewer exotic mortgages were used.

"Take Orange County, Calif.," said Yun. "It's the lower priced areas there where homes are selling. The high priced areas along the coast are not." As a result, the median home sales price for the area skews lower.

And the high number of foreclosures means banks are willing to slash prices deeply to move inventory. Many of the properties they've obtained through repossessions now sit vacant, soaking up lender money for maintenance, heating, property taxes and insurance. The banks willingly take lower prices to end those cash outlays, which brings down prices even for normal sellers.

Then there's also what Yun calls a "frozen" jumbo-mortgage lending market, which has also slowed sales of higher priced homes and reduced median prices.

The good news is that bargain prices are bringing many new buyers into the market. "Many are first-time homebuyers who were priced out of the market during the boom," Yun said.

Stimulus help
NAR is hoping a piece of the stimulus bill before Congress will build on that momentum and provide an extra incentive for buyers.

"Assuming housing provisions in the economic stimulus package are quickly enacted and provide enough encouragement for homebuyers, we could see a quick lift in home sales for the critical spring home-buying season," said Yun.

On Thursday, it appeared that the final iteration of the homebuyer's tax credit, which had very different provisions in the House and Senate versions of the stimulus package, was shaping up to be closer to the House bill, according to Yun.

That means a credit of $7,500, perhaps $8,000, or 10% of home price for first-time homebuyers. This windfall will not have to be repaid by homebuyers and can be taken off 2008 taxes. NAR estimates that could draw in an additional half million buyers this year.

"It could help reduce the high inventory of homes for sale," said Yun, "and get housing markets moving again. It's hard to get the economy back to growth until that happened."

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Op donderdag 12 februari 2009 23:03 schreef sitting_elfling het volgende:
Zo verschrikkelijk gek kijk ik er niet van op om heel eerlijk te zijn. Het was immers ook flink overgewaardeerd.

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Citi, JPMorgan temporarily halt foreclosures
Banks announce weeks-long moratoria on foreclosures as the government works out a rescue plan for homeowners.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup Inc. announced plans Friday to temporarily halt foreclosures as the government works to finalize the details of a financial rescue package that could include billions of dollars in aid for struggling homeowners.

The announcements come as regulators and lawmakers have stepped up pressure on financial institutions to suspend foreclosures until the plan comes out.

Vikram Pandit, Citi's (C, Fortune 500) chief executive, and Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan's (JPM, Fortune 500) CEO, both indicated their willingness to suspend foreclosures during testimony before Congress Wednesday.

Citi said the moratorium is effective Feb. 12 and will remain in place until March 12, or until the Obama Administration finalizes the details of its loan modification program, whichever comes first, the bank said.

The suspension will apply to home loans on a borrower's principal residence and to loans serviced by Citi in cases where an understanding has been reached with the investor.

In a letter to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chair of the House Financial Services Committee, Dimon said JPMorgan has initiated a foreclosure moratorium through March 6, which would extend a program the bank announced last year.

"We believe three weeks is adequate time for the Treasury to announce - and for us to implement - a new plan," Dimon said.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Tuesday outlined the Administration's priorities for the second half of the $700 billion allocated under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which includes spending $50 billion on foreclosure relief.

However, the details of that plan have yet to be worked out.

Geithner and Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan have been meeting with banks, housing advocates and trade organizations this week to listen to their foreclosure prevention proposals.

Among the proposals being discussed: requiring homeowners to take an affordability test and undergo a re-appraisal to see if they are eligible for a government subsidy. Regulators are also looking into more efficient ways to modify loans for borrowers already in default.

"We stand ready to work with you [Frank] to put the appropriate processes in place, including a national modification standard, to reduce the incidence of foreclosure and to encourage long-term, sustainable home mortgages," Dimon wrote.

In November, Citi announced a Homeownership Assistance Program, which was aimed at helping 500,000 Citi borrowers with mortgages worth about $20 billion stay in their homes.

Under that plan, borrowers needed to have "sufficient income" and be "making a good faith effort" to repay their loans to qualify for assistance, said Steve Silverman, a Citi spokesman. The current moratorium lifts those restrictions, he said.

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Op vrijdag 13 februari 2009 10:49 schreef Misanthroopia het volgende:
45% van alle verkochte woningen zijn dus woningen van mensen die hun hypotheek niet meer konden betalen (de oorzaak van de kredietcrisis) en soortgelijke deals. Deze woningen worden niet via een makelaar verkocht, maar ergens achteraf op een veilling waar ze veel minder opbrengen.

Dit is incidenteel, niet structureel. De bestaande housing stock zal m.i. misschien een beetje in prijs dalen maar echt geen 12%.

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Op vrijdag 13 februari 2009 22:46 schreef Boris_Karloff het volgende:

[..]

Ze kunnen ook weinig anders, die huizen raken ze anders sowieso aan de straatstenen niet kwijt.

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Home prices in record drop
S&P Case-Shiller national index down 18.2% in final three months of 2008.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Home prices declined at a record pace around the nation in the final three months of 2008, according to an industry report released Tuesday.

The S&P Case-Shiller National Home Price Index reported that prices sank a record 18.2% during the last three months of 2008, compared with the same period in 2007.

Case-Shiller's index of 20 major metropolitan areas fell 18.5%, also a record.

"The broad downturn in the residential real estate market continues," said David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's, in a statement. "There are very few, if any, pockets of turnaround that one can see in the data."

All 20 metro areas in the 20-city index recorded declines, with home prices falling more than 20% in eight of those cities. National home prices have dropped 26.7% since they peaked during the second quarter of 2006.

The decline does not seem to be slowing - just the opposite. The average home price dropped 2.52% between November and December in the 20 top metro areas. That was a larger increase than the 2.25% drop a month earlier.

"The deterioration in U.S. home prices continues apace, with the rate of decline picking up steam late last year," said Mike Larson, an analyst with Weiss Research."Rising foreclosure activity is putting pressure on prices, as lenders are increasingly pursuing a 'take what we can get' selling strategy."

Sun Belt cities suffered the worst declines, with Phoenix down 34%, Las Vegas off 33% and San Francisco lower by 31.2%. Denver fared best, down 4%, while Dallas was lower by 4.3% and Cleveland slid 6.1%.

Of the nation's three largest housing markets, New York home prices dipped by 9.2%, prices in Los Angeles dropped by 26.4% and Chicago prices declined 14.3%.

Despite the drop in home prices, which has given affordability a big boost, the pace of home sales continues very weak. Existing homes have been selling at an annualized rate of fewer than 5 million, down more than 40% from the peak.

New home sales, at an annualized rate of about 331,000, are at their lowest level since the Census Bureau began keeping records back in 1963.

The worst may be yet to come, according to Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, an investment firm specializing in overseas investments and a noted bear on home prices.

"Prices are going to continue to fall," he said. "They have to reflect economic reality."

That reality includes stock prices down to their lowest level in nearly 12 years. "Where would real estate prices be if they went back to where they were 12 years ago?" said Schiff.

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How's this for odds: If you have a house in Las Vegas, there's a 58% chance you owe more on your mortgage than the place is worth.