By Renae Merle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 23, 2009; 12:43 PM
Existing home sales jumped 9.4 percent in September to their highest level in two years, fueled by first-time home buyers pouncing on cheap prices and an $8,000 tax credit, according to industry data released Friday morning.
Sales of existing homes, including condos and single-family residences, reached an annual rate of 5.57 million units in September, their highest level since July 2007, according to the National Association of Realtors. That is better than what analysts were expecting and up 9.2 percent from the same period a year ago.
Sales were up throughout the country. In the South, which includes the Washington region, sales rose 9 percent last month.
"Much of the momentum is from people responding to the first-time buyer tax credit, which is freeing many sellers to make a trade and buy another home," Lawrence Yun, the group's chief economist, said in a statement.
The $8,000 tax credit expires at the end of next month, and industry lobbyists are pushing Congress to extend and expand the program. Without it, the sales momentum could be derailed before the housing sector can make a substantial recovery, the industry argues.
"We would expect higher sales levels to persist through October and into November before collapsing in December if the credit is not extended," Adam G. York, an economist for Wells Fargo, said in a research note.
But some analysts have questioned whether the pickup in sales is being fueled by the tax credit or falling home prices and low interest rates. The tax credit may be pushing some potential buyers to purchase homes earlier than they otherwise would have, rather than generating new sales, they say.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Maine's New Down Payment Assistance Program
AUGUSTA – MaineHousing current popular Gift of Green promotion ends November 30, but the agency will have a new promotion in place to help first-time homebuyers with their down payment and closing costs, MaineHousing Director Dale McCormick said.
Eligible homebuyers need to act quickly if they want to take advantage of the current Gift of Green offer before it changes, said McCormick. Borrowers must have their loan reserved with one of MaineHousing’s participating lenders by November 30 to qualify.
The current Gift of Green promotion provides MaineHousing borrowers with a grant of up to four percent of their mortgage, to a maximum of $5,000, to help pay for the down payment and closing costs on the home they are buying. It also provides them with a coupon for a home energy audit worth up to $500.
“Beginning December 1, our revised Gift of Green promotion will provide all MaineHousing borrowers with a flat amount ? $2,500 ? to help with down payment and closing costs,” said McCormick. “It also will continue providing the $500 gift coupon for home energy audits.”
McCormick noted that about 800 Maine families have used or are using the Gift of Green program to buy their first home, well over the goal of 500 homes MaineHousing set when the program started in mid-June.
She credited strong support for the program from partners such as the Maine Association of Realtors, the Maine Association of Community Banks, and the Maine Credit Union League as one reason for the program’s success.
“This has been the most successful homeownership promotion we ever have offered,” McCormick said. “It came at a very crucial time to help stimulate Maine’s housing market and get potential homebuyers off the fence.”
Eligible homebuyers need to act quickly if they want to take advantage of the current Gift of Green offer before it changes, said McCormick. Borrowers must have their loan reserved with one of MaineHousing’s participating lenders by November 30 to qualify.
The current Gift of Green promotion provides MaineHousing borrowers with a grant of up to four percent of their mortgage, to a maximum of $5,000, to help pay for the down payment and closing costs on the home they are buying. It also provides them with a coupon for a home energy audit worth up to $500.
“Beginning December 1, our revised Gift of Green promotion will provide all MaineHousing borrowers with a flat amount ? $2,500 ? to help with down payment and closing costs,” said McCormick. “It also will continue providing the $500 gift coupon for home energy audits.”
McCormick noted that about 800 Maine families have used or are using the Gift of Green program to buy their first home, well over the goal of 500 homes MaineHousing set when the program started in mid-June.
She credited strong support for the program from partners such as the Maine Association of Realtors, the Maine Association of Community Banks, and the Maine Credit Union League as one reason for the program’s success.
“This has been the most successful homeownership promotion we ever have offered,” McCormick said. “It came at a very crucial time to help stimulate Maine’s housing market and get potential homebuyers off the fence.”
Thursday, September 17, 2009
U.S. Housing Starts, Permits at 9 Month High
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New U.S. housing starts and permits rose in August to their highest level in nine months and the number of people filing of unemployment benefits fell last week, evidence a solid economic recovery was underway.
The Commerce Department said on Thursday housing starts rose 1.5 percent from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 598,000 units.
Groundbreaking for single-family homes, fell 3 percent in August to an annual rate of 479,000 units, after five straight monthly increases. Starts for the volatile multifamily segment jumped 25.3 percent to a 119,000 annual pace, reversing the previous month's slump.
Compared to August last year, housing starts declined 29.6 percent. The housing market, the main trigger of the worst U.S. recession in seven decades, is showing steady signs of healing and analysts expect activity in the sector to contribute to gross domestic product growth this quarter.
A survey on Wednesday showed confidence among U.S. home builders reached its highest level in 16 months in September, which bodes well for future home construction.
New building permits, which give a sense of future home construction, climbed 2.7 percent to 579,000 units in August. That compared to analysts' forecasts for 580,000 units. Compared to the same period a year-ago, building permits fell 32.4 percent.
The inventory of total houses under construction fell to a record low 595,000 units in August, the department said, while the total number of permits authorized but not yet started also hit an all-time trough of 99,000 units.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani and Alister Bull; Editing by Neil Stempleman)
The Commerce Department said on Thursday housing starts rose 1.5 percent from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 598,000 units.
Groundbreaking for single-family homes, fell 3 percent in August to an annual rate of 479,000 units, after five straight monthly increases. Starts for the volatile multifamily segment jumped 25.3 percent to a 119,000 annual pace, reversing the previous month's slump.
Compared to August last year, housing starts declined 29.6 percent. The housing market, the main trigger of the worst U.S. recession in seven decades, is showing steady signs of healing and analysts expect activity in the sector to contribute to gross domestic product growth this quarter.
A survey on Wednesday showed confidence among U.S. home builders reached its highest level in 16 months in September, which bodes well for future home construction.
New building permits, which give a sense of future home construction, climbed 2.7 percent to 579,000 units in August. That compared to analysts' forecasts for 580,000 units. Compared to the same period a year-ago, building permits fell 32.4 percent.
The inventory of total houses under construction fell to a record low 595,000 units in August, the department said, while the total number of permits authorized but not yet started also hit an all-time trough of 99,000 units.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani and Alister Bull; Editing by Neil Stempleman)
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Home Sales Jump In July
SOUTH PORTLAND (August 21, 2009) - For a second consecutive month, Maine’s home
sales are on the rise. According to the Maine Real Estate Information System, Inc. (MREIS),
1,154 single-family existing homes sold last month - up 11.82 percent from July 2008. The
median sales price (MSP) for those homes decreased 13.8 percent to $165,500, compared
with July 2008. The median sales price indicates that half of the homes were sold for more
and half sold for less.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports a five percent nationwide existing home
sales increase in July. The national MSP dropped 14.6 percent to $178,300. In the regional
Northeast, home sales rose 3.3 percent and the regional median MSP decreased 15 percent to
$236,700.
REALTOR® Jeff Wooster of Lynam Real Estate Agency in Bar Harbor says, “If you are
looking for the bottom of the Maine real estate market, you may have missed it. Existing
home sales are up again this month and inventory is declining. Buyers are back in the market
and real estate is climbing out.”
sales are on the rise. According to the Maine Real Estate Information System, Inc. (MREIS),
1,154 single-family existing homes sold last month - up 11.82 percent from July 2008. The
median sales price (MSP) for those homes decreased 13.8 percent to $165,500, compared
with July 2008. The median sales price indicates that half of the homes were sold for more
and half sold for less.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports a five percent nationwide existing home
sales increase in July. The national MSP dropped 14.6 percent to $178,300. In the regional
Northeast, home sales rose 3.3 percent and the regional median MSP decreased 15 percent to
$236,700.
REALTOR® Jeff Wooster of Lynam Real Estate Agency in Bar Harbor says, “If you are
looking for the bottom of the Maine real estate market, you may have missed it. Existing
home sales are up again this month and inventory is declining. Buyers are back in the market
and real estate is climbing out.”
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Maine a Leader in Home Sales Recovery
Northeast home sales are poised for a big spring bounce
In the latest sign of a bottoming real estate market, the National Association of Realtors said June 2 that its seasonally-adjusted index of sales contracts signed jumped for the third straight month, surging 6.7% in April compared to March and 3.2% compared to April 2008. It was the biggest monthly gain since October 2001 and the first year-over-year gain since August.
Pending home sales are considered a leading indicator because sales are typically finalized a month or two after contracts are signed.
Interestingly, the Northeast appears to be heading for a big bounce in home sales. The Pending Home Sales Index in the Northeast (made up of New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) rose 32.6% from March and 0.8% from April 2008. Of course, not all of those contracts will lead to sales because mortgages can fall through and some contracts are contingent on a buyer selling a home elsewhere.
The Realtor group doesn’t breakdown the statewide pending home data but spokesman Walter Moloney told me that Maine, Rhode Island, and parts of New Jersey are beginning to “recover.”
It seems that the federal government’s $8,000 tax incentive for first-time buyers is working.
Vincent Valvo, group publisher The Warren Group, which puts out housing reports on New England, said first-time buyers are likely using the federal credit to buy foreclosed homes and other deeply-discounted properties.
But the activity does not yet constitute “such a wave that it will overcome all the housing problems we’ve had,” he said. “But it is better than it was.”
The state associations usually don’t track pending sales. But the Massachusetts Association of Realtors has just started collecting that data, though it doesn’t adjust for seasonal variations. For what it’s worth, single-family pending sales in Massachusetts increased 18.4% in April compared March but declined 8.5% compared to a year earlier.
In the latest sign of a bottoming real estate market, the National Association of Realtors said June 2 that its seasonally-adjusted index of sales contracts signed jumped for the third straight month, surging 6.7% in April compared to March and 3.2% compared to April 2008. It was the biggest monthly gain since October 2001 and the first year-over-year gain since August.
Pending home sales are considered a leading indicator because sales are typically finalized a month or two after contracts are signed.
Interestingly, the Northeast appears to be heading for a big bounce in home sales. The Pending Home Sales Index in the Northeast (made up of New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) rose 32.6% from March and 0.8% from April 2008. Of course, not all of those contracts will lead to sales because mortgages can fall through and some contracts are contingent on a buyer selling a home elsewhere.
The Realtor group doesn’t breakdown the statewide pending home data but spokesman Walter Moloney told me that Maine, Rhode Island, and parts of New Jersey are beginning to “recover.”
It seems that the federal government’s $8,000 tax incentive for first-time buyers is working.
Vincent Valvo, group publisher The Warren Group, which puts out housing reports on New England, said first-time buyers are likely using the federal credit to buy foreclosed homes and other deeply-discounted properties.
But the activity does not yet constitute “such a wave that it will overcome all the housing problems we’ve had,” he said. “But it is better than it was.”
The state associations usually don’t track pending sales. But the Massachusetts Association of Realtors has just started collecting that data, though it doesn’t adjust for seasonal variations. For what it’s worth, single-family pending sales in Massachusetts increased 18.4% in April compared March but declined 8.5% compared to a year earlier.
Pending Home Sales Rise for 3rd Straight Month
By Phil Mintz
Contracts signed show a big jump, especially in the Northeast, another indicator the market may be bottoming.
Low interest rates and an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers helped push pending home sales up for the third month in a row, another indication that the decline in the real estate market may be stabilizing, the National Association of Realtors reported on June 2.
The group's Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in April, rose 6.7%, to 90.3 from a reading of 84.6 in March, and is 3.2% above April 2008, when it was 87.5, the group said. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters (TRI) had expected the index would edge up to 85 from a reading of 84.6 in March. It was the biggest monthly jump since October 2001.
Pending home sales activity was greatest in the Northeast, where the index increased 32.6%, to 78.9, in April, 0.8% above a year ago. The only region that showed a decrease was the South, where the index declined 0.2%, to 93.0, 3.5% higher than a year ago. In the Midwest the index rose 9.8%, to 90.4, and is 11.1% above April 2008. In the West the index rose 1.8%, to 94.8, but is 2.9% below a year ago.
Very Favorable Conditions
Lawrence Yun, the group's chief economist, said buyers are responding to very favorable market conditions, and while the total number of existing-home sales is expected to improve, there will be sharp local variations. "The market has already bottomed in some areas, but this is an unusual housing cycle with some areas improving rapidly while others languish or decline," Yun said in a news release.
Typically there is a one- to two-month lag between a contract and a done deal, so the index is a barometer for future existing-home sales.
Paul Dales, U.S. economist for Capital Economics in Toronto, said in a report that if the April increase in pending home sales is reflected fully in existing-home sales numbers, it would bring them to an annual rate of 5.1 million, a level last seen before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September.
"The pending home sales index has now improved for three months in a row, adding to the evidence that housing activity is finding a floor," Dales wrote. Nevertheless, even if existing-home sales were to rise to 5.1 million, they would still be 30% below their peak. Accordingly, even if activity is finding a floor, it is at staggeringly low levels."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Mintz is news editor for BusinessWeek.com in New York.
Contracts signed show a big jump, especially in the Northeast, another indicator the market may be bottoming.
Low interest rates and an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers helped push pending home sales up for the third month in a row, another indication that the decline in the real estate market may be stabilizing, the National Association of Realtors reported on June 2.
The group's Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in April, rose 6.7%, to 90.3 from a reading of 84.6 in March, and is 3.2% above April 2008, when it was 87.5, the group said. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters (TRI) had expected the index would edge up to 85 from a reading of 84.6 in March. It was the biggest monthly jump since October 2001.
Pending home sales activity was greatest in the Northeast, where the index increased 32.6%, to 78.9, in April, 0.8% above a year ago. The only region that showed a decrease was the South, where the index declined 0.2%, to 93.0, 3.5% higher than a year ago. In the Midwest the index rose 9.8%, to 90.4, and is 11.1% above April 2008. In the West the index rose 1.8%, to 94.8, but is 2.9% below a year ago.
Very Favorable Conditions
Lawrence Yun, the group's chief economist, said buyers are responding to very favorable market conditions, and while the total number of existing-home sales is expected to improve, there will be sharp local variations. "The market has already bottomed in some areas, but this is an unusual housing cycle with some areas improving rapidly while others languish or decline," Yun said in a news release.
Typically there is a one- to two-month lag between a contract and a done deal, so the index is a barometer for future existing-home sales.
Paul Dales, U.S. economist for Capital Economics in Toronto, said in a report that if the April increase in pending home sales is reflected fully in existing-home sales numbers, it would bring them to an annual rate of 5.1 million, a level last seen before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September.
"The pending home sales index has now improved for three months in a row, adding to the evidence that housing activity is finding a floor," Dales wrote. Nevertheless, even if existing-home sales were to rise to 5.1 million, they would still be 30% below their peak. Accordingly, even if activity is finding a floor, it is at staggeringly low levels."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Mintz is news editor for BusinessWeek.com in New York.
Monday, April 27, 2009
A New Look (For Our Website)
We have continued to make improvements to our website, which we would invite you to take a look at if you haven’t recently…www.WaterfrontPropertiesOfMaine.com.
A major change is that we have added some outstanding photos of the state of
Other recent improvements include “Interactive Maps” for each category of waterfront property, which lets you locate each listing on a map of Maine – and each listing now has a “Body of Water” button, which, when clicked, will give you extensive information on the lake, river or coastal area where the property is located.
Stay tuned for future improvements…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
