All the Real Estate News That’s Fit to RE-Print™
Welcome to our weekly edition of Hot Real Estate Investment News.
New this week:
- Home builders are more confident than they have been in six years.
- August existing home sales rose 7.8 percent.
- Home inventory dipped 29.7 percent below levels from August 2011.
- Economists are far more bullish on the future of housing prices.
Here are the details about real estate investing related news items that caught our attention this past week…
Home Builders Bullish for Fifth Straight Month
Home builders and economists are bullish on the real estate market.
CNBC Real Estate Reporter, Diana Olick, reports:
“The nation’s once-beleaguered home builders are more confident than they have been in six years.
A surge in new orders for homes, especially among the big public builders, pushed builder sentiment on an industry survey up three points to the highest level since June of 2006.
The National Association of Home Builders confidence survey now stands at 40, although 50 is still the line between positive and negative. This is a vast improvement from where it was just one year ago: 14.”
Existing Home Sales at 27-Month High in August
From Mark Lieberman at DSnews.com:
“Existing home sales rose 7.8 percent to 4.82 million in August – the highest level since May 2010 – the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday. The median price of an existing single-family home in August was $187,400, down $400 from July but up $16,200 or 9.5 percent from August 2011.”
Home Prices Up Yearly, Inventory Down Nearly 30%: RE/MAX
Ryan Schuette from DSnews.com reports:
“Home prices skimmed close to the bottom during July this year but climbed 6.3 percent year-over-year by August, according to RE/MAX….
According to RE/MAX, home inventory dipped 29.7 percent below levels from August last year – a trend that the company report says remains a serious challenge to this recovery.”
Economists Far More Optimistic on Future of Housing Prices: Survey
From Tony Barringer at DSnews.com:
“A strengthening housing market in the past few months has economists making more bullish predictions about the recovery, Zillow revealed Thursday.
The company released the results of its most recent Home Price Expectations Survey, showing that economists surveyed expect home prices to rise by a total of 2.3 percent during 2012. This change in sentiment is a major turnaround from June, when respondents predicted home prices would experience a net decline this year.”