All the Real Estate News That’s Fit to RE-Print™

Welcome to our weekly edition of Hot Real Estate Investment News.
We’re getting more good news and optimism this week for the real estate market. The BIG news is in new housing construction…
Housing starts and permits jumped in September to their highest levels since July 2008. Existing home sales declined 1.7% but are still up 11% from last year. And there are predictions that 2013 will be a stronger year for short sales.
Here are the real estate investing related news items that caught our attention this past week. We hope they help you stay up-to-date with your real estate investment strategies and inspire some profitable real estate deals for you.

Home building surges to 4-year high

Chris Isidore with CNNMoney reports:
“The housing recovery blossomed in September, as the pace of home building surged to a four-year high, according to a government report issued Wednesday.
Builders started work at an annual pace of 872,000 homes last month, up 15% from the pace in August. They also filed for permits to build homes at an annual rate of 894,000, up 11.6% from the previous month.
Both readings were the best since the summer of 2008, before the meltdown in financial markets that caused home lending and building to freeze up.”
See also:

Housing starts jump to fastest pace in 4 years
“Groundbreaking on new U.S. homes surged in September to its fastest pace in more than four years, a sign the housing sector’s budding recovery is gaining traction and supporting the wider economic recovery.”
U.S. Housing Starts Surged By 15% To 872,000 In September
“U.S. housing starts surged by 15% to 872,000 units in September.  It was much stronger than the 770,000 expected by consensus and comes after the prior month was upwardly revised to a 758,000 unit rate (was 750,000 units).  Both components were stronger.”
September Housing Permits, Starts at 4-Year Highs
“Housing starts and permits jumped in September to their highest levels since July 2008, the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Wednesday.”

Ratings Agency Forecasts a Stronger Year for Short Sales in 2013

From Carrie Bay at DSnews.com:
“Even though the number of foreclosure filings has risen dramatically in recent months in some parts of the country—specifically in judicial states—the ratings agency DBRS expects total foreclosure filings to show evidence of a steady decline in 2013 when compared to 2012.
This is due to ‘the record number of servicers that are using short sales as their primary loss mitigation tool to prevent delinquent loans from entering foreclosure,’ the agency’s analysts said in a research note issued Monday.”

Existing home sales fall, but up 11% from last year

HousingWire’s Kerri Ann Panchuk reports:
“The National Association of Realtors said existing-home sales declined 1.7% from August to September, with 4.75 million units sold last month, down from 4.83 million in August. Still, September numbers are up 11% from the 4.28 million units sold a year ago.
Overall, real estate is performing better than it was in 2011 with September home prices recording their seventh consecutive month of year-over-year increases, NAR said.”

U.S. Home Values Fall Slightly in August After Nine Consecutive Months of Increases

From Zillow’s Stan Humphries:
“Zillow’s August Real Estate Market Reports, released today, show that home values decreased 0.1 percent to $152,100 from July to August (Figure 1). This is the first monthly decline after nine consecutive months of appreciation. This year has seen a turnaround in the housing market with sustained appreciation that, at times, has been very strong.