All the Real Estate News That’s Fit to RE-Print™
All the Real Estate News
That’s Fit to RE-Print™
Welcome to our weekly edition of Real Estate Investing News This Week. Here are the real estate news highlights:
According to a recent report by RealtyTrac, Single-family home flipping is on the rise and profits are soaring.
Builder confidence is rising, Corelogic says the U.S. is not experiencing a housing bubble, and housing starts are up 10.4 percent year-over-year
We hope these real estate news items help you stay up-to-date with your real estate investing strategies and inspire some profitable real estate deals for you.
Single Family Home Flipping Increases 19% While Profits Soar
On Wednesday, RealtyTrac® released its Midyear 2013 Home Flipping Report, which shows 136,184 single family home flips — where a home is purchased and subsequently sold again within six months — in the first half of 2013, up 19 percent from a year ago and up 74 percent from the first half of 2011.
The report also shows that real estate investors made an average gross profit of $18,391 on single family home flips in the first half of the year, a 9 percent gross return on the initial purchase price. That was up 246 percent from an average gross return of $5,321 in the first half of 2012 and an average loss of -$13,206 in the first half of 2011.
RealtyTrac’s Top 15 Markets for Profitable Home Flipping
Administration Warns Delinquencies Remain High Despite Decreases
By Esther Cho:
“Foreclosures and mortgage delinquencies may be declining, but that doesn’t mean the industry should let its guard down. In the Obama Administration’s latest housing scorecard, which provides an overview of the housing market based on private and public sector data, officials continued to warn of a “fragile” recovery despite improvements.
Recently, Lender Processing Services reported delinquencies have fallen 43 percent from their 2010 peak, while RealtyTrac found foreclosure starts decreased 45 percent year-over-year in June.
‘….[W]e remain cautious because although mortgage delinquencies are trending down, they still remain quite high compared to historic norms,’ said Kurt Usowski, assistant secretary for economic affairs at HUD.”
Builder Confidence Rises as Buyers Gain Motivation
By Megan Hopkins:
“For the third consecutive month, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index experienced a monthly gain. In July, the index rose six points from June to 57, representing the strongest reading since January of 2006.
‘Today’s report is particularly encouraging in that it shows improvement in builder confidence across every region as well as solid gains in current sales conditions, traffic of prospective buyers and sales expectations for the next six months,’ noted NAHB Chairman Rick Judson….”
Corelogic Concludes the U.S. is Not Experiencing a Housing Bubble
On Tuesday, CoreLogic® released its July MarketPulse Report. Key Findings include:
Housing affordability is near its height.
- According to CoreLogic the market is not experiencing a housing bubble, and the rise in mortgage rates will help to prevent one in the future.
- Housing affordability is near its height due to historically low interest rates and home prices.
- According to the housing affordability index, all but two states are affordable today, and most states are near their recent affordability high points.
- Cash sales peaked above 40 percent two years ago and are slowly receding.
- Cash sales are one of the drivers behind the rapid house price recovery.
For a full copy of the July CoreLogic MarketPulse report, including a complete set of data and charts, visit visit the MarketPulse page.
Housing Starts Drop as Interest Rates Rise
By Megan Hopkins:
“New home starts on private residences have been up and down over the past few months, but dropped 9.9% from the revised May estimate of 928,000, reaching only 836,000 in June.
However, housing starts year-over-year increased 10.4% from the June 2012 rate of 757,000, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.”