All the Real Estate News That’s Fit to RE-Print™
Welcome to our weekly edition of Real Estate Investing News This Week. Here’s the best of this week’s real estate news:
- Fewer Homes “Deeply” Underwater
- Foreclosure Inventory Is Down 34%
- Home Prices Rise by 11.8%
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.
Fewer Homes “Deeply” Underwater
19% of properties with a mortgage are more than 25% underwater.
On Thursday, RealtyTrac® released its U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report for December 2013, which shows that 9.3 million U.S. residential properties were deeply underwater — where the combined loan amount secured by the property is at least 25 percent higher than the property’s estimated market value — representing 19 percent of all properties with a mortgage in December.
That was down from 10.7 million residential properties deeply underwater in September 2013, representing 23 percent of all properties with a mortgage, and down from 10.9 million properties deeply underwater in January 2013, representing 26 percent of all properties with a mortgage.
The universe of equity-rich properties — with at least 50 percent equity — grew during the fourth quarter as well, from 7.4 million representing 16 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage in September, to 9.1 million representing 18 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage in December.
U.S. Foreclosure Inventory Down 34 Percent
—Shadow inventory falls to 1.7 million – lowest level since August 2008—
On Thursday, CoreLogic® released its November National Foreclosure Report. According to CoreLogic analysis:
- There were 46,000 completed foreclosures in the United States in November 2013, down from 64,000 in November 2012, a year-over-year decrease of 29 percent.
- National residential shadow inventory was 1.7 million homes as of October 2013, accounting for a value of $256 billion, which is down 26.4 percent from $348 billion a year ago.
- As of November 2013, approximately 812,000 homes in the United States were in some stage of foreclosure, known as the foreclosure inventory, compared to 1.2 million in November 2012, a year-over-year decrease of 34 percent.
Download the November Corelogic Foreclosure Report here >>>
CoreLogic Reports Home Prices Rise by 11.8 Percent
On Tuesday, CoreLogic® released its November CoreLogic Home Price Index report. Year over year, home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 11.8 percent in November 2013 compared to November 2012.
This change represents the 21st consecutive monthly year-over-year increase in home prices nationally.
“On a year-over-year basis, home prices have appreciated every month in 2013. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia are now at or within 10 percent of their peaks,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “The outlook for 2014 looks a bit less robust as regulatory complexities and tight credit can be expected to cool the housing market.”
Download the November CoreLogic Home Price Index report here >>>
S&P Ratings U.S. Housing 2014 Outlook
“U.S. housing made a strong comeback in 2013. Home prices nationally have risen roughly 12%, which is in line with our original forecast early in the year of 11%. Overall, we expect a 6% increase in the S&P Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index in 2014.
While historical annual increases are more in the 4%-5% range, a continued rebound in prices from the 35% trough in 2012 is well complemented with an outlook for positive economic momentum in 2014.”