Archive for May, 2011
National house prices fell 2.5% in the first quarter from the previous period, the largest quarterly drop since the last three months of 2008, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
The FHFA analyzes the mortgage records for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to track average house price changes. Over the past year, prices fell 5.5%.
In March, prices dropped 0.3% from the prior month and remain almost 20% below the peak in April 2007.
For the first quarter, prices dropped in 43 states and in all nine Census Bureau divisions. All 25 of the metro areas tracked by the FHFA experienced drops during the quarter ,as well. The steepest came in the San Diego area, where prices fell more than 7% in the quarter.
Several house price indices across the country have already called a double-dip in the housing market as the inventory of distressed and vacant properties lingers.
For a breakdown of the state price changes see the chart below.
"In many local real estate markets, particularly those hit hard by this cycle, foreclosures and other distressed properties are still a key factor in recorded and anticipated future sales and may be delaying price stability or recovery. Fortunately, serious delinquency rates also are declining," said FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco.
Write to Jon Prior.
Follow him on Twitter @JonAPrior.
State attorneys general told five of the nation's largest banks on Tuesday they face a potential liability of at least $17 billion in civil lawsuits if a settlement isn't reached to address improper foreclosure practices, according to people familiar with the matter.
The figure doesn't cover additional billions of dollars in potential claims from federal agencies such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Justice Department. State and federal officials haven't proposed a specific comprehensive settlement figure, but Tuesday's discussions represented the first effort to formally quantify potential liability.
Housing reports on April are terrible.
This is topped off with the Federal Housing Finance Agency report that housing prices posted the largest quarterly decline since the fourth quarter of 2008. Only three states saw house prices appreciate in the first quarter of 2011: Alaska, North Dakota and West Virginia. Depressing.
An article by Bloomberg earlier Wednesday also weighed in on negative sentiment: "Dollar Unloved by Bond Managers Enticed by Emerging Markets." Or as Marketplace Radio correspondent Heidi Moore tweeted succinctly: "Bond managers are dissing the U.S. dollar."
Moore is right in her interpretation of the Bloomberg piece. And I, for one, am getting a little tired of all of this disrespect going around, especially after looking at Rep. Patrick McHenry's (R-N.C.) Facebook page (h/t Nick Timiraos of The Wall Street Journal).
Clearly we need some good news.
A web conference from Investment Property Databank, a independent global property analytics firm, Wednesday offered exactly that.
IPD looked at property investments in a very singular way by charting the rate of return. It's a great barometer, and it answers a fundamental question for fund mangers: How much will it earn?
To be sure, the last few years were not so great, with a backward slide again in 2010 (see IPD chart below).
Well, globally, the consensus from the participants of web conference is for bullish investment in various real estate segments this year. One commentator predicted a boom in multi-family performance, followed by the office sector.
"The U.S. is going to have a great year in 2011, in terms of returns," said another.
All are taking overweight positions in the U.S. in their global property portfolios, they said, in order to maximize returns.
Just thought we needed some good news.
Write to Jacob Gaffney.
Follow him on Twitter @JacobGaffney.
Tags: Bloomberg, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Heidi Moore, housing prices, IPD
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