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Pricey Manhattan homes are moving again

A year ago, Manhattan homeowners lived within the firm grasp of the worst recession in 70 years. A skyrocketing real estate market seemed ready to come back to Earth, as carnage in the financial services industry – which spread to just about every other business – decimated incomes and net worths throughout the city.

From the second quarter to the third, this year, the sale of co-ops and apartments spiked between 46% and 69% according to several reports from the real estate business. Sales are still lower than last year, but the recovery has been nothing short of amazing (to the chagrin of those of us who had dreams of one day moving up from the rental class).

Prudential Douglas Elliman reported a price increase of almost 2% from the second quarter, though the median was down 8% to 18% from last year – to the $760,000 to $850,000 range. Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of Miller Samuel Inc., a real estate appraisal and consulting firm, calls this good news, but cautions that it doesn't mean we're at the bottom.

Continue reading Pricey Manhattan homes are moving again

Mortgage applications jump

mortgage applicationsIn another sign that the housing market may be emerging from its slump, applications for mortgages rose last week by a nice 12.8 percent.

The news comes from the Mortgage Bankers Association which stated that its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications rose to 668.5, which is the highest that the index has read since back on May 22.

Continue reading Mortgage applications jump

Madoff mansion moves for more than asking price

Disgraced Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff's (former) Montauk, Long Island home is no longer on the market. A buyer willing to pay more than the $8.75 million asking price has picked up the property, only two weeks after the U.S. Marshals Service listed it for sale.

Anne Lacombe, spokeswoman for the Corcoran Group, a real estate broker involved in the transaction, said the home was under contract for more than asking but did not have information on the exact amount, buyer or closing date, according to the Associated Press.

Continue reading Madoff mansion moves for more than asking price

Tell-tale stat: Manhattan apartment rents continue to fall

The U.S. housing market may be starting to turn, but in Manhattan, at least in the rental market, renters still have the upper hand.

Manhattan apartment rents fell as much as 10% in August, on a year-over-year basis, according to data compiled by the Real Estate Group of New York, with concessions by owners widespread, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.

Continue reading Tell-tale stat: Manhattan apartment rents continue to fall

New home sales rise in July

july 2009 new home salesJuly was a good month for new home sales, which saw an increase of 9.6 percent during the month.

Before we look at the good news, let's cover the bad news first. Even with the jump in sales in July, new home sales are still well below their peak four years ago. In fact, new home sales are 69 percent below their peaks when the housing market was at its best.

Continue reading New home sales rise in July

Ray of light: July existing home sales hint at a price bottom

U.S. existing home sales rose 7.2% in July to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate to 5.24 million units, the National Association of Realtors announced Friday. It was the fourth straight monthly rise.

However, the best news in the data was not so much the sales uptrend, as it was the apparent bottoming of the price downtrend: at minimum, the rate of decline is abating. Don't misunderstand: prices are still lower, on a year-over-year basis, but there are signs of stabilization.

Continue reading Ray of light: July existing home sales hint at a price bottom

Homebuilder confidence hits 12 month high

homebuilder confidence hits 1 year highHomebuilder confidence hit a 1 year high today, providing another sign that the worst of the housing melt down may have passed.

The housing market started to crumble back in 2006, and since that time foreclosures and falling home prices have hit the economy hard, and played a major role in the recession that has effected millions. Today the The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo confidence index climbed to 18, the highest level that it has been since June 2008.

Continue reading Homebuilder confidence hits 12 month high

Military housing woes to persist for a while

When you're serving your country, there's a good chance you'll move around a few times . . . which can conflict with the traditional American dream of homeownership. Soldiers who bought homes several years ago could be stuck selling now at depressed prices -- and on fairly short notice.

Needless to say, the financial pressure can be profound. A Staff Sergeant with a decade of service behind him, for example, is paid just under $37,000 a year. Even when you add in the health care and other benefits provided by the Department of Defense, it's still hard to handle a serious loss on a home.

The February stimulus plan included provisions to help military personnel in this situation, but little has happened. Soldiers complain that information is hard to find and guidelines aren't available. So far, none of the funds have been disbursed, and the federal government is keeping its collective mouth shut.

Continue reading Military housing woes to persist for a while

June housing construction makes unexpected jump

new home constructionWe get a second piece of positive news out of the housing industry in as many days today as the Commerce Department announced this morning that new home construction jumped 3.6% in June.

No one is going to put forth the argument that the housing market is all of a sudden in good shape again, but we are starting to see signs that things could be at least leveling off, which is the first step that needs to be made.

Continue reading June housing construction makes unexpected jump

Gov't aid can't prevent H1 foreclosure record

Home foreclosure filings in the United States hit a record 1.9 million in the first half of 2009, according to RealtyTrac –-- on more than 1.5 million properties. Again, unemployment is one of the primary culprits, as a lack of income makes it pretty tough to bring a loan at risk of default up to date. The number of filings is up 9% from the second half of 2008 and up almost 15% from the same period last year.

Last month, foreclosure filings were up 5% relative to May and up 33% from June 2008. The month's action was the third highest on record, and it was the fourth month in a row in which there were filings on more than 300,000 properties.

Continue reading Gov't aid can't prevent H1 foreclosure record

Redfin shows it is possible to make money in residential real estate

It's encouraging to see success with new ventures – especially in times like these. And, it looks like Redfin fits the bill.

In June, the company posted its first profit, with a 300% year-over-year increase in unique visitors. This is certainly impressive since Redfin is an online provider of real estate services. In fact, the consensus has been that eventually the company would eventually die.

Continue reading Redfin shows it is possible to make money in residential real estate

Apartment vacancies spiked in Q2 in U.S.

Apartment vacancies in the United States hit their highest level in 22 years in the second quarter of 2009. Job losses are to blame, according to Bloomberg, as tenant demand falls when people don't have any income. Vacancies rose to 7.5% from 6.1% year-over-year, according to Reis Inc. But this still doesn't reach the 1987 level of 7.6%. In June, the U.S. unemployment rate hit a 26-year high, with payrolls dropping faster than expectations.

Conventional wisdom has it that potential homebuyers turn into renters when the job market softens. The rental pool is shrinking, however, leading to the high rate of apartment vacancies as landlords struggle to fill units. Asking rents for apartments fell 0.6% last quarter (for the second in a row), according to Reis, the largest fall since the company started to track this measure in 1999. Overall, asking rents (including other types of residences) were off 0.7% year-over-year, down to an average of $1,040 a month.

Continue reading Apartment vacancies spiked in Q2 in U.S.

REITs have a record second quarter: Who saw that coming?

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that "The Dow Jones Equity All REIT Total Return Index, which tracks 114 publicly traded REIT stocks, rose 28.9% in the April-June period, the biggest quarterly gain for the index since it debuted in 1989."

REITs still have a long, long way to go until they've regained the ground they've lost during the real estate rout -- they were down 31.6% in the first quarter and 38.8% in the fourth quarter of last year.

Continue reading REITs have a record second quarter: Who saw that coming?

Lennar second quarter earnings preview

We will get a little better idea of just what is happening with the real estate market tomorrow when home builder Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) reports its second quarter results.

Headed into tomorrow's earnings announcement, analysts are expecting another loss, but a much smaller loss than the company reported for its first quarter. Last quarter we saw a loss of 98 cents per share. This quarter analysts are predicting a loss of "only" 63 cents per share.

Continue reading Lennar second quarter earnings preview

New home construction jumps in May

May Home ConstructionIt was the largest jump in three months, as new home construction increased by 17.2% during the last month.

The increase was much higher than analysts had been expecting, and last month we moved up to an annual rate of 532,000 units... well above the 500,000 units that had been forecast.

Continue reading New home construction jumps in May

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Last updated: November 08, 2009: 04:24 PM

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