For the first time since April of 2006, a majority of U.S. homebuilders have expressed confidence about home sales, a sign that construction might help drive stronger economic growth over the summer months. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) /Wells Fargo builder sentiment index released this month rose to 52--a jump of 8 points from an index of 44 reported last month. This jump has been the largest in 11 years.

Any score of 50 or above means that a majority of homebuilders see home sales conditions as good.

Other indices that saw seven-year highs include measures of customer traffic, current sales conditions and builders outlook for single-family home sales for the next six months.

More and more potential homebuyers have entered the market, encouraged by steady hiring and low mortgage rates. Low inventory, along with the increase in demand, have created an environment where home prices have increased--causing bidding wars between buyers and an overwhelming sense of optimism about housing market conditions for homebuilders. Another result of these conditions has been increased hiring for construction jobs. In fact, the demand for skilled construction laborers has spiked in recent months.

Applications for new home construction reached a five-year peak in April, and sales of new homes rose to a seasonally adjusted rate of 454,000. This nearly matches the quickest pace since July of 2008. Although sales are still below the 700,000 rate that most economists consider to be "healthy," but they have risen 29 percent in the past year.

David Crowe, the NAHBs Chief Economist, commented on the positive trends in the homebuilding market. He explained, "builders are experiencing some relief in the headwinds that are holding back a more robust recovery.

The sale of new homes represents only a fraction of the housing market. However, new home sales has a major impact on the economy. According to NAHB statistics, each new home built represents the addition of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax revenue.

Photo source: Toledo Blade

Posted in In The News, Real Estate Trends, Real Estate Market Conditions, Headlines

The metro Denver area saw 92 homes valued right at or in excess of one million dollars sold during the month of May 2013. According to Metrolist data, 86 of these homes were single-family homes and six were condo homes. The total closing cost for sales of these homes was $138.6 million.

Average price for single family homes included in the data set was $1,480,344 and average price for condo homes included in the data set was $1,867,240.

The highest priced closing of the 86 single family homes included in the data set was $3.9 million--with six bedrooms, 9 baths and 9,805 square feet.

312 single family homes have been sold this far into 2013, where the highest priced closing was $8.69 million.

For condo homes, of which there were 21 sold thus far into 2013, the highest closing price was $2.75 million.

Photo source: Kitchen Remodels.com

Posted in Real Estate Trends, Real Estate Market Conditions, Headlines

April 2013 saw the largest number of home sales across the U.S. in any month since September of 2007. In the U.S. West, new single-family home sales were up 30 percent Y-o-Y from April 2012 to April 2013, with 13,000 new homes for the former month. The total for the entire U.S. for the month of April was the highest for any April since 2008.

The above graph shows totals (in 1000s) for monthly new home sales for every month since 2003. It shows that 2012 was certainly the most active month since 2009, and based upon the data given, its safe to say that 2013 is likely to be the most active year in new home sales since 2008.

This second graph (above) shows new home sales for each month. The total for the U.S. West for April of 2013 was a six year high. After a long period of low activity, the number of homes for sale began to increase during the month of March 2013 and even more so during April 2013.

Photo source: divisionofhousing.com

Posted in Real Estate Trends, Real Estate Market Conditions

Colorado's Coincident Index rose 1.0 percent for the first quarter of 2013, according to the index report released by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank. The U.S. coincident index rose just below that number at 0.8 percent. The index is calculated from nonfarm payroll employment, average hours worked in manufacturing, the unemployment rate, and wage and salary disbursement deflated by the consumer price index (U.S. city average).

According to the report,

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has released the coincident indexes for the 50 states for April 2013. In the past month, the indexes increased in 45 states, decreased in four states, and remained stable in one (Minnesota), for a one-month diffusion index of 82. Over the past three months, the indexes increased in 47 states, decreased in two (Wisconsin and Wyoming), and remained stable in one (Alaska), for a three-month diffusion index of 90. For comparison purposes, the Philadelphia Fed has also developed a similar coincident index for the entire United States. The Philadelphia Feds U.S. index rose 0.2 percent in April and 0.8 percent over the past three months.

The above graph compares the 3-month change for Colorado and the U.S. as a whole. It shows that for 13 straight months, Colorados 3 month growth rate has outpaced the nation.

This second graph shows Year-over-Year changes in index. For both Colorado and for the entire U.S., there has been an upward trend since 2011. Also, according to the report, Colorados Y-o-Y growth has outpaced the U.S. since 2012--the Y-o-Y index change for Colorado was 4.4 percent while the U.S. saw just 2.7 percent.

Photos in this post from divisionofhousing.com

Posted in Real Estate Trends, Real Estate Market Conditions, Headlines

More good news for the American housing industry--both the number of sellers who think now is a good time to sell and the number of buyers who think that now is a good time to buy spiked from April to May. According to Fannie Mae, this is attributable to widespread reports of rising home prices.

The percentage of respondents who say that now is a good time to sell spiked ten points in May, rising from 30 to 40 percent on a monthly basis, according to the results of Fannie Maes May 2013 National Housing Survey. This means that the number of sellers who are confident in the housing market has more than doubled in the last year. According to Fannie Mae, only 16 percent said "now is a good time to sell" in April 2012.

Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae explains, "sentiment toward selling a home appears to be catching up with the strengthening housing market." Duncan further commented, "the share of consumers who think its a good time to sell a home spiked this month, the largest increase in the surveys three-year history."

Projecting what these new numbers could mean for the housing market for the coming months, Duncan commented," this jump may foreshadow a gradual return to more normal levels of housing supply from their lows of recent months.In turn, increased housing supply could serve to temper increasing consumer home price expectations. We will closely watch the potential impact of rising mortgage rates on consumer housing sentiment in the coming months."

The survey also found that the share of respondents who said now is a good time to buy hit a record high--spiking from 5 percentage points to 76 percent. Also, respondents average 12 month home price change expectation hit a survey high, leaping from 2.7 percent in April to 3.9 percent in May.

Photo source: Chicago Agent Magazine

Posted in In The News, Real Estate Trends, Real Estate Market Conditions, Headlines