Market Decline
Less Americans signed home purchase contracts in July 2013 compared to the same period in 2012 due to the higher cost of mortgages!
Mortgage rates have bit a two-year high and lack of good inventory is pushing some home buyers off the market despite rising home prices. The Standard & Poor’s Homebuilding Index declined 1.2 percent in New York. The S&P 500rose 0.2 percent to 1,633.23 after dropping to an eight-week low yesterday amid concern over a possible military strike against Syria.
The Pending Sales index in July 2013 was the lowest in the past 3 months with Western States declining by 4.9% which is huge. Economists consider pending home sales a leading indicator because they track contract signings. Existing home sales are tabulated when a contract closes, usually a month or two later.
Sales of existing homes are to reach about 5.1 million this year and 5.2 million in 2014. Some 4.7 million previously owned homes were sold in 2012.
CoreLogic experts predict that home prices will rise by 12.3 percent year over year in August. But home prices likely will start to curtail in the second half of the year, says Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.
“Price growth is expected to slow as seasonal demand wanes and higher mortgage rates have a marginal impact on home purchase demand,” Fleming notes.
On the other hand, low-tier price segment of the housing market showed the lowest quarterly gain in prices since April 2012; increasing only 2 percent. Considering the low tier price segment of the housing market led the recovery, the cooling in this segment will likely transfer through to the broader housing market,” says Alex Villacorta, vice president of research and analytics at Clear Capital.
These trends don’t bode well for waiting on the side line since the seasonable market cooling will only exasperate your plans to fetch top dollar for your home.
So, contact a Real Estate agent if you are considering a sale.
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