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Here's the latest real estate info
on property sales, home builders, new construction, houses for
sale, etc. For more information on how the news here
affects your situation, or to buy or sell real estate in the
Dallas area, contact me - your friendly neighborhood real estate
agent.
FORT WORTH (Star-Telegram.com) –
New home starts and closings in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
were up 7 percent during the first quarter compared with the
same period last year, according to Metrostudy. The housing
analysis firm attributes this to falling interest rates and
job growth. The Dallas-Fort Worth area added 8,000 jobs since
July 2003, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
Area home starts jumped from
8,345 in first quarter 2003 to 8,923 in first quarter 2004.
Closings on new home construction increased from 8,542 to
9,170 in the same period.
March 29, 2004
HOUSING ECONOMISTS SEE STRONG MARKET AHEAD
WASHINGTON, D.C. (nahb.org) –
Although rapidly rising housing prices around the nation have
led to concerns over a housing price bubble, economists
participating in a National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)
teleconference today dismissed that fear and said that housing
will continue to perform well during 2004 and beyond.
According to experts, rising
household incomes and low interest rates accompanying the
lowest levels of inflation in four decades have produced a
solid foundation for the housing industry, which can be
expected to continue for the next few years.
"Gains in new home prices for
last year are similar to the previous years," said Jim
Glassman, senior economist for JP Morgan Chase. "There is
nothing going on to suggest that home prices are straining or
getting out there. We're seeing that when we do better, when
incomes are up and when it's cheaper to finance, people want
more housing."
FEBRUARY’S EXISTING HOME SALES EXCEED SIX MILLION
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Realtor.org) –
Nationwide sales of existing single-family homes rose last
month, marking only the eighth month on record that the sales
pace reached or exceeded six million, according to the
National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Existing home sales increased 2
percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
6.12 million units from a downwardly revised pace of six
million units in January. Last month's sales activity was 5.7
percent above the 5.79-million unit pace in February 2003.
The national median existing-home
price was $168,100 in February, up 5.7 percent from February
2003 when the median price was $159,000. Housing inventory
levels rose 5.9 percent at the end of February with 2.33
million existing homes available for sale, which represents a
4.6-month supply at the current sales pace.
BUILDERS SUPPORT ZERO DOWN PAYMENT LEGISLATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. (nahb.org) --
Testifying before the Congress, the National Association of
Home Builders (NAHB) expressed support for H.R. 3755, the
"Zero Down Payment Act of 2004." The legislation, if passed,
would authorize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to
insure no-down-payment mortgages for first-time, single-family
home buyers.
The bill would eliminate the
requirement for a minimum 3 percent down payment for
FHA-insured single-family loans for first-time homebuyers.
Homebuyers would be required to pay a 2.25 percent "upfront"
premium on the loan compared to the 1.5 percent for the FHA's
standard mortgage insurance programs, and 75 instead of 50
basis points for the first five years of the loan.
Monthly mortgage payments would
be slightly higher than for a regular home, and homebuyer
counseling would be mandatory for all borrowers who
participate in the program.
March 12, 2004
HUD OFFERS NEW
HYBRID ARMS
WASHINGTON, D.C. (hud.gov)
– The Department of Housing and Urban Development published a
final rule in the Federal Register this week that expands its
offerings of adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) products on
FHA-insured mortgages.
Potential homebuyers
will be able to choose mortgages that have fixed interest
rates for periods of three, five, seven or ten years. The
hybrid ARMs program is expected to increase opportunities for
homeownership, particularly for minority families.
Under the rule, which
takes effect in about a month, the interest rate for
three-year and five-year ARMs cannot change by more than 1
percent per year after the fixed-payment period is over, with
a maximum change of 5 percent for the life of the loan. For
seven-year and ten-year ARMs, the maximums are 2 percent
annually and 6 percent for the life of the loan.
Currently, the only
FHA-insured ARM that is available has a one-year fixed payment
period, with caps of 1 percent a year and 5 percent for the
remainder of the loan. That loan will still be available.
NO SLOWDOWN FOR DALLAS-FORT WORTH BUILDERS
DALLAS (DallasNews.com)
– Dallas-Fort Worth ranked third in the number of homes and
apartments built in 2003, according to Meyers Group. The two
busiest cities for builders nationally were Atlanta and
Phoenix. Houston ranked fourth.
In the Dallas-Fort Worth
area, 53,090 building permits for homes were obtained last
year. Of those, 40,809 were for single-family homes and 12,281
were for apartments and condominiums. Houston’s home builders
obtained 49,980 permits. Statewide, home construction
increased by 10 percent in 2003, and apartment and condominium
construction rose 3 percent.
March 2, 2004
U.S. Home
Prices Average 3.67 Percent Higher in Fourth Quarter
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Average U.S. home prices increased 7.97
percent from the fourth quarter of 2002 through the fourth
quarter of 2003. Appreciation for the most recent quarter was
3.67 percent, or an annualized rate of 14.67%. The figures
were released today by Armando Falcon, Jr., Director of the
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), as part
of OFHEO's House Price Index (HPI). The HPI is a quarterly
report analyzing housing appreciation trends.
The appreciation shown in
the 4th quarter HPI is more than two percentage
points higher than the increase in the previous quarter and the
appreciation is geographically widespread. During the period,
all but two states saw prices rise and even states that had been
lagging the nation as a whole experienced a substantial
acceleration in house price growth.
February 13,
2004
ZERO DOWN
PAYMENT BILL INTRODUCED
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Realtors Magazine Online) – Rep. Patrick Tiveri has introduced a bill that would authorize the
Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development
to develop a new FHA program that would allow borrowers to
roll the costs of the down payment and closing costs into the
loan. The program would require homebuyer counseling before
purchasing a home. Higher upfront premiums and interest rates
would also be involved.
February 6,
2004
WASHINGTON, D.C. (nahb.org)
– The popularity of condominiums is expected to
continue to grow in the coming year, driving construction
starts of for-sale multifamily units to highs not seen for
more than ten years, according to David Seiders, chief
economist of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
Seiders said condos
represented slightly more than a fourth of all multifamily
development started in 2003 — a share that approaches that of
the 1987 and 1993 booms in condo construction. The rate is
likely to continue to rise in 2004, he said.
February 4,
2004
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY IMPROVES
NATIONALLY
WASHINGTON, D.C.
(Realtor.org) – A seasonal decline in home prices and rising
family income led to improved housing affordability in fourth
quarter 2003, according to the National Association of
Realtors® (NAR). NAR's composite Housing Affordability Index
was 139.2 during fourth quarter 2003, up 2.6 percentage points
from 136.6 reported in the third quarter.
The nation's
typical household had 139.2 percent of the income needed to
purchase a home at the fourth quarter median existing-home
price, which was $171,600. This index measures affordability
factors for homebuyers making a 20 percent down payment. An
index of 100 is the point where a median-income family has the
exact amount of income needed to purchase a median-priced
existing home. The fourth-quarter median family income was
projected to be $53,996.
January 30, 2004
MORTGAGE RATES STABLE
MCLEAN, Va. (FreddieMac.com) – In
Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year
fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.68 percent, with an
average 0.7 point, for the week ending Jan. 29, 2004, up
slightly from 5.64 percent last week.
The average for
the 15-year FRM this week is 4.97 percent, with an average 0.7
point, up only slightly from last week's average of 4.95
percent.
One-year
Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged
3.59 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, also up
very slightly from 3.56 percent last week.
BUILDERS FIND STRONG DEMAND
SOUTH OF DALLAS
HUTCHINS, Texas (DallasNews.com)
– KB Homes, in partnership with American CityVista, has become
the dominant builder in the area just south of Dallas. The
partnership has five single-family home communities and two
more in the planning stages. The two companies, which are
building affordable homes, sold more than 150 homes in the
southern sector last year.
The Hutchins area
is only eight to ten miles from downtown Dallas. The homes
built in the subdivisions considered affordable range from
$90,000 to $136,000.
Other builders
who took a chance on the south side of Dallas and have
succeeded include Ryland Homes and Pulte Homes. KB Homes also
has plans to build another subdivision on its own in the area.
APARTMENT SECTOR SHOWS IMPROVEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. (NMHC.org)
– Conditions in the apartment rentals market are looking up after
several quarters of increasing vacancy rates, according to a
National Multi Housing Council survey.
For the first time in
nearly five years, all four indexes used to measure changes in
apartment market conditions (the market tightness index, the
sales volume index, the equity financing index and the debt
financing index) edged above 50. A score above 50 means more
respondents saw improving conditions than saw worsening
conditions during the past three months.
NEW HOME SALES
UP THREE YEARS IN ROW
WASHINGTON, D.C.
(nahb.org) – The Commerce Department reported that sales of
new single-family homes topped one million units in 2003,
establishing a new record high for the third consecutive year.
Total new single-family home sales for 2003 were up 11.5
percent from 2002’s annual record.
January 27, 2004
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Realtor.org)
– Existing single-family home sales jumped from November to
December while overall sales in 2003 surpassed the previous
record in 2002, according to the National Association of
Realtors® (NAR). There were a total of 6.1 million existing
home sales in 2003, up 9.6 percent from 2002.
Existing-home sales
increased 6.9 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted
annual rate of 6.47 million units from a level of 6.05 million
units in November. Last month's sales activity was 8.9 percent
higher than the 5.94 million unit level in December 2002 and
was second only to September’s pace.
David Lereah, NAR's
chief economist, said the housing market continues to offer
surprises.
"We've been expecting
the pace of home sales to ease, and a decline in November
seemed to indicate a more sustainable pace, but the rebound in
December – the second highest monthly pace on record – shows
there's still a lot of life in this market," he said. "The
biggest factor is a resumed decline in mortgage interest
rates, which have been much lower than most analysts
expected."
January 13, 2004
TEXAS VETERAN
LAND BOARD LOANS DOUBLE
AUSTIN (star-telegram.com) – Texas veterans borrowed a record
$684 million from the Texas Veterans Land Board in 2003 — more
than twice what was borrowed in 2002. According to Land
Commissioner Jerry Patterson, low interest rates and an
increase in the amount that could be borrowed (from $150,000
to $240,000) were reasons the land board stayed so busy.
The board’s Greenbuilding Program accounted for $230 million
of the total amount lent to veterans. The program offers a
discount for energy-saving and water-saving materials and
appliances. More information on loan programs is available at
www.texasveterans.com
or by calling 800-252-8387.
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