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November Arizona Market Wrap Up and Holiday Rate Discount

From all of us at Lendability.com, we would like to wish you and your family a very happy holiday. We would also like to extend an additional .25% off of our lowest rates when you send your clients to Lendability.com.  This rate cut is available for both purchase and refinance business. Rates have dropped to a new low in the last two weeks.

Take a look at some data below from November 2009 (Data provided by our friends at CromfordReport.com, which you now have access to using your MLS ID):

• Sales at 7,673 were down 247 from October’s 7,920 - Please note that the Thanksgiving holiday impacted the number of days in the month
• Active Listings at 39,957 were up 938 from October’s 39,019
• Sales Per Year at 89,390 were up 2,527 from October’s 86,863
• Monthly Supply at 4.8 was down 0.2 from October’s 5.0 month supply
• Average Sales Price at $173,881 was up $2,704 from October’s $171,177

Much of the success of 2009 can be attributed to the $8,000 tax credit, low home financing rates, and low home prices.  Nationally, sales contracts soared in September and October to 32% higher than a year ago.  Many home buyers were trying to take advantage of the tax credit before it expired.  Luckily, the tax credit has been extended to June 30, 2010 and expanded to all buyers.  It is important to note that purchase contracts must be signed by April, 30 2010 in order to qualify for the credit.  While it may seem that there is plenty of time for your clients to purchase a home and receive the tax credit, now is the time to engage your pipeline.  Our purchase pipeline has grown significantly due to the increasing number of buyers on the market.  It is taking 90 days or longer for buyers to find the perfect home and get the contract accepted.

As part of Lendability.com’s commitment to building relationships with all clients, we are working closely with customers who are facing credit issues.  Every month we are able to help 5-10 clients who need to repair their credit.  This service is at no extra cost to your client.  Remember, we only need a 620 credit to get your client approved.

If you are doing open houses, please send me a message (chrism@lendability.com) with the property and the date.  We would love to meet you face to face and help you qualify your potential buyers.

Please call us or visit this website for your tax credit questions.

October Spike in Existing Home Sales

More good news hit the wires this morning!

CNBC is reporting that existing home sales reached a record high in October, topping off at 10.1 percent, which amounts to an annual rate of 6.10 million units. Up from a 5.54 million-unit pace in September of this year, the National Association of Realtors reported this surge to be the highest since February 2007.Industry experts are attributing this jump in sales to buyers taking advantage of historically low mortgage rates and the home buyer tax credits.

Analysts were expecting to see a more modest increase in October sales, with a 5.70 million-unit pace up from the formerly reported 5.57 million-unit pace in September. The October sales increased by 23.5 percent compared to October 2008.

In October, all four regions of the U.S. saw an increase in sales. Single-family home sales rose 9.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.33 million units. Condominiums and co-op sales increased 13.2 percent, totaling an annual rate of 770,000 units.

The existing homes for sale inventory fell to 3.57 million units in October, a 3.7 percent decrease from September 2009. The National Association of Realtors reported that the sales pace for October represents a significantly low supply of 7.0 months, compared to September’s supply of 8.0 months.

Click here to view the CNBC article.

October Housing Market Wrap Up for Arizona and Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension!!

More great news about the national real estate market was reported on Monday. September had an increase of 6.1% in Pending Home Sales. The rise to 110.1 million from 103.8 million marked the largest annual increase on record and the longest streak of gains since the measurement began in 2001.

The gains are attributed to home buyers rushing to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit which was set to expire at the end of this month. Fortunately, the President signed a bill today extending the tax credit seven more months! This extension includes a tax credit of $6,500 for home buyers who have lived in their home the previous 5 years. In addition, it increases the number of people eligible for this tax credit by adjusting the income cap to $125,000 for individual filers and $225,000 for joint filers. Click here to view the CNN article.

Here are the Arizona market results for October 2009 (Information was provided by our friends at CromfordReport.com):

• Sales per Month @ 8,032 were up 191 from September 2009 @ 7,841

• Days on Market @ 91 was down 2 days from September 2009 @ 93

• Days on Inventory @ 163 remained steady from September 2009 @ 162

• Active Listings @ 38,733 were up 1,315 from September 2009 @ 37,418

• Median Sales Price @ 128K remained somewhat steady from September 2009 @ 130K

• Lender Owned Percentage of Monthly Sales @ 46% was down from September 2009 @ 50.6%

September Spike in Home Resales

Great news hit the wires this morning as the National Association of Realtors released September resales numbers.  In August, home resales fell for the first time in four months.  September resales spiked 9.4% to the highest level in 2 years.

The home resales have been seasonally adjusted to an annual rate of 5.57 million (up from 5.1 million).  Nationally, prices are still down.  The median sales price in September was $174,900, down 8.5% from 177,300 in August.  Additionally, most homes sales are under 250K; 21% were $0-$100k and 48% were $100k-$250k.

Inventory fell 7% to 3.63 million; a 7.8 supply of inventory at the current sales pace.  Nationally, resales are up 24% from their bottom in January but down 23% from 4 years ago.

We expect October will continue at the same or higher pace than September.  There are three major factors driving this activity: First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit of $8k, FHA mortgage programs, and historically low mortgage prices.  First-time home owners are rushing to close on their homes before November 30th when the tax credit is set to expire.  While lawmakers are considering extending and expanding the tax credit to the all home buyers, there is still no certainty that this will happen.  Realtors and Mortgage Companies alike are seeing first-hand how many clients are buying for the first time.  The expiration of the tax credit could significantly impact the real estate market after November 30th.

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