Single-family home starts tumbled more than 40 percent last month compared with July 2007, said a report released Friday by Bright Future Business Consultants.

Prices for new homes are also continuing to slide, the report said.

The Southern Arizona Housing Market Letter said the median price for a new home in July was $210,000, down 15 percent from a year earlier. The average price, at $250,000, was down 18 percent from July 2007, the report said.

At the current rate, building permits will likely hit 3,720 for the year, said John Strobeck, of Bright Future. He said he expects to see the market bottom out sometime between the end of this year and beginning of 2009.

Credits: Arizona Daily Star

The number of homes listed for sale continues to edge lower in many metropolitan areas, though supplies remain ample.

The supply of homes available for sale in 29 major metropolitan areas in July was down 0.5% from a month earlier, according to figures compiled by ZipRealty Inc., a real-estate brokerage firm based in Emeryville, Calif. The supply has begun to erode partly because some would-be sellers have given up and withdrawn their homes from the market for now.

The ZipRealty data cover all listings of single-family homes, condominiums and town houses on local multiple-listing services in areas where the firm operates.

Over the past two decades, the number of listed homes typically has declined slightly in July as the peak spring/summer selling season winds down.

Nationwide, about 4.5 million previously occupied homes were listed for sale at the end of June, according to the National Association of Realtors. At the current sales rate, that total is enough to last about 11 months, the trade group says. The market is considered roughly in balance between supply and demand when the inventory is enough to last around six months.

The largest declines in July from a month earlier were in the metro areas of Boston (-4.2%) and Tucson, Ariz. (-3.5%). The biggest increases were in the metro areas of Sacramento, Calif. (6.9%), and Phoenix (6.1%).

Patrick Lashinsky, ZipRealty’s chief executive, says home sales have been relatively strong recently in the Boston, Las Vegas, Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., and Sacramento areas. Prices have fallen far enough in those areas to attract some bargain hunters.

The July inventory was down 3.8% from a year earlier in 18 metro markets for which comparable year-earlier data are available.

The Zip data don’t include New York. But Miller Samuel Inc., an appraisal firm based there, says there were 6,441 cooperative apartments and condominiums available in Manhattan at the end of July, down 6.2% from June. The Manhattan market has been cooling recently as Wall Street firms shrink their staffs.

The inventory figures from Zip and the Realtors probably understate the supply of homes because not all foreclosed properties that lenders are trying to sell are listed on multiple-listing services.

In a report issued last week, Julia Coronado, an economist at Barclays Capital in New York, said the housing market may start to bottom out by year end. Home sales in 2009 are likely to flatten out near current low levels, she said. “We expect some further downward pressure on prices through 2009 as inventories continue to be worked off,” Ms. Coronado wrote.

Housing construction “appears to have fallen below the pace consistent with population growth,” she said, and price declines have made housing more affordable in many areas.

Credits: WSJ.com

With the market slowdown wearing on, real estate, home-building and lending professionals in Tucson are pinning hopes for a turnaround on a recently passed federal housing-stimulus package.

The wide-ranging bill, signed into law July 30, encompasses a slew of incentives and reforms aimed at helping the housing industry out of its slump. Among them are a potential $7,500 tax credit for first-time buyers, money for the rehabilitation of foreclosed properties and a variety of changes to Federal Housing Administration-insured loans.

Southern Arizona Home Builders Association President Ed Taczanowsky said the stimulus measures not only will help the local market, they also serve as a sign that it’s approaching a turning point.

“When the federal government steps in and puts a huge amount of money into the housing market, that signals to me that we are near the bottom,” Taczanowsky said.

In June, the number of sales was down about 25 percent compared with a year earlier, said a report from the Tucson Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service. Both the median and average sale prices showed drops of more than 10 percent compared with June 2007. The median sat at $200,000 in Tucson in June, the Realtors’ report said.

Meanwhile, monthly new-home-start numbers have plunged this year to levels not seen since the early 1990s, according to local research firm Bright Future Business Consultants.

The tax credit alone might do wonders for helping to get would-be buyers off the sidelines, said Colin Zimmerman, spokesman for the Tucson Association of Realtors.

“Basically, it will lower the effective cost of your home by $7,500,” he said. “I don’t see why everyone isn’t taking advantage of it.”

As with all government initiatives, however, there are a few kinks — namely that the tax credit is actually an interest-free loan, intended to be repaid by the buyer over 15 years. The bill does not specify how the loan payments will be collected, said Megan Booth, senior policy representative for the National Association of Realtors. That will likely be determined by future regulations, she said.

Rita Thomson-Zurita, president of the Southern Chapter of the Arizona Association of Mortgage Brokers, said in an e-mail that she wishes the tax credit were available to other buyers.

Also “some first-time home buyers have other issues which a tax credit will not help,” she said, such as credit scores.

Thomson-Zurita said she is also concerned about a provision eliminating down-payment assistance from sellers for FHA loans.

The law may not be a total fix for the market, but it’s a good start, said Tom Heath, vice president of advocacy for the Southern Arizona Mortgage Lenders Association.

“Anything that’s going to keep homes out of inventory and out of foreclosure is going to benefit us,” he said. “To what extent, I’m not sure.”

Credits: Arizona Daily Star

The Senate has come together on a Saturday, and after hours of discussion they have passed the new housing bill that will offer up to $300 billion dollars in loans for troubled homeowners, and come to the rescue of Fannie and Freddie.

“This legislation won’t perform miracles. But as others have said, it’s a step - and I hope an important step - to putting our nation on the road to economic recovery,” said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and a principal author of the bill.

These are the benefits that this bill will provide:

• Increase the Federal Housing Administration’s role
• Establish a stronger regulator for the GSEs
• Permanently increase “conforming loan” limits
• Create home-buyer credit
• Bar down-payment assistance for FHA loans
• Create an affordable housing trust fund
• Give grants to states to buy foreclosed properties

New Home Sales Stronger Than Expected - Glad to be seeing this headline. This, by no means, is an indication that the real estate market is all healthy and sound, but I’m happy to be seeing a branch of real estate turning out to be positive while the rest of the market is hurting.

Mortgage Industry Grilled in Washington - Washington is probing mortgage lenders to see how much they’re working for the homeowner. Homeowners need to be taken care of, they’re the reasoning for our previously strong economy. I don’t see these kinds of headlines changing for the next 2 or 3 months.

Foreclosure Filings Up 120% - 220,000 homes lost to bank repossessions in the second quarter with the estimation for this year having to be revised to be more than expected. Foreclosures are really taking its toll on the country.

10 House Selling Secrets - For prospective home sellers. Read up on tips to get more cash for your home faster with these tips such as paying much attention to detail for your home’s entrance, kitchen, bathroom, and more.