What’s occurring in Anaheim Hills and California is a reflection of the national data. Soaring home sales and rising prices are great news for all home owners. Even better, the housing recovery is returning to more sustainable level.
The National Association of Realtors reports that existing U.S. home sales in April showed a 29 percent decrease in distressed home sales to just 18 percent of all sales in April, the lowest since 2008.
Fifteen months ago, distressed sales accounted for more than a third of all U.S home sales. While distressed sales have declined, non-distressed sales have increased by 25 percent. More sellers are coming back to the market from underwater mortgages. In April we saw the supply of homes rise to a seasonally adjusted level not seen in six months.
All of these factors improve the market’s ability to sustain the recovery. While we still have a short supply of homes, most economists and industry analysts believe the worst is over. However, the current short supply of homes continues to fuel rising prices.
NAR reports the median price for all U.S. homes was up by 11 percent to $192,800, for April year-to-date. April was the 14th consecutive month the that the national median price for all housing types rose year-to-year. The last time there was 14 months of year-over-year price increases was April 2005 to May 2006, before the housing market crashed.
NAR also reported that the median price for a existing U.S. single-family homes rose to $193,300 in April, that was up 11 percent from a year ago. Affordable condo prices rose even more, by 11.3 percent to $189,500 for the year.
New homes sales were up 29 percent in April, nearly double the annual increase ending in October last year. If you discount January, the data left sales at their highest level since early 2008 as reported by Capital Economics.
The national supply of new homes is catching up, rising to an 18-month high of 156,000 new home sale in April. The added new home inventory should take some the force out of the rapid growth in the home prices. However, builders remain troubled by shortages in materials and labor, which could hamper home construction.
The number of California homeowners entering the foreclosure process dropped to the lowest level in more than seven years last quarter. The sharp drop in the number of mortgage defaults filed by lenders stems from the rising of home values, a growing economy and government action to reduce as many foreclosures as possible.
The first quarter of 2013 lenders recorded 18,567 Notices of Default on California homes and condos. That was down 51.4 percent from 38,212 during previous three months, and down 67.0 percent from 56,258 in the first quarter of 2012, according to DataQuick.
Anaheim Hills and California Foreclosures Lowest since 2005. The last quarter’s numbers were the lowest since 15,337 NoDs were recorded in the fourth quarter of 2005. The highest numbers of NoDs were in the first quarter of 2009 at 135,431.
Foreclosures were already starting to drop to a lower rate at the end of last year, home prices were rising, more jobs were being created and a settlement agreement between the government and lenders was reached. The large drop in last quarters foreclosures appears to be because of the package of new state foreclosure laws-the Homeowners Bills of Rights-that took effect January 1st. Notice of defaults had a sharp drop in January, then edged back up. In previous years we’ve seen a temporary drop in foreclosure activity after new laws started and lenders adjust to the new system.
Rising home prices will be the ticket to the final clean up of the foreclosure mess. As home values rise, fewer people owe more than their homes are worth, and more people will be able to refinance to better loans.
Anaheim Hills and California Foreclosures Lowest since 2005.
Anaheim Hills & California Home Sales Up!
In 2012, forty-three (43) homes and condos sold in Anaheim Hills between March 1-March 31. This year, sixty (60) homes and condos sold during that same period–that’s increase of over 39.5%.
California’s median home prices noted a full year of annual price gains. Pushed by strong sales of high end homes in February, a decrease in inventory limited the total number of home sales for the month.
Sales in February were down 0.9 percent from a revised 420,270 in January and down 5.9 percent from a revised 442,660 in February 2012. Statewide sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2013 if sales maintained the February pace throughout the year. The numbers are adjusted to account for the seasonal factors that influence home sales.
The Statewide median price of a single-family detached home slipped 1 percent from January’s revised median price of $337,360 to $333,880 in February. February’s price was up 24.2 percent from a revised $268,810 recorded in February 2012, posting a full year of annual price increases and the eighth consecutive month of double-digit annual gains.
The supply of available homes for sale was unchanged from January, the supply was down greatly from a year ago. The Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single family detached homes was 3.6 months in February, up from 3.5 months in January, but down from 5.4 months in February 2012. The index indicates the number of months needed to sell the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate. A six-to-seven month supply is considered normal.
Increased market competition has significantly driven down the time on the market compared to a year ago. Homes sold more quickly in February, with the number of days it took to sell a home decreasing to 34.2 days in February, down from 36.6 days in January and down from 57.4 days for the same period in 2012. Anaheim Hills & California Home Sales Up!
