Declining Columbia SC home sales doesn't seem to be worrying the Federal Reserve any these days. Fed Chair Janet Yellen indicated recently, the government is keen to continue its support of the economy via purchases of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities. However, the amount of which it invests is being gradually phased out.
After the recent Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Yellen said that the Fed could start raising short-term rates "about six months" after it completed its ongoing tapering of Treasury and bond purchases, which most expect to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2014.
Columbia SC Home Sales Dependent on Jobs
With Columbia SC home sales largely dependent on good employment numbers, and with Yellen seemingly changing her tune on where the economy is as far as employment numbers are concerned, she gave four reasons why she thinks the employment numbers are still soft.
1 – The large number of part timers working who would prefer full time jobs, but just can't find them.
2 – Stagnant wages where compensation has increased an average of only a little more than 2% per year since the recession.
3 – The large number of long-term unemployed who have been out of work for six months or more.
4 – The historic low rate of labor market participation–the proportion of working-age adults that hold or are seeking jobs. This number now stands aat 63%, about the same as it was in 1978.
New home sales of single-family houses in February dropped 3.3% to 440,000, reaching a 5-month low, according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Fed often cites improving economic benchmarks, such as the nation adding more jobs, as necessary to justify the reduction of monetary support.
With spring comes new homebuyers into the market, and declining Columbia SC home sales should turn around. But Yellen's comments about the nation needing to add more jobs as necessary to reduce the monetary support, seems to suggest that declining Columbia SC home sales is actually one negative the Fed is willing to live with and is likely to continue on its path of pulling support for secondary markets.
We'll keep you posted on any further news coming from the Fed that may, or may not, affect not only Columbia SC home sales numbers, but the nation as a whole.
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Columbia SC home sales are beginning to look like the start of a perfect storm for real estate. A combination of frustrated buyers from a lack of inventory, and sellers starting to put their homes on the market may mean the spring selling season could poised for a surge… one for the record books.
Typically, the spring selling season (March through June) is when more than half of all homes in the U.S. are sold. The market is getting a later start than usual this spring due to the bad weather all over the country.
Columbia SC home sales declined in February to the lowest level since mid-2012, with the number of contracts signed with the intention of buying falling to the lowest level since 2011.
Applications for mortgages to purchase homes dropped in February to the lowest since 1995, according to an index from the Mortgage Bankers Association that is seasonally adjusted. By mid-March, the gauge regained about 12 percent from that low, while remaining about 17 percent below the level it was during the same week in 2013.
Nationwide, U.S. home prices rose 12.2 percent in February compared to February 2013, up slightly from January's year-over-year pace of 12 percent. The number of available homes remains below the level typical of a healthy market.
Columbia SC Home Sales May See Exaggerated Bounce
Fannie Mae and the Mortgage Bankers Association are predicting 2014 Columbia SC home sales to see a bit of an exaggerated seasonal bounce due to so many eager buyers wanting to purchase homes.
Lenders expect Columbia SC home sales to pick up because so many potential home buyers want to lock in a mortgage ahead of any possible uptick in mortgage rates.
Borrowing costs have risen as the Federal Reserve continues tapering stimulus efforts that have kept interest rates low. Policy makers cut monthly bond purchases to $55 billion this month, from $85 billion last year. Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the program could end this fall and that the benchmark interest rate, which has been close to zero since 2008, may rise six months after that.
Nationally, the supply of homes for sale is bigger than last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. At the current sales pace, it would take 5.2 months to sell the properties on the market in February, compared with 4.6 months a year earlier.
Columbia SC home sales are expected to pick up momentum as we head into the second half of April and into May and June. Watch for the housing market, like the rest of the economy, come to live in the next couple of months.
For more on Columbia SC home sales, including other news relating to Columbia SC real estate, visit our Columbia SC Real Estate News section of articles under our Columbia SC Real Estate Categories to the right.
Traditionally, Columbia SC home sales tend to slow down heading into fall and winter, but that doesn't seem to be the case this year.
Instead of the usual seasonal slowdown, October data show the 2013 fall market moving at a fast pace, according to Errol Samuelson, president of Realtor.com.
"Inventory has returned to last year's levels, but prices continue to strengthen and homes are moving significantly faster compared to this time last year," Samuelson said.
Realtor.com's data shows the median list price in October was relatively untouched by the yearly seasonal drag falling just 0.25 percent month-over-month to $199,000—7.57 percent above its year-ago level.
Columbia SC Home Sales And List Prices Show Improvement
Eighty-five percent of the 146 markets covered in the report showed yearly improvements in median list price, and only 19 reported annual declines. Columbia SC home sales and list prices showed improvement.
Compared to September, national inventory was down to 1.9 million, a decline of 0.71 percent from September and 1.51 percent from October 2012.
While the country continues to struggle with inventory problems, local Columbia SC trends indicate growth in supply.
Perhaps the most promising statistic at this point, however, is median age of inventory: 94 days in October, a slight pickup from 93 days in September but an 11.32 percent decrease from the last year.
This trend suggests that properties continue to turn over quickly in contrast to the usual seasonal patterns, and despite increasing prices and stabilizing inventory.
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Cooler temperatures in October didn't really seem to affect Columbia SC home sales, as the housing market continues to post positive metrics.
There were signs of continued resilience in the Columbia SC housing market last month. Most of the metrics tracked by HousingPulse were positive for October and the few negative metrics appear to be seasonal.
Pending Columbia SC home sales slipped just a bit in October, reflecting a declining trend there amidst mixed numbers elsewhere.
Homes stayed on the market for shorter periods of time with increasing numbers of offers on those non-distressed properties. The average-time-on-market for non-distressed properties was 8.9 weeks in October, while the national average number of offers on non-distressed properties last month was 2.1.
Overall, the October data revealed a slowdown in homebuyer traffic and a three-month slide in the sales-to-list price ratio for non-distressed properties. Both of these trends were seen last fall and appear to be seasonal developments.
Government Shutdown Affects October Columbia SC Home Sales
"The government shutdown in the first half of October sidelined some potential buyers," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. "In a survey, 17 percent of Realtors reported delays in October, mostly from waiting for the IRS income verification for mortgage approvals."
While the market could still rebound from October's level — the lowest since last December — limited inventory and deteriorating affordability conditions stand in the way. The threat of another possible government shutdown presents even more concern for the future of Columbia SC home sales.
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