Columbia SC home sales

Columbia SC Real Estate News - Septermber 2014

In our Columbia SC Real Estate News for September 2014:

Columbia SC Home Sales Outlook Stronger

Economists are more optimistic about the outlook for Columbia SC home sales over the next two years due to stronger job creation.

The annual pace of existing home sales nationwide will likely rise to 5.25 million units in the first three months of 2015 from 5.09 million in the current quarter, according to the Reuter's poll median forecast.

In May, economists expected much slower gains, with 5.1 million resales expected in the first quarter of next year.

Columbia SC home sales outlook is looking stronger due to stronger job creation

Americans signed more contracts in July to buy previously-owned homes than in any month in almost a year, suggesting the housing market was pulling out of its slump more quickly than expected.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said last week that its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed last month, rose 3.3 percent to 105.9, the highest level since August 2013.

Low mortgage rates and improving labor market dynamics should remain conducive to gradual growth in the Columbia SC home sales sector.

A sharp increase in mortgage rates pushed sales of existing homes lower in the second half of 2013 but borrowing costs have been more stable in recent months and Columbia SC home sales have recovered some of the lost ground.

Investors and economists polled by Reuters generally expect the Federal Reserve will begin to slowly increase its benchmark interest rate around the middle of next year after holding it near zero since 2008.

The median forecast put the 30-year mortgage rate at 5.25 percent in 2016, down from 5.68 percent in the May poll. Last week, the 30-year rate averaged 4.28 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Economists don't believe a slow rise in mortgage rates will hurt Columbia SC home sales, as slow increases in rates are generally considered a symptom of an improving economy. At the same time, slowly rising rates may also help to bring home price appreciation back down to more sustainable levels.

Speaking of mortgage rates and how they may affect Columbia SC home sales…

 

Columbia SC Mortgage Rates Remain Low

Columbia SC mortgage rates remain much lower than anyone expected they would be by this time when the Fed announced it would start cutting back on its purchases of mortgage bonds.

Mortgage News Daily reports that average 30-year fixed mortgage rates are down to around 4.11 percent. One year ago those same rates were 4.61 percent, down about 50 basis points year-over-year.

Mortgage refinancing tends to pick up anytime mortgage rates drop by 50 bps from recent levels, however most homeowners who were looking to refinance did so when rates were below 4 percent in 2012 and 2013.

We would not be surprised to see rates drift even lower in the coming few days or weeks as they pull lower due to global events, European debt, etc. These are the largest rate indicators right now that are affecting Columbia SC mortgage rates.

Columbia SC mortgage rates were well above 6 percent during the housing market's 2006-2007 peak. Freddie Mac data going back more than four decades shows 30-year rates hit an all-time low of just 3.31 percent in November 2012.

Trying to decide whether to lock in current Columbia SC mortgage rates or let them float a while longer? Seems odd to say floating is an option when we're near the best pricing of the year, but it might be a consideration for aggressive borrowers. If you're close to closing, or have tight debt ratios/cash to close, lock 'em up, and don't look back!

 

Ideal Time to Buy a Columbia SC Home?

If you've been waiting to buy a Columbia SC home when the time was just right, that time may be now.

Potential homebuyers who have been willing to wait for better deals are starting to be rewarded for their patience, as sellers drop listing prices to meet buyers' more value-focused expectations.

Redfin Chief Economist Nela Richardson says, "Two market developments in July are spurring this change in housing activity as the market transitions from the summer to the fall buying season.”

1 – Columbia SC Home Price Slowdown

Home price growth was mostly flat in July for the first time in five months.

As Senior Financial Reporter Trey Garrison said last week, home price growth has slowed across the board, and Capital Economics says the slowdown will likely meet the company's forecast for inflation to slow to 4% in 2015.

Just about everyone was a little surprised by the consecutive month-on-month declines in house prices during April, May and June on the new monthly Case-Shiller national measure. Echoing that message, the Case-Shiller 20-City measure of house prices fell during the latest two months.

2 – End of Seller's Market?

The second market development is a shift in pricing power from sellers to a more balanced market. That shift has been nearly nine months in the making from when sales began to first decline last November.  

Back in October, sellers were starting to lose their dominance in the market, with 72% of surveyed agents describing now as a good time to sell compared to 86% in the second quarter of 2013.

Look for these two trends to drive an unusual surge in home sales this fall. We also look for prices to continue to flatten, and to potentially decline month over month in September or October. If that happens, it will be the first three-month price decline since the fall 2012. Stay plugged in right here and we'll keep you posted on trends as we move through the fall Columbia SC home buying season and into the holidays.

Home and Commercial Inspections in the Columbia SC area is our specialty! Every year we help hundreds of clients save tens of thousands of dollars, by responsibly finding and exposing conditions that threaten property, value and safety. To learn how we may be able to serve you, please click and read, or call 803-261-5810.

Declining Columbia SC home sales is actually one negative the Fed seems willing to live withDeclining 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.

Get further news as it affects Columbia SC home sales by clicking the Columbia SC Real Estate News link to your right under Columbia SC Real Estate Categories.

Home and Commercial Inspections in the Columbia SC area is our specialty! Every year we help hundreds of clients save tens of thousands of dollars, by responsibly finding and exposing conditions that threaten property, value and safety. To learn how we may be able to serve you, please click and read, or call 803-261-5810.

Columbia SC home sales may be looking at a big surge this spring with a lot of frustrated buyers looking for homes and sellers starting to put their homes on the market.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.

Home and Commercial Inspections in the Columbia SC area is our specialty! Every year we help hundreds of clients save tens of thousands of dollars, by responsibly finding and exposing conditions that threaten property, value and safety. To learn how we may be able to serve you, please click and read, or call 803-261-5810.

Columbia SC home sales and list prices show increases in October.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.

Get more news on Columbia SC home sales and listing prices, along with other Columbia SC real estate news and information, by clicking the Columbia SC Real Estate News link to your right under Columbia SC Real Estate Categories.

Home and Commercial Inspections in the Columbia SC area is our specialty! Every year we help hundreds of clients save tens of thousands of dollars, by responsibly finding and exposing conditions that threaten property, value and safety. To learn how we may be able to serve you, please click and read, or call 803-261-5810.

Pending Columbia SC home sales slipped a bit in OctoberCooler 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.

Get more Columbia SC home sales information, along with other Columbia SC real estate news and information by clicking the Columbia SC Real Estate News link to your right under Columbia SC Real Estate Categories.

Home and Commercial Inspections in the Columbia SC area is our specialty! Every year we help hundreds of clients save tens of thousands of dollars, by responsibly finding and exposing conditions that threaten property, value and safety. To learn how we may be able to serve you, please click and read, or call 803-261-5810.