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Builders report little confidence in the housing’s future
     (WASHINGTON) – The Home Builders association reports its members continue to be in a funk over the nation’s housing market, indicating that only 1 in 5 believe the market will improve any time soon.
     The index of builder confidence for March was 18, unchanged over the past few months. The lowest the index has ever been was 18, in December. An index of 50 suggests as many builders are positive about the future as are negative.
     Said NAHB President Sandy Dunn, “Our surveys confirm what I’ve been hearing personally from builders across the country, which is that interested buyers are out there, but they are either reluctant to go ahead with a home purchase or they are unable to find mortgage financing they can afford.”

People returning to New Orleans area
     (NEW ORLEANS) – For those watching the housing recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Census Bureau has released numbers that show St. Bernard and Orleans parishes were the fastest growing counties in the nation in 2007.
     Right after Katrina in 2005, the same two parishes were listed as the fastest declining counties in terms of population.
     St. Bernard showed growth of 42.9 percent between July 1, 2006 and July 1, 2007. Orleans Parish showed a gain of 13.8 percent in the same period.
     Following the Louisiana Parishes on the national list were Pinal County ( Phoenix area) growing 11.5 percent last year; Kendall County ( Chicago area) with an increase of 10.6 percent; and the Dallas area’s Rockwall County with an increase of 8.6 percent.

Iowa farmland prices up 18 percent in past year
     (DES MOINES, Iowa) – The value of Iowa farmland has gone up an estimated 18 percent in one year, according to the Iowa Farm and Land Chapter of the Realtors Land Institute.
     The Institute said prices had gone up 11 percent since last September as investors try to buy up land that produces corn for biofuels. Crop prices also are surging nationwide.
     The Institute estimates Iowa land prices have gone up 67 percent since 2003.

Florida leads nation in mortgage fraud
     ( WASHINGTON ) – The Mortgage Bankers Association has released its annual survey on mortgage fraud, naming Florida as the state with the most serious fraud problem, followed by Nevada .
     According to the Mortgage Fraud Case Report, 2007 marked the lowest volume of mortgage loan originations since 2002, the highest number of delinquencies and foreclosures, rapid and near complete shutdown of the non-conforming secondary market and hundreds of announced closures of mortgage originators.
     Following Florida and Nevada , other states with serious fraud problems were (in order): Michigan , California , Utah , Georgia , Virginia , Illinois , New York and Minnesota .
      Colorado showed the greatest improvement.

Number of foreclosure filings decline
     ( IRVINE , Calif. ) – The foreclosure database RealtyTrac is reporting a sliver of good news on the housing front, releasing numbers showing that foreclosure filings were down 4 percent in February compared to the month before.
     Still, on a year-over-year basis, foreclosures are 60 percent ahead of where they were in February 2007.
     Nationwide, one in every 557 homes is now in foreclosure and RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio says he believes despite the February downturn, foreclosures have not peaked.
     Nevada , California and Florida continued to show the highest number of foreclosure filings.

Industry leaders see some improvement
     ( LITTLETON , Colo. ) – A REALTrends survey of real estate leaders finds that 67 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” agree that their market is improving. Some 14 percent either “disagreed” or “strongly disagreed.”
     REALTrends said that of the 750 industry leaders surveyed, many commented they were seeing increases in buyer inquiries, open house traffic, and relocation.
     Nineteen percent of those responding said foreclosures and/or short sales were a significant market problem, with 26 percent somewhat agreeing.  Thirty-four percent stated they strongly or somewhat agree these are issues in their areas.

Condo sales continue to be challenging
     (WASHINGTON) – The Multifamily Condo Market Index (MCMI) ended 2007 on a low note, with the component of the index tracking builder confidence in current conditions standing at 18.8, down nearly 11 points from the same time a year ago, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
     “Given that the condo market became so overheated during the peak of the housing boom, it is not surprising that the market now continues to struggle, considering the difficulties in the mortgage sector and the fears about the economy in general,” said David Seiders, NAHB’s Chief Economist. “It is going to take time for the extra inventory to be absorbed.”
     Builder expectations for the next six months are only slightly more optimistic: The component tracking expectations stood at 29.2 in the fourth quarter of 2007. In the fourth quarter of 2006, this component of the index stood at 49.1.
     About 28 percent of survey respondents reported higher or somewhat higher sale cancellation rates in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to a year earlier. The average sales cancellation rate in the fourth quarter of 2007 was 19 percent; the median was 12 percent.

Pending home sales decline in Philly region
     (DEVON, Pa. ) – Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors says Pending Home Sales in the Philadelphia area declined 6.6 percent in January to an index of 87.
     Still, the index was stronger than sales numbers in November (84.3), October (86.4), September (78.7) and August (81.3) indices.
     Real estate activity in the five-county Southeastern Pennsylvania fared better than Southern New Jersey and Delaware showing a 2.7 percent decrease from a revised index of 98.8 in December to 96.1 in January.

Pending home sales are flat
     (WASHINGTON) – NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index of contracts signed in January was 85.9, unchanged from the previous month but 20.9 points below the January 2007 reading of 106.8.
     Trade association chief economist Lawrence Yun said the market appeared to be stabilizing, “and our members are telling us there’s been a pickup in shopping activity. Our hope is that the increased traffic of buyers looking at homes will translate soon into more contract offers.”
     Existing-home sales are forecast to remain flat at about 4.9 million in the first half of the year before improving to a 5.8-million pace in the second half. The aggregate existing-home price is projected to decline 1.2 percent to a median of $216,300 this year, and then increase 3.5 percent to $223,800 in 2009.

Existing home sales down, inventory up
     ( WASHINGTON ) – NAR reports existing home sales fell 0.4 percent in January compared to December, and were 23.4 percent lower than sales in January 2007.
     The inventory of homes on the market rose 5.5 percent to 4.19 million, representing a 10.3-month supply at the January sales pace. The inventory rose 18.4 percent compared with January 2007.
     The trade association said the median sales price fell 4.6 percent over the past year to $201,000.

Foreclosures up, but some areas improving
     (IRVINE, Calif. ) – The foreclosure database RealtyTrac reports January 2008 foreclosure filings were up 8 percent over December 2007 and nearly 57 percent higher than January a year ago.
     Although the overall numbers are bad, CEO James Saccacio said several states experienced decreasing foreclosure activity from the previous month.
     While Nevada , California and Florida continue to lead the country in foreclosures, the rates in Nevada and Florida are slowing.
     Nevada reported a 45 percent decrease from the previous month and Florida a 3 percent decline. Foreclosure activity was up 7 percent in California .

Indianapolis is most affordable market
     (WASHINGTON) – The Home Builders report that Indianapolis continues to be the most affordable housing market in the country and the Los Angeles area remains the least affordable – a distinction it has held now for more than three years.
     Nationwide, the Builder’s Housing Opportunity Index showed that 46.6 percent of all homes sold in the fourth quarter of 2007 were affordable to families earning the national median income of $59,000.
     NAHB researchers found that 89.5 percent of all homes sold in Indianapolis were affordable to residents earning the median household income of $63,800. In Los Angeles , the least affordable market for 13 consecutive quarters, only 6.2 percent of families making the median income of $61,700 could afford homes.

REAL Trends shows Northeast sales prices up
     ( DENVER ) – The REAL Trends market analysis report for the fourth quarter of 2007 indicates homes prices in the Northeast were up an average of 4.5 percent over prices a year ago, while other parts of the country continued to sag.
     Prices were down 3.5 percent in the South region, down 8.2 percent in the Midwest and down 5.8 percent in the West.
     The report said nationally, home prices were down an average of 4.3 percent and total sales declined 22.6 percent.

Rural real estate still selling well
     (KANSAS CITY) – While most real estate companies are reporting challenging times, the United County Real Estate franchise – which predominantly serves rural areas – reports both sales and prices were up for 2007.
     The company said its sales volume hit a record $2.54 billion in 2007, about $10 million higher than 2006, and its average listing sold for 4.1 percent more than the previous year.
     "Technology advances have broken down many of the barriers to living in rural areas," said CEO Dan Duffy. "People can now live in the country, and still have the same access to the Internet, satellite, cable, mobile phones and other technologies they require on a daily basis. This more developed technology infrastructure allows for remote working and social connectivity.”
     United Country has more than 4,000 agents and 700 offices located across the United States .

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