US Housing Recovery: Housing: Inventory down 23% YOY in September

HousingTracker reported that the early September listings, for the 54 metro areas, declined 22.6% from the same period last year. This decline in active inventory remains a huge story, and the lower level of inventory is pushing up house prices.

Indianapolis #4 for Most Affordable USA Homes

#4. Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind. Median housing price: $114,000, The metropolitan area of Indiana’s state capital has an HOI of 91.7, finding most homes on the market affordable for families earning the median income of $66,900.

Indians Among Top 5 Buyers of Homes in USA

Flush with cash and keen to diversify their portfolio, Indians are busy snapping up property in the US. And they are not Indian-Americans, but desis from Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad, who are picking up single-family homes and condos as vacation homes or just investment.

Foreign Purchases of U.S. Homes Rise Strongly

A survey released Monday showed that the six-year slide in U.S. housing prices, coupled with the rising value of some foreign currencies and continued instability in Europe, is fueling a property-buying binge in the U.S. by wealthy foreigners… Some foreigners buyers view U.S. real estate as a safe place to park cash amid fears of a property bubble or political instability at home. Others are buying as a hedge against inflation because real assets like property tend to hold their value better than other investments during periods of high inflation. At a time when most securities have low yields, some investors believe they can earn higher returns by buying U.S. real estate and holding it as a rental investment or reselling in a few years at a profit.

US New Home Sales rose 3.3 percent in April

Americans bought more new homes last month, the latest evidence that the U.S. housing market could be starting to recover.
New-home sales increased 3.3 percent in April from March… Sales rose sharply in every region of the country but the South. The gain pushed the annual sales pace to its second-highest level in two years.

FHFA: House Price Index Shows First Yearly Gain Since 2007

“Consistent with other housing market indicators, the FHFA HPI showed stronger house prices in the first quarter, most notably in March,” said FHFA Principal Economist Andrew Leventis. “Increased affordability and a somewhat smaller inventory of homes for sale are positively impacting house prices.”

Housing Inventory declines 18.9% year-over-year

On the national level, inventory of for-sale single family homes, condominiums, townhouses and co-ops declined by -18.85% in April 2012 compared to a year ago, and declined in all but five of the 146 markets covered… These key indicators continue to suggest the housing market may be at a turning point and headed towards a broad-based recovery.

JPMorgan CEO: Improving Housing Market

I believe we’re very close to the inflection point (on housing). People look at prices that are still coming down but all the other signs are flashing green,” [CEO Jamie Dimon] said… “the shadow inventory everyone talks about is lower today than it was 12 months ago. It will be a lot lower 12 months from now,” he said. Distressed inventory “is actually coming down, not going up. Homes for sale are about half what they were four years ago. You could come up with a pretty bullish case.

Las Vegas Home sales up 13% in February, Inventory off sharply

Sales in 2011 were at record levels, more than during the bubble, and it looks like 2012 will be an even stronger year – even with some new rules that slow the foreclosure process. The total number of local homes, condominiums and townhomes sold in February was 3,794. That’s up from 3,591 in January, and up from 3,371 total sales in February 2011. An important component is the decline in inventory. Total single family inventory was down 15.4% and excluding contingent listings, it was down 45.6% year over year!

Southern California Home Sales Jump in Feb, Prices Down Yr/Yr

The Southland housing market posted the highest number of February home sales in five years as record levels of investor and cash buyers helped spur robust activity under $300,000. The median price paid for homes across the six-county region inched up from January but dropped below the year-earlier level for the 12th consecutive month, a real estate information service reported. The increase in sales between January and February was larger than usual. On average, sales have risen 1.1 percent between those two months since 1988, when DataQuick’s statistics begin. Southland sales have increased year-over-year for two consecutive months and for six out of the last seven months.