USA House Prices: Nominal, Real, and Price-to-Rent Values

Below are three graphs from Calculated Risk showing nominal prices (as reported), real prices and a price-to-rent ratio: Nominal House Prices The first graph shows the quarterly Case-Shiller National Index SA (through Q3 2011), and the monthly Case-Shiller Composite 20 SA and CoreLogic House Price Indexes (through September) in nominal terms (as reported). Real House Prices The second graph...

Miami-area home sales held at 5 year high in September

Miami-area home sales held at a five-year high in September, rising 15 percent from a year earlier as price reductions and super-low mortgage rates helped stoke year-over-year sales gains across the price spectrum. The median sale price fell short of the year-ago level for the 48th consecutive month but the magnitude of the decline – 1.5 percent – was the smallest yet, a real estate information service reported.

CoreLogic: 10.9 Million U.S. Properties with Negative Equity in Q2

Nevada had the highest negative equity percentage with 60 percent of all of its mortgaged properties underwater, followed by Arizona (49 percent), Florida (45 percent), Michigan (36 percent) and California (30 percent). The negative equity share in the hardest hit states has improved. Over the past year, the average negative equity share for the top five states has declined from 41 percent to 38 percent.

USA: Real House Prices and Price-to-Rent

Real prices are back to 1999/2000 levels, and the price-to-rent ratio is also back to 2000 levels in real terms (adjusted for inflation using CPI less Shelter). On a price-to-rent basis, the Composite 20 index is back to October 2000 levels, and the CoreLogic index is back to March 2000. In recent months, rents have been increasing; lowering the price-to-rent ratio.

Las Vegas: Best place to buy a home and rent it out

The housing market in Las Vegas may continue to struggle, but for investors, the city is the best place to buy a home and rent it out, a new report revealed on Monday. HomeVestors of America and Local Market Monitor released its list of best markets to invest in rental property, and Las Vegas came out on top… That means investors can buy homes at low prices and have a sizable pool of renters from which to choose… The return could be short-term (the cash flow attained by renting out the property), long-term (the appreciation of the property over time) or both, he said. The risks include future potential home-price drops in the market.

Rents Rise, Vacancies Go Down

Vacancy rates are falling fast (the excess supply is being absorbed). The falling vacancy rate is pushing push up effective rents. Note: The excess housing supply includes both apartments, condominiums, and single family homes. A record low number of multi-family units will be completed this year (2011). Only 8,700 apartments came on the market in Q1 (in the Reis survey area).

Wall Street Journal: Why It’s Time To Buy Homes

Rising home prices made renting cheaper than buying in many parts of the country. But that dynamic has begun to change: Housing affordability, as measured by the ratio of median home prices to median household incomes, has fallen below pre-housing bubble levels in just over two-thirds of the country, according to an analysis of more than 380 metro areas by Moody’s Analytics.

Renting is still cheaper than buying in most markets, but rising rents and falling house prices mean that, in some areas, this won’t be the case for long. Buying a home is already cheaper than renting in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and Orlando, Fla., according to Moody’s Analytics. In other markets, including Dallas, Las Vegas and Sacramento, Cailf., the equation is likely to soon turn in favor of homeownership if current trends persist, the firm says.

Miami Renters Fuel a Boom

When the real estate market collapsed five years ago, this city’s downtown soon became an emblem of the worst excesses of the building boom. Glittering new towers sat mostly vacant.

Those towers are filling up much sooner than some analysts predicted. The new arrivals, mostly renters, are spurring the establishment of restaurants, bars and shops.

Condo sales here began surging after property owners slashed prices about two years ago, sometimes by 50% or more. … Fewer than 4,000 out of the 22,000 new units built since 2003 remain unsold, according to Condo Vultures.

Buying Real Estate in the USA as a Foreigner

Foreign residents can buy and own USA property directly, but many investors prefer to own through a holding company, an LLC (limited liability company) usually set up in a tax friendly state like Texas, Delaware, or Nevada. In order to own property and collect rents or proceeds from sales, foreigners need to obtain a US Tax ID number and set up a bank account – both of which are easy once...

California (Southland) Home Sales Report

“Sales have been far below average for quite a while and there’s little doubt there’s pent-up demand out there. But too many people still aren’t in the mood or in a position to buy. They might be concerned about prices falling more, or can’t qualify for a loan. They might owe more on their homes than they’re worth and can’t move up. Others were foreclosed on in recent years and can’t re-enter the market yet.”

Although the market is still characterized by historically high levels of distressed property sales, investor purchases and tight credit, some indicators have been inching their way back toward normalcy.