Update on the Market
Good Morning,
What’s happening with existing home sales? Existing-home sales, including single-family and condo, were down in the second quarter in contrast with record sales set in the same period in 2005. The slowdown in the once-sizzling housing market is spreading, with 29 states reporting spring sales declines, led by big drops in former boom areas of Arizona, Florida and California. Nationally, sales were down seven percent in the April-June quarter this year compared with the same period in 2005.
The five biggest declines this spring compared to the April-June period of 2005 were Arizona, down 26.9 percent; Florida, down 26.7 percent; California, down 25.3 percent; Virginia, down 23.9 percent; and Nevada, down 23.5 percent.
How about new home sales? New construction isn’t looking good either. Homebuilders market optimism sank for a seventh consecutive month in August as a dearth of buyers caused inventories of unsold homes to pile up, an industry trade group survey showed this week. The National Association of Home Builders said its Housing Market Index of sentiment among homebuilders plunged seven points. Its lowest since February 1991 and less than half the level of a year ago.
The NAHB said its gauge of traffic of prospective buyers also fell, by six points to 21, suggesting a steeper decline in the number of people visiting model home units over the past month than in any other period this year. Rising inventories are due to "an increasing number of potential buyers adopting a 'wait-and-see' attitude because of uncertainty about where the housing market is headed," David Sieders, the NAHB's chief economist, said in a statement.
So how are lenders doing? About 60 percent of U.S. banks reported weaker demand for both mortgage and consumer loans in the second quarter of 2006, according to the Federal Reserve Board. The report says this was a “significantly larger net fraction” compared with the first quarter, reported in April. Nearly 30 percent of banks indicated they expect that the quality of the non-traditional residential mortgage products currently on their books will deteriorate, according to the survey.
So how am I doing?………….. Just great! Smart, long-term investors understand that there are buying opportunities in any market. This just happens to be one. That’s why they call this a buyer’s market!
What’s happening with existing home sales? Existing-home sales, including single-family and condo, were down in the second quarter in contrast with record sales set in the same period in 2005. The slowdown in the once-sizzling housing market is spreading, with 29 states reporting spring sales declines, led by big drops in former boom areas of Arizona, Florida and California. Nationally, sales were down seven percent in the April-June quarter this year compared with the same period in 2005.
The five biggest declines this spring compared to the April-June period of 2005 were Arizona, down 26.9 percent; Florida, down 26.7 percent; California, down 25.3 percent; Virginia, down 23.9 percent; and Nevada, down 23.5 percent.
How about new home sales? New construction isn’t looking good either. Homebuilders market optimism sank for a seventh consecutive month in August as a dearth of buyers caused inventories of unsold homes to pile up, an industry trade group survey showed this week. The National Association of Home Builders said its Housing Market Index of sentiment among homebuilders plunged seven points. Its lowest since February 1991 and less than half the level of a year ago.
The NAHB said its gauge of traffic of prospective buyers also fell, by six points to 21, suggesting a steeper decline in the number of people visiting model home units over the past month than in any other period this year. Rising inventories are due to "an increasing number of potential buyers adopting a 'wait-and-see' attitude because of uncertainty about where the housing market is headed," David Sieders, the NAHB's chief economist, said in a statement.
So how are lenders doing? About 60 percent of U.S. banks reported weaker demand for both mortgage and consumer loans in the second quarter of 2006, according to the Federal Reserve Board. The report says this was a “significantly larger net fraction” compared with the first quarter, reported in April. Nearly 30 percent of banks indicated they expect that the quality of the non-traditional residential mortgage products currently on their books will deteriorate, according to the survey.
So how am I doing?………….. Just great! Smart, long-term investors understand that there are buying opportunities in any market. This just happens to be one. That’s why they call this a buyer’s market!
posted by Ken Calhoon at 6:18 AM
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