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Year-over year US home prices up sharply in November

U.S.  home prices in November extended their steady recovery from the housing bust,  rising 7.4 percent compared with a year ago. It was the biggest year-over-year  increase in 6½ years.

CoreLogic,  a private data provider, said Tuesday that prices also rose 0.3 percent in  November from October. The month-to-month figures are not seasonally adjusted.  CoreLogic compiles its indexes by tracking sales of the same homes over time,  using data on sales in all 50 states.

The  gains in home prices have been widespread across most of the country. And  CoreLogic forecasts that prices will increase 6 percent this year.

Prices  in November were higher than in November 2011 in all but six states. And only 13  of 100 large cities that CoreLogic studies reported year-over-year price  declines. That was down from 20 cities in October.

The  sharpest increases were in Arizona, Nevada and Idaho. North Dakota and  California rounded out the top five.

Steady  price increases are helping fuel the housing recovery. They’re encouraging some  people to sell homes and enticing would-be buyers to purchase homes before they  get more expensive. Rising prices also reduce the number of homeowners who owe  more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.

“All  signals currently point to a progressive stabilization of the housing market and  the positive trend in home price appreciation to continue into 2013,” said Anand  Nallathambi, CEO of CoreLogic.

Despite  the gains, home prices nationwide are still nearly 27 percent lower than in  April 2006, when prices peaked during the housing bubble.

Some  of the biggest gains have been in states that were hurt the worst. Prices in one  of them, Arizona, have jumped nearly 21 percent in the past year, the most of  any state. But prices in that state are still nearly 40 percent below  their peak.

And  prices in Nevada have risen 14.2 percent in the past year but remain 53 percent  below peak levels.

The  states where prices continue to fall include Delaware, where they are 4.9  percent below a year ago, and Illinois, down 2.2 percent. Connecticut, New  Jersey, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania are also reporting declines.

Prices  rose 24 percent in Phoenix in the past 12 months, the most of any large metro  area. Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif. was next with a 9.7 percent rise. It was  followed by Los Angeles, where prices rose 8.4 percent.

Source: Sfgate.com

Report: Home Prices Poised for Growth in 2013

In stark contrast to this time last year, the housing market is chugging into 2013 with a head of steam.

Home-listing prices were up 5.1% nationally in December on a year-over-year basis, according to data released Thursday by real-estate listings and data company Trulia. Out of the 100 major metro markets covered by the report, 82 of them saw year-over-year gains. At the end of 2011, asking prices had fallen 4.3%, and only 12 markets had posted positive price changes.

“Prices are going into 2013 with strong tailwinds,” said Jed Kolko, chief economist for Trulia. He cites a general strengthening of the job market, which in turn means more families able to cover a sizeable down payment. An increase in household formation, which is also the product of improving job prospects, and home construction could further bolster demand.

Mr. Kolko notes that the sharpest tightening of inventory is taking place in Western states. Four of the top 10 cities to see the largest asking price recovery were in California, including Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento and Fresno.

Las Vegas, which was hit hard after the bubble burst, came in at the top of the list with a 16.3% year-over-year listing price increase. In the same period in 2011, prices dropped 11.2%.

To be sure, even among the markets with major gains, some are better positioned for a sustained housing recovery than others.

While Las Vegas may have seen the largest asking price turnaround, it remains far below pre-bust levels. The problem, Mr. Kolko says, is that the market remains unstable, with high vacancy rates, lingering foreclosures and subpar job growth.

On the other hand, metros like Seattle, which came in second on the list of cities with the highest asking-price recovery, are on a smoother path to growth because of their strong economic fundamentals, he said.

Meanwhile, rents rose nationally 5.2% in the same period. In 17 of the 25 biggest rental markets, home prices are rising faster than rents, according to Trulia. Whereas ownership was typically more affordable than renting in most markets in recent years, as sales demand rises, that edge is becoming less apparent, Mr. Kolko said.

Home prices show biggest jump in 6 years in October!

Home prices increased 6.3% in October from a year earlier, the biggest year-over-year gain since 2006, according to Irvine research firm CoreLogic.

Prices dipped 0.2% in October from September, but such a drop was expected at the end of the home-selling season, the firm said Tuesday.

October marked the eighth straight month of year-over-year prices increases and added to recent evidence of growing strength in the housing market. CoreLogic reported Monday that foreclosures were down 17%
in October from a year earlier.

“The housing recovery that started earlier in 2012 continues to gain momentum,” said Mark Fleming, CoreLogic’s
chief economist. “The recovery is geographically broad-based with almost all markets experiencing some appreciation.”

Home prices increased 21.3% in Arizona, the most of any state. California saw a 9% increase. Prices increased
from October 2011 in all but five states — Alabama, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

The Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale area in Arizona had the largest year-over-year price increase of any metro area, at 24.5%. The Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area was second at 7.3%. And the Los Angeles area was fourth at 6.4%.

Excluding foreclosures and other distressed sales, home prices nationally increased 5.8% in October from a year
earlier. Those prices were up 0.5% from September, the eighth straight monthly gain.

 

Source: LA Times

Actress Halle Berry aims to sell Hollywood Hills West house!

Halle Berry’s Hollywood Hills West home is being shopped as a pocket listing for $15 million. It was the site of a recent altercation between her ex-boyfriend and her fiance.

Actress Halle Berry is trying to sell her Hollywood Hills West house. The home’s motor court was the site of a Thanksgiving Day altercation between her former boyfriend Gabriel Aubry and actor Olivier Martinez that landed both men in the hospital.

The home is being shopped off the Multiple Listing Service as a pocket listing for $15 million, area real estate agents confirmed.

Halle bought the house in 2005 from former “Malcolm in the Middle” star Frankie Muniz for nearly $6 million, according to Times archives. The five-bedroom house has 5,900 square feet of living space and sits on more than a half acre with a 1,400-square-foot guest house, a swimming pool and spa.

She and Aubry are in the midst of a heated custody battle.

Berry, 46, has starred in the “X-Men” movies and “Die Another Day” (2002). The former model starred this year in the film “Dark Tide.”

 

Source: LA Times

Housing industry recovering faster than many economists expected!

Housing is snapping back faster than many economists had expected, with home builders stepping up production of new homes nationally and fresh foreclosures in California falling to their lowest level since the early days of the bust.

Demand for housing has surged as interest rates have plummeted and home prices in many markets appear to have bottomed, particularly in states such as California where inventories of foreclosures and other lower-priced homes have sunk. The turnaround in prices and record-low supply of newly built homes also are luring builders back after six years of pain.

“The numbers are strong in September, and that is definitely a positive sign,” said Celia Chen, a housing economist with Moody’s Analytics. “It is confirmation that housing is lifting off the bottom.”

Residential construction starts rose 15% nationally last month from August to their highest annual rate in more than four years. A separate report showed that the number of troubled California borrowers entering foreclosure hit its lowest level in the third quarter since the dawning of the mortgage meltdown.

If the gains in housing hold, they could give consumer confidence a boost and help the broader economy recover. Housing has played an important part in lifting the nation out of past downturns but was hampered this time by the severity of the Great Recession and the huge number of vacant and foreclosed homes dragging down the market for years.

Now rising prices are helping homeowners in properties that for several years have been underwater, in which the house wouldn’t bring enough in a sale to pay off the mortgage. Rising values could play a role in lifting household finances if families feel more secure about the direction of the economy.

Any positive economic news presumably would be a boost for President Obama‘s reelection campaign, though both he and Republican challenger Mitt Romney have largely avoided a detailed debate on housing policy. Many on the left have said that Obama’s tepid and patchwork response to the housing downturn resulted in a slower recovery while the right has decried his policies as interventionist failures.

Michael D. Larson, a housing and interest rate analyst for Weiss Research, said the Federal Reserve‘s policies to keep mortgage interest rates low and Obama’s foreclosure prevention efforts have played some role in the recovery — but the improvements can mostly be attributed to natural market dynamics.

“It is certainly encouraging; housing has been this lead anchor around the economy’s neck,” he said. But “most of this is just the passage of time. I think if the Fed or the government had done absolutely nothing … we still would have seen some demand return.”

Several recent trends have underscored improvement in housing. Nationally, home builder stocks are up, prices have begun a modest recovery, and sales of newly built and previously owned homes have risen.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that construction of houses and apartment buildings rose in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000, marking the third straight month of improvement. The figures surpassed economists’ expectations of about a 770,000 annual rate.

September had the best monthly performance since July 2008, when housing starts were on an annual pace of 923,000. Compared with September 2011, new housing starts jumped 34.8%, the Commerce Department said.

Last month’s growth was “surprisingly strong,” said David Crowe, chief economist at the National Assn. of Home Builders. “As consumer confidence rises and jobs return, more local markets and more consumers will join the buyer market, and I expect housing construction to continue a modest but fairly steady rise throughout 2013 and into 2014.”

The annual rate of new home groundbreaking still is far below the peak of more than 2.2 million units reached in early 2006 during the housing bubble. But the pace has picked up dramatically from the low of 478,000 in April 2009, and is up sharply from the 706,000 annual rate in May. Building permits for private housing construction, a sign of future activity, also jumped in September, up 11.6% from August and 45.1% from a year earlier. The annual rate in September was 894,000 building permits.

Patrick Newport, an economist with IHS Global Insight, said the increases were likely due to gains in household growth after years of people doubling or tripling up to wait out the worst of the downturn.

“What’s kicking in right now is simply the demographics,” Newport said. “We have been building at too low a rate for four years, and so demand has been suppressed because of the recession, and now it is starting to kick in.”

On the other side of the housing pipeline, the shortage of cheaply priced homes in California appears poised to continue. The number of Californians entering foreclosure dropped in the third quarter to its lowest level since early 2007, according to a report from real estate firm DataQuick. Foreclosure filings have fallen as banks work toward completing more loan modifications and short sales. An improving economy and rising prices have also helped.

“Prices in most areas today are up significantly from their low point in early 2009,” said John Walsh, president of DataQuick. “Additionally, during the past year, we’ve seen short sales overtake the foreclosure process as the procedure of choice to deal with homeowner distress.”

Notices of default fell 10.2% from the prior quarter and 31.2% from the same period last year, DataQuick reported. A total of 49,026 notices of default — the first stage of foreclosure in California — were filed on homes in the Golden State last quarter.

That was the lowest number since the first quarter of 2007, and a 63% decline from the first quarter of 2009, when notice of default filings peaked in the state.

The number of homes lost to foreclosure rose 5% from the prior quarter and dropped 41% from a year earlier. A total of 22,949 homes were lost to foreclosure last quarter.

Source: LA Times

3 Tax Benefits of Owning Los Angeles Real Estate

Taxes

While there are many advantages to owning Los Angeles real estate, the tax benefits are some of the most important to consider. For decades, the Federal Government and the state of California have incentivized homeownership through tax benefits that are not available to renters. These benefits not only help to reduce the home ownership costs, but also the costs of buying and selling a home. Below are a few tips to help you get a better understanding of real estate and the many tax benefits that come with owning a home.

It’s important to note, however, that in order for a homeowner to take full advantage of most benefits, they must itemize their taxes.

1) Mortgage Interest Deduction

The mortgage interest deduction (MID) is easily one of the best tax benefits available to homeowners. After searching, finding, and purchasing one of the many Los Angeles homes for sale, a new homeowner is able to deduct all the interest paid on their mortgage payments. For the first few years of the loan, interest tends to be the largest component of the mortgage payment. Because of this, the MID is a very beneficial tax advantage to homeowners.

2) Property Tax Deduction

For income tax purposes, it’s possible to fully deduct the real estate property taxes paid on a first home. By taking advantage of these property tax deductions, a homeowner can effectively reduce their total tax burden. To learn more, check out Schedule A (Form 1040), line 6.

3) Capital Gains Exclusion
When considering Los Angeles homes for sale, it’s important for a buyer to develop a long-term plan that includes the capital gains exclusion. So long as a homeowner has lived in their home for two of the last five years, they can take advantage of the exclusion. Individuals can exclude up to $250,000, whereas couples can exclude up to $500,000. It’s possible to claim the exclusion once every 2 years.

Ultimately, there are a ton of tax advantages and benefits available to homeowners — the tricky part is finding them. For those who wish to learn more about these tax advantages and others, seek out a certified public accountant (CPA) or tax attorney to assess all the available options.

If you’re looking to buy, sell, or lease property in Los Angeles? If so, please contact me at (310)402-8181 or jkryukova@gmail.com.

To sign up for free, daily property emails, please go to my website and sign up: http://juliekproperties.com/free-listings-market-information/

Source: Yahoo! News

Real Estate Tourism: Who’s Really Buying America’s Homes?

Los Angeles Real Estate Expert

Russian billionaires have been making headlines for snapping up some of the most opulent homes in the United States. Yuri Milner ‘overpaid’ by 100% on a $100 million Silicon Valley mansion in 2011. Dmitry Rybolovlev’s daughter bought an $88 million penthouse in New York City (after spending $100 million on Donald Trump’s Palm Beach palace in 2008). This week, an anonymous Russian buyer plunked down $47 million in Miami’s most expensive sale ever.

But Russians certainly aren’t the only foreigners plowing money into American real estate. “The reason the Russians get so much attention is that they buy the highest ticket trophy properties,” says Jacky Teplitzky, a managing director at Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate, who peddles property in New York City and South Florida. “But if you go by number of buyers, you have much more activity coming from places like Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.”

To name a few. Since the housing bust, foreign buyers have flooded the U.S. housing market, taking advantage of favorable exchange rates, weaker prices and, in some cases, record-low mortgage rates. Foreign nationals accounted for $82.5 billion, or 8.9%, of the $928 billion spent on U.S. residential real estate from April 2011 through March 2012, according a June survey from the National Association of Realtors. That was up 24% from $66.4 billion the previous year. More than 50% of sales over the past year occurred in just five states: Florida, California, Texas, Arizona and New York.

Chinese are also shopping in the U.S. in growing numbers. Buyers from mainland China and Hong Kong account for over $7 billion in sales annually, or 11% of international sales activity in the year to March, according to NAR, making them the second-largest foreign buyers of U.S. homes. The influx of newly minted millionaires has inspired developers to reserve units on floors with the number ‘eight’ in new condo projects — like Manhattan’s One57 — for Chinese buyers (Chinese consider eight to be a lucky number), and real estate brokers are embarking on overseas marketing trips that have resulted in big-ticket purchases like Beverly Hills’ $34.5 millionWehba Mansion.

If the Chinese are the second-largest foreign buyers of U.S. homes, who’s No. 1? Our neighbors to the north in Canada. Canadians accounted for 24% of sales to foreigners in the year to March, according to NAR.  And it’s not likely to let up: Realtor.com says Canadians account for the most international search activity on the listing site every month in nearly all of major U.S. metro areas.

Canadians have been a dominant purchasing force in hard-hit Sunbelt states like Arizona and Florida. A relatively weak greenback coupled with low home prices represents an opportunity to scoop up a home that could be used for vacations now and retirement later.

Canadians have also been buying in the Midwest, including Chicago. “Close proximity to Canada makes it an easy place for Canadians to invest money,” says Bob Krawitz of RE/MAX Signature in Chicago. He says interest runs along all price points, from distressed properties that can be fixed up and rented out to seven-figure mansions along Lakeshore Drive.

Brazilians are getting attention for their buying sprees in markets like Miami and increasingly, New York City, but Argentineans have been just as active. “The foreign buyer story should be as much about Argentineans as Brazilians,” asserts Philip Spiegelman, a principal at International Sales Group, a marketing and sales organization for real estate developers. “The market in downtown Miami has been principally dominated by Argentineans, then Brazilians, then Venezuelans.”

Increasing numbers of Venezuelans are pouring money into American real estate, seeking a safe haven for their wealth from political and financial uncertainty back home. Teplitzky says many of her South American clients, who also include Colombians and Argentineans, seek out rental units, especially in Miami. “The new landlords in Florida are South Americans and their tenants are Americans,” she adds.

Spiegelman says Europeans, particularly French, have been buying more in southern Florida in recent months as well. “The real attraction here is cheap, cheap, cheap waterfront real estate: these buyers look at this and think it will never be as cheap again.”

Given the uncertainties of the European Union’s fiscal crisis, many wealthy Europeans are desperately trying to shed their euro zone homes and reinvest that money in American real estate. A growing number of brokers, like Italian-born Richard Tayar of Keller Williams NYC, cater to clients looking to do that.

French and Argentineans have become a notable part of the buyer pool in New York City as well. In the luxury condo building Trump SoHo, Argentineans have accounted for the second largest number of sales this year. “Argentina is an unsung element of our demographic base,” says Amy Williamson, vice president of sales for the Prodigy Network. She says Mexicans and Peruvians have been very active also, particularly at the higher price points.

South Koreans have quietly been scooping up investment properties in the New York metro area.  Brokers like Martin Chung, a senior vice president atCorcoran Group, are looking to market to them, printing up property postcards in Korean.

Sang Oh, president of Asia operations for Platinum Properties, just returned from a month in South Korea, where he pitched prospective clients a new development called Sky View Parc in Flushing, Queens. “Korean buyers have come back on very strong in the past year and a half,” notes Oh. He says most buyers he deals with want to be landlords. With rents up 40% from 2002 to 2008 in Flushing, it’s the reason he’s peddling Sky View Parc. “There’s a lot more interest in areas that you wouldn’t have thought of — tertiary markets like Flushing, Long Island City, areas of Brooklyn.”

On the West Coast, Asians have been busy buying homes as well. In addition to the Chinese, Singaporeans, Indonesians and Malaysians have been active, says Christophe Choo, a Los Angeles-area luxury real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Previews International. They typically want new construction, particularly condos, that they can use as pied-a-terres.

Armenians and Croatians – many under the age of 30– are plunking down millions for homes too. “[Armenian nationals] are very similar in ideals and philosophies to Russia,” asserts Choo. “They are on a major spree, buying large properties for family compounds that they buy, tear down and build major homes on.”

If you’re interested in buying, leasing, or selling property please contact me (310)402-8181/jkryukova@gmail.com

www.juliekproperties.com 

Source: FORBES Online

 

Ready to Buy? Five Steps in Getting Ready to Buy a Home!

Image The road to homeownership, AKA securing a mortgage or pre-approval letter, is paved with … paperwork.

First, avoid surprises—especially unpleasant ones—by getting your credit reports/FICO scores before the first sit-down with a banker. You are entitled to a free annual one. Check with any of the big three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian or Transunion).

Proof of employment is next. Advise your boss to expect a verification of employment form. You will also need to submit two weeks’ to a month’s worth of pay stubs.

To prove that you can pay back the loan, banks want to see how much money you earn regularly. That means two years of federal tax returns and W-2s.

What you owe—and yes, lenders will ask—is the flip side of income. Outline your expenses, which most definitely include monthlies for rent, utilities, that new car, credit cards, child support, etc.

Asset verification requires documentation, too. This includes at least three months of bank statements. Investment accounts with bonds, stocks, mutual funds, etc. are also part of this, as are the titles of any cars you own if they are less than five years old. That you have funds for the security deposit is required, too.

The lender will also want a fully executed Purchase & Sale Agreement (signed and initialed by buyer and seller). Make certain the property address is correct.

Don’t forget the obvious: a valid ID and your Social Security number.

Final tip: Never turn in originals, and keep a copy of every piece of paper you send out so when the inevitable call arrives: “I don’t have…”, you will.

Give the housing market a high five…finally!

First, existing home sales in April jumped more than three percent over March numbers. Also, overall inventory was down and, the biggie, according to the National Association of Realtors, is that median home prices were up more than 10 percent from last year. Another plus is that new home starts are moved to an annualized rate of 717 homes—the highest level since 2008. Even better, those stats are for all four regions of the country. On the West Coast, for example, existing-home sales in April were 7.3 percent above last year and the median price ($221,700) soared 15.9 percent. In Los Angeles and nearby communities, for example, multiple offer situations are increasing. Real estate gurus like NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun credits “job growth, low interest rates, bargain home prices and an improving economy.” Add to the mix pent-up demand, rising rents and the realization that record low interest rates won’t last forever, and becoming a homeowner is looking good for the rest of the year. Increased sales of new homes will provide new hope where foreclosure inventory is high, predicts Celia Chen, a housing analyst for Moody’s Analytics. She says buyers “will forgo distressed homes that tend to be in disrepair in favor of newly built homes.” That’s more than speculation, too. Toll Brothers, Inc., the largest luxury home builder, just reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and a strong jump in new orders.

Start smiling. The housing market is!