Also noted in the report was the decrease in local mortgage delinquencies, which is close to 5%.  This could indicate a future decrease in foreclosure rates may be coming for the Dallas area sooner than later. 

Article from NBCDFW.com

Texas is a non-judicial foreclosure state and foreclosure times are typically way below the national average. 

Article from CNBC.com

Article from WFAA.com

The way the bill is currently structured, energy costs would be factored into a buyer’s debt-to-income ratios for qualification purposes and documented energy-efficency savings for homes could be used to adjust the value of a home upwards. 

The bill will have to undergo the normal legislative procedures before having a chance to be passed into law, which could easily result in significant changes, assuming it were to pass. 

Article from Ken Harney

One significant factor noted in the report that is likely a large contributor to the weaker numbers is the increase in contracts that failed to close.  This is likely the result of many factors, including tougher underwriting guidelines imposed by many lenders and possibly even the inability of some lenders to close transactions in a timely manner due to heavy refinance volume relative to the number of staff they have available to handle their pipelines.

Cash sales accounted for 30% of all purchase activity in September of 2010, the majority of which were likely cash-investors taking advantage of lower home prices coupeled with strong demand for rental properties in many markets.

REGIONAL STATS:

• The only region in the United States that was a gain in existing sales of homes was the Northeast, which saw a 2.6% increase despite a drop of 3.3% in median home prices.
• The Midwestern region dropped by a slim margin of 0.9 % compared to August, but still saw an increase of 17.2% over the September 2010 figures.
• The South region declined by 2.6% compared to August but still saw a 10.5% increase over last September.  Median prices were reported to have dropped by 3.0% in the South.
• The largest decline was in the West, which was down 8.8 percent in August, altough it also saw an increase in volume over last September despite median prices falling to $207,400, which was a decrease of 4.5% over last year.  

One significant factor that wasn’t mentioned in the article but is likely a huge contributor to the increase in sales figures from September 2010-September 2011 is the absence of the homebuyer tax credits, which expired in June 2010.  Many experts agree that the homebuyer tax credits caused many home buyers to adjust the timing of their purchase decisions last year in order to qualify for the up to $8,000 offered to new buyers.  Many buyers who closed by June would likely have purchased in the third and fourth quarters of last year, which made the second quarter numbers seem higher than normal.

Article from Realty Times

The latest decline of 2.8% was less than the 3.6% decline reported for Dallas in December of 2010.   It was also noted that the Dallas area outperformed the nationwide average decline, which was reported to be 3.1%. 

All total, 18 of the 20 major housing markets in the United States showed price declines in the survey.  11 of those 20 cities reported new lows.   Among those were the cities of Detroit, MI and Phoenix, AZ, which reported declines of 8.1% and 9.1% respectively.  Only Washington D.C. and San Diego were reported to have price increases with D.C. showing a 3.6% increase and San Diego with a tiny 0.1% increase over last year. 

Nationwide, Case Shiller reported that home prices have dropped a staggering 32% since the peak of the real estate boom a few years ago.  D/FW home prices have only seen a 10% decline since mid-2007 since our market never had the steep, unsustainable increases that many markets in CA, FL, NV and AZ saw during the last decade.

Here’s a breakdown of the percentage changes from January of 2010 to January of 2011 for the markets tracked by Case-Shiller:

Atlanta: Decline of 7.0% 

BostonP: Decline of 0.6%

Charlotte: Decline of 4.8%

Chicago: Decline of 7.5%

Cleveland: Decline of 3.8%

Dallas: Decline of 2.8%

Denver: Decline of 2.3%

Detroit: Decline of 8.1%

Las Vegas: Decline of 4.4%

Los Angeles: Decline of 1.8%

Miami: Decline of 4.7%

Minneapolis: Decline of 7.6%

New York: Decline of 3.0%

Phoenix: Decline of 9.1%

Portland: Decline of 7.8%

San Diego: Incease of 0.1%

San Francisco: Decline of 1.7%

Seattle: Decline of 6.7%

Tampa: Decline of 7.0%

Washington: Increase of 3.6%

Composite-20 city: Decline of 3.1%

Source: Standard & Poor’s and Fiserv

Qualified military personnel, foreign service workers and members of the intelligence community have until April 30, 2011 to secure an executed purchase contract and until June 30, 2011 to close the transaction.

This special program for veterans and military servicemembers was signed into law as part of the original extension and expansion of the homebuyer tax credit that went into effect on November 6, 2009.

DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED SERVICEMEMBERS
Per the legislation, a “qualified servicemember” means a uniformed servicemember of the military, a member of the U.S. foreign service or the intelligence community who was called to an extended period of oveerseas service for at least 90 days between December 1, 2008 and May 1, 2010.  (For those that were not called for extended service, the deadline to execute a purchase contract was April 30, 2010 and the closing deadline is September 30, 2010.)

A member of the military, foreign service or intelligence community who was called for extended duty of at least 90 days but was unable to complete this term due to medical reasons MAY still qualify for the extended deadline.

Consult with a licensed tax accountant to make sure you qualify.  I am not an attorney or a CPA and cannot give legal or tax advice!

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE VETERANS $8,000 FIRST TIME HOMEBUYER TAX CREDIT:

• The amount of the tax credit is the LESSER of $8,000 or 10% of the purchase price of the home.  For example, a qualified individual who purchases a home for $68,000 will receive a tax credit of $6,800, not the full $8,000. 
• The home purchased must be a primary residence.
• The income limit to qualify for the tax credit is $125,000 for single filers and $225,000 for married filers.   Single and married filers who make more than this may qualify for a reduced tax credit amount.
• Home must be priced at $800,000 or less.
• Must be a first-time homebuyer (meaning cannot have owned a home in the last three years).
• Non-first time homebuyers may qualify for the move-up tax credit of $6,500. 

QUALIFIED VETERANS:  This opportunity to get the $8,000 tax credit will end on April 30th.   All qualified veterans must have a home under written contract by April 30th but do not have to close the transaction until June 30, 2011.

For more information or to set up a customized home search, please call John Jones at (972) 978-3553 or fill out the quick contact form:

LINKS TO ADDITIONAL INFO:

http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/home.html

Overall, the study predicts home prices will stabilize in 75% of US metro markets by the end of this year, although the DFW area is only predicted to post a slight decline of 1.4% between Q3 2010 and Q3 2011. From that point forward, they predict prices will stabilize and then post a slight gain of 0.6% from Q3 2011 to Q3 2012.

Nationwide, the study concluded/predicts:

• Prices will fall by 5.5% by Q3 2011 and will then rise by 2.1% through Q3 2012.
• Prices in Orlando, FL will see the largest drop over the next year.
• Prices have stabilized in San Francisco, CA, San Diego, CA, and Washington, D.C.
• Prices in Minneapolis, New York City and Portland, OR will stabilize by the end of 2011.
• Prices in Miami, Phoenix and Vegas won’t stabilize until late 2012.

Link to Fiserv Press Release

Some other highlights from the FHFA report:

• Home prices for the US as a whole were reported to have dropped by 3.2%.
• Texas saw an overall price increase of 1.1% for the same time period.  Texas was one of the best performing states in the US.
• The biggest declines in states were Idaho, which was down 9.8%, and Arizona, which was down 9.3%.
• The largest annual price increases in cities were Battle Creek, MI which had a 4.39% increase and San Jose, CA which had a 4.1% increase.

Read more in The Dallas Morning News

Shadow inventory homes are properties that have been foreclosed on or are in the process of foreclosure but are not currently listed for sale.  This ”unseen” pending supply of homes is likely to keep housing prices depressed in many cities nationwide.    Overall, there are more than two million shadow inventory homes in the United States, which represents a whopping eight month supply of homes.   Although Dallas has a smaller shadow inventory, the number of homes here still represents a 6.7 month supply, according to the report from CoreLogic.

Read more in The Dallas Morning News