A perfect storm of market conditions — including rock-bottom interest rates, bargain-basement deals and demand inflated by federal incentives — has created a mini-boom in home prices. The national average is up 6% for the past month according to the latest Campbell Survey. See the following article from HousingWire for more on this.
National average home prices rose 6% from August to September, driven by an increase in real estate owned (REO) sales prices and transaction counts, according to a monthly real estate market survey conducted by Campbell Surveys.
Increased demand REO property increased in September. The average price of distressed REO property was $124,500 in September, up from $106,700 in August. Combined with move-in ready REO, distressed properties accounted for 31% of purchase transactions during the month.
Claim up to $26,000 per W2 Employee
- Billions of dollars in funding available
- Funds are available to U.S. Businesses NOW
- This is not a loan. These tax credits do not need to be repaid
The increase comes after a 1% decline experienced between July and August and was fueled by a 16% increase in home purchase transactions month-over-month, according to the survey.
“Our survey statistics are indicating a mini-boom in the housing market,” said Thomas Popik, the survey’s research director. “There’s a confluence of positive factors: historically low interest rates, high demand from first-time homebuyers before the expiration of the tax credit at the end of November, increased affordability, lower inventories of foreclosed properties, and a perception among homebuyers and real estate agents that the market has turned.”
Prices of non-distressed properties remained nearly level, up slightly to $268,200 in September from $267,900 in August. Non-distressed sales accounted for 55% of home purchases. Short sales took a 14% share of the transaction pool.
First-time homebuyers accounted for 42% of home purchase transactions in September, and real estate agents surveyed reported that first time homebuyer traffic was up, while existing homeowner and investor traffic was down. The majority of first-time homebuyers in September purchased move-in ready REO, according to the survey.
The results are based on a national survey of more than 1,500 real estate agents and changes in price and transaction rates are recorded by individual agent’s reported activity.
This article has been republished from HousingWire. You can also view this article at HousingWire, a mortgage and real estate news site.
