Tag Archives: Waccabuc Realtor

Listing Inventories are Down 20 Percent | Waccabuc Real Estate

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Key market indicators for May 2012 suggest that the housing market is steadily moving along a path of stabilization and gradual recovery, reports Realtor.com.

The total US for-sale inventory of single family homes, condos, townhomes and co-ops now stands at 1.88 million units, down -20.07 percent compared to a year ago and well below its peak of 3.10 million units in September, 2007, when Realtor.com first began tracking these data on the national level.

The median age of inventory stood at 83 days in May, -9.78 percent lower than a year ago. The median list price in May, which has been rising steadily since January, was up 3.17 percent on annual basis and now stands at $194,900. Combined, these positive trends suggest a growing optimism on the part of sellers and increasingly balanced housing markets that have worked through much of their excess inventory.

National trends mask pronounced differences across local housing markets. Signs of recovery are evident in a growing number of markets that were once the epicenter of the housing crisis and older industrialized areas in the Northeast and the Midwest are showing emerging signs of weaknesses. For example, the recovery process that began in Florida approximately one year ago has since spread to Phoenix and most recently, California. At the same time, markets such as Reading PA, Allentown, PA and Milwaukee, WI continue to lag behind the rest of the market.

On the whole, however, the majority of markets are showing signs of improvement. For sale inventories in May declined on a year-over-year basis in all but two of the 146 MSAs monitored by Realtor.com, with the for-sale inventory dropping -20 percent or more in roughly half (72) of the markets covered. At the same time, the median list price was up by 1 percent or more on a year-over-year basis in 108 markets, with 51 markets registering increases of 5 percent or more. Only 22 markets had a year-over year list price decline of 1 percent or more. While markets remain fragile, if current trends continue, 2012 could well be the beginning of a broad-based housing recovery.

On a year-over-year basis, the median list price in May was up by 1 percent in 108 of the 146 MSAs monitored by Realtor.com, and up by 5 percent or more in 51 MSAs. The median list price was down by 1 percent or more in 22 markets, with only 3 markets registering declines of -5 percent or more. The remaining 16 markets have not experienced a significant change in median list prices compared to a year ago. This strong performance is another indication that the market is gaining steam in many parts of the country and represents a considerable improvement over patterns observed in May 2011.

via realestateeconomywatch.com

Oil Powers America’s Healthiest Housing Markets | Waccabuc NY Real Estate

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What three things do Dallas, Midland, Tulsa, Billings, Oklahoma City, and Corpus Christi have in common?

They all missed the housing boom and bust, they are all booming with new oil production and they all made HomeValueForecast.com’s top ten list of March markets as measured by nine leading indicators. America’s pain at the pump is creating low unemployment rates and higher property values in traditional oil centers like Midland as well as newer ones like Billings where new fractioning techniques are making shale oil formations like the Bakken field in adjoining North Dakota accessible.

“The top ranked metros in the current month show a strong connection to such states as Texas and Oklahoma which directly benefit from the resurgence in U.S. oil exploration industries,” said Dr. Michael Sklarz, co-author of HomeValueForecast.com.

The first indicator used to rank markets in HVF’s battery of measurements is quarterly sales, the foundation of Skarz’ approach to forecasting. “One of the most powerful and, yet, simplest leading indicator of the future direction of home price is sales activity. Our previous research has found that the leads can be anywhere from 6 to 18 months. The actual series which we use in our home price forecasting models is the Turnover Rate, which is the number of sales divided by the total housing stock,” said Sklarz.

It that’s the case, invest now in oil belt housing because production activity is hreaking records and home sales won’t be far behind.

The Eagle Ford Shale oil field stretches for 400 miles across most of southern Texas, produces both natural gas and oil, and some analysts suggest that Eagle Ford could be producing energy and providing jobs for decades. Energy companies are rushing to the area to tap deposits that could produce up to 12 billion barrels of oil, enough natural gas to power every American household for at least five years.

However, Eagle Ford is not the whole story. Total wells drilled in Texas in February were up 85 percent over a year ago and that could just be the start. Texas today has 28 of the top 100 oil fields in the United States and proven reserves of 4.555 billion barrels. With horizontal drilling and fracking techniques pioneered by the natural gas industry being applied to shale oilfields like Eagle Ford, Texas is on the verge of a second oil boom. This time however, it’s going to come from the state’s vast shale oil fields.

About a quarter of Oklahoma’s jobs are directly or indirectly tied to oil and gas production. Business leaders expect Oklahoma’s energy sector to continue to expand in 2012 after oil production averaged 204 thousand barrels a day during 2011, topping 200 thousand bbl/d for the first time since 1998. Oklahoma-based independent energy companies, including Devon, Chesapeake Energy, Sandridge and Continental Resources, are expected to expand their operations and workforce during the coming year.

Montana conveys images of snowy peaks, not oil rigs, but the eastern half of the state is benefitting from the Bakken Oil Formation, a shale oil field with more than 20 billion barrels of oil that straddles the border with North Dakota, and Canadian oil sands. Local companies in Billings, which enjoys a 5.6 percent unemployment rate, are manufacturing equipment and shipping to Canada, as Canadian companies are dealing with a limited workforce.

The four non-energy related markets that made HomeValueForecast.com’s top ten list are Clarksville, TN; Provo and Salt Lake City, UT; and Destin, FL

via realestateeconomywatch.com