Does this mean we are finally experiencing a stabilization in the housing market? Many signs point to yes!

The biggest indicator is the Pending Home Sales Report, released by the National Association of Realtors. This report announces that Pending home sales have improved, with the national index climbing 2 percent since December while increasing 8 percent above the level seen in January 2011. This is great news!

The improvement in Pending Home Sales mirrors the increase in contract activity, and points towards projections of a meaningful gain in sales this year. Good stuff right? Check out the video below for all the juicy details.

More consumers may be looking to purchase homes with a shift in several key housing market indicators, according to Fannie Mae’s March 2012 consumer attitudinal National Housing Survey. More Americans now expect both home rental and home purchase prices to increase over the next year.

• Nearly half of consumers expect higher rental prices, the highest number recorded since monthly tracking began in June 2010.
• Thirty-three percent expect home prices to increase, up 5 percentage points since last month, and the highest percentage recorded in over a year.

In addition, confidence in consumers’ views of their own finances is stabilizing—for three straight months—44 percent believe their personal finances will get better over the next year. These trends may be providing Americans with an increased sense of urgency to buy a home as 73 percent of Americans now believe it is a good time to buy a home, up from seventy percent in February.

“Conditions are coming together to encourage people to want to buy homes,” says Doug Duncan, vice president and chief economist of Fannie Mae. “Americans’ rental price expectations for the next year continue to rise, reaching their record high level for our survey this month. With an increasing share of consumers expecting higher mortgage rates and home prices over the next 12 months, some may feel that renting is becoming more costly and that homeownership is a more compelling housing choice.”

Homeownership and Renting
Thirty-three percent of respondents expect home prices to increase over the next 12 months, a five percentage point increase from last month, the highest level over the past 12 months.

The survey shows that on average, Americans expect home prices to increase by 0.9 percent over the next 12 months (up slightly since last month).

Additionally, 39 percent of Americans say that mortgage rates will go up in the next 12 months, a five percentage point increase from last month.

The percentage of respondents who say it is a good time to buy rose by three points to 73 percent, the highest level in over a year, while the percentage of respondents who say it is a good time to sell rose one point to 14 percent this month.

On average, respondents expect home rental prices to increase by 4.1 percent over the next 12 months, a significant increase since February, and the highest number recorded to date.

Forty-eight percent of respondents think that home rental prices will go up, a three percentage point increase from last month and the highest number recorded to date.

Sixty-six percent of respondents say they would buy their next home if they were going to move, up one point since last month, while thirty percent say they would rent, up one point versus last month.

The Economy and Household Finances
The rise in confidence in the economy’s direction leveled this month, with 35 percent responding that they think the economy is on the right track, consistent with February’s total. The percentage who say the economy is on the wrong track rose slightly from 57 percent to 58 percent.

Only 12 percent think that their personal financial situation will worsen in the next 12 months, consistent with February as the lowest value in over a year, and tied with January 2011 for the lowest to date.

Twenty-one percent of respondents say their income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago, up 1 point versus February, while 63 percent say it has stayed the same – consistent with February’s values

Thirty-four percent say their expenses have increased significantly over the past 12 months (a slight increase of one percentage point).

For more information, visit www.fanniemae.com. 

“We are excited to have these 30 firms join the ever-expanding Real Living national network of real estate offices. We are seeing companies from coast to coast embracing the Real Living brand as we continue to grow our network of offices.” – Real Living President Harley E. Rouda, Jr.

As the industry’s first consumer lifestyle brand, we’re committed to innovation by bringing new programs, services, support, training, and technology to our Brokers, Sales Professionals and their home buying and selling clients. The Real Living brand and its innovative concepts has:

• been recognized as one of the best by Entrepreneur magazine
• won the Inman Innovator Award
• been named “The Most Promising New National Brand” by the Swanepoel TRENDS Report

Real Living belongs to the international referral network and is a sister company of Brookfield Global Relocation Services (Brookfield GRS), the second largest global relocation services firm in the world. Real Living brokers and agents are the preferred partners for Brookfield GRS. Real Living is part of Brookfield Residential Property Services, a leading provider of real estate and relocation services, technology, and knowledge.

To learn more about Real Living Lifestyles, go to rllifestyles.com!

Or contact Eileen Schwartz at Eileen.Schwarts@realliving.com.

It’s a good thing we live in San Diego, because warmer weather means more homes are selling. Of course, us San Diegans already knew that. Compared to Minnesota, every day is a beautiful day to buy a home.

But even in San Diego the housing market took a step back in February. According to data from the National Association of REALTORS®, February’s Pending Home Sales Index slipped 0.5 percent from the month prior, to 96.5.

The index is benchmarked to a value of 100, the average level of home contract activity in 2001, the first year that pending home sales data was analyzed. It also happened to be a year of historically-high levels of home contract activity. Therefore, a Pending Home Sales Index reading of 100 suggests a strong housing market nationwide.

The good news is, the market still remains near post-recession highs and has read north of 90 since October 2011. Phew!

Back to warmer weather selling more homes. Check out the regional Pending Home Sales Index below, which measures the number of homes under contract to sale, but not yet sold nationwide:

• Northeast Region: -0.5 percent from January 2012
• Midwest Region : +5.7 percent from January 2012
• South Region : -3.3 percent from January 2012
• West Region : -2.6 percent from January 2012

As you can see, mild weather may have helped the Midwest Region last month but even regional data can only tell us so much. Like everything in real estate, housing data must be local to be relevant.

Throughout the South Region, for example, the area in which contract activity fell most on a monthly basis, there are states which performed better than the regional average, and states which performed worse. Furthermore, even within those states, there are some cities which over-performed, and others which underperformed. We see this all the time in San Diego county.

It’s why we can’t put too much stock in national housing news. Buyers don’t buy nationally — they buy locally. Which brings me to the most important point. Although the national Pending Home Sales Index is a relevant national measure and is informative of our national health, today’s home buyers and sellers should tap into local market drivers for the most up to date, accurate, and tailored market information.

To get the latest local data, check out Real Living Lifestyles. We’ve got everything you need.

These agents have continually shown a work ethic and determination that puts them above the average crowd. Their hard work and solid skills in the real estate industry make them an asset to their clients, as well as to the Real Living Lifestyles team.

In addition to the local top producers, three of Real Living Lifestyles agents were recognized at National Top Producers. Marie Jo Atkins, the Teti & Olenik Team, and Robbi Campbell Properties were recognized as being among the Top 50 Teams nationally, and Katharina Thinnes was recognized as being among the Top 100 Agents nationally. The Real Living National awards analyze production from December 1, 2010 through November 30, 2011.

CLICK HERE to view the Real Living Real Estate National Awards list

CLICK HERE to download PDF of Real Living Lifestyles Top Producers – Teams & Individuals

CLICK HERE to download PDF of Real Living Lifestyles Top Producers Companywide

Congratulations to the top agents!

NATIONAL AWARDS

December 1, 2010 through November 30, 2011

LOCAL AWARDS – TEAMS

January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011

(see full names and rankings below)

Row 1

• Diane Teti & John Olenik and Associates – #1 GCI  #1 UNITS
• Marie Jo Atkins – #2 GCI  #2 UNITS
• Robbi Campbell Properties – #3 GCI  #4 UNITS

Row 2

• Sara Driscoll & Daryl Petsch – #4 GCI  #5 UNITS
• Sergio Poplawsky & Rina Podolsky – #5 GCI
• Jenn Blake & Lennie Fernandez – #6 GCI  #8 UNITS (3 way tie)

Row 3

• Sandra Hadley (Hadley Home Team) – #7 GCI  #3 UNITS (2 way tie)
• Diane Orvis & Megan Orvis Morris – #9 GCI  #6 UNITS (2 way tie)
• Carly Bohnsack (Cay & Carly) – #10 GCI  #3 UNITS (2 way tie)
• Todd Malkus & Ramona Broekema – #11 GCI
• Barrie & AnneMarie Crake (The Crake Team) – #12 GCI  #8 UNITS (3 way tie)

Row 4

• Rick Taylor & Jeanne Taylor – #8 GCI  #7 UNITS
• The Campbell Group (Linda Campbell, Steven Campbell, Tesha Buchan) – #13 GCI  #6 UNITS (2 way tie)
• Daniel Beer – #14 GCI  #8 UNITS (3 way tie)
• Scott Peck & Bob Griswold (The Honor Team) – #15 GCI
• Arleen Gimbel & Chad Basinger – #16 GCI

Row 5

• Rhonda Hebert & Janet McMahon – #17 GCI
• Joda Mize – #18 GCI
• Dolores Beddow & Susan Taylor – #19 GCI
• Patricia Haeckel & Laura Mitchell – #20 GCI
• Nancy & Jim McNabb – #21 GCI

LOCAL AWARDS – INDIVIDUALS

January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011

(see full names and rankings below)

Row 1

• Katharina Thinnes – #1 GCI  #9 UNITS (3 way tie)
• Michele Massion – #4 GCI  #1 UNITS
• Jeff DeChamplain – #2 GCI  #3 UNITS
• Barbara Stuart – #3 GCI  #4 UNITS

Row 2

• Ed Swauger – #5 GCI  #2 UNITS
• Eileen Drutman – #6 GCI
• Debra Fine – #7 GCI  #8 UNITS

Row 3

• Craig Levitt – #8 GCI  #7 UNITS
• Kathi Kostoff – #9 GCI
• Karen Rewoldt – #10 GCI  #6 UNITS
• Dale Higson – #11 GCI
• Klara Straus-Henkels – #12 GCI

Row 4

• Lisa Blanchard – #13 GCI
• Shara Solitare -  #14 GCI
• Randy Johnson – #15 GCI
• Janet Douglas – #16 GCI
• Carol Mohan – #17 GCI

Row 5

• Nellie Hanlon – #18 GCI  #9 UNITS (3 way tie)
• Cheryl Bray – #19 GCI
• Gini De Armas – #20 GCI
• Bruce Levine – #5 UNITS
• Daniel Aguilo – #9 UNITS (3 way tie)

Leslie Appleton Young, CAR Chief Economist, a well-known and respected speaker, delivered a comprehensive update and forecast for 2012 including the latest statistics and charts describing the Southern California real estate market.

Harley Rouda Jr, Real Living President, spoke of the success of the company’s Premier Service that provides extraordinary customer service by embracing and championing new technology, innovative marketing, and an uncommon commitment to professional development and teamwork.  He mentioned the importance of going beyond what everyone else is doing, by giving better service, and providing important detailed market information to every client.

Steve Rodgers, President/CEO of Real Living Lifestyles Real Estate, announced the April 2012 scheduled opening of their 9^th real estate center in Del Mar Village. Del Mar, a charming, seaside town just 20 minutes north of San Diego, is home to the world famous thoroughbred racetrack and offers over 60 shops, 25 restaurants, many sidewalk cafes or outside patios overlooking the ocean.

He also took this opportunity to thank the more than 350 Real Living Agents, the management, office administrators and staff as well as the supportive sister service companies.

“2011 was a challenging year for all of us in real estate, and yet you continue to rise above obstacles with your commitment to bringing your clients the very best service and putting their needs above all others,” said Rodgers.  “For this I am extremely grateful to each one of you.”

Everyone in attendance had the opportunity to participate in a break-out session of their choice featuring expert panels for Personal Branding, Legal Matters, Marketing through Video and Blogging, and Data & Farming Tools.

Directly following the Symposium was a New Year New You Holiday Party with cocktails and fantastic appetizers and a special segment for the 2011 Agent Award Announcements and Presentation.  Indeed, a very special way to begin the year.

Fantastic guest speakers to inform and inspire. Leslie Appleton Young, CAR Chief Economist, is well-known and respected for strategic planning and as public speaker.  Harley E. Rouda Jr, President of Real Living will be here to share the excitement of Real Living and continued growth.   Opportunities abound with interesting and always enjoyable breakout sessions.

YOUR presence makes a big difference!  Considering joining an exciting and progressive team, then contact Cheri.Rice@RealLiving.com or 760-931-6111 to reserve your seat.

Read more about the special break out sessions: http://rllifestyles.com/nynybreakouts/

However according to the National Association of Realtors, international ownership in U.S. real estate is at about 8 percent. With homes in many parts of the country now worth what they were in 2002, Canadians, Asians and Europeans are flocking to buy up seasonal homes at rock-bottom prices. It sounds like good news for foreign investors.

Good news for us is the fact that interest rates are historically low means that we will be paying less over the life of the mortgage than we would have years ago. People still feel overwhelmingly that home ownership is l very desirable and a valuable long-term investment.

According to the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, this year more than 500,000 visitors will attend events at the Convention Center which is an increase over last year’s numbers. The San Diego Business Journal noted that 30.8 million people visited San Diego during 2011 – also up from the prior year. The reasons people flock to this town are many including Professional Meetings and the international favorite “Comic-Con”.

While San Diego is known for many tourist attractions, fabulous beaches, sunny days, moderate temperatures and great people, we also have our fair share of friendly neighborhoods, excellent schools, and community activities. People from all over the world are investing in this area, purchasing properties that can be rented out now and enjoyed later when they retire to this land of nearly perfect weather.

If surfing, golfing, hiking, or just hanging out in “America’s Finest City” makes your top ten list of things you like to do, then consider doing something you’ll really love and speak with a local real estate professional who can help you own a piece of paradise . It just might be the best thing you do this year!

“The Inman 100 report, an annual list of the Most Influential Real Estate Leaders, recognizes those who embody leadership, ingenuity, strength, conviction, power, persistence, perseverance and progress — their voices and actions can move the industry toward change.” ~ Inman

Recognized in the prestigious list were Harley Rouda Jr., the President of Real Living Real Estate, and Graham Badun, the CEO of Brookfield Residential Real Estate.

At Real Living Lifestyles we are proud to be among the best in Real Estate!  In April 2011, Steve Rodgers, Mark Loscher and Jim Browne changed their eight San Diego County offices to Real Living Lifestyles, Integrated Real Estate Services and joined the fastest growing real estate brand in the nation.

Harley E. Rouda Jr. became president of Real Living last year when the franchise company merged with GMAC Home Services LLC.  Rouda, whose father founded Real Living in 2002, had previously been the company’s CEO and managing partner.  As 2010 progressed, more than 50 former GMAC brokerages affiliated with Real Living growing the brand to 400 offices and nearly 10,000 agents.

Graham Badun began his career in the real estate industry as a loan office in 1988. He joined Toronto-based Brookfield in 1998 and held several executive positions before becoming a managing partner and CEO.  Under Badun’s direction, Brookfield Residential Property Services acquired GMAC Home Services in September 2008 and rebranded that company as RealLiving in late 2009.  Brookfield also operates Canadian real estate franchisor Royal LePage.

NAR overestimated real estate sales by 14%

November existing-home sales up 12% from year ago

By Matt Carter, Wednesday, December 21, 2011.

Inman News®

The National Association of Realtors says it overestimated home sales by more than 14 percent since 2007 because an adjustment that the trade group makes to data it collects from multiple listing services to account for sales that take place outside of MLSs got out of whack over time.

NAR says it’s fixed the problem and “rebenchmarked” statistics going back to 2007, when it said its adjustments began to diverge from previous assumptions about how many sales take place outside of MLSs.

Balloon houses image via Shutterstock.com.” />The trade group blamed much of the problem on a decline in “for sale by owner” sales — properties not represented by real estate brokers and therefore not listed in an MLS.

NAR said consumer survey data show FSBOs accounted for 9 percent of sales in 2010, down from 16 percent in 2000.

“In addition to a decline in FSBO transactions, more builders began marketing new properties through real estate brokers (and those sales) weren’t completely filtered from the existing-home data,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement.

“Some property listings on more than one MLS, and issues related to house flipping, also contributed to the downward revisions.”

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After rebenchmarking 2010 data, NAR now says there were 4.19 million existing-home sales last year, down 14.6 percent from the 4.9 million sales the group previously reported. For 2007 through 2010, sales and inventory were 14.3 percent less than previously reported, the group said.

Source: Calculated Risk blog.

NAR said the rebenchmarking doesn’t affect previously reported median home prices or months’ supply of homes for sale. Previously reported month-to-month trends in housing sales were also unaffected, because sales for each month have been revised downward.

Although rebenchmarking will also be done at the state level, data reported by local MLSs and Realtor associations is still valid, because those numbers are published before they are adjusted.

The need to rebenchmark NAR’s existing-home sales statistics is generating national headlines that could damage the trade group’s credibility.

Anticipating NAR’s revisions, the Greater Tulsa Association of Realtors in Oklahoma last week issued a press release reassuring consumers that “the newly revised national data has no impact for local homebuyers” and that “rates are (the) lowest in history and it’s still a great time to buy in Tulsa.”

Phoenix-based broker Jay Thompson said that so far his clients haven’t voiced any concerns about NAR’s need to revise its existing-home sales statistics.

“I think within the real state industry we’re probably more concerned about it, and certainly more aware of it, than consumers are,” Thompson said.

The MLS numbers “are good and solid,” he said, and his clients put more faith in the MLS-based local market reports he provides them with rather than media reports on national sales figures.

“The mainstream media tends to blow these things out of proportion,” Thompson said. “I have no evidence that buyers and sellers pay any attention to the numbers that come out of NAR. They see the headlines but it never comes up in conversation.”

NAR’s national statistics are important to economists, policymakers and others who make decisions based on macro-level data including national home sales.

The benchmark revisions, for example, will require the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to make a small downward adjustment to its estimates of national gross domestic product (GDP). That’s because the bureau relies on NAR’s existing-home sales figures to estimate real estate brokers’ commissions on the sale of residential structures, most recently pegged at $55.5 billion a year, down from a peak of $109.9 billion in 2005.

If that figure were adjusted downward by 14 percent, the $7 billion reduction would have only a slight effect on the U.S.’s $15 trillion GDP. Brokers would not be affected because they collect actual, rather than estimated, commissions.

NAR said that in the process of rebenchmarking, it consulted with the Federal Reserve Board, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Association of Home Builders, CoreLogic, and individual economists.

The latest, rebenchmarked data from NAR shows existing-home sales increasing by 4 percent from October to November, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.42 million homes — a 12.2 percent increase from a year ago, when homes were selling at a pace of 3.94 million units a year.

Housing inventory was down 5.8 percent from October to 2.58 million existing homes for sale, a seven-month supply at the current sales pace. Inventories peaked at a record 4.04 million in July 2007, NAR said, citing the rebenchmarked figures.

The national median existing-home price was $164,200 in November, down 3.5 percent from a year ago.

Distressed homes, including short sales and homes repossessed by lenders, accounted for 29 percent of sales in November, down from 33 percent a year ago. NAR said 19 percent of home sales were lender-owned properties and 10 percent were short sales.

All-cash sales — mostly to investors — accounted for 28 percent of existing-home sales, down from 29 percent in October and 31 percent at the same time a year ago.

First-time buyers accounted for 35 percent of existing-home sales, up from 34 percent in October and 32 percent in November 2010.

Breaking down existing-home sales by category, NAR said single-family home sales were up 4.5 percent from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.95 million, a 12.9 percent increase from a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $164,100, down 4 percent from a year ago.

Existing condominium and co-op sales were unchanged from October, with transactions closing at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 470,000, up 6.8 percent from a year ago. The median existing-condo price was $164,600, down 0.2 percent from a year ago.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast were up 9.8 percent from October to an annual pace of 560,000, a 7.7 percent increase from a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $240,200, down 0.1 percent from a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest were up 4.3 percent from October, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 960,000, a 15.7 percent increase from a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $133,400, down 4 percent from a year ago.

In the South, existing-home sales were up 2.4 percent from October to an annual pace of 1.74 million, a 12.3 percent increase from a year ago. The median price in the South was $143,300, down 2.1 percent from a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the West were up 3.6 percent from October to an annual level of 1.16 million, up 11.5 percent from a year ago. The median price in the West was $195,300, down 8.4 percent from a year ago.