据S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices三月份的数据显示，与二月份相比，全国20个城市中，Non-Seasonal-Adjustment指数，只有Seattle和Washington D.C.房价略微上涨，上涨幅度分别为0.1%和1.1%。
如果与一年前相比，全国20个城市中只有Washington D.C.房价仍在上涨，幅度达4.3%。Seattle地区则大幅下降7.5%，下降幅度在20个城市中名列第5，其他四个下降幅度超过Seattle的城市分别是：
WASHINGTON (AP) — Home prices in major areas have reached their lowest level since the housing bubble burst in 2006, driven down by foreclosures, a glut of unsold homes and the reluctance or inability of many to buy.
Prices fell from February to March in 18 of the metro areas tracked by the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city index. And prices in a dozen markets have reached their lowest points since the housing crisis began. Prices in March rose only in the Seattle and Washington, D.C., metro areas.
The nationwide index fell for the eighth straight month.
A record number of foreclosures are forcing prices down, and they are expected to keep falling through this year.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2015159308_realafford29.html
Housing affordability hit a new high in the first quarter, surpassing the previous high set in fourth-quarter 2010, according to the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo.
The Housing Opportunity Index found that 74.6% of new and existing homes sold in the first quarter were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,400. That’s up from 73.9% in the fourth quarter of 2010, and it’s the highest level in the more than 20 years the index has been measured.
The Seattle metropolitan area also became more affordable with 67.5% of homes within reach of those earning the median income of $85,600. That number is the highest recorded since the index started in the first quarter of 1999.
Before 2009, the national index rarely topped 65%, the association said. Last quarter was the ninth straight quarter the index was above 70%.
In other cities in Washington state, Spokane was the most affordable with 82.2% of homes within reach of those earning the median income of $60,300. Olympia recorded 81.8%; Tacoma, 78.5%; Bremerton-Silverdale, 70.1%; Bellingham, 69.7%; and Mount Vernon-Anacortes, 60.5%.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Pending home sales fell 11.6% in April, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. The pending home sales index reading of 81.9 in April came after a downwardly revised 92.6 in March, from an initial reading of 94.1. The big drop came after two monthly gains, and the NAR cited unusual weather and economic softness. “The economy hit a soft patch in April from sharply rising oil prices, widespread severe weather with the heaviest precipitation in 20 years, and a sudden rise in unemployment claims,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Nonetheless, the magnitude of the fall in pending home sales is larger than can be implied by broad economic factors, so we need to see if it’s just a one-month aberration.” The index is 26.5% below its April 2010 peak, when buyers were rushing to beat a contract deadline for the homebuyer tax credit. The data reflects contracts but not closings, which normally occur with a lag time of one or two months.
据今天刚刚发布的S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices显示，到今年二月份为止，西雅图房价还在持续下跌。与去年同期相比，二月份房价下降幅度达7.5%，在全国20个城市中，下降幅度排名第四。下降幅度超过西雅图的城市是Chicago, Minneapolis, Phoenix。
如果与一月份相比，西雅图二月份房价则下降了1.9%。
Portland二月份房价比去年同期下降7.0%，比一月份下降1.6%。
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Report-Sales-of-foreclosed-apf-285560332.html?x=0
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of homes in some stage of foreclosure declined in the first three months of the year, but they still accounted for 28 percent of all home sales — a share nearly six times higher than what it would be in a healthy housing market.
As a slice of all home purchases, foreclosure sales peaked two years ago at 37.4 percent. In the first quarter, they rose from 27 percent in prior quarter, but fell from 29 percent a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac.
Sales of foreclosure properties didn’t fare much better than other types of homes, however.
In all, 158,434 homes in some stage of foreclosure were sold in the first quarter, down 16 percent from the last three months of 2010 and down 36 percent versus a year ago. Sales of all other types of homes also declined sharply, according to RealtyTrac’s figures, which differ from other home-sales estimates.
While the number of bank-owned properties sold declined, they grew as a share of all home sales. Bank-owned homes accounted for nearly 19 percent of all sales, up from 17 percent in the fourth quarter and up from 18 percent a year ago, the firm said.
There’s a three-year inventory of homes in foreclosure for sale, and that’s devastating home prices.
Las Vegas has so many foreclosures that 53% of all the homes sold in Nevada are in some stage of foreclosure, according to a report from RealtyTrac, the online marketer of foreclosed properties.
Foreclosures represent 45% of sales in California and Arizona, and 28% of all existing home sales during the first three months of 2011.
“This is very bad for the economy,” said Rick Sharga, a spokesman for RealtyTrac.
What’s more, the homes are selling at steep discounts, especially so-called REOs, bank-owned homes that have been taken in foreclosure procedures.
The average REO cost on average about 35% less than comparable properties, according to RealtyTrac.
But in some areas, the discounts were ever greater: In New York State, the discount for REOs was 53% during the first quarter. And it was nearly 50% in Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
Also weighing on market prices are “short sales,” homes where the selling price is less than what is owed by the borrowers. These sales sold at an average 9% discount.
The Commerce Department said sales increased 7.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted 323,000 unit annual rate, the highest level since December, from a slightly upwardly revised 301,000-unit pace in March.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales unchanged at a previously reported 300,000-unit rate. All four regions recorded gains in sales, with the West reporting a 15.1 percent rise.
However, compared to April last year sales were down 23.1 percent.
An oversupply of used houses and a relentless wave of foreclosed properties are curbing the market for new homes, even as builders are keeping lean inventories. There were a record low 175,000 new homes available for sale last month, down 2.8 percent from the prior month.
Data last week showed a steep drop in new home construction in April and a dip in sales of previously owned homes.
The Commerce Department report the median sales price for a new home rose 1.6 percent last month to $217,900. Compared with April last year, the median price increased 4.6 percent.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2015131611_apusthenewrenters.html
The proportion of U.S. households that own homes is at its lowest point since 1998. When the housing bubble burst four years ago, 31.6 percent of households were renters. Now, it’s at 33.6 percent and rising. Since the housing meltdown, nearly 3 million households have become renters. At least 3 million more are expected by 2015, according to census data analyzed by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies and The Associated Press.
All told, nearly 38 million households are renters.
Demand is driving up rents. The median price of advertised rents rose 4.1 percent between the end of 2009 and the end of 2010, census data shows. Few expect the higher prices to stem the flood of renters, though. One reason: Younger adults don’t value homeownership as earlier generations did and many prefer to rent, studies show.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/business/economy/23glut.html
They own more than 872,000 homes as a result of the groundswell in foreclosures, almost twice as many as when the financial crisis began in 2007, according to RealtyTrac, a real estate data provider. In addition, they are in the process of foreclosing on an additional one million homes and are poised to take possession of several million more in the years ahead.
Five years after the housing market started teetering, economists now worry that the rise in lender-owned homes could create another vicious circle, in which the growing inventory of distressed property further depresses home values and leads to even more distressed sales. With the spring home-selling season under way, real estate prices have been declining across the country in recent months.
Over all, economists project that it would take about three years for lenders to sell their backlog of foreclosed homes. As a result, home values nationally could fall 5 percent by the end of 2011, according to Moody’s, and rise only modestly over the following year.
据Center for Responsible Lending数字显示，今年第一季度，1/9的房屋贷款者处于失去房屋的风险中。在2003年的第一季度，这个数字只有1/32。
“处于风险中的贷款”是指房主拖延月供已经超过了60天以上，或者房子已经在foreclosure。
这个数字虽然还是很高，但是与去年和前年相比，情况已经有所改善。
昨天NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS发布了四月份的房屋销售数据。包括Washington州的西部地区，seasonally adjusted annual rate与上个月比较，下跌了1.6%。但是与一年前相比，则略微上涨了0.8%。
No seasonally adjusted则更为鼓舞人心，与上个月相比，西部地区的房屋销售数量大幅上涨了14.7%，与一年前持平。
在房价方面，如果以房屋中间价计量，四月份比三月份房价上涨4.1%。如果以房屋平均价计量，上涨幅度是5.1%。
固定利率本周跌到了年度最低点，“房产族”纷纷开始重新贷款。重新贷款的人数上周上升了7.8%。
根据Freddie Mac的每周跟踪调查数据显示，30年从4.63%降到了4.61%，15年从3.82%降到了3.80%。虽然下降幅度不大，但积少成多，与一个月前的3.91%相比，30年已经下降了0.3%。
5/1ARM则有所回升。详细数据和历史数据请去下面的地址：
The National Association of Realtors says sales of previously occupied homes fell 0.8 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million units. That’s far below the 6 million homes a year that economists say represents a healthy market.
In April, sales of homes at risk of foreclosure fell 3 percent to 37 percent of all purchases. Purchases made by first-time homebuyers rose 3 percent to 36 percent.
Annual sales hit a record high of nearly 7.1 million homes in 2005. Since then, sales have fallen in four of the past five years before hitting a 13-year low last year.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Home-sales-dropped-in-April-apf-1672163469.html?x=0
根据Northwest MLS四月份的房屋销售数据分析，Eastside的房屋中间价与三月份比较，不同地区互有涨跌:
| King County东部 |
房屋中间价 |
房屋中间价 |
涨跌幅度 |
| Mercer Island |
$1,000,000 |
$710,000 |
40.85% |
| I-90 南边 |
$550,000 |
$515,000 |
6.80% |
| Redmond |
$443,000 |
$415,500 |
6.62% |
| Kirkland |
$562,500 |
$546,000 |
3.02% |
| Sammamish |
$485,000 |
$509,990 |
-4.90% |
| Bellevue 东边 |
$439,000 |
$475,000 |
-7.58% |
| Juanita, Woodinville |
$380,000 |
$425,000 |
-10.59% |
| Bellevue 西边 |
$840,088 |
$940,000 |
-10.63% |
Mortgage applications in the U.S. increased last week to the highest level since December as cheaper borrowing costs made refinancing more attractive.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of loan applications rose 7.8 percent in the week ended May 13. The group’s refinancing measure advanced 13 percent, while the purchase gauge fell 3.2 percent.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2015075402_apuseconomy.html
Builders broke ground on 10.6 percent fewer new homes last month. The seasonally adjusted rate fell to 523,000 homes per year, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That’s less than half the 1.2 million homes per year that economists consider a sign of a healthy market.
The median price of a new home was about 34 percent higher in March than the median price for a re-sale. That’s more than twice the markup in healthy housing markets.
Still, the April decline was largely because apartment and condominium construction plunged more than 28 percent. Single-family home construction, which makes up roughly 80 percent of the market, fell about 5 percent.
Building permits, a gauge of future construction, fell 4 percent.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/How-to-save-50000-Chop-your-hmoney-3306004623.html?x=0
The strategy: Refinance a 30-year mortgage to a 15-year loan.
Years to $50,000: Nine
You’ll save 60% more in interest by refinancing to a 15-year rather than a 30-year loan at recent rates — 4.3% for a 15-year vs. 5.1% for a 30-year loan. But your monthly payments will also rise, as you pay back more of the principal over a shorter term.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-ways-to-slash-home-brn-3808670236.html?x=0
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/US-builders-see-little-to-apf-3960569642.html?x=0
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. homebuilders are concerned that the struggling housing market won’t recover in the near future.
The National Association of Home Builders says its index of industry sentiment for May was unchanged at 16. It has been at that level for six of the last seven months. Any reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment about the market. The index hasn’t been above that level since April 2006.
Last year was the worst in more than a decade for sales of previously owned homes and the worst for new-home sales in nearly a half-century.
Fewer homes mean fewer jobs. Each new home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in taxes, according to the builders’ trade group.
最近7年浮动利率也降到了3%以下，引起了很多人的关注，想更多的了解浮动利率的特征。
什么是7/1 ARM
7/1ARM是指在30年贷款中，头7年是固定利率。7年以后，利率将根据市场进行浮动，每年浮动一次。但是你的浮动利率有一个上限（caps），让你能得到适当的保护。浮动利率主要由（Index+Margin）来决定：
比如说，你的7/1 ARM 利率是3%，term是5/2/5 cap，margin是2.250%。这就表示头7年，你的贷款利率一直是3%。7年以后你的利率将根据市场进行浮动。如果市场利率低，你的利率也会低。如果市场利率变高，你的利率也会高，但最高不会超过3%+5%=8%。
风险
现在的7/1 ARM利率很低，比30年/15年固定利率好。但是7年以后市场情况可能变差，利率可能会变高。所以你必须要仔细计算自己的得失。一旦决定选7/1 ARM，你一定要一直保持很好的credit和较低的负债比，在适当的时候能重新贷款到30年/15年的固定利率。
5/1 ARM
5/1 ARM的性质和7/1 ARM几乎一样，只是开始的利率只在5年内固定。5/1 ARM的开始利率一般要比7/1 ARM好一点，风险也大一点。
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2015039486_realrentersmain15.html
As vacancy rates dip below 5 percent, landlords are raising rents and offering fewer concessions or perks.
According to Apartment Insights, a web-based information service, the vacancy rate in the Seattle metro area hasn’t been this low since the latter part of 2007, and rental incentives are drying up in downtown Seattle, Capitol Hill and downtown Bellevue.
In contrast, rental markets with vacancy rates above 6 percent include SeaTac, Federal Way and Kirkland, according to Apartment Insights.
NEW YORK (MainStreet) — Foreclosure activity decreased by 9 percentage points to a 40-month low in April, according to new data released Thursday by Realty Trac, a firm that monitors the foreclosure market.
This week, a qualified buyer could expect to finance a home over 30 years at an average fixed rate of 4.63 percent, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. That’s the lowest average rate in five months. In November, the rate hit a four-decade low of 4.17 percent.
The 15-year fixed mortgage, popular with refinancers, is down to 3.82 percent. That’s also the lowest point since December.
Mortgage rates have fallen for four straight weeks, tracking the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. The 10-year yield has dropped as investors have snapped up Treasurys and other safe securities because of uncertainties about the global economy and the volatile prices of oil and other commodities.
今天稍晚的时候我将重新计算今天的利率，包括7/1 ARM。以下是5/13，即上星期五的利率：
| 5月13日 | RATE | APR | Closing Cost | 贷款额 |
| 15年固定 | 3.875% | 4.162% | $730 | $200,000 |
| 5/1 浮动 | 2.625% | 3.022% | $480 | |
| 5/1 浮动 | 2.75% | 3.066% | $230 |
*Terms and Conditions – Rates referenced above are guidance based on available rates from lenders as of May 13, 2011 for refinance, at least 40% equity for single-family house in the subject property, primary residence, minimum 740 credit score and verifiable income for the borrowers. Specific rates and terms may vary. Rates are subject to change daily without notice.
http://www.bankrate.com/financing/mortgages/bofa-to-give-away-houses/
That’s what Bank of America plans to do with as many as 150 vacant and abandoned properties in and around Chicago through a new “collaboration” with the city that’s intended to address the problem of abandoned properties.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Foreclosures-crush-home-cnnm-2510166359.html?x=0
Home prices continued to plummet during the first three months of 2011, falling 4.6% from a year earlier.
The U.S. median price, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), dropped to $158,700 for a single family house. Condo prices fell even harder — 10.4% to $152,900.
The median home price has now slumped 30% from its 2006 high of $227,100, and prices have fallen nearly 7% so far this year.
NAR blamed much of the latest price drop on sales of foreclosed properties. These “distressed” property sales accounted for 39% of the market, up from 36% from a year earlier.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2014994980_zillow09.html
Sellers lost money on one-third of homes sold in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties in March, according to online real-estate marketplace and database Zillow.
That’s a big jump from the same month last year, when 22 percent of homes in the Seattle metropolitan area sold for a loss, the Seattle-based company said.
从4月14日的那一周开始，利率已经连续跌了3周。5/1ARM更是跌到了2.625%！如果是同样的closing cost，今天你能拿到的30年/15年利率将会比3周前要少几乎0.25%！
未来一周利率走势如何？Bankrate专家预测统计结果：
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2014969633_homesales06.html
Buyers closed on 1,533 houses in King County last month, 6.6% fewer than in April 2010, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service said. Last month’s median sale price, $349,950, was down 6.7% from April 2010′s $375,000.
