Tag: NAHB

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Real Estate News

NAHB – builders confident as market primed to expand in 2018

NAHB – builders confident as market primed to expand in
2018

Builder confidence in the market for newly-built
single-family homes increased five points to a level of
74 in December on the National Association of Home
Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) after a
downwardly revised November reading. This was the
highest report since July 1999, over 18 years ago.
“Housing market conditions are improving partially
because of new policies aimed at providing regulatory
relief to the business community,” said NAHB Chairman
Granger MacDonald, a home builder and developer from
Kerrville, Texas. “The HMI measure of home buyer
traffic rose eight points, showing that demand for
housing is on the rise,” said NAHB Chief Economist
Robert Dietz. “With low unemployment rates, favorable
demographics and a tight supply of existing home
inventory, we can expect continu ed upward movement of
the single-family construction sector next year.”
Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been
conducting for 30 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing
Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current
single-family home sales and sales expectations for the
next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey
also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective
buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to
very low.” Scores for each component are then used to
calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number
over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as
good than poor. All three HMI components registered
gains in December. The component measuring buyer
traffic jumped eight points to 58, the index gauging
current sales conditions rose four points to 81 and the
index charting s ales expectations in the next six
months increased three points to 79. Looking at the
three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores,
the Midwest climbed six points to 69, the South rose
three points to 72, the West increased two points to 79
and Northeast inched up a single point to 54.

Wall Street poised for record on tax bill hopes
Wall Street’s main indexes hit new highs on Monday as
the long-awaited tax overhaul plan looked set for
legislation and buoyed by a flurry of year-end
corporate dealmaking that has topped $11 billion so
far. More US Republicans Senators on Sunday threw their
weight behind the tax bill they expect Congress to pass
this week. A Senate vote is set for Tuesday and
President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill
into law by the end of the week.US stocks have enjoyed
a near year-long rally, of late powered by increasing
expectations of the promised tax overhaul, which aims
to lower corporate taxes to 21% from 35%, coming to
fruition. The benchmark S&P 500 has gained 19.5% so far
in 2017, set for its best year since 2013, as investors
bet that lower taxes could boost corporate profits and
trigger share buybacks and higher dividend payouts.

“The market is going to continue its rally based on the
belief that we’re going to see the Congress pass tax
reform,” said Robert Pavlik, Chief Investment
Strategist at SlateStone Wealth in New York. “People
are a bit weary about how long the rally will last, but
earnings continue to grow, (the) tax package should
help and the economy is doing well,” Pavlik said. “I‘m
very positive about the overall market. Lower corporate
taxes could also trigger cash repatriation, which
market analysts say could be used for merger and
acquisitions. On Monday, investors were treated to a
flood of deals.

CoreLogic – home price winners and losers

Since the US began recovering from the home-price bust
in 2006, economists have used the peak-to-current
change in prices as a measure of recovery in markets.
However, the peak-to-current change hyper-focuses on
economic losses for those who bought at the peak. What
about consumers who bought homes while prices were at
the bottom of the cycle? If someone was lucky enough to
buy as a market hit bottom and began to recover, they
have seen large home-price gains. Our view of home
price changes shows the peak-to-trough and
peak-to-current changes in the CoreLogic Home Price
Index (HPI) for the US, the four states with the
largest peak-to-current declines, and the four states
with the largest peak-to-current gains. In the states
where the HPI has passed the pre-crisis peak, the peak
used to calculate the numbers in Figure 1 is the
pre-crisis peak. The U S HPI peaked in 2006, and
returned to the 2006 peak in September 2017. Nevada
has the largest peak-to-current decline of any state,
and had the largest peak-to-trough decrease at 60%. On
the other end, North Dakota had a shallow
peak-to-trough decline, and has risen 47% above the
prior peak seen in 2008. A different view of the HPI
illustrates the depths of the most notable state-level
price declines and the subsequent upward trajectory in
those states, including the peak-to-trough and
trough-to-current HPI changes for the US and the seven
states that had larger peak-to-trough declines than the
US For the nation, from the 2006 peak to the 2011
trough, the loss was 33%, but from the 2011 trough to
September 2017 the gain was 50%. The most extreme drop
in the HPI was in Nevada, but prices in that state have
gained 89% since hitting bottom in 2012. For reference,
we can compare the gains in the HPI to gains in the
stock market. The S&P 500 fell 51% from peak to trough,
but has gained 229% from the trough through September
2017. The large price gains since the home-price bottom
translate into large amounts of home equity gained by
homeowners, improving their balance sheets. As shown in
the CoreLogic Homeowner Equity Report, in the 12 months
ending in September 2017, the average homeowner gained
nearly $15,000 in equity. Only seven states had equity
gains over the past year, but California and Nevada
stand out with the largest gains at $37,000 and
$23,000, respectively.

Average US gas price drops 3 cents to $2.51 for regular
The average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline
dropped 3 cents nationally over the past two weeks to
$2.51. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg
Survey said Sunday that further declines are likely
because US gas supplies are flush. The current gas
price is 25 cents above where it was a year ago. Gas in
San Francisco was the highest in the contiguous United
States at an average of $3.22 a gallon. The lowest was
in Jackson, Mississippi, at $2.14 a gallon. The US
average diesel price is $2.88, holding steady from two
weeks ago.

Categories
Real Estate News

Black Knight – “First Look” at March 2016

Published on: Apr 22, 2016 @ 8:12 am

Black Knight – “First Look” at March 2016

The Data and Analytics division of Black Knight
Financial Services (NYSE: BKFS) reports the following
“first look” at March 2016 month-end mortgage
performance statistics derived from its loan-level
database representing the majority of the national
mortgage market.

–  National delinquency rate fell 8% in March; at
4.08%, it is at its lowest point since March 2007
–  At just under 2%, the rate of 30-day delinquencies
is at lowest level in over 15 years
–  Spurred by declining interest rates, prepayment
speeds (historically a good indicator of refinance
activity) were up 46% from one month ago
–  Foreclosure starts were down 14% from February;
still driven primarily by repeat foreclosure activity

US jobless claims fall to 4-decade low

A proxy for layoffs across the US pointed to one of the
healthiest labor markets in decades, as the number of
US workers who applied for new unemployment benefits
declined to the lowest level since the early 1970s.
Initial jobless claims fell by 6,000 to a seasonally
adjusted 247,000 in the week ended April 16, the Labor
Department said Thursday. That was the lowest level for
jobless claims since the week of Nov. 24, 1973.  That
also marked the 59th straight week that initial jobless
claims remained below 300,000, the longest such streak
in more than four decades.  Recent claims data are
“astonishingly low,” said Timothy Hopper, chief
economist at TIAA Global Asset Management. “The fact
that the numbers continue to ratchet down suggests that
labor demand is strong and a sign the labor market
should continue to improve.”  Yet while the numbers
point to a stable labor market, they don’t foretell an
economic acceleration. In fact, last time jobless
claims were this low, an oil-shock recession had just
begun.  The direction of the layoff proxy is a key
difference between the latest readings and those in
1973. Jobless claims entered 2016 near these historic
lows but have fallen slightly. In contrast, by November
1973, when the National Bureau of Economic Research
pegs the start of a recession that stretched into the
early part of 1975, jobless claims had been modestly
climbing for nine months.

Federal Reserve officials will likely consider the
relative health of the labor market at next week’s
policy meeting. But recently, central bankers have
indicated they are concerned about weakness in the
global economy and are watching inflation readings and
wage gains closely. A large majority of economists
surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect the Fed to
hold its benchmark interest rate steady at the meeting.
A low level of layoffs typically coincides with solid
hiring. Employers added 215,000 jobs in March, a
healthy increase. The unemployment rate ticked up to
5%, but the increase in part reflected more workers
entering the labor force.  Jobless claims have trended
near the four-decade low much of this spring. But that
comes with a caveat. The Easter holiday, which moves on
the calendar each year, can distort seasonal
adjustments to the data during March and April. The
four-week moving average, which smooths out volatility,
fell by 4,500 last week to 260,500. That level has
stayed fairly consistent since early March.  Still,
there was one other historical point of strength in the
latest reading. A measure of the number of people on
unemployment rolls, which are reported with a one-week
lag, fell by 39,000 in the week ended April 9 to the
lowest level recorded since 2000.

 

NAHB – remodeling market index dips in first quarter of
2016

The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB)
Remodeling Market Index (RMI) posted a reading of 54 in
the first quarter of 2016, dipping four points below
the previous quarter but remaining in positive
territory above 50.  An RMI above 50 indicates that
more remodelers report market activity is higher
(compared to the prior quarter) than report it is
lower. The overall RMI averages ratings of current
remodeling activity with indicators of future
remodeling activity.  “Remodelers were solidly booked
for jobs in the first quarter of 2016 but calls and
appointments for work slowed down in comparison to the
end of 2015,” said 2016 NAHB Remodelers Chair Tim
Shigley, CAPS, CGP, GMB, GMR, a remodeler from Wichita,
Kan. “Volatility in the financial markets during the
first quarter may have impacted consumers’ readiness to
commit to projects.”  The RMI’s current market
conditions index stands at 55, decreasing by a single
point from the previous quarter. Among its components,
major additions and alterations continued gains from
the previous quarter, rising to 55 from 54. The smaller
remodeling projects component decreased two points to
54, and the home maintenance and repair component of
the RMI decreased two points to 56.  At 53, the RMI’s
future market conditions index decreased six points
from the previous quarter. Among its four components,
calls for bids decreased to 51 from 58, the amount of
work committed fell to 52 from 57 and appointments for
proposals dropped to 52 from 60. Meanwhile, the backlog
of remodeling jobs decreased only three points to 58
from the previous quarter’s reading and high-water mark
of 61.

SunEdison files for bankruptcy protection

SunEdison, once the fastest-growing US renewable energy
company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on
Thursday as years of debt-fueled acquisitions proved
unsustainable.  In its bankruptcy filing, the company
said it had assets of $20.7 billion and liabilities of
$16.1 billion as of Sept. 30.  The company said its two
publicly traded subsidiaries, TerraForm Power and
TerraForm Global, were not part of the bankruptcy.  The
company said it secured up to $300 million in new
financing from its first-lien and second-lien lenders,
which is subject to court approval. The money will be
used to support SunEdison’s operations during its
bankruptcy, such as paying wages and vendors, and
proceeding with ongoing projects.  “Our decision to
initiate a court-supervised restructuring was a
difficult but important step to address our immediate
liquidity issues,” said Ahmad Chatila, SunEdison chief
executive officer.  He said the company planned to use
Chapter 11 to reduce debt, shed non-core operations and
take steps to get the most value out of its technology
and intellectual property.

Zillow – Q1 2016 market report: tight inventory, rapid
price growth represent real headwinds for the market’s
core

–  There are 5.9% fewer homes for sale in the US than
there were a year ago.
–  There are 10.4% fewer entry-level homes for sale in
the US than there were a year ago.
–  Low supply is driving up home prices among
entry-level homes, which are often sought after by
first-time buyers.

Faced with rapidly appreciating home values and a
dwindling inventory of homes for sale in the critical
entry-level and mid-market home segments, first-time
and move-up home buyers – typically the housing
market’s bread-and-butter – are likely in store for a
tough spring home shopping season.  Nationwide, median
home values rose 4.8% year-over-year in March and 1.1%
over the course of the first quarter, to a Zillow Home
Value Index of $186,200, according to the first quarter
Zillow Real Estate Market Report. And while overall US
home values continue to grow at a modest (though slowly
accelerating) clip, home values are rising the fastest
among entry-level and mid-market homes in a large
majority of the nation’s biggest housing markets.  A
number of factors are driving this growth, and many are
positive, including strengthening household formation,
continued growth in jobs and wages, and general
confidence and optimism in the overall value of
homeownership, especially among younger generations.
But the likeliest contributor to this rapid growth in
the bottom and middle is worrisome: There is a real
lack of homes to buy in these segments.

Overall, there were 5.9% fewer homes available for sale
nationwide at the end of the first quarter than there
were a year ago. But the number of homes for sale in
the bottom and middle thirds of the US market each fell
by 10.4%, compared to a relatively scant decline of
just 1.9% in the top third of the market.  This is
leading to a situation in which the majority of homes
for sale in many markets are more expensive homes not
typically sought by budget-conscious entry-level and
younger buyers. In all 35 of the nation’s largest
markets and the US as a whole, more homes are available
for sale in the top-third of the market than in either
of the other segments. In nine of those large metros,
top-tier homes make up more than half of all homes
available for sale.  And strong demand for
more-affordable homes, driven in part by those healthy
fundamentals noted earlier, can’t help but push prices
up more quickly for those budget-friendly homes that
are available. Home values in the bottom tier are
growing faster than the other two tiers in 18 of the
nation’s 35 largest metro housing markets, and
middle-tier growth is outpacing bottom and top-tier
growth in another eleven. That leaves just six of the
country’s 35 largest markets in which home value growth
in the top tier is outpacing the bottom and middle.
And in some cases, the growth rates between top and
bottom tiers aren’t particularly close. In the
fast-growing Denver metro, for example, bottom-tier
home values grew at a 20.3% annual pace in March,
fastest among markets in which bottom-tier values are
growing the most, and almost double local top-tier
annual growth of “just” 10.6%. Similar trends can be
found in Phoenix, where bottom-tier home values are
growing at almost triple the annual pace of top-tier
values (11.2% at the bottom vs. 4.2% at the top) and
Riverside (10% vs. 2.7%).

This rapid home value appreciation and limited
inventory in the bottom two-thirds of the market
undoubtedly puts a majority of would-be home buyers in
a tough spot. But the flip side is that those
better-heeled buyers in search of a top-tier home are
swimming in much smoother waters.  Annual home value
growth among top-tier homes in 20 of the nation’s top
35 markets is slower than the overall national pace of
4.8%. Additionally, the most expensive homes on the
market are also more likely to have a price cut. The
share of top-tier listings nationwide with a price cut
has increased 1.6 percentage points over the past year,
compared to just 0.4 percentage points in the middle
tier and 0.5 percentage points at the bottom.  In other
words, buyers looking for the most expensive homes will
find somewhat softening prices, a relatively larger
selection of homes to choose from and more limited
competition this spring. At the same time, entry-level
and mid-market buyers are likely to face much stiffer
competition, rapidly rising prices and very limited
inventory.  Yet another reminder that it pays to be
wealthy.

In March, the median US home value rose 0.4% from
February, according to the Zillow Home Value Index. US
home values have grown on a year-over-year basis for 45
straight months.  But while home values have been
growing consistently for going on four years, lately,
the pace of growth has picked up after a yearlong
cooling-off period from spring 2014 through spring
2015. The post-bottom pace of annual home value growth
peaked at 7.9% in April 2014, then slowed in each of
the subsequent 12 months, reaching a low of 2.7% in
April 2015. Annual home value growth has since been
higher than the month before in 10 of the past 11
months, before falling somewhat in March to a 4.8%
pace, from 4.9% in February.  While annual growth in
this range is largely sustainable and not much to worry
about on its own, this uptick in growth bears watching
as the spring home shopping season heats up –
especially in light of the rapid growth and limited
inventory issues noted earlier. If home values begin
growing too much, too fast, many more buyers risk
getting priced out of the market, which has a number of
trickle-down effects. One of these impacts could be
felt in the rental market, as would-be buyers are stuck
renting for longer, keeping apartments occupied that
may otherwise go to newly formed renter households and
contributing to upward pressure on rents themselves.
Another impact could be continued deterioration in home
affordability overall if growth in home values outpaces
income growth.  Home values in 25 of the nation’s 35
largest metro markets grew faster year-over-year than
the nation’s 4.8% annual pace in March. Home values
grew by more than 10% per year in seven of those large
metro markets: Denver (up 15.7% year-over-year),
Portland (14.8%), Dallas (13%), San Jose (12.6%),
Seattle (11.7%), San Francisco (11.5%) and Miami
(10.5%). None of the nation’s largest metros
experienced annual home value declines in March.

The US median rent in March was $1,389 per month, up
0.5% from February and 2.6% from March 2015, according
to the Zillow Rent Index. US rents have grown
year-over-year for 43 consecutive months. March was the
fifth straight month in which median US home values
grew faster year-over-year than median rents.  Similar
to home value growth, annual growth in rents in this
range is normal and nothing to worry much about.
However, between August 2015 and February, monthly
rents in each of those seven months hovered between
$1,380 and $1,382, before rising to the current $1,389
this month. This $7 per month bump isn’t huge by any
means, but does represent a bit of a departure from
recent trends, and could be an early signal that rental
growth is picking up again, potentially as a result of
tightness in the rental market caused by renters unable
to find a home to buy in their budget. This also bears
watching.  Median rents in all but one of the nation’s
35 largest metro markets grew year-over-year to some
extent, with only Cleveland experiencing an annual
decline (-1.2% from March 2015). Rents grew fastest
year-over-year in the San Francisco (up 9.9% from March
2015), Portland (up 8.6%) and San Jose (up 8%) metros.

Looking ahead, Zillow expects national home values to
continue growing, rising another 2.7% through March
2017 to a Zillow Home Value Index of $191,257. US rents
are also expected to keep growing over the next year,
at a 2.7% pace through March 2017 to a Zillow Rent
Index of $1,426.  Existing home sales activity in March
was fairly strong, a somewhat promising sign for the
upcoming spring season after a disappointing February.
But existing home sales have been very volatile lately,
and have failed to string together more than a couple
months in a row of increases before stumbling again. It
will take several solid months this spring to break the
two-steps-forward, one-step-back routine the market has
been stuck in for a while – and it’s hard to
meaningfully increase sales activity when the number of
homes for sale keeps dropping.  Which means the market
could be setting up to be pretty tough for potential
buyers this spring, especially for first-time buyers
and those looking to move up from their first home and
into a slightly more expensive place. Competition will
be fierce, and buyers’ patience will be tested. In
order to stand out in a competitive market, buyers
should get pre-approved for a loan, find an agent who
has experience with bidding wars and be prepared to
come in at the asking price, so the seller knows
they’re serious.

Categories
Real Estate News

Cash sales share declines moderated in November 2015

Published on: Feb 26, 2016 @ 10:21 am

Cash sales share declines moderated in November 2015

Cash sales accounted for 36.4% of total home sales in
November 2015, down 0.7 percentage points year over
year from 37.1% in November 2014. On a month-over-month
basis, the cash sales share increased by 2.5 percentage
points in November 2015 compared with October 2015. The
cash sales share typically increases month over month
in November, and due to seasonality in the housing
market, cash sales share comparisons should primarily
be made on a year-over-year basis. The November 2015
year-over-year decrease in cash sales share was the
lowest in nearly three years. From January 2013 until
October 2015 decreases in the cash sales share averaged
2.7 percentage points, ranging from -1.4 to -5.1
percentage points. The elevated cash share for November
was most likely related to the new federal mortgage
rules that took effect in October 2015 (TRID) as some
mortgage deals were delayed while the industry adjusted
to the new mortgage rules. These delays are not
expected to carry forward in future months.  The cash
sales share peaked in January 2011 when cash
transactions accounted for 46.6% of total home sales
nationally. Prior to the housing crisis, the cash sales
share of total home sales averaged approximately 25%.

Real estate-owned (REO) sales had the largest cash
sales share in November 2015 at 63.2%. Resales had the
next highest cash sales share at 35.7%, followed by
short sales at 34.3% and newly constructed homes at
16.7%. While the percentage of REO sales that were
all-cash transactions remained high, REO transactions
accounted for only 8.7% of all sales in November 2015.
In January 2011 when the cash sales share was at its
peak, REO sales represented 23.9% of total home sales.
Resales typically make up the majority of home sales
(about 78% in November 2015), and therefore have the
biggest impact on the total cash sales share. Michigan
had the largest cash sales share of any state at 53.4%,
followed by Alabama (51.4%), Florida (50.2%), Kentucky
(49.1%) and New York (47%). Of the nation’s largest 100
Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs)[2] measured by
population, Detroit, Mich. had the highest cash sales
share at 61.5%, followed by West Palm Beach-Boca
Raton-Delray Beach, Fla. (53.4%), Miami-Miami
Beach-Kendall, Fla. (52.5%), Fort Lauderdale-Pompano
Beach-Deerfield Beach, Fla. (50.4%) and North
Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla. (50.1%). Syracuse, N.Y.
had the lowest cash sales share at 13.1%.

Oil settles lower, but gains for the week

Oil futures turned lower late Friday, but still
finished the week higher for the second time in a row
as the market continued to mull the likelihood of a
slowdown in global production. West Texas Intermediate
crude “ran into some resistance technically” and pulled
back, said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at
CMC Markets. Prices also likely saw some “profit-taking
ahead of the weekend just like we’ve been seeing in the
Dow today.” April West Texas Intermediate crude fell 29
cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $32.78 a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange. It gained more than 3% for
the week.

NAHB – study reveals the housing preferences of the
boomer generation

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has
had a long history of tracking the evolution of home
buyer preferences. Builders and other industry
professionals now have an opportunity to find out what
baby boomers want compared to other home buyers in
Housing Preferences of the Boomer Generation: How They
Compare to Other Home Buyers, a study recently released
by NAHB’s publishing arm, BuilderBooks.  Based on a
comprehensive, nationwide survey of recent and
prospective home buyers conducted in 2015, the study
discusses how various designs influence the home
purchase decision; the location, features and size of
the homes consumers want, and the influence of certain
events and people on the decision to move to another
home.  “This survey is a great resource for building
professionals, as it provides an inside look at the
things boomers, and other generations, are looking for
in today’s homes,” said Rose Quint, NAHB’s Assistant
Vice President for Survey Research, and one of the
study’s authors. “As the housing market continues to
recover, more consumers are in the position to purchase
a home, and it’s important for builders to have this
knowledge about their customers.”

Here are some of the findings on what home buyers want:
–  The majority of all buyers (65%), and boomers in
particular (63%), would like to buy a single-family
detached home.
–  Most home buyers (64%) prefer a single-story home,
but there is great variation by generation: Millennials
(35%), gen X’ers (49%), boomers (75%) and seniors
(88%).
–  Fifty-eight% of home buyers want a full or partial
basement, but the preference declines with age:
Millennials (77%), gen X’ers (67%), boomers (50%) and
seniors (43%).
–  When asked if they would buy a home without a living
room, 37% of buyers say they would, 42% would not and
21% are not sure. The share of buyers willing to part
with this formal space falls steadily with age:
Millennials (43%), gen X (40%), baby boomers (37%) and
seniors (26%).

And here are some of the findings on what most buyers
do not want:
–  Few buyers (8%) or boomers (7%) prefer a central
city location. About two-thirds prefer a home in the
suburbs (close-in or outlying) and just over a quarter
prefer a rural area.
–  Only 14% of buyers overall (and 13% of boomers) are
willing to pay more for a home out of pure concern for
the environment.

Personal income, spending both up 0.5% in January
The Commerce Department said on Friday consumer
spending increased 0.5% as households ramped up
purchases of a range of goods and the return to normal
winter temperatures boosted demand for heating.
Consumer spending, which accounts for more than
two-thirds of US economic activity, rose by an upwardly
revised 0.1% in December.  The report added to data on
manufacturing and employment that have suggested
economic growth picked up at the start of the year.
Gross domestic product increased at a 1.0% annual pace
in the fourth quarter.  Economists polled by Reuters
had forecast consumer spending rising 0.3% last month
after a previously unchanged reading in December.
There were also signs of price pressures stirring last
month, which will most likely be welcomed by Fed
officials against the backdrop of low inflation
expectations that are threatening to keep inflation
below the US central bank’s 2% target for an extended
period.  A price index for consumer spending edged up
0.1% after dipping 0.1% in December. In the 12 months
through January, the personal consumption expenditures
(PCE) price index increased 1.3%, the largest increase
since October 2014. The PCE index advanced 0.7% in
December.  Excluding food and energy, prices rose 0.3%.
That was the largest increase since January 2012 and
followed a 0.1% gain in December.  The so-called core
PCE price index increased 1.7% in the 12 months through
January, the largest rise since July 2014. The core
PCE, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, rose 1.5%
in December.  Consumer spending last month was
supported by a 0.5% rise in income. That was the
largest increase since June and added to a 0.3%
increase in December. Wages and salaries shot up 0.6%
also as minimum wage increases came into effect in some
states. Wages and salaries increased 0.2% in December.

Florida single-family home prices up 14% over last year
Florida’s housing market reported rising median prices,
fewer all-cash closed sales and a tight inventory of
for-sale homes in January, according to the latest
housing data released by Florida Realtors.  As
predicted by Florida Realtors, January 2016
single-family home sales rose, totalling 16,529, an
increase of 2.7% from January 2015.  “Florida’s housing
market remains on a steady path,” said Matey Veissi,
Florida Realtors president, broker and co-owner of
Veissi & Associates in Miami. “While inventory levels
are tight, the months’ supply of homes for sale remains
stable and distressed property sales continue to fall.”
Statewide, the median single-family home sales price
was up 13.7% from last year at $199,000, according to
data from Florida Realtors’ industry data and analysis
department. Condo sales prices are also up 10.9% from
last year at $152,000. January marked the 50th month in
a row that statewide median sales prices for both
single-family homes and for townhouse-condo properties
rose year-over-year.  “The current market offers a
great opportunity for sellers, who are getting nearly
94% (for existing single-family homes) of their asking
price at the closing table; existing townhouse-condo
sellers are getting more than 93% of their asking
price,” Veissi said. “And while mortgage rates are
inching higher, they remain historically low, which
gives consumers more buying power.”

Although the townhouse-condo market was down by 4.8%
compared to January 2015, data reflected few short
sales and cash-only sales during January 2016.
“Overall, statewide sales growth remained slow in
January, but it’s important to note that this trend has
not been uniform across all price points,” Florida
Realtors Chief Economist Brad O’Connor said. “Taking a
closer look at the data, what we are seeing are large
year-over-year declines in properties selling for less
than $150,000. Sales in this price range, which
comprised over a third of January’s total sales, were
down by nearly 17% compared to January 2015.”  “Sales
of homes in price tiers of $150,000 or more, on the
other hand, were actually up over 14%, year-over-year,”
he said. “An overall rise in home values is partly
responsible for these contrasting trends, but the real
culprit is a lack of inventory in lower price tiers
that has resulted from high rates of investor activity
and conversions into rentals.”  Inventory was at a
4.5-months’ supply in January for single-family homes
and at a 5.9-months’ supply for townhouse-condo
properties