Vivenda Real-Estate Newsletter

In reading the most recent news, I am encouraged by signs that pessimisms is less prevalent. Wall Street is hoping that they are seeing the light at the end of the subprime lending disaster and some local markets are reporting residential sales equivalent to the previous year numbers.  Not yet out of the woods, and still plenty of opportunities for bottom fishers but we are getting there. Happy reading.  You can also go to our website - www.vivendasoftware.com - to view additional information about the real estate industry and Vivenda.

• New Home Construction up in October
• Existing Home Sales Fall Again
• Quarterly Housing Price's Sharpest Drop in 20 Years
• Local Perspective: Regional Housing Showing Some Life

New Home Construction up in October

Construction of single-family homes in October skidded to the lowest level in 16 years although the slide was cushioned somewhat by a rebound in apartment building. The Commerce Department reported that total housing construction rose by 3 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.229 million units. But all of the strength occurred in a hefty rebound in apartment construction, which is extremely volatile. The bigger single-family sector actually fell by 7.3 percent to an annual rate of 884,000 units, the slowest pace since October 1991, when housing was going through another steep downturn. The current slump is expected to worsen further before starting to rebound in the middle of next year. Analysts predicted that construction activity will slump even further in coming months as builders strive to cut back on their inventory of unsold homes. They noted that applications for new building permits, considered a good barometer of future activity, fell for a fifth straight month in October, dropping 6.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.178 million units. "This is just what the doctor ordered," said David Seiders, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders. "Given weak demand and the large overhang of inventory, you just have to cut back on production." The rebound in overall construction in October reflected gains in all regions of the country except the South, where building activity fell by 4.6 percent. Construction rose by 21.1 percent in the Midwest, 8.5 percent in the Northeast and 5.8 percent in the West.  

Existing Home Sales Fall Again

Sales of existing homes fell for the eighth consecutive month in October, with median home prices falling by a record amount. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums dropped by 1.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million units. The median price of a home sold last month declined to $207,800, a drop of 5.1 percent from a year ago, the biggest year-over-year price decline on record.

Quarterly Housing Price's Sharpest Drop in 20 Years

U.S. home prices fell 4.5 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the sharpest drop since Standard & Poor's began its nationwide housing index in 1987 and another sign that the housing slump is far from over, the research group said Tuesday. A separate S&P index covering 20 U.S. metropolitan areas showed a home price drop of 4.9 percent in September from a year earlier. Tampa and Miami led that index with the biggest year-over-year declines at 11.1 percent and 10 percent, respectively. The index also showed that prices fell 1.7 percent from the previous three-month period, the largest quarter-to-quarter decline in the index's history. After 13 years of rising home values -- with the greatest increases occurring in the first part of this decade -- the housing market has started to unravel, spreading from Main Street to Wall Street. The S&P index that rated Tampa and Miami as the top decliners covers 20 U.S. metropolitan areas. Only five -- Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Dallas, Portland, Ore., and Seattle -- showed an increase in prices, but S&P noted that the pace of their increases is decelerating. The index showed drops in San Diego of 9.6 percent; Detroit, 9.6 percent; Las Vegas, 9 percent; Phoenix, 8.8 percent; and Los Angeles, 7 percent.

Local Perspective: Regional Housing Showing Some Life

More homes sold in the Sarasota-Bradenton market in October than any place in Florida besides Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa-St. Petersburg. It speaks to the depth of the malaise in the housing market in Florida, where sales dropped 29 percent when compared with the same month last year. But it also offers hope to some market watchers that perhaps Sarasota-Bradenton is emerging from the doldrums brought on by the 2004-05 housing rush faster than other places in the Sunshine State. The action in Southwest Florida comes against the backdrop of an October decline in the national median sales price that was the largest on record and worries that the housing mess could tip the nation into a recession. Sellers in Sarasota-Bradenton moved 528 homes during October, a 17 percent decline compared with the same month last year. But major markets Miami and West Palm Beach-Boca Raton had only 367 and 450 sales, respectively.