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Lack of Inventory Draws Record Crowd to Boston-Area Open House

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As employment rates improve and the cost of renting continues to soar, the housing market is beginning to see serious demand in many areas of the country.

There was so much demand in one Boston-area suburb recently, in fact, that the cops were called to shut down an open house because it had generated so much traffic to the usually quiet neighborhood.

“We got shut down! I’ve been in this business for 30 years, and it’s never happened before,” agent Catherine Luther told CNBC. “It’s just that we’re lacking inventory. We really need more inventory. Prices are going up, and we just don’t have enough property to sell.”

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News

January, February Data Suggest Strong New Home Sales in 2015

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A newly released set of housing data comparing January and February home sales suggests that 2015 should be a strong year for the sale of newly-constructed homes.

As reported by Mortgage News Daily, the Mortgage Bankers Association announced on Thursday that applications for mortgages to purchase newly constructed homes jumped 12 percent from January to February, and the organization estimates that sales of newly constructed single-family homes are running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 487,000 units.

“An increase in mortgage applications to builders in February over strong January numbers bodes well for new home purchases this year,” said Lynn Fisher, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics. “Applications in both January and February were up on a year over year basis.”

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Spring Surge Starting Early in Seattle Housing Market

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The spring surge has already begun in the Seattle housing market, with temperatures rising and potential homebuyers ready to strike.

Like the rest of the country, however, the city has very few listings up for sale – down 19 percent from a year ago – which means lots of competition on the offer front.

“They will probably make several offers before one is accepted, they just need to expect to be competing with others,” Frank Wilson, director of Seattle’s MLS told CNBC. “Listings are flying off the shelf faster than allergy medicine in this early spring market.”

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Fannie Mae Housing Survey Shows Positive Trend

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For the first time in five years, the Fannie Mae National Housing Survey revealed on Monday that more respondents believe the economy is on the right track than the wrong track.

According to February’s numbers, a survey high of 47 percent of respondents believe the economy is moving in the right direction, while 45 percent believe we’re still not there yet.

“Continuing improvements in consumer attitudes in this month’s National Housing Survey lend support to our expectation that 2015 will be a year of the economy dragging housing upward,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “We continue to see strength in attitudes about the current home buying and selling environment and consistently high shares of consumers saying they expect to buy a home on their next move. At the same time, we still need to see further growth in consumer optimism toward personal finances and income for more robust improvement in housing market attitudes.”

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D.C. Housing Market Off to a Good Start in 2015

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The Washington Post reported some encouraging news on Tuesday: The housing market in D.C. is off to a good start in 2015, despite the winter’s less-than-favorable weather conditions.

According to the paper, which analyzed a brand new set of data released by RealEstate Business Intelligence, home sales increased 0.7 percent in February from the same period in 2014, making it the third month in a row that the area has seen sales increase year-over-year.

With this news, Post reporter Kathy Orton says it’s “an encouraging sign heading into the busy spring season.”

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All-Cash Home Sales Continue to Decline

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CoreLogic reported on Monday that the number of all-cash home sales has now fallen for 24 straight months.

With the numbers from December 2014 going public this week, CoreLogic was able to confirm that 35.5 percent of total home sales during that period were all cash. That number is down from 38.5 percent in December 2013 and 0.5 percent lower than the month before (Nov. 2014).

Two states in particular, however, had higher-than average cash sales. Alabama clocked in with 52.2 percent all cash sales, while Florida wasn’t far behind with 50.3 percent.

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Tips & Advice

Report: Remodeling Not Always the Answer in Trying to Sell Your Home

CNBC released a new report on Friday, warning homeowners that remodeling their homes may not always be the best idea when trying to sell because not all renovations pay for themselves in added value.

“Pretend you’re the buyer,” suggested Cheryl Reed, a spokeswoman for review site Angie’s List. “Walk around your house and think about things you would reject in a home.”

According to Reed, things like peeling paint, a leaky faucet, messy landscaping and crumbling front steps would be worth the fixes. Anything else, she warned, may be better to leave as is.

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Report: Home Equity Loans Face New Risk

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CNBC’s “Reality Check” writer Diana Olick reported on Thursday that many homeowners are beginning to feel the pinch leftover from taking out a home equity line of credit (HELOC), which was popular between 2005 and 2008 when the financial crisis hit.

According to Olick, after 10 years, the initial low interest rates can reset to higher interest rates. And now, many homeowners still owe more on their mortgages than what their home is worth.

“Homes purchased or refinanced near the peak of the housing bubble between 2005 and 2008 are much more likely to still be underwater despite the strong recovery in home prices over the last three years,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “Furthermore, many homeowners with HELOCs who have positive equity likely already refinanced to mitigate the payment shock from a resetting HELOC – and option not readily available for homeowners still underwater.”

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Bank of America Mortgage Bond Settlement Upheld

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A New York state appeals court ruled on Thursday that it has approved, in its entirety, Bank of America Corp.’s $8.5 billion settlement with mortgage securities investors.

With the ruling, Manhattan’s Appellate Division has most likely resolved one of the bank’s last and largest legal liabilities stemming from the 2008 financial crisis.

As Reuters points out, this settlement is separate from Bank of America’s $16.5 billion mortgage settlement last year with federal and state authorities.

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Tips & Advice

CNBC Reveals Three Housing Market Hot Spots

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David Goldberg, UBS analyst, appeared on CNBC’s Power Lunch on Wednesday to explain why Las Vegas, Phoenix and Atlanta are currently the country’s three biggest housing hot spots.

According to Goldberg, all three cities boast good job growth, easy comps and an inventory of available new homes.

“We’ve got some job growth, the mortgage market is opening up incrementally, and that’s going to move housing forward,” Goldberg said.

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