Monday, July 27, 2009

Better Than New!

Finally, here's the one! Better than new with mature landscaping including lush grass, and upgrades throughout this gorgeous home: Deep Soak Tub, Seperate Shower, Premium Sinks, Tile, Carpet and Cabinets, Center Island, Granite counter tops, Upgraded Lighting and Fixtures, Custom Paint, Insulated Garage Door, Refrigerated Air, Walk-in closets all rooms, and a Balcony with stunning Sandia views! This home shows better than a model! PLUS ALL APPLIANCES INCLUDED!.. Doesn't get any better than this.
Click here for all the details.

Now Vacant and Back on the Market

Great income property in the re-developing Downtown area!
Click here to see all the details!

"The worst of the housing recession ... is now behind us,"

New home sales in June posted the fastest increase in more than eight years as buyers took advantage of bargain prices, low interest rates and a federal tax credit for first-time homeowners.
While home prices are still falling, the figures released Monday were another sign the housing market is finally bouncing back. Earlier this month, the government reported that new home construction rose to the highest level since last fall. And data out last week showed home resales rose almost 4 percent in June, the third straight monthly increase.
"The worst of the housing recession ... is now behind us," said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities. "We're turning the corner toward increased activity in housing."
New home sales rose 11 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000, from an upwardly revised May rate of 346,000, the Commerce Department reported Monday.
Shares of big homebuilders soared on the news, with Beazer Homes USA up by more than 13 percent and Hovnanian Enterprises rising 8 percent in afternoon trading. But with home prices still falling, these companies won't be making much money anytime soon.
The median sales price of $206,200 was down 12 percent from $234,300 a year earlier and off nearly 6 percent from $219,000 in May.
In addition to lower prices, buyers are rushing to tax advantage of a federal tax credit that covers 10 percent of the home price or up to $8,000 for first-time buyers. Home sales need to be completed by the end of November for buyers to take advantage.
"The window of opportunity is closing," said Bernard Markstein, senior economist for the National Association of Home Builders.
June's results were the strongest sales pace since November 2008 and exceeded the forecasts of economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who expected a pace of 360,000 units. The last time sales rose so dramatically was in December 2000.
There were 281,000 new homes for sale at the end of June, down more than 4 percent from May. At the current sales pace, that represents 8.8 months of supply — the lowest level since October 2007. If that number falls to just over 6 months, analysts say, builders will feel more comfortable ramping up construction.
Fallout from the housing crisis has played a central role in the U.S. recession, now the longest since World War II. Foreclosures have spiked, homebuilders have slashed construction, and financial companies have lost billions.
But it will still be a while before homebuilders turn into an engine for the economic recovery. Construction levels are still weak because builders still have too many unsold homes sitting vacant.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Housing market starting to recover!

The U.S. housing market has started to recover from the most far-reaching crisis since the Great Depression, data released Thursday show.
Sales of previously occupied homes rose for the third month in a row in June, the National Association of Realtors reported. That hasn't happened since early 2004, during the boom.
"The turnaround in the housing market appears finally to be here and indeed may be gaining some speed," wrote Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors Inc.
Stocks jumped on the news, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising above 9,000 for the first time since early January.
Home sales rose 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million last month, from a downwardly revised pace of 4.72 million in May. Sales were up in all four regions of the country.
It was the highest level of sales since last October and beat economists' expectations. Sales had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 4.84 million units, according to Thomson Reuters.
In another encouraging sign, the share of foreclosures on the market is shrinking. About one out of three homes sold in June was foreclosure-related, down from nearly half earlier this year.
And the glut of homes up for sale dwindled to 3.8 million. That's a 9.4-month supply at the current sales pace and another important sign of a recovery. When the market balances at a 7-month supply prices should begin to stabilize, the Realtors's group said.
That probably won't happen until next year because of a backlog of foreclosures that have yet to come on to the market. The median sales price was $181,800 in June, down 15 percent from year-ago levels but up slightly from $174,700 in May.
Nevertheless, prices have risen for three straight months in about half of the 55 major metropolitan areas tracked by the Associated Press-Re/Max Housing Report, also released Thursday.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Dow tops 9,000 as home sales rise for 3rd month!

The Dow Jones industrials rose back above 9,000 for the first time since early January.
Investors snapped up a broad range of stocks Thursday, sending major indexes up more than 2 percent, after existing home sales jumped for the third straight month in June.
The 3.6 percent increase in home sales has investors excited that the hard-hit housing market might be improving. The National Association of Realtors said sales came in at 4.89 million, above the 4.84 million analysts had been expecting.
Another batch of corporate profit reports also helped boost the market's mood. Stronger-than-expected earnings and more optimistic forecasts have pushed stocks up more than 8 percent in less than two weeks. The jump has restarted a rally that began in early March, lifting the Dow and other market barometers up from 12-year lows.
Ford Motor Co. surprised the market with a second-quarter profit of $2.3 billion due mainly to a huge gain for debt reduction, while cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc. and candy maker Hershey Co. raised their profit forecasts for the year.
John Merrill, chief investment officer of Tanglewood Wealth Management in Houston, said forecasts are crucial because companies have done well to cut costs during the recession, but investors will be looking for increased revenue to add to earnings.
"If the outlook is at all positive, it means revenue will increase," Merrill said. With costs already trimmed, revenue will quickly boost profits, he said. It would also indicate economic activity is strengthening.
After a month of wayward trading, stocks began climbing again at the start of last week as companies like Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Intel Corp. posted solid earnings.
"Things are getting much better and the market is pricing it in," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors.
In midafternoon trading, the Dow rose 177.97, or 2 percent, to 9,059.23. The blue chips last traded and closed above 9,000 on Jan. 6. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 21.97, or 2.3 percent, to 976.04. It hasn't traded or closed above 1,000 since early November.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 47.04, or 2.4 percent, to 1,973.42, its 12th straight advance.
About seven stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 679 million shares, compared with 579.5 million traded at the same point Wednesday.
Bond prices tumbled, pushing their yields higher, as money flowed back into the stock market and out of safe-haven investments. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which is closely tied to home mortgage rates, jumped to 3.69 percent from 3.55 percent late Wednesday.
Investors looked past a bigger-than-expected rise in weekly unemployment claims. The Labor Department said the number of new claims for unemployment benefits rose by 30,000 last week to 554,000, slightly above analysts' estimates. However, a Labor Department analyst said the report was distorted by the timing of auto plant shutdowns. And total unemployment benefit rolls fell to the lowest level since mid-April.
In downturns in the past 60 years, the S&P 500 index has hit bottom an average of four months before a recession ended and about nine months before unemployment reached its peak.
A flurry of dealmaking also supported stocks. Investors look to companies' willingness to make acquisitions — and part with cash or take on debt — as a sign of confidence.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said it plans to acquire Medarex Inc. for about $2.1 billion, the latest in a string of acquisitions by the drug maker. Medarex surged $7.46, or 89 percent, to $15.86, while Bristol-Myers rose 62 cents, or 3 percent, to $20.90.
Amazon.com Inc. agreed to buy Zappos.com Inc., a privately held online shoe store, in a deal worth about $850 million. Amazon rose $5.19, or 5.9 percent, to $93.98.
Ford's profit was a huge improvement over the record $8.7 billion loss the company reported the same quarter a year earlier. Without one-time gains, the car maker would have lost $424 million, or 21 cents per share. That is still smaller than the loss of 50 cents per share analysts had been expecting. Ford rose 55 cents, or 8.6 percent, to $6.92.
Philip Morris said earnings fell 9 percent as the stronger dollar shrank profit earned in other currencies. The stock jumped $2.56, or 5.8 percent, to $46.44.
And Hershey said its quarterly profit leapt 72 percent thanks to a price hike and a new advertising effort. The shares rose $2.76, or 7.1 percent, to $41.71.
The dollar mostly fell against other major currencies, while gold prices dipped.
Oil prices rose $1.77 to $67.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gained 17.86, or 3.4 percent, to 546.58.
The gains in U.S. stocks pushed markets overseas to sharp gains. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.5 percent, while Germany's DAX index jumped 2.5 percent and France's CAC-40 rose 2.1 percent. In Japan, where markets closed before U.S. stocks began trading, the Nikkei stock average rose 0.7 percent.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

2009 2nd Quarter Home Sales Report

Our 2nd quarter 2009 report features homes sales statistics for homes that were listed or sold from April 1, 2009 through June 30, 2009. We also provide a comparison to 2nd quarter numbers from the same date range in 2008. The data is for existing homes sales for single-family homes and condos/townhomes in the Greater Albuquerque market area.
Read the full 2009 2nd Quarter Sales Report

Saturday, July 11, 2009

June 2009 Monthly Market Report

Monthly Highlights
• Pending sales for single-famlily, detached homes are up 9.00% from the previous month and up 8.86% from the previous year. (page 4)
• Pending sales for Rio Rancho single-family, detached homes are up 35.25% compared to June 2008. (page 11)
• Home sales for single-family, detached homes in the SWMLS Market Area are up 14.66% from last month. (page 5)
• New Page! Market snapshot for Valencia County and East Mountains. (page 12)
Read the full Report here.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Still Rising...

NAR's forward-looking pending home sales index, released for May, posted its fourth consecutive monthly gain, suggesting sales could be poised for an uptrend. The index is based on signed contracts and increased 0.1 percent to 90.7 from an upwardly revised reading of 90.6 in April, and is 6.7 percent higher than May 2008, when it was 85.0. "Closed existing-home sales have improved but are coming in lower than expected because some contracts are falling through from the application of appraisal rules for many transactions," says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. Learn more in a video interview with Yun on REALTOR.org.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Existing Home Sales Continue to Rise

Sales of existing homes showed another gain in May, benefiting from favorable affordability conditions and a first-time buyer tax credit, NAR says. May's increase was the first back-to-back monthly gain since September 2005. Existing-home sales, including single-family, townhome , condominium, and co-op – rose 2.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate 1 of 4.77 million units in May from a downwardly revised level of 4.66 million units in April, but remained 3.6 percent below the 4.95 million-unit pace in May 2008.