Baton Rouge area home sales post gain in July

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Home sales in metro Baton Rouge increased by 2 percent in July, thanks to increased sales in East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes.

There were 856 home sales that closed in July in the nine-parish area. That's according to figures released Monday by the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors to The Advocate (http://bit.ly/1tPYa28).

That compares with 839 closed sales in July 2013. The biggest monthly gainer was Livingston Parish, where sales were up 11.7 percent from 137 to 153.

East Baton Rouge, the largest market for sales, was up by 3 percent, from 465 to 479.

But Ascension Parish had a 4.1 percent sales drop from 171 sales in 2013 to 164.

The median sales price for the metro area was up 3.5 percent from $176,650 to $182,900 last month.

The average number of days a home was on the market was up from 76 in July 2013 to 82.

But the number of homes for sale fell 9.8 percent to 4,003. The supply in months was 5.3, compared with 6.5 in 2013.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/08/26/4309714/baton-rouge-area-home-sales-post.html#storylink=cpy

Where are Mortgage Rates Headed?

The interest rate you pay on your home mortgage has a direct impact on your monthly payment. The higher the rate the greater the payment will be. That is why it is important to look at where rates are headed when deciding to buy now or wait until next year.

According to a recent article in Kiplinger, 30 year mortgage rates are about to increase:
“Now around 4.1%, rates will edge slowly toward 4.4% by the end of this year. Then they’ll follow the Treasury bond rate’s upward move in early 2015. Thirty-year home loans should end 2015 at around 5.1%, still low by historical standards.”

Still a Great Time to Buy a Home...but HURRY!

Kevin Kelly, Chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), recently explained that:

“With interest rates near historically low levels and strengthening job growth, now continues to be a great opportunity to buy a home.”

We couldn’t agree more. However, we must realize that, with prices and interest rates both projected to increase, waiting could cost us.

There are two organizations that look at the affordability of purchasing and actually measure it over time. The National Association of Home Builders has their Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) and the National Association of Realtors’ has the Housing Affordability Index . 

Both indexes are reporting the same thing. The cost of buying a home is beginning to increase leading the affordability indexes to dip.

Both indexes say we passed the bottom of the housing market

According to NAHB’s HOI housing affordability dipped slightly in the second quarter of 2014. NAHB’s Chief Economist David Crowe explains:

“The second quarter HOI reflects the slow but steady march toward the historic levels of price appreciation and interest rates that result in affordability levels we experienced before the mid-2000s boom.”

According to NAR in a recent Economists’ Outlook post, home affordability is down from both one month ago and one year ago in all regions.
Michael Hyman, Research Assistant at NAR said:

“At the national level, housing affordability is down for the month of June due to higher prices and qualifying income levels despite the lowest mortgage rates of the year.”

In a recent article, the Wall Street Journal also revealed that the cost of home ownership is higher than any time in over five years:

“Housing affordability hit its lowest level in nearly six years in June as home prices continued to climb."

Bottom Line

If you were waiting for the bottom of the market, you missed it. Yet, with prices below values of seven years ago in most parts of the country and interest rates near historic lows, it is still a great time to buy a home…but hurry! 

Mortgage Rates Roll Back to Yearly Low

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Aug. 14:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.12 percent, with an average 0.6 point, dropping from last week’s 4.14 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.40 percent.  

• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.24 percent, with an average 0.6 point, falling from last week’s 3.27 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 3.44 percent.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.97 percent, with an average 0.5 point, falling from last week’s 2.98 percent average. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.23 percent. 

• 1-year ARMs: averaged 2.36 percent, with an average 0.5 point, rising from last week’s 2.35 percent average. A year ago, 1-year ARMs averaged 2.67 percent. 

Homeownership's Impact on Net Worth

Over the last six years, homeownership has lost some of its allure as a financial investment. As homeowners suffered through the housing bust, more and more began to question whether owning a home was truly a good way to build wealth. A study by the Federal Reserve formally answered this question. 

Some of the findings revealed in their report:

• The average American family has a net worth of $77,300
• Of that net worth, 61.4% ($47,500) of it is in home equity
• A homeowner’s net worth is over thirty times greater than that of a renter
• The average homeowner has a net worth of $174,500 while the average net worth of a renter is $5,100

Bottom Line

The Fed study found that homeownership is still a great way for a family to build wealth in America. 

Home Prices - Where are they headed?

Today, many real estate conversations center on housing prices and where they may be headed. That is why we like the Home Price Expectation Survey. Every quarter, Pulsenomics surveys a nationwide panel of over one hundred economists, real estate experts and investment & market strategists about where prices are headed over the next five years. They then average the projections of all 100+ experts into a single number. 

The results of their latest survey

• Home values will appreciate by 4.6% in 2014.
• The cumulative appreciation will be 19.5% by 2018.
• That means the average annual appreciation will be 3.6% over the next 5 years.
• Even the experts making up the most bearish quartile of the survey still are projecting a cumulative appreciation of 11.2% by 2018.

Individual opinions make headlines. I believe the survey is a fairer depiction of future values.

See my Newsletter here:
http://christiefarrisbatonrouge.housingtrendsenewsletter.com/default.cfm

The Importance of Using an Agent when Selling Your Home

When a homeowner decides to sell their house, they obviously want the best possible price with the least amount of hassles. However, for the vast majority of sellers, the most important result is to actually get the home sold.

In order to accomplish all three goals, a seller should realize the importance of using a real estate professional. We realize that technology has changed the purchaser’s’ behavior during the home buying process. Today, 92% of all buyers use the internet in their home search according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2013 Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers.

However, the report also revealed that 96% percent of buyers that used the internet when searching for a home purchased their home through either a real estate agent/broker or from a builder or builder’s agent. Only 2% purchased their home directly from a seller whom the buyer didn’t know. Buyers search for a home online but then depend on the agent to find the actual home they will buy (52%) or to help them handle the paperwork (24%) or understand the process (24%).

It is true that the percentage of buyers that are using the internet to search for homes and information on the home buying process has increased dramatically over the last decade. But the plethora of information now available has also resulted in an increase in the percentage of buyers that reach out to real estate professionals to “connect the dots”. This is obvious as the percentage of overall buyers who used an agent to buy their home has steadily increased from 69% in 2001.

BOTTOM LINE

If you are thinking of selling your home, don’t underestimate the role a real estate professional can play in the process.