Sep. 4, 2009 -- Mortgage rates ended summer on a softer note, drifting back to late-spring levels. A pause (at least) in stock markets after a strong summer run saw some investors shift cash from equities into less-risky investments to lock in gains, driving influential Treasury yields lower.

The overall average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages revealed in HSH's Fixed-Rate Mortgage Indicator (FRMI) nudged downward, slipping seven basis points (.07%) to close the first week of September at 5.56%. The overall average for 5/1 Hybrid ARMs lost five basis points to landing at 4.87%. Conforming 30-year FRMs finished the period at 5.25%, a level last seen in late May.

Construction Spending fell by 0.2% in July, while outlays for commercial properties…

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Housing affordability inched downward throughout the state during the second quarter of 2009 as a result of incremental price increases and increased demand sparked by the state new-homebuyer tax credit, the California Building Industry Association said today.

The quarterly National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index found that homes were less affordable in 16 of the state’s 28 metro areas included in the report.

On a statewide basis, the HOI found that a median-income family could have afforded 62.7% of the new and existing homes that were sold during the second quarter, down from 64.4% in the first quarter.

Robert Rivinius, CBIA’s President and CEO, said the decrease in affordability could signal the bottom of the…

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Trends At a Glance

Aug 2009 Previous Month Year-over Year
Median Price $500,000 $540,391 (-7.5%) $577,150 (-13.4%)
Average Price $534,600 $545,152 (-1.9%) $659,537 (-18.9%)
No. of Sales 162 178 (-9.0%) 157 (+3.2%)
Pending Properties 365 278 (+31.3%) 182 (+100.5%)
Active 723 746 (-3.1%) 1,271 (-43.1%)
Sale vs. List Price 98.5% 97.3% (+1.3%) 97.3% (+1.2%)
Days on Market 85 71 (+20.4%) 71 (+19.7%)
 

Inventory Declines, While Pending Sales Continue to Rise

Inventory of single-family, re-sale homes fell for the thirteenth month in a row in August, and it is now down 43.1% year-over-year.

Pending sales, meanwhile, climbed 31.3% from July, and were up 100.5% compared to August 2008.

The median price for single-family,…

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Trends At a Glance Jun 2009 Previous Month Year-over Year
Median Price $522,258 $470,000 (+11.1%) $605,000 (-13.7%)
Average Price $571,824 $508,121 (+12.5%) $683,464 (-16.3%)
No. of Sales 183 139 (+31.7%) 154 (+18.8%)
Pending Properties 261 262 (-0.4%) 196 (+33.2%)
Active 741 746 (-0.7%) 1,271 (-41.7%)
Sale vs. List Price 97.8% 98.0% (-0.2%) 97.7% (+0.1%)
Days on Market 82 92 (-11.1%) 90 (-9.3%)

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Trends At a Glance May 2009 Previous Month Year-over Year
Median Price $470,000 $449,000 (+4.7%) $617,500 (-23.9%)
Average Price $508,121 $558,497 (-9.0%) $728,157 (-30.2%)
No. of Sales 139 129 (+7.8%) 126 (+10.3%)
Pending Properties 262 246 (+6.5%) 194 (+35.1%)
Active 746 787 (-5.2%) 1,240 (-39.8%)
Sale vs. List Price 98.0% 97.2% (+0.8%) 96.9% (+1.2%)
Days on Market 92 64 (+45.2%) 71 (+30.5%)

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