Steve's Real Estate Blog

http://www.higginsgroup.com/market-news/

See the following link for more sales information including specific

sales by town.

Regards,

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372

www.swreilly.com

licensed in Connecticut

Westport real estate market performance vs Case Shiller from Steve Reilly

2012-01-04T11:18:00.001-08:00

Westport and surrounding towns real estate market continues to out perform what is reported in the press.

As of close of November, 2011 business:

For Westport, Case Shiller reported that the median selling price peaked in 2006 when in fact the Westport market peaked in 2008. And, Case Shiller reported that current prices were down 22% from the peak when in fact prices were down 16%.

For Westport surrounding towns, Case Shiller reported that the median selling price peaked in 2005 when in fact the market peaked in 2007. And, Case Shiller reported that current prices were down 16% from the peak when in fact prices were down 13%.

The important thing to remember is, if you want to know how the real estate market is performing call me. Don’t rely on what you read in the news.

Regards,

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372

www.swreilly.blogspot.com

Licensed in Connecticut

Westport and surrounding towns real estate market performance through November, 2011 from Steve Reilly

2011-12-31T13:15:00.001-08:00

Summary Real Estate Market Performance

Through November, 2011 vs. 2010

For Westport, sales were up same as last year

and the median selling price was up 5%.

For surrounding towns, sales were down

12% and the median selling price was

up 1%.

For Westport, inventory of properties for sale

was same as last year.

For surrounding towns, inventory of properties

For sale was same as last year.

See the following charts for details.

Summary Westport Real Estate Market Performance

through November, 2011

Median Selling price 2011 YTD $1,050,000, up 5% in 2011

vs. 2010 YTD and down 19% since the peak in 2008.

Properties sold through November 2011 YTD 354 the same

as last year and down 33% since peak in 2004.

Average Days on Market 2011 YTD was 106, the

same as last year.

Summary Surrounding Towns (Norwalk, Wilton, Weston,

Fairfiled, Easton, Ridgefield aand Redding) Real Estate

Market Performance through November, 2011

Median selling price was $514,000 YTD in 2011 Up 1%

in 2011 vs. 2010, down 13% since peak in 2007.

Properties sold through November 2011 was 1842

Down 12% since 2010 and down 49% since peak

in 2005.

The Average Days on Market was 119 YTD through

November Up 9% since last year

Inventory of Properties for Sale in Westport

The number of properties as of December 21,

2011 was 271. This represents 8 months of

Inventory down since Last month and about

the same as last year.

Inventory of Properties for Sale in

surrounding towns

The number of houses and condos for sale as of

December 21, 2011 was 1823. This represents

9 months of inventory about the same as last

year.

See the following site for real estate information

or call any time.

Regards,

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372

www.swreilly.com

licensed in Connecticut

Westport and Fairfield Real Estate Markets 3Q 2011

2011-11-11T11:37:00.001-08:00

Home Prices Keep Dropping

This was the headline in a Wall Street Journal Article on Thursday November 10, 2011 by Alan Ziebel. The article reported that according to the National Association of Realtors that for the quarter July – September, 2011, median selling price declined in 111 of the 150 markets tracked by National Association of Realtors and increased in the other 39 markets.

The market closest to Westport and Fairfield that is tracked by NAR is Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk. In this market median selling price declined by 6.5%.

My interest is how the Fairfield and Westport compared.

Median selling price: Westport declined by 18% and Fairfield increased by 2.8%.

Sales: Westport declined by 16% and Fairfield declined by 7.1%

However, It is more important to look at the trend.

For Fairfield the trend of median selling price of properties sold is down and the trend of properties sold is down.

For Westport, the trend of median selling price of properties sold is down and the trend of properties sold is down.

Regards,

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372

licensed in Connecticut

Home Prices Keep Dropping

2011-11-11T09:30:00.001-08:00

Home Prices Keep Dropping

The market closest to Westport and Fairfield that is tracked by NAR is Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk. In this market median selling price declined by 6.5%.

My interest is how the Fairfield and Westport compared.

Median selling price: Westport declined by 18% and Fairfield increased by 2.8%.

Sales Westport declined by 16% and Fairfield declined by 7.1%

However, It is more important to look at the trend.

For Fairfield the trend of median selling price of properties sold is down and the trend of properties sold is down.

For Westport, the trend of median selling price of properties sold is down and the trend of properties sold is down.

Regards,

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372

licensed in Connecticut

Fairfield County Best Practice Real Estate

2011-11-02T12:32:00.001-07:00

The Higgins Group has developed a High Powered

Program designed to Market Fairfield County Real

Estate at The Highest Level. The Program includes:

Practices that all Realtors use to market properties
Enhancements to Real Estate Practices to make them Best Practices
Combine the home Sellers perspective on the property with our knowledge

of Fairfield County Real Estate to enhance the value of the property

and highlight the special features.

Market the County, Town and Neighborhood
Photo Marketing System
Internet Marketing Strategy
Target Marketing
Social Networking
Cooperative Showing Guide
Merchandising and Staging System
Quality Customer Care and Project Management.
Continuous improvement

Please call if you would like to hear about our Program.

Regards,

Stephen W. Reilly

The Higgins Group,

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

swreilly@swreilly.com

Phone: 203-246-7372

Westport Connecticu Real Estate through September, 2011 from Steve Reilly

2011-11-01T18:41:00.001-07:00

Westport Real Estate Market is holding up through September, 2011

Properties sold YTD is 309, up 3% since last year

The Median Selling Price was $1,050,000, up 4% since last year

The number of properties for sale was 357 which represents 11 months of inventory.

The performance would have been better except for a sluggish September.

According to CMLS and RealtyTrac, repossession activity is low. There are 3 bank owned properties on the market and 18 pre foreclosure sales in progress.

Please call or email if I can help with real estate buying, selling or investing.

Regards, Steve

Stephen W. Reilly

The Higgins Group,

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

Phone: 203-246-7372

Westport and surrounding towns real estate market performance through September, 2011 from Steve Reilly

2011-10-26T09:51:00.001-07:00

Summary Real Estate Market Performance

Through September, 2011 vs. 2010

For Westport, sales were 309 up 3% and the

median selling price was $1,050,000 up 4%.

For surrounding towns, sales were 1541 down

10% and the median selling price was $549,000

up 6%.

For Westport, inventory of properties for sale

was 357 which represents 11 months of inventory.

For surrounding towns, inventory of properties

For sale was 2624 which represents 11 months

of inventory.

Summary Westport Real Estate Market Performance

through September, 2011

Median Selling price 2011 YTD $1,050,000, up 4% in 2011

vs. 2010 YTD, down 25% since last month, and down 22%

since the peak in 2008.

Properties sold through September 2011 YTD 309, up 3%

since last month YTD, down 35% since last month

and down 32% since peak in 2004.

Average Days on Market 2011 YTD was 104, up 5% in 2011

vs. 2010 and up 37% since best year 2004.

Summary Surrounding Towns (Norwalk, Wilton, Weston,

Fairfiled, Easton, Ridgefield aand Redding) Real Estate

Market Performance through September, 2011

Median selling price was $549,000 YTD through September,

Up 6% in 2011 vs. 2010, down 8% since peak in 2007 and

Down 1% since last month.

Properties sold through September 2011 was 1541,

Down 10% since 2010, 19% since last month and

down 37% since peak in 2007.

The Average Days on Market was 117 YTD through September,

Up 9% since last year

Inventory of Properties for Sale in Westport

The number of properties as of October 21, 2011

was 357

This represents 11 months of inventory, is down

1.9 % since Last month and down 9.4% since

last year.

Inventory of Properties for Sale in

surrounding towns

The number of houses and condos for sale as of

October 21, 2011 was 2624

Down 1.2 vs. last month and down 1.3% since last year.

This represents 11 months of inventory

See the following sites for real estate information

or call any time.

Regards,

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372

www.swreilly.com

licensed in Connecticut

"Housing lift proves fleeting" Westport Fairfield vs National performance from Steve Reilly

2011-10-21T17:05:00.001-07:00

“Housing lift proves fleeting”

This was the headline in a Wall Street Journal article on Friday October 21, 2011. The article reported that according to the National Association of Realtors, sales of previously owned homes decreased 3% in September, 2011 vs. August 2011 and increased 11.3% since September 2010. And, nationally there is 8.5 months of inventory

The following shows how this compares to Westport and Fairfield, Connecticut:

Sales of previously owned homes September, 2011 vs. August, 2011

National -3 %

Westport -34.8 %

Fairfield -16.8 %

Sales of previously owned homes September, 2011 vs. September, 2010

National +11.3 %

Westport -11.8 %

Fairfield +4.1 %

Median Selling Price of previously owned homes September, 2011 vs. September, 2010

National -3.5%

Westport -32.0 %

Fairfield +42.9 %

Months of inventory available for sale September, 2011

National 8 1/2

Westport 11

Fairfield 11

Although the media reports performance by monthly comparison, this is not a good way to track performance. There are too many variables that distort the numbers within a month. The Fairfield County Market normally out performs the national market so this performance is unusual. Maybe due to the “Wall Street Effect”.

Source of information WSJ and CMLS.

Steve Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

203-246-7372

"Housing lift proves fleeting" Westport Fairfield vs National performance from Steve Reilly

2011-10-21T13:01:00.001-07:00

“Housing lift proves fleeting”

The following shows how this compares to Westport and Fairfield, Connecticut:

Sales of previously owned homes September, 2011 vs. August, 2011

National -3 %

Westport -34.8 %

Fairfield -16.8 %

Sales of previously owned homes September, 2011 vs. September, 2010

National +11.3 %

Westport -11.8 %

Fairfield +4.1 %

Median Selling Price of previously owned homes September, 2011 vs. September, 2010

National -3.5%

Westport -32.0 %

Fairfield -42.9 %

Months of inventory available for sale September, 2011

National 8 1/2

Westport 11

Fairfield 11

Source of information WSJ and CMLS.

Steve Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

203-246-7372

https://www.conference-board.org/data/consumerconfidence.cfm

Westport and Fairfield Connecticut real estate market perforamnce 3Q 2011 from Steve Reilly

2011-10-20T11:06:00.001-07:00

Highlights for Fairfield Include:

Regarding median selling price:

Trend is down
Peak was 3Q 2008 $640,000
Low was 1Q 2009 $463,000
Last quarter 3Q 2011 was $550,000
3Q 2011 was 14% below peak and 19% above lowest quarter

Regarding Properties sold:

Trend is down
Low was 1Q 2009 when 80 properties sold
High was 3Q 2005 when 323 properties sold
Last quarter 3Q 2011 171 properties sold

Highlights for Westport Include:

Regarding median selling price:

Trend is down
Peak was 3Q 2008 $1,435,000
Low was 2Q 2009 $928,000
Last quarter 3Q 2011 was $957,000
3Q 2011 was 33% below peak and 3% above lowest quarter

Regarding Properties sold:

Trend is down
Low was 1Q 2008 when 48 properties sold
High was 3Q 2005 when 177 properties sold
Last quarter 3Q 2011 113 properties sold

The source of this analysis is CMLS. We perform this analysis as a tool in establishing a pricing strategy for our listings. If you want to receive a monthly update send an email to swreilly@swreilly.com with “request monthly real estate market update” in the subject and you will receive our monthly newsletter.

Regards, Steve

Steve Reilly, Realtor

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

203-246-7372

Westport and Fairfield Connecticut real estate market perforamnce 3Q 2011 from Steve Reilly

2011-10-20T10:59:00.001-07:00

westport fairfield quarterly sales 3q 2011.xls Download this file

Highlights for Fairfield Include:

Regarding median selling price:

Trend is down
Peak was 3Q 2008 $640,000
Low was 1Q 2009 $463,000
Last quarter 3Q 2011 was $550,000
3Q 2011 was 14% below peak and 19% above lowest quarter

Regarding Properties sold:

Trend is down
Low was 1Q 2009 when 80 properties sold
High was 3Q 2005 when 323 properties sold
Last quarter 3Q 2011 171 properties sold

Highlights for Westport Include:

Regarding median selling price:

Trend is down
Peak was 3Q 2008 $1,435,000
Low was 2Q 2009 $928,000
Last quarter 3Q 2011 was $957,000
3Q 2011 was 33% below peak and 3% above lowest quarter

Regarding Properties sold:

Trend is down
Low was 1Q 2008 when 48 properties sold
High was 3Q 2005 when 177 properties sold
Last quarter 3Q 2011 113 properties sold

Regards, Steve

Steve Reilly, Realtor

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

203-246-7372

Use a Coupon to Buy a Home?

2011-10-17T18:11:00.001-07:00

Use a Coupon to Buy a Home?

Daily Real Estate News | Monday, October 17, 2011

-->More real estate professionals are jumping in the coupon-frenzy by luring home buyers with group coupon deals to use in their home purchases. Buyers have to purchase the coupon in order to get the discount.

For example, a buyer may purchase a coupon for $30 and then use the coupon to receive $1,000 cash back at closing when they buy a home, such as in a coupon-deal offered by Prudential Carolina Sun Real Estate in Charleston, S.C.

Builders and some real estate professionals have started to use the coupons as a way to attract more buyers. For example, Van Metre Homes, a builder in Virginia, used HouseTipper to promote its coupon deal of $5,000 in closing costs. HouseTipper sold about 13 coupons at $50 each, and at least half of the coupon buyers have signed contracts for homes by the builder.

Some real estate agents are also using Groupon to offer coupon deals. But the new HouseTipper is a collective buying platform directly targeted at the housing and home and garden sectors and works with builders, real estate brokers, lenders, and other housing-related companies.

Source: “Redeem at Closing; Home-Related Coupons, Web Sites Aimed at Buyers,” Chicago Tribune (Oct. 16, 2011) [Link unavailable.]

Read More

The Groupon of Housing

Consumer Confidence IndexR | The Conference Board from Steve Reilly

2011-09-28T10:16:00.001-07:00

The consumer confidence index which is gtracked by the Conference Board
dropped sharply in August and remained unchanged in September.

The index is 45.4 with 1995 100.

This is not good news. People are not likely to spend money when they aren't
confident about the future.

If you want to see the details copy the following link into your browser.

Regards, Steve

Steve Reilly
Higgins Group
Best Practice Real Estate
203-246-7373
Swreilly@swreilly.com
Www.Swreilly.com

Case Shiller median price of pre homes sold from Steve Reilly

2011-09-28T09:15:00.001-07:00

Case Shiller reported this week that the median price of existing homes sold showed an increase in most markets in July for fourth consecutive month.

But, are less than last year.

Top 10 markets were up .9% from last month and down 3.7% from last year

Top 20 markets were up .9% from last month and down 4.1% from last year

Boston market was .8% from last month and down 1.9% from last year

New York market was up 1.1% from last month and down 3.7% from last year

If you want to see the details copy this link into your browser.

http://www.standardandpoors.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobheadername3=MDT-Type&a...

Regards, Steve

Steve Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

203-246-7373

Swreilly@swreilly.com

Www.Swreilly.com

Westport and surrounding towns real estate market performance through August, 2011 from Steve Reillys

2011-09-23T14:56:00.001-07:00

Summary Real Estate Market Performance

Through August, 2011 vs. 2010

The National Association of Realtors reported this

Week that sales of pre owned homes was up 7.7%

in August, 2011 vs. July. This increase was due to the

large number of repossessions and resulting lower

median selling price.

For Westport, sales were up 5% but not due to

Repossessions and the median selling price was

up 8%.

For surrounding towns, sales were down but median

selling price was up.

For Westport, the trend is mostly positive with both

sales and prices increasing.

For surrounding towns, the trend is not so positive.

Sales are down and prices are up.

Summary Westport Real Estate Market Performance

through August, 2011

Median selling price was up 8% in 2011 vs. 2010 and down

20% since the peak in 2008.

Westport Properties sold through August, 2011

Properties sold through June 2011 was up 5% since

same period 2010 and down 16% since peak in 2007.

Westport Average days on market through August, 2011

The Average Days on Market was up 5% in 2011 vs. 2010

Summary Surrounding Towns (Norwalk, Wilton, Weston,

Fairfiled, Easton, Ridgefield aand Redding) Real Estate

Market Performance through August, 2011

Median selling Price through August, 2011

Median selling price was up 16% in 2011 vs. 2010 and down

1% since peak in 2007.

Properties sold through August, 2011

Properties sold through June, 2011 was down 11%

since 2010 and down 38% since peak in 2007.

Average days on market through August, 2011

The Average Days on Market was up 8% in 2011 vs.

2010 and up 24% since 2007.

Inventory of Properties for Sale in Westport

The number of houses and condos for sale as of

September 21, 2011 was down 3.4% vs. last month and

down 5.5% since last year.

Inventory of Properties for Sale in

surrounding towns

The number of houses and condos for sale as of

September 21, 2011 was down 2% vs. last month and about

The same as last year.

See the following sites for real estate information

or call any time.

Regards,

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372

licensed in Connecticut

Wall Street Journal reported on Wed 9/21/2011 Housing forecast call for pain

2011-09-23T07:04:00.001-07:00

Subject: Fwd: Wall Street Journal reported on Wed 9/21/2011 Housing forecast call for pain

A summary of the article includes:

Recovery of housing market and recovery of the economy are dependent on each other

Housing market won’t recover any time soon

Prices have fallen 31.6 % since peak in 2005

Prices will recover only a fraction of loss in next 10 years leaving low equity

The large number of repossessions is driving prices down

Lower consumer spending people feel poorer, less moving activity, improvements with cash vs home equity loans, less improvements,

Government programs for credits and refinancing haven't worked and may have made things worse. For example, It can't help that the justice department is suing banks for selling improperly vetted mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

No wonder the consumer confidence is so low.

Steve Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

203-246-7373

Swreilly@swreilly.com

Www.Swreilly.com

Home Forecast Calls for Pain

Prices to Stumble Through 2015, Economists Say, Weighing Down Recovery

·

BY NICK TIMIRAOS

Economists, builders and mortgage analysts are predicting the weakened U.S. economy will depress housing prices for years, restraining consumer spending, pushing more homeowners into foreclosure and clouding prospects for a sustained recovery.

Home prices are expected to drop 2.5% this year and rise just 1.1% annually through 2015, according to a recent survey of more than 100 economists to be released Wednesday. Prices have already fallen 31.6% from their 2005 peak, as measured by the Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller 20-city index.

If the economists' forecast is accurate, it means housing faces a lost decade in which home prices recover just ...

consumer confidence index declines big time

2011-09-23T06:29:00.001-07:00

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® Declines

30 Aug. 2011

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had improved slightly in July, plummeted in August. The Index now stands at 44.5 (1985=100), down from 59.2 in July. The Present Situation Index decreased to 33.3 from 35.7. The Expectations Index decreased to 51.9 from 74.9 last month.

The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey®, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by The Nielsen Company, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was August 18th.

Says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center: "Consumer confidence deteriorated sharply in August, as consumers grew significantly more pessimistic about the short-term outlook. The index is now at its lowest level in more than two years (April 2009, 40.8). A contributing factor may have been the debt ceiling discussions since the decline in confidence was well underway before the S&P downgrade. Consumers' assessment of current conditions, on the other hand, posted only a modest decline as employment conditions continue to suppress confidence."

Consumers' appraisal of present-day conditions weakened further in August. Consumers claiming business conditions are "bad" increased to 40.6 percent from 38.7 percent, while those claiming business conditions are "good" inched up to 13.7 percent from 13.5 percent. Consumers' assessment of employment conditions was more pessimistic than last month. Those claiming jobs are "hard to get" increased to 49.1 percent from 44.8 percent, while those stating jobs are "plentiful" declined to 4.7 percent from 5.1 percent.

Consumers' short-term outlook deteriorated sharply in August. Those expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months decreased to 11.8 percent from 17.9 percent, while those expecting business conditions to worsen surged to 24.6 percent from 16.1 percent. Consumers were also more pessimistic about the outlook for the job market. Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead decreased to 11.4 percent from 16.9 percent, while those expecting fewer jobs increased to 31.5 percent from 22.2 percent. The proportion of consumers anticipating an increase in their incomes declined to 14.3 percent from 15.9 percent.

The next release is scheduled for Tuesday, September 27, at 10:00 AM ET.

For further information contact:

Carol Courter
at +1 212 339 0232
carol.courter@conference-board.org

Misleading headline about increased home sales in August

2011-09-21T18:40:00.001-07:00

The following headline doesn’t explain that the increase in sales is due to a high level of investors buying properties at bargain prices and that the median selling price is down.

Tomorrow I will explain what’s going on in Westport and surrounding towns.

August Existing-Home Sales Leap Despite Headwinds

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

Existing-home sales increased in August, even with ongoing tight credit and appraisal problems, along with regional disruptions created by Hurricane Irene, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Monthly gains were seen in all regions.

Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, rose 7.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.03 million in August from an upwardly revised 4.67 million in July, and are 18.6 percent higher than the 4.24 million unit level in August 2010.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there are some positive market fundamentals. “Some of the improvement in August may result from sales that were delayed in preceding months, but favorable affordability conditions and rising rents are underlying motivations,” he said. “Investors were more active in absorbing foreclosed properties. In additional to bargain hunting, some investors are in the market to hedge against higher inflation.”

Investors accounted for 22 percent of purchase activity in August, up from 18 percent in July and 21 percent in August 2010. First-time buyers purchased 32 percent of homes in August, unchanged from July; they were 31 percent in August 2010.

All-cash sales accounted for 29 percent of transactions in August, unchanged from July; they were 28 percent in August 2010; investors account for the bulk of cash purchases.

“We had some disruptions from Hurricane Irene in the closing weekend of August, when many sales normally are finalized, along the Eastern seaboard and in New England,” Yun said. “As a result, the Northeast saw the smallest sales gain in August, and some general impact is expected in September with widespread flooding from Tropical Storm Lee. Aberrations in housing data are possible over the next couple months as markets recover from disrupted closings and storm damage.”

Yun said an extremely important issue currently is the renewal and availability of the National Flood Insurance Program, scheduled to expire at the end of this month. “About one out of 10 homes in this country need flood insurance to get a mortgage, and we would see significant negative market impacts without it,” he said.

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.27 percent in August, down from 4.55 percent in July; the rate was 4.43 percent in August 2010. Last week, Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed rate fell to a record low 4.09 percent.

NAR President Ron Phipps, broker-president of Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I., said the market is remarkably affordable for people with secure jobs, good credit and long-term plans. “All year, the relationship between home prices, mortgage interest rates and family income has been hovering at historic highs, meaning the best housing affordability conditions in a generation,” he said.

“The biggest factors keeping home sales from a healthy recovery are mortgages being denied to creditworthy buyers, and appraised valuations below the negotiated price. Buyers may be able to find more favorable credit terms with community and small regional banks, and Realtors® can often give buyers advice to help them overcome some of the financing obstacles,” Phipps said.

Contract failures – cancellations caused largely by declined mortgage applications or failures in loan underwriting from appraised values coming in below the negotiated price – were reported by 18 percent of NAR members in August, up from 16 percent July and 9 percent in August 2010.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $168,300 in August, which is 5.1 percent below August 2010. Distressed homes – foreclosures and short sales typically sold at deep discounts – accounted for 31 percent of sales in August, compared with 29 percent in July and 34 percent in August 2010.

Total housing inventory at the end of August fell 3.0 percent to 3.58 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an 8.5-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 9.5-month supply in July.

Single-family home sales rose 8.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.47 million in August from 4.12 million in July, and are 20.2 percent above the 3.72 million pace in August 2010.

The median existing single-family home price was $168,400 in August, which is 5.4 percent below a year ago.

Existing condominium and co-op sales increased 1.8 percent a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 560,000 in August from 550,000 in July, and are 8.3 percent higher than the 517,000-unit level one year ago. The median existing condo price was $167,500 in August, down 3.3 percent from August 2010.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast increased 2.7 percent to an annual pace of 770,000 in August and are 10.0 percent above a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $244,100, which is 5.1 percent below August 2010.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest rose 3.8 percent in August to a level of 1.09 million and are 26.7 percent above August 2010. The median price in the Midwest was $141,700, down 3.5 percent from a year ago.

In the South, existing-home sales increased 5.4 percent to an annual pace of 1.94 million in August and are 16.9 percent higher than a year ago. The median price in the South was $151,000, which is 0.8 percent below August 2010.

Existing-home sales in the West jumped 18.3 percent to an annual pace of 1.23 million in August and are 20.6 percent higher than August 2010. The median price in the West was $189,400, down 13.0 percent from a year ago.

Source: NAR

Economic Woes Prompt Buyers to Back Out of Deals

2011-08-22T12:11:00.001-07:00

Economic Woes Prompt Buyers to Back Out of Deals

Daily Real Estate News | Monday, August 22, 2011

Recent falls in the stock market and growing concerns over the cloud hanging over the U.S. economy has prompted more home buyers to cancel real estate deals or continue to sit on the sidelines, analysts say.

The National Association of REALTORS® said in a recent report that home buyer cancellations in the last two months increased about 10 percent from a year earlier. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, says the increase is due to low appraisals that do not match the mortgage amount, “overly stringent” lending standards, as well as waning buyer confidence.

“The typical home buyer gets rattled when confronted with economic turmoil,” says Stan Humphries, Zillow.com’s chief economist. “The type of fear we’re seeing could substantially worsen the housing market.”

Stock market declines are denting many buyers’ pocketbooks. “A lot of people have seen their down payments for a home disappear in the stock market,” Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH Associates, told Bloomberg News. “It served as a reinforcement to the hunker-down mentality that a lot of home buyers already had.”

Some home buyers who still have the means to buy are waiting for prices to fall even further too, says Jim Hamilton, with Lyon Real Estate.

“People are watching the stock market as a major indicator of what’s going on in the economy,” Hamilton told Bloomberg News. “Buyers are beginning to think that if they wait, they’re going to get a better deal in a few months.”

Even Low Interest Rates Can’t Get Buyers Moving

Despite borrowing costs at record low levels, applications for mortgages to purchase homes continues to fall. In fact, for the week ending Aug. 12, mortgage applications to buy dropped to a 13-month low, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was hoping to revive demand for housing by lowering interest rates and vowing to not raise key rates until 2013. Rates have been below 5 percent for more than two weeks but have failed to spark more buying.

“Low mortgage rates are only helpful to home buyers who aren’t paralyzed with fear after watching their 401(k) disappear,” says Mark Goldman, a lecturer at the Corky McMillin Center for Real Estate at San Diego State University. “For now, people see the stock market as a casino table.”

Source: “Housing’s Drag on Economy May Worsen,” Bloomberg News (Aug. 21, 2011)

Westport and surrounding towns real estate market performance through July, 2011 from Steve Reillys

2011-08-20T11:32:00.001-07:00

Summary Real Estate Market Performance

Through July, 2011 vs. 2010

For Westport, the trend is mostly positive but July

was a terrible month. In July sale were down 34%

and median selling price was down 2%.

For year to date, selling price was up, sales in units

was up and average days on market was down.

For surrounding towns, the trend is mixed and July

was a terrible month. In July, sales were down 36%

and median selling price was down 6%

For YTD, the median selling price was up, the

number of units sold was down and the average

days on marker was up and inventory was up.

Summary Westport Real Estate Market Performance

through July, 2011

Median selling price was up 9% in 2011 vs. 2010 and down

17% since the peak in 2008.

Westport Properties sold through July, 2011

Properties sold through June 2011 was up 5% since

same period 2010 and down 17% since peak in 2007.

Westport Average days on market through July, 2011

The Average Days on Market was up 8% in 2011 vs.

2010

Summary Surrounding Towns (Norwalk, Wilton, Weston,

Fairfiled, Easton, Ridgefield aand Redding) Real Estate

Market Performance through July, 2011

Median selling Price through July, 2011

Median selling price was up 3% in 2011 vs. 2010 and down

12% since peak in 2007

Properties sold through July, 2011

Properties sold through June, 2011 was down 11%

since 2010 and down 38% since peak in 2007.

Average days on market through July, 2011

The Average Days on Market was up 9% in 2011 vs.

2010 and up 24% since 2007.

Inventory of Properties for Sale in Westport

The number of houses and condos for sale as of

August 15, 2011 was down 5% vs. last month and

Down 5% since last year.

Inventory of Properties for Sale in

surrounding towns

The number of houses and condos for sale as of

August 15, 2011 was down 3.5% vs. last month and down

.5% since last year.

See the following sites for real estate information

or call any time.

Regards,

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372

You can help us by making a contribution to the Senate Conservatives Fund today. Your support will help us continue to fight for the timeless conservative principles of limited government, a strong national defense, and traditional family values that will restore America's greatness.

licensed in Connecticut

Home sales dropped 3.5 pct. in July, hit 2011 low from WSJ Thursday August, 18, 2011

2011-08-19T05:35:00.001-07:00

Home sales dropped 3.5 pct. in July, hit 2011 low

Third decline in 4 months puts sales pace behind last year's totals, a 13-year low

Re/Max Solutions Associate Broker Kurt Sabel, right, talks with prospective buyer Ned Pierce outside a home for sale Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2011 in Gilbert, Ariz. Fewer people bought previously occupied homes for the third time in four months.(AP Photo/Matt York)

Derek Kravitz, AP Real Estate Writer, On Thursday August 18, 2011, 12:08 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of people who bought previously occupied homes fell in July for the third time in four months. This year is on pace to be the worst in 14 years for home sales, as more Americans worry that the economy could slip back into another recession.

Home sales fell 3.5 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.67 million homes, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That's far below the 6 million that economists say must be sold to sustain a healthy housing market.

The dismal report on home sales contributed to a rough day on Wall Street. Stocks plummeted in midday trading on fears that the global economy is slowing. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 400 points within the first hour of trading.

Many people are reluctant to purchase a home two years after the recession officially ended. Sales are lagging behind last year's 4.91 million sold -- the weakest in 13 years.

Bigger down payments, tougher lending rules, high debt and a shortage of desirable starter homes have kept many would-be buyers away. Even people with good credit and enough money for a down payment are holding off because they are worried home prices will keep falling.

First-time homebuyers made up just 32 percent of sales. First-time buyers are critical to strong housing markets and normally make up about half of all sales. Their purchases of low and moderately priced homes also allow sellers to move up to pricier homes.

The weak data show "the housing market will not save the U.S. economy," said Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

Since the housing boom went bust in 2006, sales have fallen in four of the past five years. Declining home prices and super-low mortgage rates haven't been enough to boost sales this year.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 4.15 percent this week -- the lowest level on records dating back to 1971.

Some sales are falling apart at the last minute. At least 16 percent of deals were canceled ahead of closings last month. That's four times the number in May and the highest level since such records began being kept more than a year ago. A sale isn't final until a mortgage is closed.

Buyers have canceled purchases after appraisals showed that the homes were worth less than the buyers' initial bids.

"Buyers are worried about falling house prices, the job outlook, the stock market and gridlock in Washington," said Patrick Newport, U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight.

Sales were also hampered in the West by new maximum loan limits by government-controlled mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. On Oct. 1, the maximum loan in high-cost areas will fall from $729,750 to at least $625,500 and, in some areas, to $550,000. Some buyers will be unable to finance their purchases in cities where homes are more expensive, such as New York, San Francisco and Washington.

Foreclosures and short sales -- when a lender agrees to sell for less than what is owed on a mortgage -- made up about 29 percent of all home sales last month. That's up from about 10 percent in past years. And a wave of foreclosures are being held up, either by backlogged courts or lenders awaiting state and federal probes into troubled foreclosure practices.

Investors have targeted foreclosures and other deeply discounted properties. Their purchases accounted for 18 percent of sales in July.

The median sales price fell in July to $174,000, according to the Realtors' group. June's large jump in sales prices was attributed to missing data that had not been collected from Phoenix, which has been hit hard by foreclosures and dropping prices.

Most economists say home prices will keep falling, by at least 5 percent, through the rest of the year. Many forecasts don't anticipate a rebound in prices until at least 2013.

Sales were uneven across the country. They rose 2.7 percent in the Northeast and 1 percent in the Midwest. They fell 1.6 percent in the South and 12.6 percent in the West.

The glut of unsold homes declined slightly in July to 3.65 million homes. At last month's sales pace, it would take 9.4 months to clear those homes. Analysts say a healthy supply can be cleared in six months.

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Weak appraisals are "driving down the real-estate market," as per WSJ

2011-08-12T11:55:00.001-07:00

William Maxwell is an expert in finance. He's a professor at Southern Methodist University's business school, has co-authored a book on high-yield debt and spent years calculating values of financial markets.

Yet there's one valuation he can't understand: the appraisal of his Dallas home.

In August 2010, Mr. Maxwell's home was appraised at $790,000 as part of a mortgage refinancing. Yet this past spring, when he tried to sell the four-bedroom home for $756,500, the appraisal commissioned by the buyer's lender, Bank of America Corp., came up with a value of $730,000. Mr. Maxwell said the appraisal killed the sale.

WSJ's Nick Timiraos reports many analysts believe low appraisals are one factor weighing on the housing market and recovery of the sector. AP Photo/Seth Perlman.

Weak appraisals are "driving down the real-estate market," Mr. Maxwell says. Saying the appraisal process "borders on buffoonery," he's appealing his home's valuation to the Texas regulator.

One of the conclusions from the housing bust: The appraisal system was broken. One of the conclusions some have drawn from the struggling recovery since then: The appraisal system is still broken, but in a different way.

There is little doubt that home values have depreciated sharply in recent years for the most basic of economic reasons: excess supply of homes on the market and weak demand. But some realtors, home-sellers and economists believe low-ball appraisals also are undermining a housing recovery.

Appraisals are supposed to be unbiased assessments of a property's value. The housing bubble that burst a few years ago was inflated, in part, by overly generous appraisals. Now, lenders are pressuring appraisers to come in with lower estimates, some real-estate professionals say. Banks also are using less-experienced appraisers, who often don't appreciate factors that make a home worth more, they say. And valuations are being heavily influenced by distressed sales priced at a discount to the rest of the market.

Lenders are "instructing appraisers to be a little conservative, and that responsibility on the one hand is seen as credit tightening and, on the other, as exacerbating the housing problem," says Columbia Business School economist Chris Mayer. A research paper last year titled "How Much Is That Home Really Worth?" by economist Leonard Nakamura at the Philadelphia Federal Reserve also cited a downward bias in appraisals.

Disputes over valuations are rising. The National Association of Realtors said that 16% of realtors surveyed reported a cancellation in June of this year, and chief economist Lawrence Yun blamed the unusually large number on low appraisals. In June of 2010, only 9% of those surveyed reported a cancellation.

A survey by the group earlier this year found that 10%-12% of members had a contract canceled last year as a result of a low appraisal; 10%-13% had a contract delayed; and 16%-20% reported that the sales price was negotiated lower due to a low appraisal.

Not everyone agrees the appraisal system is broken. The Mortgage Bankers Association, an industry trade group, concedes that appraisals are conservative but says they need to be, partly to protect the banks from future problems with investors who buy mortgages. "There's an extra note of caution," said Steve O'Connor, a senior vice president at the association.

And some appraisers say homeowners are just having trouble facing reality. "It's the market. It's not the changes" in the appraisal process, says Charles MacPhee, a partner with Buttler Appraisals LLC.

Mr. MacPhee's company performed an appraisal in Decatur, Ga., last year that drew ire. John and Michelle Pennie were about to give up on selling their house last spring when an offer came in—just in time to qualify for the 2010 federal tax credit.

The two sides agreed on a sale price of $365,000, with the Pennies paying $8,000 in closing costs. "We were ecstatic," Mr. Pennie says.

But the appraisal put the home's worth at $327,000. And the deal ultimately collapsed. "Understandably in a declining market, you're going to have declining appraisals," Mr. Pennie says. "But when you have two parties who agree on a price, to then have an appraiser come in and make it $40,000 below…how do you ever get out of a falling market?"

For decades, appraising a home was both an art and a science, executed primarily by independent professionals who were experts on their local markets. Designed to protect both the borrower and lender, appraisals were based largely on selling prices of comparable homes. But appraisers also combed through property records and interviewed brokers, buyers, sellers—and even other appraisers. Banks selected the appraiser and often had influence over the outcome. Home buyers paid the fee.

In the aftermath of the housing bust, then-New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sought to reform the appraisal industry by convincing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to bar loan officers, mortgage brokers or real-estate agents from any role in selecting appraisers. Besides combating inflated and sometimes fraudulent appraisals, the goal was to eliminate pressure on appraisers to provide estimates that match the contract price, which would increase chances that the mortgage loan would get approved. The sweeping Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law that went into effect in 2010 went one step further to bolster appraiser independence by regulating both the industry and the fees they are paid.

Rather than hire appraisers whose work is known to them, banks now outsource their selection to appraisal-management companies, which are often units of other banks and financial companies. These appraisal-management companies take a sizable cut of the fee, leaving the appraisers under pressure to work faster and cheaper.

The result has been that appraisers with less experience or who are unfamiliar with a community—but who work cheap—are getting assignments while more experienced appraisers are going out business. That, say critics, is producing appraisals that are less accurate.

"We've lost the best quality appraisers," said Leslie Sellers, the immediate past president of the Appraisal Institute, a trade group. "The people doing it are the ones who have cut overhead to bone, are working out of basements and many of them are not properly educated." The Institute estimates there are currently under 90,000 certified appraisers, down from nearly 100,000 in 2007.

In Mr. Maxwell's case, he says that the appraiser, Jim Applegate, works in Plano, a suburb 20 miles from Dallas, and was unfamiliar with Mr. Maxwell's Dallas neighborhood of Lakewood, an affluent community near a picturesque lake. Mr. Maxwell also claims that Mr. Applegate improperly used less desirable homes as comparables, or "comps," to arrive at a value. In a June 17 formal letter of complaint with the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board, which regulates the industry, Mr. Maxwell said that Mr. Applegate had used a home near an elementary school that encounters a lot of traffic. Mr. Maxwell's home, by comparison, sits on a quiet, quarter-acre lot.

Calls to Mr. Applegate were returned by a Bank of America spokeswoman, who declined to comment on Mr. Maxwell's situation. She did say the lender has received feedback from customers asking it to reevaluate "geographic competency in our appraisal reports." She said efforts are being made to find appraisers who generally work within 15 miles of a property; if no appraiser is available, the company assigns alternate appraisers with local experience.

Others complain that appraisers are using foreclosures and other distress sales as comps when coming up with estimates. Because foreclosures tend to sell at big discounts from the actual value, some argue that shouldn't be used.

At least four states—Illinois, Nevada, Missouri and Maryland—have considered legislation that would bar appraisers from using distress sales when drawing estimates.

Some economists disagree. They argue that foreclosures account for such a large share of housing sales that it's perfectly acceptable to use them as comps, or to use them but adjust pricing accordingly. "A third of transactions are previously foreclosed homes. In some markets, it's close to 50%," said Columbia's Mr. Mayer. "It would be one thing if you're talking about throwing out a small number of transactions."

Another complaint is that appraisers are increasingly relying on automated valuation models, or AVMs, computer programs that extrapolate home values based on reams of property data, and public and privately compiled databases. The industry began automating in the mid-1990s, but it wasn't until a few years ago that AVMs took hold in a big way.

AVMs are most reliable when there are a larger number of typical transactions to observe. But during the housing slump, typical transactions have been scarce while distressed sales have been abundant.

One of the biggest complaints is that appraisers, in their haste, are overlooking or missing important elements that could add substantial value to a home.

Erin Wanner, a sales executive with Stirling Sotheby's International Realty in Orlando, Fla., says one of her deals fell through when an appraisal came in 40% lower than expected. The property, a custom-built lakefront, 7,000-square-foot home on four acres was appraised by the builder in 2008 at $1.2 million. Ms. Wanner's clients went under contract on the property for $650,000 in a short sale—one in which the bank agrees to receive less than the amount owed on the mortgage. The appraisal came in at $380,000.

"When I first heard it, I thought it was a joke," Ms. Wanner says. She noticed that a guest house on the property and total lot size—as well as the number of fireplaces and its heated pool—weren't included in the valuation, which would have sharply boosted the appraised value. She also thinks the appraiser wasn't familiar enough with the community and may have used comparisons with less affluent houses nearby, such as homes situated on ponds versus lakes.

Ms. Wanner says appraisers today seem less knowledgeable. "Real estate is a neighborhood business," she said. "One neighborhood can be hit, another can be flourishing." She said the new laws prevent lenders and agents from contracting the appraiser directly, which has been especially frustrating. "Once we get the report, it states that individual's opinion of value, and that's that."

Write to S. Mitra Kalita at mitra.kalita@wsj.com and Carrick Mollenkamp at carrick.mollenkamp@wsj.com

The Wisconsin Lesson

2011-08-10T15:45:00.001-07:00

Dear Fellow Conservative:

The union-backed Democrats in Wisconsin failed yesterday to win the three recall elections they needed to retake the state senate. This is a major victory for freedom-loving Americans that should inspire us all to keep fighting for conservative principles

Here's how David Freddoso at The Washington Examiner described the election results:

"The people" were supposed to be on the side of the unions who protested at the state capitol when Walker's bill passed, limiting the unions' collective bargaining privileges against taxpayers and school districts. But it turns out that "the people" had other ideas. In the end, even a massive infusion of cash and union volunteers was not enough to deliver the three state Senate recall races the unions needed, despite the fact that President Obama carried all six of the seats in question in 2008.

This marks the unions' third huge defeat in Wisconsin this year. The other two were the passage of Walker's bill and the re-election of David Prosser to the state Supreme Court. The grand talk of recalling Walker himself next year seems a bit blustery now, given the great failure of last night.

It's not exactly clear what yesterday's results mean for the 2012 elections. Wisconsin is a swing state and Election Day is still over a year away. President Obama needs a win here to secure his re-election and Democrats will be working hard to elect another Democrat to the open U.S. Senate seat.

If there is a lesson here, it's a lesson for those Republicans who are afraid to fight for conservative principles. Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) has demonstrated that if you lead with the courage of your convictions, you can turn your state around and win elections, too.

Unfortunately, I hear too many Republicans arguing for a "play it safe" strategy that fails to save our country and fails to give voters a reason to vote for them over their opponents.

The recent agreement to raise the debt limit was a perfect example. Conservatives produced the "Cut, Cap, and Balance" plan, a real solution that would have balanced the budget and preserved our AAA bond rating. But too many Republicans were unwilling to fight for it. They gave up on it because it didn't conform to what they thought was possible.

What happened last night in Wisconsin proves anything is possible if we're willing to stand on principle.

This is why I started the Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF). After losing several elections, I concluded that unless Republicans began electing true conservatives, our party would be lost and our country along with it.

If you're not familiar with SCF, it's a political action committee dedicated to electing rock-solid conservative leaders to the United States Senate. SCF is not affiliated with the Republican Party or any of its campaign committees. It's an independent organization that puts principled ahead of party and specializes in helping underdog candidates defeat the Washington establishment.

SCF stood on principle last year and helped elect Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Ron Johnson (R-WI). Now we're looking for more courageous conservatives to support in the 2012 elections, and working to build up our campaign war chest.

I sincerely believe the 2012 elections represent a "now or never" turning point for our country. With your help, I know we can take our country back.

Respectfully,

Jim DeMint
United States Senator
Chairman, Senate Conservatives Fund

Solid Dividend Stocks Remain Investor Refuge - FYI from US News Wed 8/10

2011-08-10T10:42:00.001-07:00

Solid Dividend Stocks Remain Investor Refuge

Philip Moeller, On Wednesday August 10, 2011, 10:57 am EDT

When nearly every stock has fallen sharply in value, it may be hard to take comfort in any fundamental investment advice. What good does it do to "stay the course" when your retirement assets are vanishing in real time? Despite the market's loss of nearly a sixth of its value in only a few weeks, the stocks of companies with strong dividend records remain a relatively safe haven.

Market downturns spur a flight to safety by investors. Demand for U.S. treasury securities has risen, ironically, since Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S. credit rating to AA+ from AAA. That's because few people feel there's a safer investment out there, despite what S&P says. Similarly, blue-chip stocks have held up better than other equities. While all stock indexes have plunged, the decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 big stocks has been smaller.

Not so long ago, the market was being supported by strong corporate earnings reports and attractive prospects for individual companies. Even if the overall economy was not doing well, we were reassured that the market is composed not of economies but of companies, and that many of these firms were thriving in a weak economy.

While the prospect for slower economic growth will reduce the outlooks for companies, too, the fact remains that many companies will continue to do well. Equity analysts at S&P (yes, that S&P, but a different set of analysts) maintain a list of their highest-rated stocks. S&P says it looks for stocks in the top 40 percent based on dividend yield, the top 60 percent based on their balance-sheet ratio of cash to assets, and the top 60 percent based on their projected one-year earnings per share growth.

Here are the 20 stocks that emerged from their screening:

High Quality Stocks with Solid Prospects and Dividends

Company Name	Ticker Symbol	Market Capitalization ($ billions)	Dividend Yield %	Cash to Assets %	Projected EPS Growth %
Abbott Laboratories	ABT	79.8	3.1	13.6	59.8
Avon Products	AVP	11.3	3.4	12.9	20.7
Eaton Corp.	ETN	16.4	2.1	4.0	27.7
Emerson Electric Co.	EMR	36.9	2.7	6.8	13.1
Erie Indemnity Co.	ERIE	3.6	2.6	4.5	3.7
General Electric Co.	GE	190.2	2.2	11.3	5.4
Genuine Parts Co.	GPC	8.4	3.1	8.4	7.6
Health Care REIT Inc.	HCN	9.3	5.2	20.4	192.3
Healthcare Services Group	HCSG	1.0	3.7	27.4	9.2
Home Depot Inc.	HD	55.6	2.7	4.2	8.7
Johnson & Johnson	JNJ	177.6	3.0	24.8	11.7
McDonald's Corp.	MCD	89.7	2.5	6.0	6.6
Medician Bioscience Inc.	VIVO	0.9	3.5	18.1	30.5
National Health Investors	NHI	1.3	5.3	4.0	15.2
Northwest Bancshares Inc.	NWBI	1.3	3.3	9.5	14.9
Oneok Inc.	OKE	7.8	2.4	6.7	13.0
Paychex Inc.	PAYX	10.2	4.4	8.6	6.4
Pepsico Inc.	PEP	101.4	3.0	4.4	14.4
Sempra Energy	SRE	12.1	3.1	5.0	13.0
Sonoco Products Co.	SON	3.2	3.4	5.5	26.3

Source: S&P Equity Research

For investors seeking the protection and diversity of a mutual fund, Morningstar fund analyst Greg Carlson recently screened dividend funds to identify the best performers. His picks are based on data as of the end of July, and thus don't reflect recent market gyrations.

When Carlson reviewed dividend funds, he came away largely disappointed, so investors need to carefully review fund offerings. "Many actively managed funds, even those that appear to have a mandate to seek out dividends, still give shareholders only paltry payouts," he wrote. "Less than half of the funds with 'dividend' in their names that hold at least 90 percent of their asset in stocks recently boasted either a one-month or 12-month trailing yield of more than 2 percent net of fees."

Carlson found four funds that stood out for above-average dividend yields, as well as good performance records and experienced management.

Vanguard Equity-Income (symbol VEIPX) focuses on solid companies with lots of cash. This fund had a 12-month payout of 2.72 percent and carries a low expense ratio of 0.31 percent.

Allianz NFJ Dividend Value (PEIDX) favors low-debt firms. "The high-minimum institutional share class's modest fees have boosted its yield (3.04 percent over 12 months)," Carlson said, "but the fund's no-load D shares don't cost much more."

American Beacon International Equity (AAIPX) invests in foreign stocks and its results have bested two-thirds of its peers during the past 10 years. "Its recent 1.85 percent 12-month yield is a reflection of the relatively attractive valuations of dividend payers, the fund's well-below-average expense ratio, and the fact that non-U.S. firms often sport solid yields," Carlson's assessment said.

American Funds International Growth and Income (IGAAX) is less than three years old, but has experienced managers. It has also shown impressive results. The fund charges higher fees but sports higher yields to date--3.3 percent over the past 12 months, after a 0.93 percent expense ratio. Holdings are relatively heavy in foreign utilities and telecommunications stocks.

Philip Moeller, On Wednesday August 10, 2011, 10:57 am EDT

US News

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2011-08-10T10:40:00.001-07:00

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Westport Real Estate is not in a "double dip" from Steve Reilly

2011-07-27T12:10:00.001-07:00

Fairfield County Best Practice Real Estate

Higgins Group

Westport Real Estate is not in a “double dip”

The Median Selling Price is starting to increase again. According to CMLS, prices in Westport increased 13% in 1H 2011 vs. 1H 2010.

Houses are selling. The number of properties sold was up 17% 1H 2011 vs.2010.

There are 388 properties on the market in Westport ranging in price from $227,000 to $25 million or something for everyone

Interest rates are still low.

Please call to hear how we would Market your property or find you a house.

Regards, Steve

Stephen W. Reilly

The Higgins Group,

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

Phone: 203-246-7372

Westport and surrounding towns real estate market performance through June, 2011 from Steve Reillys

2011-07-19T10:27:00.001-07:00

Summary Real Estate Market Performance

Through June, 2011 vs. 2010

For Westport, the median selling price was up,

sales in units was up, average days on marker

was down and inventory was down. All good news.

For surrounding towns, the median selling price

was up, the number of units sold was down, average

days on marker was up and inventory was down.

Summary Westport Real Estate Market Performance

through June, 2011

Median selling price was up 13% in 2011 vs. 2010 and down

13% since peak in 2008.

Westport Properties sold through June, 2011

Properties sold through June 2011 was up 17% since

same period 2010 and down 18% since peak in 2007.

Westport Average days on market through June, 2011

The average days on market was down 1% in 2011 vs.

2010

Summary Surrounding Towns (Norwalk, Wilton, Weston,

Fairfiled, Easton, Ridgefield aand Redding) Real Estate

Market Performance through June, 2011

Median selling Price through June, 2011

Median selling price was up 4% in 2011 vs. 2010 and down

9% since peak in 2007

Properties sold through June, 2011

Properties sold through June, 2011 was down 9%

since 2010 and down 37% since peak in 2007.

Average days on market through June, 2011

The average days on market was up 11% in 2011 vs.

2010 and up 27% since 2007.

Inventory of Properties for Sale in Westport

The number of houses and condos for sale as of

June 20, 2011 was down 5% vs. last month and

up 8% since last year.

Inventory of Properties for Sale in Westport

and surrounding towns

The number of houses and condos for sale as of

July 15, 2011 was down 2% vs. last month and up

15% since last year.

See the following sites for real estate information

or call any time.

Regards,

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304450604576415671858911258.html?mod=WSJ_RealEstate_LeftTopNews

licensed in Connecticut

Westport and surrounding towns real estate market performance through May, 2011 from Steve Reilly

2011-07-06T06:18:00.001-07:00

If you are confused about what’s going on in the Real Estate Market from reading the national news, read the Steve Reilly Best Practice Real Estate Higgins Group BLOG.

The reports in the national news are misleading for three reasons:

1. The used different information sources

2. They are reading National and regional markets not town specific.

3. They report on monthly stub periods that are influenced by many things that happen in a month that blur the trend.

So, if you want to know what’s going on in Westport and surrounding towns I encourage you to read The Steve Reilly Best Practice Real Estate Blog at swreilly.com which:

1. Uses CMLS as the source.

2. Reports performance in Westport and surrounding towns only.

3. Reports performance over time to show trend.

To see how you can become confused by following the information published in the newspaper consider that within 7 days in late June the national media reported a combination of good and bad news. On June 22 it was reported that “home sales slide 3.8%” and prices were down 3.8% BAD NEWS, on June 29 it was reported that pending sales were up in May GOOD NEWS and on June 28 it was reported that April saw a boost in home prices GOOD NEWS.

June 22 Home Re sales Slide 3.8%

National Association of Realtors reported that sales were down 3.8% and prices were down 4.8%.

WSJ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304070104576399481575600692.html?mod=WSJ_RealEstate_LeftTopNews

Case Shiller http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices/sp-case-shiller-home-price-indices/en/us/?indexId=spusa-cashpidff--p-us----

June 29 Pending Home Sales Up 8.2% in May

The National Association of Realtors reported that pending home sales were up in May.

June 28 April seasonal boost in home prices

Case Shiller reported that prices in top 10 and top 20 markets was up in April for first time in 8 months.

The Steve Reilly Best Practice Real Estate Blog shows Westport and surrounding towns:

Westport Real Estate Market Performance

Through May, 2011

The median selling price was up 18% in 2011, the number

of units sold was up 23% since last year and the average

days on market was up 2%.

The number of houses and condos for sale as of June 20 was

416 or +16% vs. last month and -3% since last year.

Westport Median Selling Price through May, 2011

Median selling price was up 18% in 2011 vs. 2010 and down

13% since peak in 2008

Westport Properties sold through May, 2011

Properties sold through May 2011 was up 23% since

same period 2010

Westport Average days on market through May, 2011

The average days on market was up 2% in 2011 vs.

same period 2010

Summary Surrounding Towns (Norwalk, Wilton, Weston,

Fairfiled, Easton, Ridgefield aand Redding) Real Estate

Market Performance through May, 2011

Median selling Price through May, 2011

Median selling price was up 2% in 2011 vs. 2010 and down

12% since peak in 2007

Properties sold through May, 2011

Properties sold for 6 months through February 2011

was down 8% since same period 2010

Average days on market through May, 2011

The average days on market was up 15% in 2011 vs.

same period 2010

Inventory of Properties for Sale in Westport and surrounding towns

The number of houses and condos for sale as of June 20, 2011 was

3824 or +9% vs. last month and -19% since last year.

See the following sites for real estate information or call any time.

Regards,

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372

licensed in Connecticut

Westport and surrounding towns real estate market performance through May, 2011 from Steve Reilly

2011-06-28T06:48:00.001-07:00

Summary Westport Real Estate Market Performance

Through May, 2011

The median selling price was up 18% in 2011, the number

of units sold was up 23% since last year and the average

days on market was up 2%.

The number of houses and condos for sale as of June 20 was

416 or +16% vs. last month and -3% since last year.

Westport Median Selling Price through May, 2011

Median selling price was up 18% in 2011 vs. 2010 and down

13% since peak in 2008

Westport Properties sold through May, 2011

Properties sold through May 2011 was up 23% since

same period 2010

Westport Average days on market through May, 2011

The average days on market was up 2% in 2011 vs.

same period 2010

Summary Surrounding Towns (Norwalk, Wilton, Weston,

Fairfiled, Easton, Ridgefield aand Redding) Real Estate

Market Performance through May, 2011

Median selling Price through May, 2011

Median selling price was up 2% in 2011 vs. 2010 and down

12% since peak in 2007

Properties sold through May, 2011

Properties sold for 6 months through February 2011

was down 8% since same period 2010

Average days on market through May, 2011

The average days on market was up 15% in 2011 vs.

same period 2010

Inventory of Properties for Sale in Westport and surrounding towns

The number of houses and condos for sale as of June 20, 2011 was

3824 or +9% vs. last month and -19% since last year.

See the following sites for real estate information or call any time.

Regards,

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372

licensed in Connecticut

Westport Real Estate continues to out perform the national market from Steve Reilly - Higgins Group

2011-06-22T10:42:00.001-07:00

Westport Real Estate continues to out perform the national market from Steve Reilly - Higgins Group

Westport Real Estate continues to out perform the national

market from Steve Reilly - Higgins Group

On Tuesday 6/21 NAR reported that nationally sales in

May 2011 were down 3.8% from April 2011 and

down 15.3% since May 2010

For Westport, sales in May 2011 were up 34%

from April 2011 and were up 62% since May, 2010

For surrounding towns, sales in May 2011 were

up 9% since April 2011 and down 11% since May 2010

NAR reported Tuesday 6/21 that nationally the

median selling price of homes was down 4.6% since May 2010

For Westport, median selling price was down 0%

For surrounding towns, the median selling price was

up 6.9%

Regards.

Steve Reilly, Realtor

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

203-246-7372

Swreilly.com

http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices/sp-case-shiller-home-price-indices/en/us/?indexId=spusa-cashpidff--p-us----

Westport Housing is not in double dip from Steve Reilly - Higgins Group

2011-06-02T08:50:00.001-07:00

Westport Housing is not in double dip from Steve Reilly - Higgins Group

“Housing in double dip as prices fall again” was headline in Market Watch and reposted on 5/31 by CNN Money, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News and I’m sure others. The basis for these report was the Case Shiller Report for the period ending May 31^st. that reported 1Q 2011 was down 5.1% from 1Q 2010, prices are down 32.7 from 2006 peak and down for 8^th month in a row. This dismal performance was after reporting median price increases for about 12 months. Thus, the double dip.

I am happy to report that:

Although prices fell 5.1% nationally, prices in Westport increased 8.4% and prices in surrounding towns increased 1.7% for same period.

Although prices declined 32.7% nationally from the peak in 2006, Westport prices declined 30.5% and prices in surrounding towns declined 18%.

Median Selling price of homes sold has not declined for 8 months in a row. Prices have gyrated but have been basically flat for past 12 months.

You can see the details of the Case Shiller Report at the following link.

Regards.

Steve Reilly, Realtor

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

203-246-7372

Swreilly.com

http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices/sp-case-shiller-home-price-indices/en/us/?indexId=spusa-cashpidff--p-us----

Westport Real Estate is not in "double dip" from Steve Reilly

2011-06-01T13:25:00.001-07:00

The national media reported on 5/31 that “Housing in double dip as prices fall again”. This was headline in Market Watch and reposted on by CNN Money, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News and I’m sure others. The basis for these report was the Case Shiller Report for the period ending March 31^st. that reported 1Q 2011 was down 5.1% from 1Q 2010, prices are down 32.7 from 2006 peak and down for 8^th month in a row. This dismal performance was after reporting median price increases for about 12 months. Thus, the double dip.

I am happy to report that although prices fell 5.1% nationally, prices in Westport increased 8.4% and prices in surrounding towns increased 1.7% for same period.

And, although prices declined 32.7% nationally from the peak in 2006, Westport prices declined 30.5% and prices in surrounding towns declined 18%.

You can see the details of the Case Shiller Report at the following link.

Regards,

Steve Reilly, Realtor

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

203-246-7372

Swreilly.com

Westport real estate market improving from Steve Reilly

2011-05-26T11:34:00.001-07:00

May, 2011 through 5/25 Sales and Median Selling Price big jump over 2010

In May 2011 through 5/25, 38 properties sold for a median selling price of $1,157,000

vs. 25 in May 2010 for median price of $1,100,000

Units sold increased 90%

Median Selling Price increased 5%

And, YTD 130 properties sold for a median selling price of $1,073,000

Vs 109 for a median selling price of $900,000

Units sold increased 19%

Median Selling Price increased 19%

Summary Westport Real Estate Market Performance

Through April, 2011

The median selling price was up 20% in 2011 reversing the

trend since 2008, the number of units sold was up 11%

since last year and the average days on market was up 18%.

The number of houses and condos for sale as of May 10 was

379 or +5% vs. last month and -2% since last year. There are 10

months on inventory on the market.

Westport Median Selling Price through April, 2011

Median selling price was up 20% in 2011 vs. 2010 and down

16% since peak in 2008

Westport Properties sold through April, 2011

Properties sold for 6 months through February 2011 was up 11%

since same period 2010

Westport Average days on market through April, 2011

The average days on market was up 11% in 2011 vs.

same period 2010

Inventory of Properties for Sale in Westport

The number of houses and condos for sale as of May 10, 2011 was

379 or +5% vs. last month and -2% since last year. There are 10 months

on inventory on the market.

See the following sites for real estate information or call any time.

Regards,

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372

licensed in Connecticut

Median Selling Prices in Westport and surrounding towns is outperforming National from Steve Reilly

2011-05-05T11:27:00.001-07:00

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wed April 29, 2011 that

“home prices are near recession lows”. According to the The

Case Siller index of properties sold prices is the top 10 and top

20 markets fell for the 8^th month in a row.

Both the 10 and 20 top markets were down 1.1% in February,

compared to January. In the detail the NY market which track

closest to southern Fairfield County was down .5% and the

Boston Market which tracks closest to northern Fairfield County

was down 1.5%.

However, the in Westport the median selling price of properties

sold in February, 2011 was up significantly since last month and

since last year. Let’s hope the trend continues.

When you compare current prices compared to the peak July, 2006

and the low April, 2009

Vs peak 7/2006 vs low 4/2009

NY -21.1% -3.2%

Boston -12.8% +2.3%

Top 10 -3.0% +1.5%

Top 20 -3.0% +1.0

Westport ++29.0 ++73.0

The most to gain from this analysis is the month to month comparisons

are NOT meaningful, only the trends are important. In Westport,

the trend of selling prices is up in 2011.

And, the trend of median selling prices in surrounding towns is up.

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372

www.westport-home store.com

www.swreilly.blogspot.com

Licensed in Connecticut

Buyers' Market? Stressed Sellers Say Not So Fast - The Wall Street Journal.

2011-04-26T10:31:00.001-07:00

Message to Westport Connecticut Area home buyers, Now is the time to buy.

Wall street journal article says buyers are hesitant to buy since they think prices will continue to fall. But, this dynamic is not true in Westport Connecticut Market where prices have stabilized and are starting to increase. Message to buyers, Now is the time to buy.

Buyers' Market? Stressed Sellers Say Not So Fast

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703907004576279443655125936.html

The Wall Street Journal for iPad provides a new way to experience the Journal’s award winning coverage, blending the best of print and online. Special features include:

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Videos and slideshows published with free articles

Click or tap the link below to download The Wall Street Journal from the Apple iTunes App Store.

http://www.wsj.com/ipad

Steve Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

203-246-7373

Swreilly@swreilly.com

Www.Westport-homestore.com

Behind the Numbers: Home Resales from Steve Reilly

2011-04-24T11:26:00.001-07:00

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday April 21, 2011 that sales of previously

owned sales rose slightly (3.7%) in March 2011, compared to February and prices

continue to fall. See the article at the following link.

However, in Westport the trend is flat and for surrounding towns, the trend is down

But, the trend in median selling price is up.

-->

* Please note, the sender's email address has not been verified.

Existing Home sale Tick up, but prices slip as reported in WSJ Thursday April 21, 2011.

Click the following to access the sent link:

Behind the Numbers: Home Resales*


Get your EMAIL THIS Browser Button and use it to email content from any Web site. Click here for more information.

*This article can also be accessed if you copy and paste the entire address below into your web browser.
http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2011/04/20/behind-the-numbers-home-resales-...

I don’t think we should pay much attention to these month to month comparisons

because it’s the trend that matters and real estate is a local issue.

In Westport the trend in sales is flat to down slightly. Sales is 2011 were down 2%

from 2010.

And, the trend in median selling price is up. Median selling price in 2011

was up 22 since last year.

For Westport and surrounding towns, the trend in units sold is flat to down

slightly. 2011 was down 7% compared to 2191.

pe.

And, the trend in median selling price is up 5% since last year.

If you what’s going on in Fairfield County please call or email

me.

Regards, Steve

Steve Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

swreilly@Swreilly.com

Westport-homestore.com

Real estate: It's time to buy again from Fortune Magazine via Steve Reilly

2011-04-17T13:41:00.001-07:00

Real estate: It's time to buy again Posted by Shawn Tully, senior editor-at-large, Fortune Magazine March 28, 2011 5:00 am http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/28/real-estate-its-time-to-buy-again/ Forget stocks. Don't bet on gold. After four years of plunging home prices, the most attractive asset class in America is housing. A home under construction in Austin. The number of new homes in the pipeline nationwide is quite low. From his wide-rimmed cowboy hat to his roper boots, Mike Castleman fits moviedom's image of the lanky Texas rancher. On a recent March evening, Castleman is feeding cattle biscuits to his two pet longhorn steers, Big Buddy and Little Buddy, on his 460-acre Bar Ten Creek Ranch in Dripping Springs, a hamlet outside Austin in the Texas Hill Country. The spread is a medley of meandering streams, craggy cliffs, and centuries-old oaks. But even in this pastoral setting, his mind keeps returning to a subject he knows as well as any expert around: the housing market. "I'm a dirt-road economist who sees what's happening on the ground, and in 35 years I've never seen a shortage of new construction like the one I'm seeing today," declares Castleman, 70, now offering a biscuit to his miniature donkey Thumper. "The talking heads who are down on real estate will hate to hear this, but America needs to build a lot more houses. And in most markets the price of new homes is fixin' to rise, not fall." Castleman is in a unique position to know. As the founder and CEO of a company called Metrostudy, he's spent more than three decades tracking real-time data on the country's inventory of new homes. Each quarter he dispatches 500 inspectors to literally drive through 45,000 subdivisions from Baltimore to Sacramento. The inspectors examine 5 million finished lots, one at a time, and record whether they contain a house that's under construction, one that's finished and for sale, or a home that's sold. Metrostudy covers 19 states, or around 65% of the U.S. housing market, including all the ones hardest hit by the crash: Florida, California, Arizona, and Nevada. The company's client list includes virtually every major homebuilder and bank -- from Pulte (PHM ) and KB Home (KBH ) to Bank of America (BAC ) and Wells Fargo (WFC ). The key figures that Metrostudy collects, and that those clients prize, are the number of homes that are vacant and for sale in each city, and the number of months it takes to sell all of them. Together those figures measure inventory -- the key metric in determining whether a market has a surplus or a shortage of new housing. Today Castleman is witnessing an extraordinary reversal of the new-home glut that helped sink prices just a few years ago. In the 41 cities Metrostudy covers, a total of 78,000 houses are now either vacant and for sale, or under construction. That's less than one-fourth of the 343,000 units in those two categories at the peak of the frenzy in mid-2006, and well below the level of a decade ago. "If we had anything like normal levels of buying, those houses would sell in 2½ months," says Castleman. "We'd see an incredible shortage. And that's where we're heading." If all the noise you're hearing about housing has you totally confused, join the crowd. One day you'll read that owning a home has never been more affordable. The next day you'll see news that housing starts have plunged to nearly their lowest level in half a century, as headlines announced in March. After four years of falling prices and surging foreclosures, it's hard to know what to think. Even Robert Shiller and Karl Case can't agree. The two economists, who together created the widely followed S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price indices, are right now offering sharply contrasting views of housing's future. Shiller recently warned that the chances were high for a further double-digit drop in U.S. home prices. But in an interview with Fortune, Case took a far brighter view: "The lack of new home building is a huge help that a lot of people are ignoring," says Case. "People think I'm crazy to be optimistic, but housing is looking like the little engine that could." To see where real estate is truly headed, it's critical to keep your eye firmly on the fundamentals that, over time, always determine the course of prices and construction. During the last decade's historic run-up in prices, Fortune repeatedly warned that things were moving too fast. In a cover story titled "Is the Housing Boom Over?," this writer's analysis found that the basic forces that govern the market -- the cost of owning vs. renting and the level of new construction -- were in bubble territory. Eventually reality set in, and prices plummeted. Our current view focuses on those same fundamentals -- only now they're pointing in the opposite direction. So let's state it simply and forcibly: Housing is back. Two basic factors are laying the foundation for dramatic recovery in residential real estate. The first is the historic drop in new construction that so amazes Castleman. The second is a steep decline in prices, on the order of 30% nationwide since 2006, and as much as 55% in the hardest-hit markets. The story of this downturn has been an astonishing flight from the traditional American approach of buying new houses to an embrace of renting. But the new affordability will gradually lure Americans back to buying homes. And the return of the homeowner will start raising prices in many markets this year. Drumming up sales Of course, home prices are low and home construction is weak for a reason: incredibly low demand. For our scenario to play out, America will need a decent economy, with job creation and consumer confidence continuing to claw their way back to normal. One big fear is that today's tight credit standards will chill the market. But we're really returning to the standards that prevailed before the craze, and those requirements didn't stop prices and homebuilding from rising in a good economy. "The credit standards are now at about historical levels, excluding the bubble period," says Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics. "We saw prices rising with fundamentals in those periods, and it will happen again." To see why, let's examine the remarkable shift in home affordability. A new study by Deutsche Bank measures affordability in two ways: first, the share of income Americans are paying to own a home. And second, the cost of owning vs. renting. On the first metric, the analysis finds that homeowners now pay just 9.8% of their income in after-tax mortgage, tax, and insurance payments. That's down from 17.2% at the bubble's peak in 2007, and by far the lowest number in the Deutsche Bank database, going back to 1999. The second measure, the cost of owning compared with renting, should also inspire potential buyers. In 28 out of 54 major markets, it's now cheaper to pay a mortgage and other major costs than to rent the same house. What's most compelling is that in all of the distressed markets, owning now wins by a wide margin -- a stunning reversal from four years ago. It now costs 34% less than renting in Atlanta. In Miami the average rent is now $1,031 a month, vs. the $856 it costs to carry a ranch house or stucco cottage as an owner. (For more, see The top 10 cities for home buyers) Not all markets will bounce back equally, of course. Housing resembles the weather: The exact conditions are different in every city. But in general the big U.S. markets fall into two different climate zones right now. We'll call them the "nondistressed markets" and the "foreclosure markets." A more detailed look shows why the forecast for both is favorable. Nondistressed markets: Ready for launch No cities went untouched by the collapse in prices over the past few years. But markets such as Northern Virginia, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, San Diego, the San Francisco suburbs, and virtually all of Texas held up reasonably well. In those areas prices spiked far less than in bubble cities -- the foreclosure markets we'll get to shortly -- chiefly because they didn't get nearly as many speculators who thought they could flip the homes or rent them to snowbirds. The nondistressed markets will be able to get prices rising and construction growing far faster than the harder-hit areas for a simple reason: Although some of these markets are still suffering from foreclosures, they don't need to work through the big overhang haunting a Las Vegas or a Phoenix. The number of new homes for sale or in the pipeline is extraordinarily low in nondistressed markets. San Diego is typical. It has just 921 freestanding homes for sale or under construction, compared with 4,425 in late 2005. The challenge for these cities is to generate enough demand to reduce inventories of existing, or resale, homes. In the entire country the resale supply stands at 3.5 million houses and condos. That's a fairly high number, since it would take more than eight months to sell those properties; seven months or below is the threshold for a strong market. But in the nondistressed cities, the existing home inventory is lower, closer to seven months on average. So a modest increase in demand will translate into strong gains in both prices and new construction. That should happen quickly, because most of those markets -- including Silicon Valley, Northern Virginia, and Texas -- are now showing good job growth. Zandi of Moody's Analytics expects that prices will rise three to four points faster than inflation for the next few years in virtually all of the nondistressed markets. His view is that prices will increase in line with rents, which are now growing briskly because apartments are in short supply. Those higher rents will encourage buyers to cross the street from an apartment to a home of their own. In Northern Virginia, Chris Bratz, an engineer, and his wife, Amy DiElsi, a publicist, are planning to leave their rental apartment and become homeowners for the first time. The main reason? Buying has simply become a far better deal than renting. "The market got completely inflated, then it crashed, so prices are coming back to where they should be," says Chris. As the couple have watched prices fall, they have also watched the rent on their apartment spiral upward, reaching $2,700 a month. They calculate that they should be able to purchase a townhouse for between $400,000 and $500,000 and pay less per month for a mortgage. The nondistressed markets will also lead the way in construction. Zandi predicts that for the nation as a whole, single-family housing "starts" -- measured when a builder pours a foundation for a new home -- will rise from 470,000 in 2010 to as much as 700,000 this year. A large portion of that activity will happen in nondistressed markets where a tightening supply of resale houses will start making new homes look like a good deal. "Our main competition is from resales," says Jeff Mezger, CEO of KB Home. "The prices of those homes have stayed so low, because of low demand, that it's hampered the ability of builders to sell new houses." But many would-be buyers simply prefer a brand-new house. Eventually they'll move from renters to buyers, and the trend will accelerate now that prices are no longer dropping. In Minneapolis, Yuan Qu and her husband, Xiang Chen, a researcher at the University of Minnesota, just moved from a two-bedroom rental to a new light-blue four-bedroom ranch with a chocolate-colored roof on a spacious corner lot. They paid $400,000, a bargain price compared with a few years ago. The couple, both in their early thirties, moved to Minnesota from China six years ago. "We wanted to buy a house, and we've been waiting and waiting and waiting," says Qu. "The prices went down for so long, we finally thought they couldn't keep falling." For Qu the only choice was new construction. "We're not very handy people," she admits. Foreclosure markets: The outlook is brightening A home off the market in Mesa, Ariz. The true disaster areas for housing since the bubble burst have been Sunbelt cities such as Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Miami -- places that boasted great job and population growth in the mid-2000s, only to suffer a housing crash that swamped them with empty homes and condos and crushed their economies. But people always want to live in those sunny locales, and their job markets are starting to recover, albeit slowly. In foreclosure markets the inventory problem is far greater because it includes not just traditional resale homes but millions of distressed properties. Fortunately those houses are now such a screaming deal that investors, including lots of mom-and-pop buyers, are purchasing them at a rapid pace. To be sure, some foreclosure markets won't rebound for years because they're both vastly overbuilt and far from big job centers; a prime example is California's Inland Empire, a real estate disaster zone 80 miles east of Los Angeles. But the outlook is brightening for Phoenix, Las Vegas, Miami, and parts of Northern California. A big positive is the tiny supply of new homes entering the market. Phoenix, for example, has a total of just 8,100 new homes that are either for sale or under construction, down from 53,000 in mid-2006. The big test in these cities is absorbing the steady stream of distressed properties. The foreclosures put downward pressure on the market far out of proportion to their numbers because of markdown pricing. "We had levels of inventory even higher than this in 1990 and 1991," says MIT economist William Wheaton. "But they were traditional listings, not foreclosures, so they didn't create the big discounts you get with foreclosures." Wheaton reckons that we'll see a flow of around 1 million foreclosures a year, at a fairly even pace, from now through 2013. That figure is frequently cited as evidence that the market is doomed for years in most foreclosure markets. Not so. The reason is that the vast bulk of those units, probably over 600,000, according to Gleb Nechayev, an economist with real estate firm CB Richard Ellis (CBG ), are being converted to rentals either by investors or their current owners. Those properties are finding plenty of renters, since the rental market is still extremely strong across the country. Remember, the millions who lost their homes to foreclosure still need somewhere to live. A typical investor is Alex Barbalat, a Russian immigrant who's purchased seven homes east of San Francisco in the towns of Bay Point, Antioch, and Pittsburg. His average purchase price is around $100,000 for homes that once sold for between $300,000 and $500,000. But he has no trouble finding renters, since his tenants can commute to jobs in San Francisco on the BART transit system. Barbalat is pocketing rental yields on the prices he paid of around 12%, and he's in no hurry to sell. "I'm holding them until prices drastically rise," he says. Investment funds are also entering the game. Dotan Y. Melech looks for bargains in Las Vegas for UnitedAMS, a firm he co-founded that manages apartments and other real estate investments. The firm has raised more than $20 million from outside investors to purchase distressed properties. So far, Melech has bought around 300 houses and plans to purchase another 200 this year. He has no trouble renting the houses he buys, since, he estimates, occupancy rates in Las Vegas are touching 95%. The "cap rate," or return on investment after all expenses, is between 8% and 10% -- twice the rate on 10-year Treasuries. Melech rents to people who lost their homes but are reliable renters. "A lot of people can't be buyers because their credit got hurt," he says. Even with investors jumping in, buying activity in foreclosure markets hasn't yet increased enough to bring inventories down. It will soon. Zandi thinks prices will fall a couple of percentage points lower in the distressed markets in the short run. "But that will be overshooting," he says. "It's like an elastic band. If prices do drop this year, they will need to bounce back because they'll be far too low compared with rents and replacement cost." Renters will come off the sidelines to purchase homes in the years ahead, precisely the opposite trend of the past few years. Consider the example of Michael Dynda, a retired Air Force avionics technician who now works for a government contractor in Las Vegas. Dynda, 49, is a first-time buyer who put off purchasing for years, in part because prices were falling so rapidly in Las Vegas, with no bottom in sight. But last year the combination of bargain prices and low mortgage rates became too good to resist. He ended up purchasing a 2,300-square-foot stucco home for $240,000, or about half what it would have fetched in 2007. Dynda got a 4.38% home loan, and pays the same amount on his mortgage as on the rent on the house he left to become a homeowner. "The timing was about as good as it could get," says Dynda. Mike Castleman's company tracks the inventory of new homes in 19 states across the country. He sees supply getting tight. "Home prices are fixin' to rise," he says. Back on the ranch, Mike Castleman is lounging in his creek-front mansion, built from "a hundred tons of fine central Texas limestone." As he shows off his collection of custom-made guitars, including one crafted to resemble the skin of a rattlesnake, the homespun housing guru once again returns to his favorite topic. Castleman claims that this recovery will look like all the others: It will bring a severe shortage of housing. He invokes the livestock business to explain. "It takes three years between the time a bull mates with a cow and when you get a calf ready for market," he says. "That's how it is in housing too. We'll get a big surge in demand and the drywall companies will take a long time to ramp up, and it will take years to get new lots approved. Buyers will show up looking for a house in a subdivision, and all the houses will be sold. The builders will tell them it will take six months to deliver a house." But those folks, says Castleman, will be set on buying a place. "And they'll want it so bad they'll bid the prices up!" In other words: Beat the crowd. Stephen Reilly Higgins Group Best Practice Real Estate 278 Post Road East Westport, CT 06880 203-246-7372 swreilly@swreilly.com www.westport-home store.com www.swreilly.blogspot.com Licensed in Connecticut

How to fix the mortgage mess

2011-04-08T11:39:00.003-07:00

Update on thinking regarding the role of government in the mortgage market, how much will banks be required to keep on their book and size of down payment.
Wells Fargo's John Stumpf: How to fix the mortgage mess Source: money.cnn.com As Washington moves to restructure Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, lawmakers must make clear once and for all the government's role in the home mortgage market.

swreilly@swreilly.com sent this using ShareThis.

Real estate: It's time to buy again

2011-04-08T11:39:00.001-07:00

swreilly@swreilly.com has shared: Real estate: It's time to buy again

This article speculates on why it is time to be a real estate buyer. Low prices and historic drop in new construction.
Real estate: It's time to buy again Source: finance.fortune.cnn.com Forget stocks. Don't bet on gold. After four years of plunging home prices, the most attractive asset class in America is housing. [caption id=

swreilly@optonline.net sent this using ShareThis.

Westport real estate market performance through February, 2011 from Steve Reillys

2011-03-18T15:15:00.001-07:00

Summary Westport real estate market performance through February, 2011

The median selling price was up 21% in 2011 reversing the trend since 2008, the number of units sold was up 4% since last year and the average days on market was down 15%.

The number of houses and condos for sale as of March 17, 2011 was 319 or +13% vs. last month and -9% since last year. The Spring Market Begins. There are 9 months on inventory on the market vs. 11 months of inventory for same period last year.

Westport Median Selling Price through February, 2011

Median selling price was up 21% in 2011 vs. 2010 and down 10% since peak in 2008

Westport Properties sold through February, 2011

Properties sold for 6 months through February 2011 was up 4% since same period 2010

Westport Average days on market through January, 2011

The average days on market was down 15% in 2011 vs. same period 2010

Inventory of Properties for Sale in Westport

The number of houses and condos for sale as of March 17, 2011 was 319 or +13% vs. last month and -9% since last year. There are 9 months on inventory on the market vs. 11 months of inventory for same period last year.

See the following sites for real estate information or call any time.

Regards,

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372

licensed in Connecticut

Existing-Home Sales Up Again in January

2011-03-02T06:26:00.001-08:00

Daily Real Estate News | February 23, 2011 | Share

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Existing-Home Sales Up Again in January
The uptrend in existing-home sales continues, with January sales rising for the third consecutive month with a pace that is now above levels a year ago, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 2.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.36 million in January from a downwardly revised 5.22 million in December, and are 5.3 percent above the 5.09 million level in January 2010. This is the first time in seven months that sales activity was higher than a year earlier.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the improvement is good but could be better. “The uptrend in home sales is consistent with improvements in the economy and jobs, which are helping boost consumer confidence,” Yun said. “The extremely favorable housing affordability conditions are a big factor, but buyers have been constrained by unnecessarily tight credit. As a result, there are abnormally high levels of all-cash purchases, along with rising investor activity.”

A parallel NAR practitioner survey shows first-time buyers purchased 29 percent of homes in January, down from 33 percent in December and 40 percent in January 2010 when an extended tax credit was in place.
Investors accounted for 23 percent of purchases in January, up from 20 percent in December and 17 percent in January 2010; the balance of sales were to repeat buyers. All-cash sales rose to 32 percent in January from 29 percent in December and 26 percent in January 2010.

“Increases in all-cash transactions, the investor market share and distressed home sales all go hand-in-hand. With tight credit standards, it’s not surprising to see so much activity where cash is king and investors are taking advantage of conditions to purchase undervalued homes,” Yun said.

All-cash purchases are at the highest level since NAR started measuring these purchases monthly in October 2008, when they accounted for 15 percent of the market. The average of all-cash deals was 20 percent in 2009, rising to 28 percent last year.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $158,800 in January, down 3.7 percent from January 2010. Distressed homes edged up to a 37 percent market share in January from 36 percent in December; it was 38 percent in January 2010.

NAR President Ron Phipps, broker-president of Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I., said the median price is being dampened by unusual market factors. “Unprecedented levels of all-cash purchases, primarily of distressed homes sold at deep discounts, undoubtedly pulls the median price downward,” Phipps said. “Given the levels of inventory we see today, we believe that traditional homes in good condition have held their value.”

Total housing inventory at the end of January fell 5.1 percent to 3.38 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 7.6-month supply at the current sales pace, down from an 8.2-month supply in December. The inventory supply is at the lowest level since December 2009 when there was a 7.3-month supply.

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.76 percent in January from 4.71 percent in December; the rate was 5.03 percent in January 2010.
Single-family home sales rose 2.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.69 million in January from 4.58 million in December, and are 4.9 percent higher than the 4.47 million level in January 2010. The median existing single-family home price was $159,400 in January, down 2.7 percent from a year ago.

Existing condominium and co-op sales increased 4.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 670,000 in January from 640,000 in December, and are 7.9 percent above the 621,000-unit pace one year ago. The median existing condo price was $154,900 in January, which is 10.2 percent below January 2010.

Regional Sales
Northeast: Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast fell 4.6 percent to an annual pace of 830,000 in January from a spike in December and are 1.2 percent below January 2010. The median price in the Northeast was $236,500, which is 4.0 percent below a year ago.

Midwest :"Existing-home sales in the Midwest rose 1.8 percent in January to a level of 1.14 million and are 3.6 percent above a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $126,300, which is 3.2 percent below January 2010.

South: In the South, existing-home sales increased 3.6 percent to an annual pace of 2.02 million in January and are 8.0 percent higher than January 2010. The median price in the South was $136,600, down 2.1 percent from a year ago.

West: Existing-home sales in the West rose 7.9 percent to an annual level of 1.37 million in January and are 7.0 percent above January 2010. The median price in the West was $193,200, down 5.7 percent from a year ago.

— NAR

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372

www.westport-home store.com

www.swreilly.blogspot.com

Licensed in Connecticut

Reuters.com - Consumer confidence at 3-year high

2011-03-02T05:49:00.001-08:00

Steve Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

203-246-7373

Swreilly@swreilly.com

Www.Westport-homestore.com

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Reuters_News@reuters.com" <Reuters_News@reuters.com>
Date: March 2, 2011 7:17:57 AM EST
To: "Swreilly@swreilly.com" <Swreilly@swreilly.com>
Subject: Reuters.com - Consumer confidence at 3-year high

Steve reilly (Swreilly@optonline.net) has sent you this article.
Personal Message:
Consumer confidence hits 3year high

Consumer confidence at 3-year high
Tue Feb 22 19:27:15 UTC 2011

By Leah Schnurr

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American consumers are more confident than at any time in the last three years thanks to better prospects for the economy and jobs, even as separate data on Tuesday showed house prices were still falling.

The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes rose to 70.4 in February from a revised 64.8 in January.

Consumer confidence remains low by historical terms, but economists said they saw underlying strength in the numbers.

Anthony Chan, chief economist at J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Management, said improvements in views of the labor market bode well for consumer spending growth.

"It offers some encouraging words on the sustainability of consumer spending," said Chan.

Consumer confidence was at its highest level since February 2008 and better than a forecast of 65 by economists.

The expectations index, which accounts for what consumers expect to see in six months, rose to its highest level since December 2006 at 95.1 from 87.3. The present situation index advanced to 33.4 from 31.1.

Consumers' assessment of the labor market improved modestly, though the overall view of employment conditions was mixed.

U.S. stocks briefly cut losses after the data, but resumed sliding as financial markets were focused mostly on a revolt in oil producer Libya.

Oil prices rose to a 2-1/2-year high, highlighting a potential headwind for consumers if commodity prices continue to rise.

The Conference Board report showed consumers' expectations for inflation in the coming 12 months were at their highest since June 2009, rising to 5.6 percent from 5.5 percent the month before.

Economists also noted a change in the survey's data provider that prompted revisions back to November 2010.

Separately, the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas declined 0.4 percent in December from November on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Prices for single-family homes fell for the sixth month in a row, bringing them closer to a trough in 2009 that marked the low point after the U.S. housing bubble burst.

Economist Robert Shiller, who helped devise the index, warned that house prices could fall another 25 percent.

"My intuition rates the probability of another 15, 20, even 25 percent real home price decline as substantial. That's not a forecast, but it's a substantial risk," Shiller told reporters on a conference call.

High unemployment and the anemic housing market remain the biggest challenges to sustainable economic recovery. Even so, economists also noted the rate of decline in home prices has eased in the last two months, and in an upbeat sign, Home Depot Inc lifted its outlook as homeowners took up long-delayed maintenance and repair projects.

Unadjusted for seasonal impact, home prices fell 1 percent for the month, leaving them just 2.3 percent above their April 2009 troughs, S&P said.

While the composite held above its 2009 low, 11 cities hit their lowest levels since home prices peaked in 2006 and 2007, the report showed.

Analysts said the weakness in home prices since the expiration of government stimulus last summer was waning, though the large amount of foreclosures entering the market will continue to pressure prices.

(Additional reporting by Corbett Daly in Washington; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)

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Westport and surrounding towns' real estate market performance through January, 2011 from Steve Reillys

2011-03-01T07:17:00.001-08:00

Recent National News

Case Shiller (Standard and Poor’s Company) reported on Feb 22^nd for top 20 markets that prices were down 3.9% in 4Q and down 31% since peak in June, 2006.

http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices/sp-case-shiller-home-price-indices/en...

New York and Boston Markets were down about the same as the National Market.

National Association of Realtors reported on Feb 23 rd that existing home sales were up in January, 2011 for the third consecutive month.

http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2011/02/january_above

Summary Westport and surrounding towns’ real estate market performance through January, 2011

For Westport, median selling price was down sharply in 2011 (close to 2009 level) and number of properties sold is increasing (up 27%).

For Westport and surrounding towns, the median selling price was up 11% vs. last year and property sales were down 5%.

For Westport and surrounding towns, the inventory of properties for sale is up and the average days on market are up. This is not good news.

Westport Median Selling Price through January, 2011

Median selling price was down 44% 2011 vs. 2010 and down 43% since peak in 2007

Westport Properties sold through January, 2011

The number of properties sold up 27% YTD in 2011 vs. 2010

Westport Average days on market through January, 2011

The average days on market was the same in 2011 as 2010.

Westport and surrounding towns Median Selling price (Westport, Wilton, Weston, Norwalk, Fairfield, Easton, Ridgefield, Redding and Bridgeport)

The median selling price for 2011 YTD thorough January was up 11% from the same as same period in 2010.

Westport and surrounding towns Property Sales (Westport, Wilton, Weston, Norwalk, Fairfield, Easton, Ridgefield, Redding and Bridgeport)

The number of properties sold for 2011 YTD thorough January was down 5% from same period in 2010.

Westport and surrounding towns average days on market (Westport, Wilton, Weston, Norwalk, Fairfield, Easton, Ridgefield, Redding and Bridgeport)

The average days on market were up 25% in 2011 YTD vs. 2010.

Inventory of Properties for Sale in Westport and surrounding towns

In Westport, the number of houses and condos for sale as of February 25, 2011 was 282 or + 6% vs. last month and -19% since last year. There are 9 months on inventory on the market vs. 11 months of inventory for same period last year.

For Westport and surrounding towns, the number of house and condos for sale as of February 25, 2011 was 2863 or 2% more than last month and -20% since last year. There are 9 months on inventory on the market vs.11 months of inventory for same period last year.

See the following sites for real estate information or call any time.

Regards,

Stephen Reilly

Higgins Group

Best Practice Real Estate

278 Post Road East

Westport, CT 06880

203-246-7372