Whew! A bit late I guess Tuesday evening for the news but its end of the School Year fun and with two boys all these events are making for one tired mom who is up working late.

So if your up as late as me here is your Tuesday Tidbit Real Estate News.

From Fannie Mae: Spring-Summer Buying and Selling Season Sputters Despite Drop in Mortgage Rates

“Consumers’ lukewarm income expectations and reticence about the economy seem to be holding back housing demand,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. “This year’s spring and summer home buying season has gotten off to a slow start, even as mortgage rates have trended lower over the past two months. Our National Housing Survey data show that economic conditions continue to be the top concern among consumers who think it’s a bad time to buy or sell a home. While recent housing activity suggests that the worst of the housing slump may be behind us, this caution among consumers supports our expectation that the rebound in home sales will likely be too modest to pull sales for all of 2014 ahead of last year.”
As a reminder: a decline in existing home sales this year is not “bad news”. With fewer distressed sales and less investor buying, it is no surprise that existing home sales are down. I expect housing starts and new home sales (the key for GDP and employment growth) to increase this year and also in 2015.

Other  news included the research data that demand for purchase mortgages in the last three months gained a cumulative 9%. On the pricing front, a national listing site said prices are beginning to stabilize. Their chief economist explained: “…home price changes are looking more balanced, sustainable and widespread than at any point since the price recovery began.” With home prices still rising, but in a more controlled fashion, there are now more than 43 million homes with equity. This should encourage more people to put their properties on the market, improving the inventory situation. 

I know buyers will like to hear this.  I just secured a home for a buyer of mine that had 5 offers! Since it was the only Rambler in that zip code for sale you can imagine how happy they are.