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The amount of income needed to qualify for a mortgage is well below the median income in most parts of the U.S., according to NAR data.
NAR found that the national median family income was $61,000 in the first quarter. If a buyer wanted to purchase a home at the national median price, he or she would need an annual income of $34,700 if making a 5 percent down payment. A 10 percent down payment would lower the requirement to $32,900, while a 20 percent down payment requires about $29,300.
The information on qualifying incomes to purchase a median-priced single-family home on a metropolitan area basis assumes a favorable credit rating and an interest rate of 4 percent with 25 percent of gross income set aside for principal and interest.
The NAR report also found that 32 percent of home purchases paid all-cash in first quarter 2012, and investors, who make up the bulk of cash purchasers, accounted for 22 percent of all transactions in the first quarter.

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According to a report from Foreclosure-Response.org, the serious delinquency rate, which includes loans 90 or more days past due plus foreclosures, increased for the first time after a downward trend between December 2009 and June 2011.
Serious delinquencies rose from 9.2 percent in June 2011 to 9.7 percent in December 2011 for the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas. While the 90-plus delinquencies component of the percentage is flat at 3.8 percent and has remained largely unchanged for the past four quarters, foreclosure rates continue to rise and now stand at 5.9 percent. In June 2011, the foreclosure rate was 5.5 percent.
Analysis with the data suggested the build-up of foreclosed homes in judicial states is the main reason behind the rising foreclosure rate.
Metros located in judicial states had foreclosure rates averaging 7.2 percent in December 2011 compared with 4.7 percent for metros in non-judicial states.
Also, when separating metro trends in judicial states from non-judicial, the foreclosure rate in judicial areas has actually increased since March 2009, when Foreclosure-Response.org began tracking the data, while the rate has been roughly flat in non-judicial metros for the last five quarters.
Nearly half, or 46, of the 100 largest U.S. metro areas are located in judicial states.

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Housing affordability in California set a new record high in first quarter 2012 rising to 56 percent, according to C.A.R.’s first quarter Housing Affordability Index. The increase can be attributed to record-low interest rates and stabilization in home prices.
The percentage of home buyers who could afford to purchase a median-priced, existing single-family home in California rose to 56 percent in the first quarter of 2012, up from 55 percent in fourth-quarter 2011 and from 53 percent in first quarter 2011, according to C.A.R.’s Traditional Housing Affordability Index (HAI). The index was the highest since C.A.R. began tracking this statistic in 1988.
Home buyers needed to earn a minimum annual income of $55,688* (based on fourth quarter 2011 income data) to qualify for the purchase of a $276,040 statewide median-priced, existing single-family home in the first quarter of 2012. The monthly payment, including taxes and insurance on a 30-year fixed-rate loan, would be $1,392, assuming a 20 percent down payment and an effective composite interest rate of 4.16 percent. The effective composite interest rate in fourth-quarter 2011 was 4.30 percent and 4.90 percent in the first quarter of 2011.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, housing affordability rose or remained stable in all counties except Contra Costa County, where affordability declined by one percentage point. At 78 percent, San Bernardino County was the most affordable, while San Francisco County was the least affordable, with only 29 percent of households able to purchase the county’s median-priced home.

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Housing affordability in California set a new record high in first quarter 2012 rising to 56 percent, according to C.A.R.’s first quarter Housing Affordability Index. The increase can be attributed to record-low interest rates and stabilization in home prices.
The percentage of home buyers who could afford to purchase a median-priced, existing single-family home in California rose to 56 percent in the first quarter of 2012, up from 55 percent in fourth-quarter 2011 and from 53 percent in first quarter 2011, according to C.A.R.’s Traditional Housing Affordability Index (HAI). The index was the highest since C.A.R. began tracking this statistic in 1988.
Home buyers needed to earn a minimum annual income of $55,688* (based on fourth quarter 2011 income data) to qualify for the purchase of a $276,040 statewide median-priced, existing single-family home in the first quarter of 2012. The monthly payment, including taxes and insurance on a 30-year fixed-rate loan, would be $1,392, assuming a 20 percent down payment and an effective composite interest rate of 4.16 percent. The effective composite interest rate in fourth-quarter 2011 was 4.30 percent and 4.90 percent in the first quarter of 2011.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, housing affordability rose or remained stable in all counties except Contra Costa County, where affordability declined by one percentage point. At 78 percent, San Bernardino County was the most affordable, while San Francisco County was the least affordable, with only 29 percent of households able to purchase the county’s median-priced home.

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Freddie Mac reported this week that 79 percent of homeowners who refinanced their first-lien home mortgage either maintained about the same loan amount or lowered their principal balance by paying-in additional money at the closing table in the first quarter of 2012.
Of these borrowers, 58 percent maintained about the same loan amount, and 21 percent of refinancing homeowners reduced their principal balance; the share of borrowers that kept about the same loan amount was the highest in the 26-year history of the analysis.
“Cash-out” borrowers, those who increased their loan balance by at least five percent, represented 21 percent of all refinance loans; the weighted average cash-out share during the 1985 to 2008 period was 50 percent.
The median interest rate reduction for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was about 1.5 percentage points, or a savings of about 27 percent in interest rate, the largest percent reduction recorded in the 27 years of analysis. Over the first year of the refinance loan life, the median borrower will save about $2,900 in interest payments on a $200,000 loan.

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Despite slow job growth, Americans’ attitudes about homeownership, the economy, and personal finances continue to move incrementally in a positive direction, according to results from Fannie Mae’s April 2012 National Housing Survey.  The continued stabilization of consumer attitudes coupled with growth in areas such as home price expectations, whether it is a good time to sell one’s home, direction of the economy, and the percentage of Americans who saw an increase in their personal income indicate an alignment of factors that may influence Americans’ decision making about purchasing a home.
On average, Americans expect home prices to increase 1.3 percent over the next 12 months (the highest value yet recorded), while the percentage of Americans who say it is a good time to sell their home continued to rise to 15 percent in April (up from low, flat levels during 2011).  In turn, confidence in the economy’s direction rose to a survey all-time high in April (hitting 37 percent, an increase of 2 percentage points from last month).  Another positive trend is the increased share of those who reported their income as “significantly higher” from twelve months ago, which is now at the highest level recorded over the past year and 7 percentage points higher than those who reported income as “significantly lower” (the largest difference between the two since the survey began).

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Construction spending during March was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $808.1 billion, 0.1 percent above the revised February estimate of $807.3 billion. The March figure is 6 percent above the March 2011 estimate of $762.6 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce.
Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $244.1 billion in March, 0.7 percent  above the revised February estimate of $242.5 billion.

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Home values nationwide increased 0.5 percent from February to March, according to Zillow’s first quarter Real Estate Market Reports. This marks the largest monthly increase in the Zillow Home Value Index since May 2006, when home values also rose 0.5 percent.
The Index fell 3.1 percent year-over-year to $146,200.
Nineteen of the 30 metro areas covered by the Zillow Home Value Forecast will reach a bottom in 2012, or have already reached a bottom. Several of those are expected to see significant home value increases in the next 12 months, including the Phoenix (6.5 percent), Miami-Ft. Lauderdale (5.6 percent), and Tampa (2.5 percent) metros, according to the forecast.
Twelve of the markets covered by the Zillow Home Value Forecast will experience home value declines in the next 12 months, although some of those are likely to reach a bottom in late 2012. Some metros, however, are anticipated to experience significant home value declines in the next 12 months, including the Atlanta metro, with home values falling 4.1 percent, and the Chicago metro, where values are expected to decline 3.8 percent.
Nationally, the Zillow Home Value Forecast shows that home values will fall 0.4 percent over the next 12 months, with many months showing no change or slight appreciation late this year, suggesting that U.S. home values could reach a bottom in late 2012.

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National vacancy rates in the first quarter of 2012 were 8.8 percent for rental housing and 2.2 percent for homeowner housing, according to the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau. The rental vacancy rate of 8.8 percent was 0.9 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in first quarter 2011 and 0.6 percentage points lower than the previous quarter. The homeowner vacancy rate of 2.2 percent was 0.4 percentage points lower than first quarter 2011 and 0.1 percentage point lower than the fourth quarter rate.
The homeownership rate of 65.4 percent was 1 percentage point lower than the first quarter 2011 rate (66.4 percent) and 0.6 percentage points lower than the rate fourth quarter 2011 (66 percent).
In the first quarter of 2012, the median asking rent for vacant rental units was $721, and the median asking sales price for vacant for-sale units was $133,700.
The homeowner vacancy rates in principal cities (2.5 percent) and outside MSAs (2.6 percent) were higher than in the suburbs (1.9 percent). The homeowner vacancy rates in principal cities and in the suburbs were lower than a year ago, while the rate outside MSAs was not statistically different from the corresponding first quarter 2011 rate.
For the first quarter of 2012, the homeowner vacancy rate was higher in the South than the Northeast, but not statistically different from the rates in the Midwest and West. The homeowner vacancy rates in the Midwest, South, and West were lower than a year ago, while the rate in the Northeast was not statistically different from first quarter 2011 rates.
Approximately 86.1 percent of the housing units in the United States in first quarter 2012 were occupied, and 13.9 percent were vacant. Owner-occupied housing units made up 56.3 percent of total housing units, while renter-occupied units made up 29.8 percent of the inventory in first quarter 2012.

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U.S. house prices rose 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from January to February, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index. While prices in January were unchanged according to initial estimates reported in the last HPI release, the January result has been revised downward to reflect a 0.5 percent decrease. For the 12 months ending in February, U.S. prices rose 0.4 percent, the first annual increase since the July 2006 – July 2007 interval. The U.S. index remains 19.4 percent below its April 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the January 2004 index level.
The FHFA monthly index is calculated using purchase prices of houses backing mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

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Yahoo! Real Estate
Signaling that housing may be in recovery mode, median list prices for resale homes jumped about 5.6 percent to $189,900 from a year ago, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.
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http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/report-signals-start-of-broad-based-housing-recovery.html

Los Angeles Business Journal
California home sales declined from both the prior month and year in January, according to data from the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.).  The median price also was lower, primarily due to a sales increase in the distressed market.
Making sense of the story

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 517,740 in January, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations and MLSs statewide.
January’s sales were down 0.6 percent from December’s 520,940 pace and down 5.7 percent from the revised 548,760 sales pace recorded in January 2011.  The statewide sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2012 if sales maintained the January pace throughout the year.  It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.
The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home fell to $268,280 in January, down 6.7 percent from $285,920 in December.  The median price also dropped 3.9 percent from the revised $279,220 median price recorded in January 2011.
“The decline in the January median home is largely a reflection of an increase in the share of distressed home sales,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “Seasonal factors in the non-distressed market also played a role in the softening of the median home price, as prices typically decline in the non-peak home buying season.”
California’s housing inventory rose in January, with the Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes increasing to 5.5 months in January, up from 4.1 months in December but down from the 6.8-month supply in January 2011.  The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.

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http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/news/2012/02/15/california-home-prices-down.html