Morning Briefing: More markets overvalued says CoreLogic CEO

More markets overvalued says CoreLogic CEO… Lone Star State reports strong third quarter… Most, least affordable small cities…

More markets overvalued says CoreLogic CEO
New figures from CoreLogic show a 6.4 per cent rise in home sales for September 2015 compared with a year earlier, but there has been an increase in the number of markets that are overvalued. The nationwide figure includes distressed sales. The monthly increase from August was 0.6 per cent. The CoreLogic HPI forecast suggests that there could be a dip in prices from September to October this year but that year-over-year there will be a rise of 4.7 per cent through September 2016.

“The continued growth in home prices is welcome news for many homeowners but more markets are becoming overvalued. In the near term, this trend is likely to continue and pose evaluated risks to the housing economy,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.  "More has to be done to expand inventories if we are going to address the emerging affordability crisis, especially in hot markets like California and Colorado.”
 
Lone Star State reports strong third quarter
The housing market in Texas continued to be strong through the third quarter of 2015. The Texas Association of Realtors’ quarterly report shows that home sales rose by 7.8 per cent year-over-year to 91,704 and the median price increased 7.7 per cent to $199,900. Active listings statewide rose 7.6% year-over-year to 102,644 active listings in 2015-Q3.
 
The year could end up being a record one. Scott Kesner, the association’s chairman commented:  “Last year fell just short of being the best year ever in Texas real estate, but 2015 has shown consistent year-over-year gains in both home sales and prices. At this current pace, 2015 could very well surpass 2007 as a record year for Texas home sales.”
 
Most, least affordable small cities
Although there seems to be a worldwide trend towards living the big city life, there is much to love about America’s smaller towns. Wallethub has analyzed 1,268 small cities across the US to determine which allow residents the affordability of a smaller town but without having to compromise too much on things like schools, restaurants and even dating opportunities. Overall it found that Princeton, NJ offered the best solution with an overall ranking of 61.90 out of 100; followed by Littleton, CO; Dublin, OH; Brookfield, WI; and Leawood, KS. The five small cities deemed the worst are all in California with Bell the lowest in the list followed by Huntington Park, Bell Gardens, Compton and Lynwood. The full list is at wallethub.com