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FAQ: Housing Prices - 2005-02-26

Last week in this space I talked about the "housing bubble" and the possibility that home prices might suffer a precipitous drop at some point in the future. That topic typically generates follow-up questions such as these:

Q: Where do you get all the statistics you cite when talking about housing prices, both nationwide and in the Atlanta area?

A: Keeping up with trends in the housing industry has almost become a full time job, but the internet makes getting information easier. Here are some websites that are worth checking into:

www.ofheo.gov

This is the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, and this is the agency charged with overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The key to this site is to watch the Housing Price Index, which is a broad measure of the movement of single family home prices.

Because this agency draws appraisal and closing information from both Fannie and Freddie, the numbers are more reliable than those from any other source. In many cases, they are measuring the sale to sale price changes for specific houses over a period of years.

In addition, the HPI offers detailed information on price movements both nationally and in most large metro areas, including the Atlanta area.

Www.realtor.org

This is the website for the Realtors trade union, and represents the interests of its members. It also offers one of the most prolific research teams in the industry, headed by well respected economist David Lereah. The site offers statistics on home sales, mortgage rates, and industry and economic trends.

Key data is available through their Existing Home Sales Data, which measures the health of the real estate industry. Also important is the Housing Affordability Index, which measures whether or not a typical family can qualify for a mortgage loan on a typical home.

The most recent national affordability index was just above 130, meaning that the average family earned 130% of the amount necessary to purchase a median priced home.

Www.mortgagebankers.org

The research division of the Mortgage Bankers Association provides some critical measurements of our economy on an ongoing basis. Data on loan originations and loan delinquencies is interesting, and MBA’s economic forecasting is also well thought of.

www.nahb.org

This is the National Association of Home Builders website, and it contains a treasure trove of housing information. Click on "Economic and Housing Data" for a variety of info including construction statistics, sales and price data for new and used homes, and economic forecasts.

Also interesting is the NAHB-Wells Fargo Hous9ing Market Index, which measures the strength of the housing market as seen through the eyes of the home builder community. In addition, the Home Design and Consumer Preference site reports on nationwide surveys of recent and prospective home buyers (including renters) to learn consumer preferences.

Finally, this same site offers consumer information under the heading of "For Consumers." Categories of useful info include an A to Z Guide for building and financing your home, home maintenance and energy efficiency.

www.bankrate.com

Bankrate tracks literally hundreds of financial institutions and lenders for a weekly survey of home lending rates and the fees associated with those fees. This is quite useful for keeping up with the overall direction of interest rates. In addition, this site publishes a Mortgage Rate Trend Index, which surveys so-called mortgage experts and asks which way they think rates will go in the next 30 to 45 days.

Also, this site has lots of interesting articles on lending instruments and how they might fit into your financial picture. Some of the features are fluffy, but others are right on target.

Www.inman.com

Brad Inman started this independent real estate news service several years ago and it has blossomed into a lively site for in-depth looks at aspects of the real estate industry including sales trends, interest rate movements, industry changes and broker news.

Www.realestatejournal.com

This is the well written "Wall Street Journal Guide to Property" site that features articles on home buying and selling, house and garden, home improvement, and relocation. There’s even an extensive section on "city profiles," which lists a remarkable amount of information on all major US cities. I dare you to read the full list of data on Atlanta and then tell me you didn’t learn something. I learned that in Atlanta, we have an average of 115 rainy days per year.

Http://terraserver.microsoft.com

The fact that someone has been flying around in outer space taking pictures of the roof of your house should scare you just a little bit. Visit here to see what your house looks like from the sky.

OK, that’s my list. You can spend the next week just gathering bits or real estate wisdom from the sites above. But I want to hear from you about your favorite real estate related site. Please send the link to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and I will report back in a future column.

 
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