Coit Group Fine Homes

                            U.S. home prices rose 12.4 percent in July compared with a year ago, the most since February 2006. An increase in sales on a limited supply of available homes drove the gains. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index reported Tuesday improved from June, when it rose 12.1 percent from a year ago. And all 20 cities posted gains in July from the previous month and compared with a year ago. Stan Humphries, chief economist for real estate data provider Zillow, said home prices should continue to rise but at a slower pace. Mortgage rates have increased more than a full percentage point since May. And more homes are being built. That should ease supply constraints that have inflated prices in some markets. “This ongoing moderation is good for the market overall,” Humphries said. Home prices soared 27.5 pe...

   While 10.7 million residential homeowners nationwide owe at least 25 percent or more on their mortgages than their properties are worth, another 8.3 million homeowners are now only slightly underwater or slightly above water, putting them on track to have enough equity to sell sometime in the next 15 months without resorting to a short sale. The 8.3 million include homeowners that have a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio from 90 to 110 percent, meaning they have between 10 percent positive equity and 10 percent negative equity. These homeowners represented 18 percent of all U.S. homeowners with a mortgage as of the beginning of September. Florida In Florida, RealtyTrac reports that 40 percent of homeowners with a mortgage (2,075,484) were “deeply underwater” with a loan-to-value ratio (LTV) of 125 percent or higher. The state ranked third nationally, behind Nevada (46 percent) and Illinois (40 percent). Michigan (38 percent), Rhode Island (34 percent) and Ohio (31 percent) round...

Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 12.4 percent on a year-over-year basis in July 2013 compared to July 2012 – the 17th consecutive monthly year-over-year increase in home prices nationally. On a month-over-month basis, including distressed sales, home prices increased by 1.8 percent in July 2013 compared to June 2013. When distressed sales are backed out of the equation, home prices increased 11.4 percent year-over-year in July 2013 compared to July 2012. On a month-over-month basis, excluding distressed sales, home prices increased 1.7 percent in July 2013 compared to June 2013. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions. The separate CoreLogic Pending HPI predicts that August 2013 home prices, including distressed sales, will rise by 12.3 percent year-over-year and 0.4 percent month-over-month. Excluding distressed sales, they’re poised to rise 12.2 percent year-over-year and 1.2 percent month-over-month. “Home prices ...