Real Estate Information Archive

Once again we are compelled to lead with home prices. That's actually a good thing, because home prices are increasingly on the rise and increasingly portend higher prices.

The latest pricing data, from Trulia, show that asking prices rose nationally 1.9 percent in the three-month moving average from February to April. When you look at monthly comparisons, asking prices were up 0.5 percent from March to April.

Of course, asking isn't getting – an asking price isn't the sales price. But we all know that we set prices rationally. It's important not to waste time on an unrealistic asking price. In other words, Trulia's data suggests that prices are rising, and rising strongly, in many markets. This, in turn, suggests that we should expect higher reported sales prices from S&P/Case-Shiller and Corelogic in the near future.

Seeing a rising national asking price is nice, but it's really meaningless to any particular market. The price trend in Denver has no bearing on the price trend in Philadelphia or vice versa. The same can be said for most combinations of any two markets.

What we find interesting, though, is the price trends in the most hardest hit areas – such as Phoenix and Miami – are posting double-digit increases. If we've said it once, we've said it numerous times over the past couple years: markets clear. In other words, prices fall to reach a level where they draw sufficient interest to clear inventory. Once inventory clears, prices again start moving higher.

Clearing markets is painful but salutary, and maybe not as painful as our expectations lead us to believe. We mentioned a couple weeks ago what turned out to be the non-issue of an explosion in option ARM defaults that were expected to sink the market. That never occurred.

The foreclosure overhang that everyone has been talking about for the past six months also appears to be a non-issue. CNBC reports that the number of homes entering foreclosure is up for April, but is still down more than 30 percent from a year ago.

Earlier this year, most financial outlets were lamenting impending doom once banks started foreclosing in earnest and dumping properties on the market. Lost in all the rhetoric was the fact that bankers are rational. Short sales, deeds-in-lieu, re-negotiation make a difference, and they've been on the rise. Bankers don't want to upset markets, especially through mass REO sales.

The lesson here is that it's rarely the anticipated that upsets market; it's mostly the unanticipated. The distressed property overhang has been anticipated and is being dealt with accordingly and rationally.

What we anticipate, and what we would like to see at this point are more accommodating lending standards. The current overly strict standards is the number one hindrance to the recovery in our opinion. To be sure, mortgage lending rates remain at historical lows, and that's good for those able to get the rate. But what we really need are rates and mortgage products to accommodate all borrowers needs, not just those with 800 FICO scores.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Prices always make news, as well they should. A price is an important factor in determining loan amount and equity position. Price determines whether someone buys, sells, or holds. You could say that price is everything.

With that thought in mind, home prices have been volatile in 2012, which has lead to volatile sales data. But though prices have been volatile, they have been trending higher. S&P/Case-Shiller's 20-city composite home price index shows prices increased 0.2 percent in February compared to January.

Though the S&P/Case-Shiller index is the most monitored index, it's a little stale, being two months in arrears. We were more interested in contemporary price data released by Zillow, which show home values were up 0.5 percent in its 30-market index. Zillow believes 19 of the markets it follows have either hit bottom or are expected to hit bottom by the end of the year. Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries advises, "For people who have been waiting to time their home purchase close to market bottom, it’s time to start shopping.

”Not to pat ourselves too hard on the back, but we've been offering similar advice for the past six months. Now, no one can precisely call a bottom, but you can get a “vibe” in your market through experience and information. More of the vibes and much of the information is turning positive in many local markets. To be sure, bad news can still be found, but if you wait for nothing but good news, the bottom will have long been gone.

Existing home sales prove that the news still isn't all good. Sales for March came in softer than expected, posting at 4.48 million annualized units, a 2.6 percent dip from February. The good news is that market dynamics appear to be shifting from mostly low-end homes to higher-end ones: the median national home price rose a strong 4.6 percent to $163,800.

As for new homes sales, the news was decidedly good. New home sales posted a better-than-expected 328,000 annualized units in March, after being revised strongly upward to 353,000 units in February. The national median sales price dipped 1 percent, to $234,500, in March, but we'd be surprised not to see a price rebound in April, because of a dearth of new homes. In fact, the supply of unsold new homes fell to just 144,000 in March – the fewest on record dating to 1963.

Mortgage rates, meanwhile, continue to skim along the bottom, though they're showing no inclination to move meaningfully lower. Again, we can't stress enough the risk/reward paradigm in the mortgage lending market: Even after a spat of bad economic news in Europe, rates hardly moved. This suggests to us that waiting for still lower rates means incurring a great deal of risk for little reward.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

One of our soap box issues over the past year has been the lack of private lending money. Our interest was naturally piqued when we read that Institutional Risk Analytics released a report titled "The Real Role of Banks in Residential Mortgage Finance.

"The report basically expounds many of our concerns: The Federal Reserve's low-rate policies are discouraging private money from entering the mortgage-backed securities market, which means many lenders have to adhere to the strict standards of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Having the market dominated by the Federal Reserve and two government-backed entities attenuates private credit formation.

Rising mortgage lending rates would draw more private capital into the market, which means there would not only be more credit but more credit that would meet the demands of a more diverse group of borrowers.To be sure, the spike in rates we've seen over the past week has taken the wind out of the refinance boom. But as more borrowers realize that higher rates are more likely than lower rates, more borrowers will be motivated to act and more lenders will be motivated to lend.

It's also worth remembering that even if mortgage lending rates rise above 5%, the monthly payment on a median mortgage would make up only 14% of the current median income, because homes are so affordable these days. Rising rates would not disrupt the market, they would simply reset expectations to market reality.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Mortgage lending rates have been on the rise, and they've been on the rise in a big way. Over the past week it's possible that someone inquiring on the 30-year fixed-rate loan could have been quoted a price 50-basis points higher than what was available a month ago.

Rates have pulled back slightly, but they remain elevated compared to February's lows. We expect them to remain elevated. Markets appear less risk averse: Investors are no longer huddling behind U.S. Treasury securities every time Greece hiccups. The major stock market barometers – the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index – are approaching four-year highs.In short, investors want more return. They are less satisfied with the 2% return offered on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes, which makes these notes more risky. If more investors demand a higher coupon payment, more investors will sell low-coupon Treasury securities, thus forcing the yield on these securities to rise.

As U.S. Treasury note and bond yields go so goes mortgage-backed securities yields and so goes mortgage lending rates. We are not terribly concerned though. We don't think rising rates will crimp the housing recovery, because higher economic growth and rising employment will more than offset higher interest rates.

Home builders appear to share our sentiment. The National Association of Home Builders sentiment index shows optimism has risen to a five-year high. This suggests to us the bust is officially over and that housing is on sustainable growth trajectory.

That said, housing starts did edge down in February, but from an upwardly revised January posting. Permits were the positive takeaway, increasing 5.1% for the month.Last week we mentioned that if we saw a reversal of fortune in Las Vegas, then the housing recovery has likely turned the corner and become a nationwide phenomenon. This might just be serendipity, but, lo and behold, the FDIC reports that single-family home permits in Nevada increased 16.1% in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to the fourth quarter of 2010. Maybe miracles really do happen.

Like new-home sales, existing-home sales are also displaying sustained strength. Sales dipped slightly – by 0.9% to 4.59 million annualized units – in February, but the data follow an extremely strong and upwardly revised January sales posting. Over the past six months, sales have been trending perceptibly higher.

We are further encouraged by the trend in existing home prices, which have been firming and moving higher in 2012. The median price of an existing home moved up 1.3% to $156,600 in February.Overall, we like the direction the housing market has taken. We also like the idea of mortgage markets moving to more normalized, market-driven pricing. We think this points to a much stronger, sustainable market over the long term.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

We expect to see a surge in mortgage applications in coming months. Couple low rates with HARP 2.0, the federal mortgage program that will enable millions of underwater homeowners to tap the mortgage market, and mortgage loan demand is sure to grow.

The combination of low rates and HARP 2.0 alone is enough to send business through the roof. Now we get word the Obama administration wants to allow more homeowners to refinance by dropping fees on federally insured mortgages. The administration's plan has the FHA dropping upfront insurance premiums on streamline refinances from 1% to 0.01%. The FHA would also drop annual premiums from 1.15% of the loan balance to 0.55%.

There is one catch: the lower fees only apply to borrowers who took out loans before June 1, 2009 . Still, lower-fee FHA loans are expected to help two to three million borrowers refinance.

The prospect of rising mortgage demand is worth keeping in mind as we head into the spring and summer selling season. Lenders will be busy, and sometimes very busy. Our advice, which we've offered in the past, is not to wait. For buyers, home affordability has never been better; for refinancers, rates have never been lower.

Given the present market dynamics, we think the risk of waiting to refinance or to buy a home far outweighs the possible reward of a lower home price or a lower interest rate.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Home prices continue to garner front-page attention. CoreLogic reports that prices declined for the sixth-straight month in January, dipping 1% from December. Year-over-year prices are down 3.1%. In short, CoreLogic says that prices are about where they were 10 years ago.CoreLogic offers one set of data on home prices, Clear Capital offers another, less ominous set. According to Clear Capital, national home prices declined only 1.9% year-over-year. What's more, its data show short-term prices being more stable, with prices falling only 0.6% from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2011.

Everyone is keeping a close eye on distressed properties. Now that last year's “robo-signing” foreclosure imbroglio is behind us does that mean we will see a surge in foreclosed and REO properties? And if so, how will they impact inventory and prices?

Pertinent questions, to be sure, and ones we don't have a ready answer for. We do know that the inventory of existing homes for sale declined 21%, or by 600,000 units, in 2011. At the most recently reported sales pace, that means we are looking at 6.1 months of supply – the lowest inventory level since April 2006. Lower supply supports higher prices.

Today's low inventory is attributed to falling foreclosure volume. But now that banks are free to foreclose, two million more homes are expected to hit the market over the next two years. If that's the case, then distressed inventory will rise sharply. Returning to economics: higher supply leads to lower prices.

There are a few extenuating factors though. The economy is improving, and continues to add jobs at an increasing rate. The private sector added 216,000 jobs last month, according to the latest national employment report from Automatic Data Processing. That's a significant increase over the 173,000 jobs added in January. More people working means more people who can afford a home.

The rise in REO properties could be offset by a decrease in other market segments. For instance, there was a significant increase in short sales in the fourth quarter of 2011, which pushed the number up to nearly 910,000 units nationwide. That said, the long-term trend for short sales is down; fewer short sales could be a counterweight to rising REO units.

Housing formation is another attenuating factor. After 2007, household formation plummeted to 300,000 per year from its historical rate of 1.25 million. We see a lot of pent up demand. The population continues to grow, the economy continues to improve, home affordability is at a multi-decade high. The market is ripe for a spike in new household formation.

In short, we don't expect new REO properties to upset the housing recovery like the more dire pundits are predicting.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Home sales have developed a positive up trend in the past six months, and it appears that trend will be sustained at least into the near future.The pending home sales index rose 2.0 percent in January to hit 97, the highest reading in nearly two years. New contract signings were particularly strong in the South, which posted an impressive 10.5-percent gain. The good is that the rest of the country isn't lagging far behind: national year-over-year contracts are up 8.0 percent.

Lower prices are an obvious factor in driving sales volume. While lower prices drive demand, they also reduce supply. Home supply has been dropping nationally for some time now, though concrete numbers are tough to gauge given the uncertainty over the hidden inventory of foreclosed properties. The estimates we've seen on these shadow homes range between two million to four million nationally.Whatever the actual numbers are on distressed properties, it appears many markets have already reached peak saturation, which means levels should begin falling. According to analysts at Clear Capital, Atlanta and Tuscon, Ariz. are two regions likely to see a drop in REO properties during the year. We wouldn't be surprised to see similar prognostications forthcoming for Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Central California.

The fact markets are reaching an REO saturation point is one sign that housing is reaching a tipping point. Affordability is another. In many parts of the country, affordability is at a multi-decade high.We've been preaching over the past year that residential real estate is the investment for the next decade. We stand by our exhortations. Unfortunately, many potential buyers still feel otherwise. They are weary of catching a falling knife; that is, buying a property that will continue to depreciate.Falling knives were a very real concern three years ago; that's not the case today. Yes, home prices nationally could continue to fall, but you always have to look past national numbers to the local market – many of which are rebounding.

Mortgage rates are another reason we like real estate. Rates continue to skim along a 60-year low. But the economy is improving – GDP posted a better-than-expected annual 3.0-percent growth rate for the fourth quarter of 2011. What's more, job growth has accelerated and unemployment has dropped. In other words, rates are unlikely to go much lower.

Costs associated with mortgages could go higher, though. The buzz on the new HARP 2.0 is growing louder and attracting many underwater borrowers keen to refinance. The buzz will grow even louder over the next month as interest intensifies.Rising loan demand tilts the table toward lenders, so we think its prudent for potential buyers to not wait and to take advantage of what remains a very low-cost mortgage financing market.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Are the home builders portending better days ahead? We think so, because their sentiment continues to reflect more optimism and improving new-home prospects.

For proof, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Home Builder Sentiment Index gained four points in February, pushing the index to a 29 reading – the highest reading in over four years. What's more, February was the second-consecutive month of a four-point gain and the fifth-consecutive month-over-month gain.

Even more encouraging to us is the fact that home builder optimism isn't confined to specific index components or specific areas. Gains are evenly split among current sales, future sales, and buyer traffic, and evenly distributed by metropolitan region.

The latest data further buttress the case for a rosier housing outlook. In fact, the Co mm erce Department data show housing starts increased 1.5% in January, pushing starts up to 699,000 annualized units, the highest start rate since October 2008.

Many housing pundits have pointed to multifamily starts as reason for the upturn. To be sure, multifamily starts are in an uptrend, having increased 14% to an annualized rate of 175,000 units in January. It's worth noting, though, that single-family starts posted at 508,000 annualized units in January. That's a 1 percent drop from December's starts, but December's single-family starts were revised up strongly to 513,000 homes – a 12-percent gain from November.

In short, the resurgence in home construction isn't being driven by renters alone. People still want to own a home, and they are still willing to buy a new one.

Whatever type of home someone wants, it can be financed at record low mortgage rates. In fact, a new low was set again this past week. For this, we can thank the Greeks. As improbable as it might seem, what occurs in Athens, Greece impacts mortgage rates in Athens, Georgia.Modern financial markets are very interwoven. When investors become nervous about the debt situation in Greece, they pull their money out of Greek debt and put it in haven investments like U.S. Treasury securities. The securities (particularly the 10-year Treasury note), in turn, influence long-term mortgage rates: Treasury rates drop, mortgage rates invariable drop as well.

The Federal Reserve also influences mortgage rates by purchasing mortgage-backed securities. The Fed's purchases creates demand for these securities, thus driving mortgage rates down. The Fed has recently stated that it's willing to purchase more of these securities if needed. That means rates are unlikely to move significantly higher in the near future.

That said, they are unlikely to move significantly lower either, thanks to an improving economy. Therefore, we see no reason to wait to refinance or purchase a home for anyone so inclined. On the latter, the timing is unlikely to get better. According to the NAHB and Wells Fargo, buying a home today is more affordable than it has been any time in the past 20 years.

We've noted many times that low prices and high affordability don't last in perpetuity. Given the surge in home builder optimism and improved employment numbers, we don't expect homes to be as affordable at year's end as they are today.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Can we trust the data? Everyone is asking that question after the National Association of Realtors said it would revise its home sales data for the past four years. The revised data are scheduled for release this coming Wednesday with the NAR's monthly report on home sales for November.

The NAR cited several reasons for revising sales. The most notable reason was that the NAR believed it was overcompensating for sales that did not occur on the regional and local real estate listing services from which the NAR extracted data.

The bottom line is that sales and unsold inventory will be revised downward, but monthly percentage changes in sales volumes, months of outstanding inventory, and median home prices will remain unchanged.

Some media outlets have attacked the NAR's revisions from an alarmist or snarky angle. Neither is deserved; the NAR is simply admitting that it needs to be more accurate. What the NAR revisions really highlight is the difficulty in producing national numbers that are meaningful to any local market. If you think about it, is a median national sales price of $167,000 meaningful to a tony suburban enclave in Alexandria , Virginia or to an overbuilt Las Vegas ? We would argue that it isn't.

That said, we will still post and examine the national numbers, because they interest many market participants. The inputs can also be revealing. For example, Corelogic reported that total home prices were down 3.9 percent in October from a year ago, but prices were down by just 0.5 percent when distressed sales are excluded. This tells us that we have two distinct markets at work, which most of us knew anyway, but which much of the lay public doesn't know.

The national numbers can also set the mood and expectations of any one buyer or borrower. It's in our best interest then, and it's also truthful, to highlight the positives in a market dominated by negativity. To that end, we'll mention that Swiss financial services firm Credit Suisse told its clients last week that “ U.S. homes now appear fairly valued compared to median family income.” Credit Suisse's analysis also shows that shadow inventory and mortgage defaults will improve noticeably in 2012.

Mortgage rates, contrary to our expectations, will also continue to improve. Most financing options moved lower this past week, with the 30-year fixed-rate loan hitting a new low in many markets (though it's worth noting that a new low can be hit with only a couple basis-points move). Our outlook for an improving stock market, which would draw funds out of the bond market, is being negated by Europe's inability to deal with the near-bankruptcy of a few of its Mediterranean countries.

While the sense of urgency to refinance or purchase has been reduced, we still think it's best to lock and take advantage of today's rates. The fact is that most borrowers are less frustrated being locked and wishing they were floating than the reverse.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

We tend to view most situations from an optimist's perspective, because optimists are more likely to see solutions that pessimists overlook; therefore, optimists tend to be better problem solvers.

Optimism, we have found, is also usually rewarded. The housing recovery has taken longer than most of us would like, but the market is recovering, and the recovery will likely gain pace as we progress through 2012.

Mortgage delinquencies are one area of continued progress. TransUnion forecasts delinquencies of 60 days or more will peak at 6 percent of all mortgages during the first quarter of 2012, and then fall to 5 percent by year's end. This is actually a continuation of a longer-term trend that has been overlooked: delinquencies this year are expected to fall 7 percent, which follows a 7 percent decline in 2010.

The trend in the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index is also cause for optimism. According to the index, the number of improving housing markets expanded for a fourth-consecutive month, rising 37 percent to 41 in December from 30 in November. The index states that the expansion in both number and geographic diversity of markets is proof that markets continue to grow more heterogeneous; that is, more dependent on local factors than national ones. This is a point we've been making for the past six months.

The news on pricing was less upbeat. CoreLogic reports that house prices dipped nationally month-over-month in October. Year-over-year, prices have declined 3.9 percent, but only 0.5 percent when distressed properties are removed from the equation.

A recent report by Barclays Capital should help ease pricing concerns. According to Barclays, the housing market will be buoyed by improving job growth and by the fact that prices for non-distressed properties are stabilizing without government support. On price stabilization, Barclays housing analyst Stephen Kim writes, “[W]e are amazed at how little attention it [the recovery in non-distressed homes] has been getting from the media and the street.

”We, on the other hand, are less amazed. We've been hammering the point on stabilizing prices for months, but we also know that bad news always sells better than good news.Speaking of good news, mortgage rates continue to hold steady and near multi-decade lows. We've noticed that the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes has trended lower most of this past week, which has been something of a surprise, given that the economic news, for the most part, has been positive.

Mortgage rates have been holding steady for the past month or so, but we think upward pressure is steadily building – mostly due to an improving economy and job growth (and for a reason we'll explicate below).

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.