NEW LIFE FOR OMAHA HOME SALES?-Repost

*Sorry for the repost...we'll see if Twitter is updating and forwarding links correctly now. That and the news is so nice it's worth posting again :)

It sure feels like things are moving in the right direction. The Omaha area may be moving from a "buyers" market to a more neutral position. What a difference!

Published Saturday April 11, 2009
New life for home sales?
BY CHRISTINE LAUE
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Pending home sales rose in the Omaha metro area in March, indicating the housing market may be recovering.

It was only the second time in about 2½ years that monthly pending sales have increased, compared with the previous year.

Real estate professionals say the number of pending home sales, defined as homes under sales contract, is a significant indicator of current market activity.

March's numbers were 4.3 percent higher than the previous March, for only the second monthly year-over-year increase since August 2006, according to the Great Plains Multiple Listing Service. The other month was December 2008, when pending home sales rose 1.1 percent.

"I truly believe that we are at a turning point," said Joe Gehrki, president of the Omaha Area Board of Realtors.

Mike Riedmann, NP Dodge's president of residential sales, said he believes the market has bottomed out.

"We've turned a corner," he said. "I truly believe that we are seeing some positive signs in the market, that probably the worst is behind us."

In March, 1,107 homes went under contract, compared with 975 in March 2008.

More homes, more affordable

· 17 million more families today can afford the median-priced new home of $200,000 than two years ago.

· A typical family can purchase a house with $20,000 less in household income.

· The typical buyer can save nearly $500 per month on principal, interest, taxes and insurance.

· Single-family building permits were up 11 percent nationwide in February over the previous month.

· In Omaha, single-family building permits fell 13.7 percent in February. However, Scott Strain, senior director of research at the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, said the situation is stabilizing. "The pace of deceleration is slowing. I'm thinking we're going to see some improvement over the next few months."

Sources: National Association of Home Builders; U.S. Census Bureau.

Not all pending sales end up as closed sales, however. Some deals fall through, today more than normal due to complicated foreclosures and short sales. Short sales are transactions in which homeowners sell their houses for less than the amount owed on mortgages as a way to prevent foreclosures.

Actual home sales in March - deals that closed - were down 24 percent from the previous year.

The "short-sale syndrome" was fully in play in 2008, Gehrki said, so it's a good bet that the higher numbers in March 2009 are truly indicating increased activity.

More important, pending sales are up while the number of homes on the market continues to decline.

"We're getting closer to a better balance of supply and demand," Gehrki said. "There was too much on the market and too few buyers this time last year."

The total number of homes listed for sale at the end of March was 4,989, or 11.5 percent fewer than the 5,637 listed in March 2008.

More people are looking for homes partly because of a $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers. Enacted in mid-February, the stimulus boosted activity in the second half of that month and especially in March, real estate professionals said.

Larry Melichar, president of CBSHome Real Estate, said March was his company's best month since May 2008 in the number of pending sales.

The company's sales last month exceeded sales in all but two months of 2008, Melichar said. "We're just really thrilled with the March activity. It shows us that the market is coming back - coming back rather strongly."

Riedmann at NP Dodge said March activity and sales typically are higher than February due to warmer weather and the start of house-shopping season. But last month was a "barn buster," with closed sales up 50 percent over February instead of the usual 33 percent, he said.

Andy Alloway, owner of Deeb Realty, said affordable prices, record low interest rates and low inventory were driving demand.

Homes in good condition and correctly priced don't sit on the market as long as they used to, Alloway said. According to the multiple listing service, the average time on the market decreased in each month of the first quarter, compared with 2008.

Dave Mullin and his wife, Shilee, listed their home in the Country Club neighborhood the first week of February and got an offer by mid-March - about twice as fast as normal.

Several people toured the three-bedroom home immediately after it went on the market, then none in late February, said Mullin, who, like his wife, is a lawyer. Interest surged around March 14, possibly because of good weather and a better understanding of the tax credit, he said.

"All of a sudden we went from not having a showing in two weeks to having four showings and an open house over a weekend," Mullin said. "We sold our house to first-time homebuyers, and I think a lot of the people that were looking at our house were potential first-time homebuyers."

The Mullins bought a four-bedroom home in Dundee on April 1.

Real estate professionals say some sellers are receiving multiple offers.

Prudential Ambassador real estate agent Jackie Willie said her last five sales involved multiple offers - two of the sellers had three offers each.

She hadn't sold a house since November, but business soared to three closings in February, she said. March produced the most pending sales of her three-year real estate career, Willie said.

"I have nine right now, which is insane," she said. "But I'll take it."

But don't call it a boom, real estate professionals cautioned.

Rather, they hope it's the start of "a slow, stable recovery," said Vince Leisey, president of Prudential Ambassador Real Estate. Leisey said the "trickle-up market" -people who buy more expensive homes after selling to first-time buyers - still needs to be stimulated.

"Supply and demand have come in balance in that first-time homebuyer market, and prices have stabilized," Leisey said. "I think in that segment we have bottomed out.

"There will be some trickle-up effect, I just don't know how much. Only time will tell us that."