Elena Zimina's Real Estate

Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose more than expected in September, according to the latest S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index. The 20-city composite rose 5.5 percent year over year in September, compared with consensus estimates for a 5.2 percent rise. The S&P Case Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, which measures all nine U.S. census divisions, was up 4.9 percent from the same time last year, ticking up at a slightly faster pace than August's 4.6 percent increase.

Source: Harvard A new research brief from Harvard University analyzes the extent to which young renter households in their 20s and 30s are burdened by their student loan payments and explore the potential implications of these payment burdens on future decisions to pursue homeownership. Reflecting both increases in student loan payment amounts and income declines among young renters, the research finds that the prevalence of young renters with medium or high student debt burdens accelerated following the Great Recession. Between 2007 and 2013, the share of young renters with high student loan burdens nearly quadrupled, from 5 percent to 19 percent.

HIGHER INTEREST RATES LOWER CALIFORNIA HOUSING AFFORDABILITY IN THIRD QUARTER Source: C.A.R. California’s housing market softened in October as both statewide sales and median price contracted from the previous month; however, the market is still on target to meet forecast projections, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.). Making sense of the story Home sales exceeded the 400,000 level in October for the seventh consecutive month and posted higher on a year-to-year basis for the ninth straight month. Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 403,510 units in October, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations and MLSs statewide. The October figure was down 5.1 percent from the revised 425,120 level in September and up 1.3 percent compared with home sales in October 2014 of a revised 398,510. The year-to-year increas

TALKING POINTS … Newly started foreclosures rose 12 percent in October from September, according to a new report from RealtyTrac, a foreclosure listing company. This is the largest monthly increase since August 2011, and more than twice the gain from September to October in the last five years. Just over 48,000 properties started the process in October, still 14 percent less than a year ago. Part of the annual increase this year could be due to already troubled loans that were modified but are now re-defaulting. More than half (57 percent) of new foreclosures in August were re-defaults, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

TALKING POINTS … The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, covering the entire nation, rose 4.7 percent in the 12 months ended in August, slightly greater than a 4.6 percent increase in July. The 20-city index jumped 5.1 percent year-over-year through August, after July’s 4.9 percent increase. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected a 5.1 percent increase in the 20-city index. West coast cities remained the strongest markets over the past year, with San Francisco and Denver gaining 10.7 percent through August, and Portland, Ore., jumping 9.4 percent.