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Regional Spotlight—The number of completed foreclosures in Massachusetts dropped by almost 13 percent in 2012 to 7,424, down from 8,531 in 2011, according to the latest report from The Warren Group,

Pending home sales declined in December but have stayed above year-ago levels for 20 consecutive months, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. The Pending Home Sales Index,*a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, fell 4.3 percent to 101.7 in December from 106.3 in November but is 6.9 percent higher than December 2011 when it was 95.1. The data reflect contracts but not closings. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says there is an uneven uptrend. "The supply limitation appears to be the main factor holding back contract signings in the past month. Still, contract activity has risen for 20 straight months on a year-over-year basis," he says.

Spending on home improvements and repairs totaled $275 billion in 2011, down 4 percent from 2009 levels and some 16 percent below the market peak in 2007. Loss of home equity with the onset

First-time home buyers have long been an important part of the housing market. And that hasn’t changed today. According to the 2012 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers from the National Association of REALTORS®,

The trend of gradual but below-potential economic growth seen in 2012 is expected to carry over through 2013 and into 2014. This modest growth path combined with the real GDP growth rate during the recovery from 2009 to this point of 2.2 percent annualized give credence to claims that the recovery’s slow pace has become the “new normal,” according to Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group. The fiscal cliff and ongoing debt ceiling debate, which are likely to suppress consumer spending in the first half of 2013, continue to present potentially strong headwinds to meaningful growth activity. Overall, a 2 percent growth rate is forecasted for 2013, similar to the subdued pace of 2012. This is despite the fact that the housing sector, which has become a bright spot in the economy since home prices began to rebound in 2012, is expected to provide a rising contribution to GDP in 2013 and in coming years.

A new exhibit, Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers, opened Tuesday at The Museum of the City of New York, and will run through September 2013. Organized in conjunction with Citizens Housing & Planning Council (CHPC), Making Room explores how the rise of New York’s single adult population, in addition to other shifting social, economic, and cultural demographics, is dramatically changing the landscape of urban living. The exhibit focuses on the innovative ways that architecture and design can affect the city’s

Regional Spotlight—Single-family home sales in Massachusetts rose 18 percent in 2012, marking 12 consecutive months of year-over-year sales gains

(MCT)—Sales of existing homes ticked down in December from the month before, while the total for 2012 hit the highest level in five years, according to data released Tuesday by the National Association of REALTORS®. The pace of sales fell 1 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million, according to NAR. For all of 2012, existing-home sales hit 4.65 million, the highest level since 2007 and up 9.2 percent from 2011. “Record-low mortgage interest rates clearly are helping many home buyers, but tight inventory

2012 was the year that the U.S. housing market began its long-awaited recovery. Will the recovery continue in 2013, or will we see another setback? And what are the implications for real estate professionals—especially those who specialize in distressed properties? Most economists and market analysts agree that the housing market turned the corner in 2012 and was in the early stages of a recovery. All the metrics were pointing in the right direction: housing starts were increasing;

Freddie Mac recently released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing mortgage rates largely unchanged from the previous week helping to keep homebuyer affordability high, refinancing strong and should continue to aid the ongoing housing recovery. Results showed that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.38 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending January 17, 2013, down from last week when it averaged 3.40 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.88 percent.

December 2012 home prices are expected to rise by 7.9 percent on a year-over-year basis from December 2011 and fall by 0.5 percent on a month-over-month basis from November 2012 reflecting a seasonal winter slowdown, CoreLogic said recently. Excluding distressed sales, December 2012 house prices are poised to rise 8.4 percent year-over-year from December 2011 and by 0.7 percent month-over-month from November 2012, according to the CoreLogic Pending HPI.

Even though the time it takes to sell a luxury property has increased to as long as 260 days in Chicago, 287 in Miami and 197 nationally, overall, fewer sellers are cutting prices. Wintertime sluggishness has slowed luxury markets across the nation. Days on market have been increasing in nearly every major market tracked by the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, and inventories are at a seasonal low, down from 27,600 properties in June to 18,400 in January. Rather than falling with the end of the summer buying season, low inventories have placed upward pressure on prices, which have risen from a median of 1.11 million in September to 1.23 in January, according to ILHM data.

Near the end of 2012, we put out a call to our readers, asking them for the most prevalent real estate topics they want covered in the New Year. This ‘Hot Topics’ contest ran into the first week of January, and we had a storm of terrific entries submitted. Now, we’re going to write about them! Our winner, Claudia Davis, will be receiving an American Express gift card for her entry about pocket listings.

The national housing market made a strong rebound in 2012 and that positive trend is expected to continue in the New Year, according to RE/MAX Co-Founder and Chairman Dave Liniger. His 2013 Top 10 Predictions are revealed in a video presentation released recently. ...

The business media is beginning to take housing market analysis seriously. The FOX Business Network is introducing another new housing segment called "Number Crunch," which will attempt to make sense of all the crazy housing numbers that get released every month. ...