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May 14, 2012
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that in the first quarter of 2012, the median existing single-family home price, or final sales price, rose in 74 of the 146 metro areas (51 percent) that the association monitors.
Housing inventory levels have been shrinking across the U.S., leading to bidding wars and modest upward pressure on prices in some areas. The data reinforces a notion already asserted by many economists, real estate agents, and investors that 2012 is More...
Average U.S. Home Prices, down by a third since 2006, will rise almost four percent a year for the next five years, according to market watcher Fiserv, which sees prices stabilizing by summer’s end and then climbing…quickly in some places before tapering off.
The forecast is based on an analysis of leading home price indexes. Investors will drive much of the momentum, as they are now in cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix. First-time and trade-up buyers will eventually More...
May 3, 2012
Mirroring the uneven economic recovery, the housing market is expected to move in a slow, gradual upward path in 2012, while encountering its share of speed bumps along the way, according to economists participating in a recent National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) construction forecast webinar on the housing and economic outlook.
While the latest monthly housing data have shown signs of a slight softening, NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe said this is more reflective of More...
April 22, 2012
Mortgage applications increased 6.9 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 13, 2012.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 6.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 6.5 percent compared with the previous week. The refinance index increased 13.5 percent More...
April 9, 2012
Sales of investment and vacation homes rose in 2011, with the combined market share rising to the highest level since 2005, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
NAR’s 2012 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey, which covers existing and new-home transactions in 2011, shows investment home sales surged an extraordinary 64.5 percent to 1.23 million last year from 749,000 in 2010. Vacation home sales rose 7.0 percent to 502,000 in 2011 from 469,000 in 2010. More...
March 26, 2012
Bank of America and Merrill Lynch has changed its forecast from November when it expected home prices to fall 3.5 percent in 2012. Now, it expects a modest gain of 0.5 percent, which is a good sign for the real estate business.
The firm is still forecasting a slow recovery, projecting home prices to gain 2.8 percent in 2014, which is below its prior estimate of 8.1 percent. The prediction for 2020 remains much the same, with prices recovering by 42 percent.
Inventory More...
January 23, 2012
Politicians need to be very clear about one thing: Americans don’t want anyone messing with the popular mortgage interest tax deduction, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
The tax break is favored by the real estate industry but is the bane of most economists who consider it a waste of money amid concern about the federal budget deficit.
There are detailed proposals to replace the mortgage interest deduction with a tax credit targeted to entry-level More...
December 30, 2011
Homeowners whose mortgage payments were changed under a program aimed at reducing foreclosures redefaulted at a slower rate after lenders gave more generous modifications, according to the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency.
In an article penned by John Gittelsohn on Businessweek.com, about 18 percent of modified loans were at least 90 days delinquent within a year in the third quarter, compared with 20 percent in the previous three months, according to the Comptroller’s Mortgage More...
November 28, 2011
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that its advance estimate place economic growth at a 2.5 percent annual rate during the third quarter, more than three times the pace of the first half of the year. The most important contribution to Gross Domestic Product was domestic aggregate demand, which rose 3.6 percent annualized, the second biggest quarterly gain in five years.
Some positive news also came from the latest retail sales report, which showed the fifth straight monthly More...
November 21, 2011
Bloomberg.com recently reported that the number of Americans filling applications for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in seven months. Viewed as a sign of economic recovery by some, jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 390,000 in the week ended November 5th, according to the Labor Department.
The number of people on unemployment benefit rolls decreased, while those getting extended payments rose. According to Bloomberg, waning dismissals pave the way for bigger gains in More...
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