The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s new residential construction statistics for January show privately-owned housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 699,000, exceeding economists’ expectations. The increase put starts 1.5 percent above
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02/20/2012
According to Gallup, Americans’ economic confidence and sense of well being both rose in January. Gallup’s Life Evaluation Index, which asks Americans to rate their current and future lives on a scale from 0 to 10, climbed to its highest level in 11 months, increasing to 50.1 from 48.4 in Decembe
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02/13/2012
Freddie Mac recently released their fourth-quarter refinance analysis and it shows that 85 percent of homeowners who refinanced their mortgages during the fourth quarter of 2011 maintained or reduced their principal balance by paying-in additional money at the closing table. Frank Nothaft, Freddi
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02/06/2012
According to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, Americans’ confidence in the economy rose again in January. The overall reading for the month rose to 75.0 from 69.9 in December. It was the highest reading since February 2011 and a better-than-expected improvemen
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01/30/2012
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, the Market Composite Index, which measures total mortgage loan application volume, surged 23.1 percent last week from the week before. Refinance activity was up 26.4 percent and reached its highest level since August of l
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01/18/2012
For the first time in nearly a year, more Americans say they expect their financial situation to improve over the next 12 months than say it’ll stay the same. Fannie Mae’s Monthly National Housing Survey shows an increasingly positive attitude toward the housing market and the broader economy amo
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01/09/2012
The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s New Residential Sales report for November shows sales of new single-family homes rose 1.6 percent over October’s pace to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 315,000. The improvement puts new-home sales 9.8 percent above
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12/27/2011
A panel of industry analysts, insiders, and experts brought together for a recent mortgage-banking conference expressed hope for the housing market but cautioned that the rate of recovery will vary greatly depending on location. Eric Fox, vice president of statistical and economic modeling for Ve
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12/06/2011
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices shows the U.S. National Home Price Index up just 0.1 percent from the second quarter. But, though the national index registered a drop of 3.9 percent from the third quarter of last year, the rate of decline improved over the year-over-year decrease seen i
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11/29/2011
According to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, the best affordability conditions since 1970 combined with a significant level of pent-up demand will lead to an improvement in home sales and the overall housing market in 2012. Yun believes existing-home sa
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11/14/2011