John Mulkey, Housing Guru

  According to the chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, NAHB, Single family housing starts will increase 21% in 2011.   And while such an increase seems dramatic, it’s far less than needed to begin rebuilding either the residential construction industry or the jobs that ...

  CoreLogic, a real estate data and analytics company, has recently issued a report indicating that November home prices are down 5% year-over-year, and prices appear to be continuing their fall.  And although price declines this time of year are normal, the news isn’t good for a housing market u...

  As winter’s icy breath grips many parts of the country—many areas have experienced record snows and cold—homeowners sometimes may be lax in observing winter fire safety.  Efforts to keep warm or conserve energy sometimes lead to careless activity or ignoring potential hazards.     These two pho...

  Major lenders, concerned over the recent challenges to the foreclosure process, have slowed the pace in an attempt to avoid further problems.  With the potential for fines, lawsuits and sanctions, some banks are erring on the side of caution.   And the banks concerns seem justified as all 50 st...

  In a December memo to its lenders, Fannie Mae announced a Christmas gift to homebuyers in the form of significantly higher fees.  An article in the LA Times reports how buyers with somewhat lower credit scores and less than 20% down could see fees of more than $8,000, an increase of $1,500 over...

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, speaking before the Senate Budget Committee, stated that “. . . it could take four to five more years for the job market to normalize fully.”  Despite reports of unemployment falling by more than 500,000 to 9.4% in the most recent data from the Labor Departm...

  As we enter another year of the recession that won’t go away, some have begun to reconsider the way they’ve spent money during the past decade and are questioning: Do we really need 4 TVs?  With the jobs situation having experienced a “structural” change that will alter consumer spending for de...

Unemployment falls to 9.4%, the lowest rate in 19 months, as the number of unemployed decreased by more than 500,000.  This is good news for an economy needing to create jobs in order to overcome the worst recession since the Great Depression.  However, one month's good news doesn't yet indicate ...

  With new rules from Treasury and pressure from investors, 2011 may be the year of the short sale.  And while the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative, HAFA, was intended to speed up the short sale process, real estate agents and sellers know the program has been anything but speedy.    With ...

While much of the news about the housing market has been negative during the past three years, Wednesday’s ADP Employment Report had a little good news.  Most of the excitement focused on the news that private employment shocked the experts, experiencing a net gain of almost 300,000 jobs in Decem...