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Continued Gains For Existing Home Sales In January

The National Association of Realtors reports that existing-home sales rose again in January, the third improvement in the past four months. Sales of previously owned homes, including single-family, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops, increased 4.3 percent to an seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said the trend upward is in [...] ..read more.

Inventory Levels Continue To Fall, Market Stabilizing

The number of homes for sale nationwide fell for the eighth-straight month in January and is now 23.2 percent below last year’s levels. According to data from Realtor.com, inventory dropped 6.59 percent from the month before which, along with stabilizing prices, is a positive sign for the housing market. Inventory fell in 145 of 146 [...] ..read more.

Housing Starts, Permits Increase In January

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 December and 9.9 percent above the year before, when the annual rate was 636,000. [...] ..read more.

Builder Confidence Hits Four Year High In February

Builder sentiment rose for the fifth consecutive month in February, according to the National Association of Builders’ Housing Market index. The index measures builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes on a scale where any number over 50 means more builders view the market as good than poor. In February, the index [...] ..read more.

Mortgage Loan Volume Holds After Last Week’s Gains

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, demand for home loans was flat last week, with the Market Composite Index dipping just 1.0 percent after surging 7.5 percent the week before. The drop was caused by declines in the Purchase Index, while the Refinance Index increased 0.8 percent. The refinance share of all [...] ..read more.

Survey Finds Home Price Expectations On The Rise

Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey polls 1,000 Americans each month about their attitudes toward homeownership, mortgage rates, the economy, personal finances, and overall consumer confidence. January’s survey finds Americans more optimistic about the economy and the housing market. Specifically, the percentage of participants who said the economy is on the right track was up 8 [...] ..read more.

Americans Increasingly Optimistic, Confident In Economy

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 December. The number of respondents [...] ..read more.