Trends

For data-driven stories, to appear under “Trends” menu

A Home Sale is Worth How Much to the Economy? Try $56,464

We often hear about how beneficial home sales are for the greater economy, but NAR has finally done the research and slapped a value on the whole process. Housing, the narrative goes, is among the most versatile and dextrous

Majority of Americans Expect Home Prices to Increase

American consumers are growing more and more confident with the housing recovery, according to Fannie Mae’s latest National Housing Survey. More than half of American consumers expect home prices to rise within the next year, according to the latest

Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae Post Insane, Multi-Billion Dollar Q1 Incomes

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, those long beleaguered GSEs, put up some of the strongest incomes in their history in 2013’s first quarter. After putting up their most impressive numbers in years in the final months of 2012, both

Trulia: Houston Rents Soar in April

Nationwide, asking prices outpaced rents in Trulia’s April Price Monitor, but the rental market only grew in strength in Houston. The latest Trulia Price Monitor, which analyzed rental and single-family home listings on the syndication site, spelled a familiar

The 4 Key Traits of Today’s First-Time Homebuyers

First-time homebuyers represent a hugely important swath of the homebuying public, and a new study has pinpointed some of their key characteristics. First-time homebuyers serve an integral role in the U.S. housing market. Along with comprising between 30 and

CoreLogic Home Price Index Jumps 10.5 Percent

CoreLogic’s Home Price Index has been on a tear the last year, and its findings for March 2013 were its strongest findings yet. The March CoreLogic Home Price Index put up its best numbers yet in the housing recovery,

CBO Report Finds Huge Savings in Principal Reduction Policy

The FHFA has been resisting calls for a principal reduction program, but a new study by the CBO has lent considerable heft to the policy’s corner. It’s been an ongoing saga, one of Shakespearean proportions: will the FHFA ever

Has the Government’s HAMP Program Been a Failure?

The government’s Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, received a stinging report from the inspector general of TARP that questioned its merits. The government’s Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, was among its major responses to the housing downturn,

Fannie Mae Releases Loan-Level Credit Performance Data

Fannie Mae is releasing a loan-level credit performance data on 18 million mortgages, which will help develop potential risk sharing transactions. Fannie Mae announced that it is making loan-level credit performance data available on over 18 million single-family mortgages

Will Mel Watt Become the Most Powerful Man in Housing?

Mel Watt, the Democratic representative from North Carolina, is President Obama’s pick to head the FHFA, a role that would give him enormous sway over housing. News broke yesterday that Mel Watt, a long-time Democratic representative from the state

What Home Remodeling Projects Are Best For Your Clients?

Home remodeling projects have a certain romanticism to them, and though some are worth the time and effort, others do not recoup their expenses. Who doesn’t love home remodeling? After all, remodeling is one of the defining reasons for

5 Reasons to Take M-commerce Seriously

M-commerce, or commerce via mobile devices, is the future of business in America, and a new eMarketer survey hammers home that fact. M-commerce, short hand for shopping via mobile devices, used to be a fledgling component of the American

Residential Construction Spending Up in March

Residential construction spending continued its forward progress in March, and the construction industry on the whole expanded impressively. Residential construction had another strong month of activity in March, with construction spending on residential projects in the month rising to

How Do Appraisers View the Housing Recovery?

Consumers, real estate agents and even lenders have been sharing the optimism on the housing recovery, but how do appraisers see things? Slowly but surely, more and more components of the U.S. economy have jumped on the housing recovery

Texas Home Prices Stay Positive in February Case-Shiller

Texas posted both monthly and year-over-year increases in the February Case-Shiller, as the state continued to roll towards a housing recovery. There news was uniformly for Texas home prices in the latest Case-Shiller report from Standard & Poor’s, with

Pending Home Sales Index Affected by Low Housing Inventory

Though March’s Pending Home Sales Index from NAR was a positive one, it suggests the low housing inventory levels are affecting home sales at the contract level as well. Pending home sales rose by both monthly and yearly measures

Oops! We could not locate your form.