National News

Why are So Many Millennials Still Living at Home? Here’s Why

Many Millennials still live at home with their parents. Why? It’s a question that’s been plaguing the housing market since the economy started to recover – why are Millennials still living at home? Despite all indications that Millennials should

Despite Housing Rebound, Economic Recovery Is Slow

Spending per dollar of equity is at its lowest level since the mid ’90s. Home equity has doubled to $12.1 trillion since the market bottomed out in 2011. Builder confidence has remained strong, despite a small, recent slip. New home

What Age Problem? The ‘Aging Realtor’ May Not Be a Big Issue

There are roughly 1.118 million members of the National Association of Realtors, and they strike an impressive profile: Realtors’ median experience level is 12 years; their gross income is $45,800; 58 percent are female; and 42 percent have at

Pending Home Sales Remain Unchanged

According to the National Association of Realtors, pending home sales were mostly unchanged in October, but shifted marginally higher after two straight months of declines. Gains in the Northeast and West were offset by declines in the Midwest and

Federal Reserve Votes to Stop Bailing Out Failing Firms

Effective Jan. 1, the Federal Reserve will not be allowed to bail out failing companies. Members of the Fed board voted 5 to 0 in favor of restricting the policy. The new policy will restrict the Fed from lending to individual firms,

New Home Sales at Highest Level in 7 Years

New home sales are hot, but what are the larger market trends? Sales of new single-family houses rose 10.7 percent from September to October and 4.9 percent from Oct. 2014 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 495,000, according

Texas Price Growth Remains Strong

How have home prices progressed in the 2015 housing market? Home prices in the Texas housing market remained strong, with Dallas prices rising 0.4 percent from August to September and 9.0 percent from Sept. 2014, according to the new Case-Shiller Home

How Does Thanksgiving Impact Real Estate?

The ins and outs of buyer traffic around the holidays It has been long been considered common knowledge that the buying craze of Black Friday does not extend to real estate, thanks to a lack of large savings for homes

Houston Among Nation’s Worst Cities for Thanksgiving Travel

According to Google Maps data, Houston is one of the worst cities in the country for Thanksgiving travel. Out of 21 cities that Google investigated, Houston came in at No. 8, with long-time traffic haven Los Angeles on top. Here

Mortgage Applications Up Despite TRID

We’re approaching two months since the implementation of TRID, and after a string of weeks that saw declining originations, mortgage applications were back up in the week ending Nov. 13, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. In the two

Existing-Home Sales Decline, Market Continues to Improve

Homes sales were down in October, but the overall picture remains a very positive one for housing Existing-home sales declined 3.4 percent from September to October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.36 million, according to the latest report

FHA Reserves Back in Line with Federal Requirements

In another marker of the housing market’s recovery, the Federal Housing Administration announced last week that its reserves were back in line with federal requirements. The FHA stated that its insurance fund’s net worth at the end of September was

FHA Announces Changes to Condo Policies

Last Thursday, Federal Housing Administration Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Ed Golding and National Association of Realtors President Chris Polychron announced changes to FHA condominium policies at the NAR national conference in San Diego. The changes, Golding explained, will change the FHA’s recertification process, owner-occupancy

6 Facts about the Homes Consumers Purchased in 2015

Single family? Condo? 2,000-plus square feet? What defined the homes consumers bought this year? For our latest story in our continuing series on NAR’s 2015 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, we’re taking a detailed look at the homes

As Apartment Building Falls, So Does the New Construction Marketplace

October provided yet more evidence of how integral multifamily building is to the current new construction economy October was a rough month for new construction, with housing starts falling 11 percent from September and 1.8 percent from Oct. 2014

Are America’s Large Homes Bad for Energy Efficiency?

Is our love for large homes nullifying the progress in energy efficiency? Thanks to new technological advances in water use, insulation, heating and cooling and household appliances, today’s homes are more energy efficient than ever before. Yet new research

Oops! We could not locate your form.