National News

FTC Approves Zillow’s Acquisition of Trulia, Closure Expected Soon

After a considerable waiting period, it looks like Zillow will officially acquire Trulia. It was way back in July 2014 when Zillow first announced its $2.9 billion acquisition of syndication rival Trulia, and now, after considerable anticipation, it seems

Are Certain Kinds of Mortgages Easier to Attain Than Others?

The last couple weeks, we’ve been analyzing exclusive numbers from the CoreLogic Housing Credit Index, a detailed look at mortgage availability. Our central question has been a simple one: is it any easier, nowadays, to attain a mortgage? And after

3 Promising Graphs on the Nation’s Mortgage Markets

It’s been a rollercoaster ride following the nation’s mortgage markets, so we decided to take a more long-term view at some of the key stats at play – and how, with only one exception, things have improved by quite

Should Agent Commission Splits Be Public Record?

Agents never publicly disclose their splits, but should that change? Howard Schultz, the famed CEO of Starbucks, recently proclaimed that “the currency of leadership is transparency,” and his comment snuggled up quite nicely with what is a new trend

NAR Spends Millions for Washington Lobbyists

Last year NAR outspent some of the most influential companies and groups in the U.S. Was it all for influence? In 2014, Koch Industries, capital generator for the infamously influential Koch brothers, shelled out nearly $14 million in lobbying

In Houston, Black Mortgage Applicants Denied Two Times the Rate of White Applicants

Minority groups have a harder time accessing mortgages in the U.S., including here in Houston. In the Houston metro area, 19.6 percent of African-Americans are denied in their applications for conventional mortgages, according to a new analysis from Zillow; that’s more

Houston Begins 2015 with Soaring Price Gains

Houston continued to set the world on fire with its rise in asking prices Asking prices in Houston began 2015 on a soaring note, according to the Trulia Price Monitor. Prices were up 13.8 percent year-over-year in January, and a similarly strong 5.2

3 Highly Positive Details in the Government’s New Jobs Report

There were some very positive things to report in the government’s latest job numbers. The U.S. economy started out 2015 with a bang, adding 257,000 jobs in January, according to the latest report from the Labor Department. Of course, there

The 3 Important Characteristics of Today’s First-Time Homebuyers

What is the marital status of the typical first-time homebuyer? What are the demographics? And finally, how have those stats changed in recent years, and what does America’s ever-diversifying landscape suggest? To find out, see our infographic below, which

Are Lending Standards Looser For Refinancing Than For Purchasing?

Last week, we reported that lending standards have see-sawed up and down the spectrum the last few years, but does that trend change at all when we look at the separate lending standards for refinancing and purchasing loans? Once

Affordability Evaporates as New Construction Trends Towards Affluence

We reported last week that in 2014, the median sales price for a newly built single-family home set a new record, closing out the year at $283,600. That’s not only 5.5 percent above 2013, but also a whopping 28.3 percent

Business in Cuba: Finding the Pearl of Antilles

Cuba is opening for business. Is the U.S. ready? The gates to Cuba have opened, pushing aside more than 60 years of animosity with the West for the promise of a more profitable century. The announcement came earlier this

Strong Multifamily Sector Drives New Construction in 2014

Construction on the whole was positive in 2014, but that was mostly due to the surging multifamily sector. Private construction may have been up 4.5 percent in 2014, but it was the multifamily housing market that drove that activity,

How Houston Will See 108,780 New Homebuyers Enter the Market

Hundreds of thousands of potential homebuyers will be boomeranging back to the housing market over the next seven years. The Houston area is poised to see more than 100,000 potential homebuyers enter the housing market fray over the next seven

The Best Development in Housing? We Have It Right Here

Existing-home sales may have bounced back to life in Dec 2014 (and carried median sales price to its highest mark since 2007), but that was hardly the most encouraging piece of news in NAR’s latest housing report. No, that

Pending Home Sales Lose Strength as Year Ends

Pending home sales took a step back in December, but remain well above 2013 levels. The National Association of Realtors released its newest Pending Home Sales Index today, finding that despite persistently low interest rates, December pending home sales

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