National News

The Most Worrying Economic Trend for the Housing Market

One aspect of the economic recovery could haunt the housing market far beyond its current cycle. Seven million is a big number, and unfortunately –for both the housing market and the wider economy – it’s attached to a remnant of the Great

Newly Built Homes are 50% More Expensive Than in 2010

Everybody wants a new home, but fewer people will be able to afford them at this rate. Newly built single-family homes are extremely expensive. That was the big takeaway from the latest new home sales report from the Census

If Homebuilding is Flat, Why are Builders So Darn Confident?

It would appear to be a glaring contradiction in the nation’s housing market, but a bit of flip-side thinking immediately clears things up. The HMI, the NAHB’s measurement of builder confidence, rose yet again this month, jumping four points

Texas Home Prices Defy National Trends in Latest Case-Shiller

While home prices slow nationwide, they just keep on increasing in our metro area. Exceeding expectations was the name of the game for home prices in the Texas housing market. In Dallas, home prices in September rose 7.4 percent year-over-year and 0.3 percent

Forget Home Sales – This is Housing’s Most Encouraging Trend

Sure, existing-home sales were up, but there was another side of NAR’s report that suggested even better things for housing. Last week, the National Association of Realtors announced that existing-home sales in October posted their first yearly increase in

Auction.com/Google’s First NowCast Predicts Strong Nov. Market, though Challenges Remain

Google’s first foray into housing data has yielded some encouraging – albeit sobering – numbers for the housing recovery. Earlier this month, we reported that Google and Auction.com were diving head-first into the real estate data game with NowCast,

How Homebuyers Search for Their Homes – 4 Important Trends

The manner in which prospective homebuyers search for residences suggests very interesting things about the housing market. About a month ago, we reported on what has been a radical upheaval to how real estate functions: 43 percent of homebuyers

Report Reveals 4 Pieces of the Mobile App Puzzle

The popularizing of smartphones introduced the world to the mobile Internet, but now apps have overtaken Web usage. Though smartphones are a relatively new innovation in the longer and more encompassing transition into digital, which started with the introduction

New Construction Falls in October on Volatile Multifamily Sector

As has been the case for some time now, the residential construction market rose and fell on the strength of multifamily housing. Residential construction saw disappointing numbers in October, and as has been the case during the whole housing

How Titter’s Big Changes Will Impact Your Real Estate Business

In the midst of heavy criticism, Twitter unrolls a laundry list of forthcoming changes. “Everything that happens in the world happens on Twitter…” The opening line of a blog post Twitter Vice President of Kevin Well published last week

Banks Take on Weighted Risk for Heavy Lending

Looking for a good mortgage rate? All you need is good credit and a lot of money. In recent years, expectant homebuyers vying for a good mortgage rate have faced dire odds as once loose lending standards continue tightening

Economic Concerns Persist in the U.S. – and Hold Back Housing

Though Americans feel better towards housing, wider economic concerns persist – which, in turn, affect the housing market. It’s become quite clear, in 2014, that housing’s recovery will depend in large part on wider economic trends, and that until

The Emotional Rollercoaster Buyers Experience During Their Search for “The One”

Seventy-seven percent of buyers say they’ll know immediately when they’ve found their ideal home, according to a survey of about 2,500 Americans by BMO Harris Bank. Unfortunately, the house hunting process takes time, and not all buyers exude confidence during

National Association of Realtors to Implement New Policies

The National Association of Realtors’ leadership team has been tasked with creating a new “Code of Excellence” educational requirement and making the current requirement to complete Realtor Code of Ethics training biennial instead of quadrennial. In an attempt to

Finding Your Way Around the New Mortgage Rules

New measures from regulators promise to help ease lending standards, but are they enough? The recent announcement by federal regulators to enact an assortment of measures aimed at easing lending standards has thrown many in the mortgage industry into

How the Housing Affordability Crisis Has Led to a Surge in Roommates

The share of households featuring roommates has been on a steady rise the last few years, and the cause could not be more straightforward. Housing affordability is a common topic of coverage here at Chicago Agent, and for good reason

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