By Peter Ricci Private residential construction spending increased again in November, rising 0.4 percent from October to November in what is shaping up to be an encouraging 2012 for residential construction, according to the latest data from the Census

By Peter Ricci Well, 2013 has finally arrived, and it brings with it a housing market that, in the view of every major real estate analysts – from the NAHB, to the Wall Street Journal, to CoreLogic – is on

By Stephanie Sims Like many in the industry, since it’s the end of 2012, industry professionals are making predictions for 2013, and Jed Kolko, chief economist at Trulia, is one of those people, giving his predictions in a “what’s

By Peter Ricci Have you ever wondered by chrome seems so common in New England homes? Or why the shiny, shimmering textures of bronze always pop up in Texas dwellings? The NAHB Research Center just combed through 15 years-worth

By Peter Ricci Texas home prices continued their strong 2012 performance in the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Indices from Standard & Poor’s, with Dallas home prices increasing by 4.6 percent year-over-year in October. Though Standard & Poor’s does not track Houston home

By Peter Ricci Well, it’s Christmas Eve, the time of mistletoe and yuletide and egg nog. But while visions of sugarplums may be dancing in the heads of most people tonight, we’ll be going to sleep with another, equally

By Peter Ricci In an effort to shore up its struggling finances, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has announced that it will be tightening its mortgage standards and policies for certain homebuyers in 2013. The FHA’s finances have been

By Peter Ricci The multifamily housing market continued its dominant performance in the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Architecture Billings Index, a leading economic indicator of future construction activity that is based on the billings from the nation’s architectural firms.

By Peter Ricci There was nothing but good tidings and cheer in the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) existing-home sales report for November, which found existing-home sales to have increased 5.9 percent from October to November and 14.5 percent

By Peter Ricci Building permits increased 3.6 percent from October to November and 26.8 percent year-over-year in the latest joint study by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Altogether, between single-family and multifamily

By Peter Ricci The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, the leading measure of builder confidence for the newly-built, single family home market, rose for the eighth consecutive month in December, hitting its highest mark since April

By Peter Ricci Declining foreclosure activity and strengthening home sales contributed positively to home prices in October, with FNC’s latest Residential Price Index increasing 3.7 percent year-over-year for the month. In addition, the Residential Price Index was up 0.4

By Peter Ricci The American Enterprise Institute strikes again! After being one of the first major research firms to call the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) finances into question, the Institute has published another analysis of the FHA’s books, and

By Peter Ricci Some of the nation’s top homebuilders, including PulteGroup and Lennar Corp., are finding a substantial revenue stream from an unlikely source – mortgage lending. Both builders, reports Bloomberg, have seen sizable returns from their in-house mortgage

By Peter Ricci The precipitous decline of mortgage interest rates has been one of the major stories in real estate in 2012, but recent actions by the Federal Reserve has some thinking that rates could fall even further in

By Peter Ricci In the last few years, there have been some big changes in Cuba. Fidel Castro is no longer in power, having passed the baton to his young brother Raul; citizens are allowed to purchase cell phones;