By Peter Ricci Housing construction, as any observer of the real estate market knows, suffered mightily in the post-boom housing economy, as scores of vacant, newly-built properties languished in new construction ghost towns. Now, however, the situation is quite

By Peter Ricci The final presidential debate is tonight, and though the specific questions of the event remain a mystery, one thing is certain – housing policy will not be among the topics discussed. The final debate, as it

By Peter Ricci September existing-home sales increased 11 percent year-over-year, as housing inventory continued to stabilize and median home price increased, according to the latest economic report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Though sales were down slightly

By Peter Ricci When news broke in the summertime that banks had been engaging in widespread acts of Libor manipulation – effectively rigging interest rates on $300 to $600 trillion of credit cards, mortgages, and loans – the financial regulatory

By Peter Ricci For the second time in as many weeks, the housing market has been bolstered by some analytical support, receiving high marks from the latest Fannie Mae economic report. In the GSE’s latest Economic & Strategic Research

By Peter Ricci The U.S. housing market earned some well-deserved recognition from the Federal Reserve in its October Beige Book, with the Fed singling out the industry for its strong 2012 performance. A widespread measure of economic activity in the Fed’s 12 economic

By Carlo Calma Houston-area property sales continue to see a progression towards improvement according to the latest monthly data released by the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) Oct. 16. September sales in Houston totaled 5,943, an 8.7 percent increase

By Natalie Terchek With both the presidential election and real estate in the headlines, an interesting Estately study compares the homes of President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney – though the residences of neither candidate, the study found, can compete with

By Peter Ricci Privately-owned housing starts posted their best numbers in more than four years, rising 15.0 percent from August to September to an annual rate of 872,000, according to the latest joint report from the Census Bureau and

By Peter Ricci The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Housing Market Index rose for the sixth consecutive month in October, bringing the index to its highest level in more than six years. Indeed, the index, which covers builder confidence

By Peter Ricci For months now, real estate professionals and industry analysts alike have pondered the fate of the mortgage interest tax deduction (MID), but according to panelists at the Zillow Housing Forum late last week, we should brace

By Peter Ricci Vacant housing remains a problem for the U.S. real estate market, and until it is fully addressed, the housing market will never achieve a full recovery – at least that was the perspective of Elizabeth Duke,

By Peter Ricci Online listing syndication is one of the more controversial elements of the new real estate market, with real estate professionals of numerous backgrounds speaking out against the business methods of Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com. Now, however,

By Peter Ricci You gotta hand it to home appraisals – they are persistent buggers. Despite repeated coverage by the press and constant pressure by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), every month, an uncomfortable share of Realtors report

By Natalie Terchek The latest Redfin Redfin Real-Time Price Tracker reports that national home prices increased 5 percent from a year ago in September, despite their typical seasonal decline, and decreased just under 1 percent from August. The results matched their

By Peter Ricci The presidential election cycle is massive – all-encompassing, even – and it has the nasty habit of overwhelming the daily news cycles and rendering all other news items obsolete. But of course, the United States does