The recently-announced mortgage settlement is being heralded by state attorneys general and government officials for its $26 billion deal to help hundreds of thousands of troubled homeowners, but as a recent CNNMoney article reveals, there may be unintended consequences

Houston-based, privately owned real estate firm, Rockspring Capital has announced the purchase of 117 residential lots in New Braunfels, Texas, by one of its affiliates. Rockspring is a land investment company that plans to buy more land, like the

“McMansions,” the derogatory name given to overly-large, mass-produced suburban homes, were as much a feature of the housing boom as subprime loans and credit default swaps, with new developments of such homes seemingly springing up wherever land was available. But as

A local investment group has obtained a $10-million loan to buy the 145-unit Greenbriar Chateau in the near southwest submarket, according to a report by swamplot.com. Residents of the Greenbriar Chateau apartment complex, just minutes from Rice University, Hermann

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered measured comments on housing in a speech at the National Association of Home Builder’s (NAHB) International Builders Show in Orlando, Florida on Friday, describing a market more in transition than one that has

Housing affordability reached record heights in 2011, according to the National Association of Realtor’s (NAR) latest Housing Affordability Index (HAI),reaching its highest levels since the index was first launched in 1970. Based on median home price, median family income

A quick glance through the news feeds these past couple weeks yields many good developments for the housing market. Along with improved residential construction numbers, strong local sales and a rebound in consumer confidence, there were huge jumps in multifamily

The Federal government and state Attorneys General have reached an agreement with the five largest mortgage services to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses. The $26 billion dollar agreement is unprecedented and  will provide financial relief to homeowners

A recent report out of Bloomberg says that BofA is struggling to keep up with the deluge of mortgage refinancing applications that have followed revisions to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), so much so that they are asking

The finances of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and the affects that delinquent loans have had on them, have been a constant source of media coverage the last couple of months, with some predicting the future bailout of the agency

The National Association of Home Builder’s (NAHB) 55+ Housing Market Index (HMI), a specialized index that follows the 55+ housing market, posted year-over-year gains for the fourth quarter in 2011. Along with gains in construction and a 29-city addition to the

Milwaukee-based home loan insurer Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. (MGIC) may have posted a loss of $135.3 million for the fourth quarter in 2011, but that’s down from $186.7 million in 2010, a decline of nearly 30 cents a share

Strategic defaults, a Chapter 11-esque move in which homeowners walk away from their property and stop paying their mortgage, are happening with increasing regularity in today’s housing market, and if current legislation is any indication, they are happening much

Three urban planning projects received the top honors at the Houston District Council of the Urban Land Institute’s 2012 Development of Distinction Awards last week for their design, construction and general improvement to the community. According to a Houston

Fannie Mae yesterday released its National Housing Survey for January 2012, delivering data that confirms a slowly accumulating rise in consumer confidence and expectations. Doug Duncan, the vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae, said recent employment numbers,

“The housing bottom” is a term that gets thrown around quite often, normally in the context that once a bottom is reached, an inevitable (and long-awaited) housing recovery will quickly commence. Over at Calculated Risk, the news is both