Principal write downs have emerged, in the past month, as one of the major controversies on Capital Hill, with Congressional Democrats and the White House lobbying for such a program from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) – and

Construction has been one of the hardest hit sectors of the housing downturn, and though economic tides remain uncertain, the growing multifamily market has been a source of growth and jobs for construction workers. As a recent HousingWire article paints

New single-family home sales in December fell by 2.2 percent from November and 7.3 percent from December 2010, capping off what analysts are labeling a new record low in new home sales – though 2012 may be a new

The National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) released its latest Confidence Index yesterday, showing a distinct rise in year-over-year confidence in December among the more than 3,000 agents surveyed. A measure of the strength of the current housing market and expectations about

One of the big takeaways from President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union Address was a new government-led refinancing plan that would allow homeowners with current, non-GSE mortgages to refinance at today’s historically-low interest rates. Funding the refinancings with a new

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has been generating a fair amount of media buzz the last couple months, but unfortunately, little has been positive. Beginning with a University of Pennsylvania study that severely questioned the agency’s finances going forward,

The automated valuation model (AVM) is a fast, convenient way for mortgage lenders to value a property, one that utilizes mathematical models and databases of information. Though quick and easy, Gina Pogol of HSH documents several of AVM’s shortcomings

The Appraisal Institute (AI) ruffled many feathers last week by taking a “Don’t Shoot the Messenger” stance in regards to recent controversies in home valuations, but recent reports suggest that the institute may be amending its stance on how its

Housing was largely absent from President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union Address, but he did mention a potentially game-changing proposal – a mass refinancing plan for homeowners that are current on their mortgages that, according to the President, could save

After reaching a 19-month high in November, the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Pending Home Sales Index declined by 3.5 percent in December, though it did retain the year-over-year gains that defined much of housing data in 2011. A

Membership in the National Association of Realtors (NAR) declined for the third straight month in December, closing out a 2011 that marks the fifth straight year of annual declines for the influential association. According to the latest data from

The Federal Housing Finance Administration and its Acting Director, Edward DeMarco, have been receiving some considerable heat from analysts and members of Congress for their refusal to consider principal write downs for homeowners with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Quite a bit has been written about the reactionary lending policies that private mortgage originators began following after the market collapse in 2008, and the common narrative has been that such credit restrictions negatively impact housing. We cover lending

The President’s State of the Union speech is set for tomorrow evening, and among the many economic, political and social issues he is sure to address, many are speculating if one of the more lingering debates in housing will

Housing inventories finished 2011 down by 22.3 percent, with 1.89 million homes on the market at the end of December, the lowest inventory in the last four years. Though low inventories would appear to be a good sign for

Every so often, a piece of information comes around to show that the U.S. housing market, despite some challenging trends, is by no means entirely on shaky ground, and recent data on foreign buyers would seem to suggest such