For years, renting was seen as the more cost-effective alternative to owning, and generally, the viewpoint made sense. Renting lacks the property taxes, upkeep and other fees that often come with owning a home, and the skyrocketing prices of

A new Senate bill introduced Wednesday hopes to add another factor in the underwriting process in the form of energy costs, according to a new reportfrom Housing Wire’s Jon Prior. Introduced by Senators Michael Bennet (D-Col.) and Johnny Isakson

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the government body that oversees federal lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has ordered the two financial bodies to phase out their network of foreclosure attorneys in the wake of the robo-signing foreclosure

After increasing almost 8 percent in August, existing-home sales fell back to earth in September, decreasing 3 percent from August but retaining strong year-over-year gains, according to new data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) today. Total sales

Who knew something so popular could receive such scorn? Since mid-September, when the mortgage interest tax deduction (MID) was floated as a possible casualty of the Congressional “Super Committee” charged with lowering the federal deficit, the famous deduction has

Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft released the October 2011 Economic Outlookyesterday, reporting a decrease in homeownership but increase in rental demand. On one hand, Nothaft reported an increase of 1.4 million households that have moved to rental properties

The Federal Reserve approveda new policy on Monday that aims to clarify how larger financial institutions would handle another systemic shock to the banking sector, though some critics still say the new policy falls short. The plan, which was

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced new data for construction earlier today, the most notable being that housing starts rose 15 percent from August to September. In total, privately-owned housing starts were

The past few months, media outlets have been awash with proposed remedies for falling home prices, but the latest solution comes from an unlikely source: short sales, home sales of distressed homes before they are repossessed and sold by

The cooling temperatures had not the slightest effect on home sales in Houston, as sales increased for the fourth straight month and the fifth overall month in 2011. Year-over-year, sales were up 16.9 percent, and prices rose 0.4 percent

Keeping with the trend of transforming downtown commercial spaces into housing units, City View Lofts has turned a 100-year-old Nabisco cookie factory on N. Chenevert into 57 loft

In an effort to better represent the financial stability of potential homebuyers, Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO) has announced a collaborative venture with CoreLogic to broaden the base of factors it utilizes when rating clients of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) rose to 18, an increase of four points from September to October, the highest monthly gain in 19 months. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB),

Budget reductions are a hot topic in Washington right now, and if two bills from the House and Senate are any indication, funds for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) could be in danger. HUD funds are

Housing inventories, according to data from the National Association of Realtors’ Realtor.com, are down 20 percent from last year to 2.19 million. That’s the lowest level since the site began tracking inventories in 2007, and it poses a unique challenge

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) will release its existing home sales data on Thursday, and housing guru Tom Lawler is predicting a continuation of the sideways growth that has defined home sales for the last four months. Posted