The National Association of REALTORS reported Monday that pending home sales dropped by -0.60 percent in October after falling at a revised rate of -4.60 percent in September. According to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR, 17 percent of real estate agents...
Housing Analysis
Housing Market Index Shows Builder Confidence Remains Above 50
The National Association of Home Builders released its Housing Market Index for November on Monday. This month's HMI reading was 54 against expectations of a reading of 55. October's reading was also 54 after being downwardly revised. Readings over 50 generally...
What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – November 4, 2013
Last week's economic news came from a variety of sources. Most significant was the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee statement after its meeting ended Wednesday. The statement indicated that the Fed saw moderate economic growth. FOMC did not taper its purchase of...
News about Mortgage Rates This Week – October 28, 2013
Federal government agencies issued reports that were delayed by the government shutdown; and Freddie Mac reported that average mortgage rates fell for all types of loans it reports. The National Association of REALTORS issued its Existing Home Sales report on Monday....
How Government Shutdown Effects Existing Home Sales
Existing home sales for September fell by 1.90 percent from August's revised reading of 5.39 million sales to 5.29 million sales. Economists had expected 5.30 million sales for September, so a slow-down in existing home sales had been anticipated. The National...
What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – October 21, 2013
Many of the economic and housing reports typically scheduled were delayed by the federal government shutdown. The National Association of Homebuilders Wells Fargo Housing Market Index for October was released Wednesday with a reading of 55, lower than the projected 58...
Housing Market Index Shows Builders Continue To Have A Positive Outlook
The National Association of Homebuilders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index dropped two points to 55 from September's revised reading of 57. Builder concerns over labor costs and availability and economic uncertainty related to the federal government shutdown were noted...
What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – October 7, 2013
This week's economic news commentary has been dominated by the "what ifs" of a government shutdown; opinions of potential consequences are limited only by the number of commentators sharing their opinions. Unfortunately, more concrete examples of the shutdown were...
What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week-September 30, 2013
Last week brought a variety of housing related news. Highlights included the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for July, which showed a 12.40 percent year-over-year increase in national home prices. This was up from 12.10 percent in June. The FHFA Housing Price...
Case Shiller Price Index Shows An Annual Growth Rate Of Home Prices
Home prices were still gaining in July, but for 15 of 20 cities included the S&P Case-Shiller 10 and 20-city Home Price Indices, the pace of increasing home prices is slowing down. National home prices rose by 1.80 percent in July as compared to 2.20 percent in...