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Average Mortgage Rates Set Another New Survey Low
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates fell to yet another new survey low last week. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances fell to 3.91 percent from...
Housing Recovery, Economic Data Trending In The Right Direction
According to Freddie Mac's most recent U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook, first-quarter economic data contains many encouraging signs for the general economy and housing market. Early estimates say the economy grew at 2.2 percent during the first quarter, which...
Index Shows Yearly, Quarterly, And Monthly Gains In Home Prices
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's home price index posted its first year-over-year improvement since 2007 in a report that also included quarterly and monthly gains. According to the index, which is calculated using sales price data from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...
New Home Sales Increase 3.3 Percent In April
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Commerce released their New Residential Sales report for April. According to the report, sales of new single-family homes rose 3.3 percent over March's revised rate and are 9.9 percent...
Mortgage Rates Hit Another New Low, Refi Activity Rises
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, refinance activity spiked 5.6 percent last week, as average mortgage rates hit another new low. The Increase in refinance application demand pushed total mortgage loan application volume up...
April Existing Home Sales Up 10 Percent From Last Year
The National Association of Realtors' existing-home sales report for April shows a 3.4 percent rise in sales of previously owned homes. Total existing-home sales, which include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops, rose to a seasonally adjusted...
Warm Winter Weather And The Spring Sales Season
An unusually warm winter may be influencing the pace of spring home sales, according to a new outlook from Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group. The housing market got off to a fast start at the beginning of the year but monthly data suggests some loss...
Housing Affordability Conditions Reach Record High
The National Association of Realtors' Housing Affordability Index measures the relationship between median home price, family income, and average mortgage rate to determine how affordable it is to buy a home in the current housing market. During the first quarter of...
Housing Starts Up 30 Percent From Last Year
According to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000. That's 2.6 percent above March's revised number and 29.9 percent above...
Refinance Activity Surges 13 Percent As Rates Fall
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, the Market Composite Index, which measures total mortgage loan application volume, was up 9.2 percent last week due to a 13.0 percent surge in the Refinance Index. The seasonally adjusted...