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Refinancing Homeowners Reduced Debt In Fourth Quarter
Freddie Mac recently released their fourth-quarter refinance analysis and it shows that 85 percent of homeowners who refinanced their mortgages during the fourth quarter of 2011 maintained or reduced their principal balance by paying-in additional money at the closing...
Unemployment Rate Falls Again, Hits 3-Year Low
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 243,000 in January, bringing the unemployment rate down to 8.3 percent from 8.5 percent the month before. The improvement continues a trend which has seen the unemployment...
Vacancy Rate Falls To Lowest Level Since 2006
A U.S. Census Bureau report on fourth-quarter vacancy and homeownership rates shows vacancies among non-rental housing at levels last seen in 2006. The national vacancy rate for single-family homes dropped to 2.3 percent during the fourth-quarter of 2011, down from...
Demand For Mortgage Loans Up Over Past Four Weeks
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, the Market Composite Index, which measures total mortgage loan application volume, dipped 2.9 percent last week. The Market Index's four-week moving average, however, is up 4.11 percent due to...
Index Finds Prices Down Less Than One Percent
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the most closely followed measure of national home values, registered a decline of 0.7 percent for their 20-city composite index through November, a bigger drop than the 0.5 percent forecast by economists. David Blitzer,...
Consumer Sentiment Rises Again, Hits 11-Month High
According to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, Americans' confidence in the economy rose again in January. The overall reading for the month rose to 75.0 from 69.9 in December. It was the highest reading since February 2011 and a...
New Home Sales Slow After Three Months Of Gains
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau's New Residential Sales report for December shows new home sales slowed after three consecutive months of gains. According to the report, sales of new single-family houses were at a...
Pending Home Sales Up 5.6 Percent From Year Before
The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index fell 3.5 percent in December but remains 5.6 percent above the previous year's level. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, says the trend line remains positive despite the dip. According to Yun, the...
Mortgage Demand Dips Following Surge In Activity
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, total mortgage application volume fell last week following the previous week's surge in activity. The Market Composite Index, which measures both refinance and purchase applications, was down...
Analyst Sees Signs Of Recovery In Positive Housing Data
In the latest CoreLogic MarketPulse Report, analyst Mark Fleming says 2012 may be the year the housing market recovery picks up. Fleming cites improvement in the job market along with low mortgage rates and home prices as reasons to be optimistic that buyers will...