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Pending Sales Up From Last Year In July
The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index, which measures contract signings but not closings, is 14.4 percent above July 2010 despite falling 1.3 percent from June. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said contract activity has been fairly...
Percentage Of Foreclosure Sales Falls From First Quarter
According to RealtyTrac's Q2 2011 U.S. Foreclosure Sales Report, sales of homes in some stage of foreclosure or bank ownership accounted for 31 percent of all residential sales during the second quarter, which is down from 36 percent in the first quarter. James...
Buying Cheaper Than Renting In 74 Percent Of U.S. Cities
Based on current market conditions, buying a home is cheaper than renting in 74 percent of major U.S. cities. Trulia's Summer 2011 Rent vs. Buy Index compared price-to-rent ratios for the 50 largest cities using the median list price compared to the median rent as of...
Mortgage Rates Rise Slightly, Remain Near Lows
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased last week, climbing to 4.39 percent from 4.32 percent the week before. Despite near record-low rates, the Market...
New Home Sales Up 6.8 Percent Over Last Year
Sales of new single-family homes were up 6.8 percent over last year's estimates in July. According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's New Residential Sales report, new home sales were at a seasonally adjusted rate of...
Long Term Delinquencies Continue Decline In Second Quarter
The combined percentage of loans in foreclosure or at least one payment past due rose slightly in the second quarter compared to the first but was 143 basis points lower than a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Delinquency Survey. The...
Number Of Homes For Sale Falls In July
The number of homes listed for sale at the end of July was down 18 percent from a year ago and 1.2 percent from the month before. There were 2.31 million homes listed for sale at the end of the month, according to data from Realtor.com. It was only the fifth time...
Sales Of Existing Homes Up 21 Percent From A Year Ago
Sales of previously owned homes were 21 percent higher than last year's levels in July. According to the National Association of Realtors, existing-home sales were down 3.5 percent from June's upwardly revised estimates but the 4.67 million annual rate was well above...
Mortgage Rates Fall To Lowest Level Of 2011
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.32 percent last week from 4.37 the week before. It was the third consecutive drop in mortgage rates and brought...
Housing Starts Up 9.8 Percent From Last Year
In July, privately-owned housing starts were up 9.8 percent over last year, according to residential construction estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Building permits, an indicator of future construction, also saw...