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Pending Home Sales Rise Unexpectedly In June
The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index rose 2.4 percent in June and is 19.8 percent above last year's levels. Economists were expecting a 2.0 percent drop in the index. Pending sales are a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings...
Average 30 Year Mortgage Rate At 4.57 Percent
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages climbed to 4.57 percent last week from 4.54 percent the week before. The Market Composite Index, which measures total loan...
New Home Sales Market Shows Signs Of Stabilization
Sales of new single-family homes fell in June but declining inventory and rising prices suggest the market for new homes is beginning to stabilize. According to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, new home sales...
Case Shiller Index Shows Prices Up 1.0 Percent In May
Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller Home Price Indices, the most closely followed of the many price indexes, showed a second consecutive month of price gains for both their 10- and 20-city composites in May. The 10-city composite index was up 1.1 percent and the...
Housing Market Outlook Sees Emerging Positivity
According to an economic outlook from Fannie Mae chief economist Doug Duncan, there are a number of positive signs emerging that indicate the housing market recovery will begin to accelerate later this year. Pending home sales rose 8.2 percent in May, which suggests a...
Price Reports Show 2nd Straight Month Of Gains
According to two newly released price indexes, home values rose again in May. The Federal Housing Finance Agency's House Price Index found a 0.4 percent increase from April. And though the improvement was slight, it market two-consecutive months of gains following 10...
Existing Home Sales Ease 0.8 Percent In June
Sales of previously owned homes were flat in June, according to The National Association of Realtors. Existing-home sales declined 0.8 percent, despite sales gains in the Midwest and South. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said home sales had been trending upward...
Refinance Index Up 23 Percent As Rates Fall
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, mortgage application activity for both refinancing and purchase jumped 15.5 percent last week from the week before. It was the largest increase in four months. The spike in demand was driven...
Housing Starts Surge Beyond Expectation In June
Construction estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development show privately-owned housing starts up 14.6 percent, with single-family home construction rising 9.4 percent. The increase, which surpassed economists expectations...
Builder Confidence, Expectations Rise In July
Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes rose two points in July, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. Bob Nielsen, chairman of NAHB, said the improvement is a positive sign that the...