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Pending Home Sales Increase 8.2 Percent In May
For the first time since April 2010, pending home sales are above year-ago levels. According to The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index, contract signings rose 8.2 percent in May from April and were 13.4 percent above May 2010. The Pending Home...
Average Mortgage Rate Falls To 4.46 Percent
According to The Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.46 percent last week from 4.57 percent the week before. It is the lowest 30-year rate since the middle of November...
Freddie Mac Economist Sees Housing Forecast Brightening
Freddie Mac's chief economist Frank Nothaft sees better days ahead for the economy and housing market, according to his mid-year economic update. Nothaft writes that economic growth will pick up in the second half of the year despite near-term concerns restraining...
Rising Rent, Housing Affordability Makes Buying A Better Deal
With rents rising across the country, buying a home becomes increasingly more affordable. According to National Association of Realtors' chief economist Lawrence Yun, buying a home is more affordable now than it has been at any time in the past 40 years. A family...
New Home Sales Up 13.5 Percent Over Last Year
The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's New Residential Sales Report for May shows sales of new single-family homes up 13.5 percent above last year's estimates, despite dipping 2.1 percent from April. And though sales declined...
New Price Data Finds More Evidence Of Rising Values
Despite recent price volatility, new data shows home values rising in April. The FNC Residential Price Index showed a 0.5 percent increase in April, the first positive uptick since the end of the homebuyer tax credit last year. The results are contrary to what others...
Mortgage Rates Rise, Remain Near Historic Lows
According to The Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.57 percent from 4.51 percent the week before. The rise in rates led to a 5.9 percent drop in the Market...
Existing Home Sales Slowed By Temporary Conditions
Higher gas prices and severe weather lead to a slow sales month for previously owned homes in May. According to the National Association of Realtors, existing-home sales fell 3.8 percent, though economists expected a deeper drop. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist,...
Jobs Are Key To Housing, Economic Recovery
In their most-recent monthly economic outlook, Fannie Mae's Doug Duncan and Orawin T. Velz write that, though the current economic expansion has been disappointing, they believe the likelihood that the economy will slip into another downturn is still quite low....
Foreclosure Activity Falls, Default Notices At 53 Month Low
Foreclosure filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions, were reported on 214,927 properties in May, according to RealtyTrac's U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. It was the eighth-straight month of declines and a 33 percent drop...