-
A Delayed Winter for Housing?
Tweet Share on Facebook April 17, 2012 Comment (1)After surprisingly strong gains early in the year, new construction leveled off in March, declining almost 6 percent from last month to their lowest point since October 2011, the Census bureau reported Tuesday.
Major bummer, right?
Not necessarily. While news that fewer homes and apartments are being built might seem like a bucket of cold water tossed on a housing market just starting to heat up, we're probably not headed for a new housing slump, experts say.
[See photos of the space shuttle Discovery making its final flight.]
-
The Political Fight Over Principal Reduction
Tweet Share on Facebook April 17, 2012 Comment (3)With four million homes lost to foreclosure since the housing crisis began, and another 11 million borrowers underwater on their mortgages today, housing policy is focused on keeping current homeowners from losing their homes. This year, Washington housing wonks have fought over "principal reduction": reducing mortgage loan balances for underwater borrowers to help them stay in their homes. The fight has turned nasty and personal with Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)—the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—at its center.
-
Luxury Housing Markets Heat Up
Tweet Share on Facebook April 13, 2012 Comment (9)While many markets continue to languish with more price declines and so-so sales, one real estate sector is red hot, and you might be surprised at which one it is.
Even with the economy just starting to pull out of the doldrums, the luxury market has come roaring back in recent months according to experts, and that could signal good things ahead for U.S. real estate.
"There is very little inventory, which is driving a lot of activity," says Richard Smith, president and CEO of Realogy Corp., a global provider of real estate and relocation services. "You're getting multiple offers and quick sells. It's not uncommon in New York City to see a co-op or an apartment go on the market and two days later it's gotten 10 offers and it's sold. That's becoming pretty typical of New York City."
-
Consumer Watchdog Agency Takes on Mortgage Servicers
Tweet Share on Facebook April 10, 2012 Comment (3)Imagine every bad customer service experience you've ever had—unanswered calls, slow responses, a veritable army of representatives to weave through. Now, multiply that by millions of consumers and you'll start to get a picture of how bad some aspects of the mortgage servicing industry were during the height of the housing crisis.
Now the government's consumer watchdog agency plans to make sure consumers aren't trampled again by big banks and their servicers, proposing a set of new rules to govern the way lenders treat borrowers who fall behind on their mortgage payments.
-
Rising Rents, Interest Rates Could Push More Americans to Buy Homes
Tweet Share on Facebook April 9, 2012 CommentBuoyed by several months of encouraging housing data, an increasing number of economists and industry experts are sticking their necks out to say that this year's housing market is going to be different.
Besides the obvious improvement in the labor market, "there are some fundamental things that are shifting in the real estate space that bode well for the balance of the year," says Budge Huskey, president and chief operating officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate. "We've had several straight months of positive housing data [that's] really been in line with the more positive economic data. They are going in lockstep."
-
Is the Housing Market Bottom in Sight?
Tweet Share on Facebook April 6, 2012 Comment (2)NEW YORK, N.Y.—When will housing prices hit bottom? That's the nagging question on many Americans' minds five years into the deepest and longest housing recession in decades.
While we'd all like a cut and dry answer—the third quarter of 2012? 2013? The day after never?—it's just not that easy to pin down an exact date when the housing market is supposed to turn the metaphorical corner.
Determining when the market "hits bottom" is a much more nuanced affair, Stan Humphries, chief economist at real estate website Zillow, explained at a conference with the Progressive Policy Institute and Columbia Business School Thursday. Instead of an exact date or even a time range, the market's bottom represents a series of events that set up the real estate industry for recovery.
-
Economists: Most New Households Will Rent, Not Buy
Tweet Share on Facebook April 2, 2012 CommentWith the spring home-buying season heating up, more than a few people will be keeping a close eye on home sales over the next few months.
And expectations are high.
According to recent projections from the National Association of Realtors, existing homes sales could jump as much as 10 percent, making 2012 the strongest buying season in five years.
But it all depends on this concept of "pent-up demand" that economists and industry experts throw around, the idea that faced with a harsh financial environment, many Americans have put off buying or renting a home and have instead doubled up with friends or family members to save money.
-
Survey: Americans Spend Most on Housing, Healthcare
Tweet Share on Facebook April 2, 2012 CommentSince home prices took a nosedive following the nation's financial meltdown, it's easy to think that housing costs have plummeted along with battered the housing market. After all, we live in an era of "unprecedented affordability," right?
Maybe not.
-
Bargain-Basement Home Prices Woo Investors, Vacationers
Tweet Share on Facebook March 30, 2012 CommentThough some experts billed 2011 as the worst year on record for the housing market, it seems one sliver of the market was a slice of paradise.
Consumers scooped up vacation and investment homes at bargain-basement prices, according to the National Association of Realtors, going on a buying binge not seen since the height of the housing bubble in 2005.
Investment home sales—primarily properties bought with the intention of renting to tenants—surged almost 65 percent in 2011, while vacation home sales rose about 7 percent, according to NAR.
Investors with cash played a big role in the spike, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement, adding that more than 40 percent of investment buyers purchased more than one property.
-
Real Estate Recovery: Are We There Yet?
Tweet Share on Facebook March 28, 2012 CommentThe first few months of 2012 have seen some pretty encouraging stats, but after years of nothing but bad news about the housing market, it can be hard to gauge what "normal" is anymore.
According to new measure from real estate website Trulia, we're about a third of the way back to a normal housing market. The bad news? We've got a long way to go. Based on Trulia's calculations, the United States won't see a full housing market recovery until 2015.
