Market Studies

Fitch Ratings is the latest market commentator to blame the housing sector’s recent slowness on weather challenges. In an analysis gauging the recovery’s progress, the ratings agency listed harsh winter weather across the country as one of the biggest factors moderating the housing recovery, though higher interest rates and home prices have also provided some drag.

With the spring buying season in the housing market right around the corner and stronger employment numbers reported, confidence is gaining that economic recovery is right around the corner. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) found 59 of the 350 metro markets examined have returned to or exceeded their last normal levels of economic and housing activity.

Black Knight Financial Service’s Mortgage Monitor Report reports effective loan modification efforts have shown far fewer defaults, which helps those underwater already in homes. However, those looking to get a home that have had some trouble in the past may hit a brick wall, as only 30% of loans last year went to borrowers with credit scores below 720, which isn't even close to the subprime score of 620.

Homevestors of America expects home prices to surge in the coming months, recovering from the winter storms that plagued large swaths of the country, limiting home prices and home sales. Three Texas cities led the list—Homevestors noted Fort Worth, Houston, and Austin as prime metros for home price growth.

North Carolina's economy appears to back on the move, according to a recently released study performed by the Wells Fargo Economics Group. Labor market conditions are improving, with job growth outpacing the nation and home sales finally recovering from a period of dormancy.

A look into 35 major markets by Zillow reveals that buyers making the median income in Southern California, the Bay Area, Portland (Oregon), Denver, and Miami face markets where more than half the available homes are beyond their price range—which could mean the beginning of a new housing bubble.

A slow week for economic news led to relative flatness in mortgage rates to kick off April. Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey revealed the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) came up to 4.41 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending April 3—a minor increase from 4.40 percent last week.

Vacation home sales rose in 2013, while investment purchases fell below the higher levels seen in previous years, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). NAR’s 2014 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey found vacation-home sales jumped 29.7 percent to an estimated 717,000, while investment-home sales fell 8.5 percent to an estimated 1.1 million in 2013.

According to the UCLA Anderson Forecast, the one-two punch of harsh winter weather in the East and a nagging drought in the West (namely California) stalled industries from real estate to factory production, putting a tight chokehold on the national economy.

Consumer sentiment retreated last month to an index reading of 80.0, down 2 percent from February’s 81.6 but an improvement on last year’s 78.6, according to a report released by Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center.