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Market Studies

Industry Poll Finds Appraisers More Optimistic on State of Housing

Even the usually ""unmoved"" appraiser community is starting to show confidence in today's housing climate, according to the results of a recently conducted industry survey released Wednesday. The data show nearly 55 percent of appraisers polled have ""mildly or moderately strong"" confidence in the housing market, while 25 percent were neutral. Experts say the group is a ""good gauge"" of housing conditions because they tend to be realistic, focused on their local markets, and unswayed by news stories or national numbers.

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Is the Single-Family Rental Market Set for Decline?

Over the past couple years, rentals of single-family homes have served as a growing segment of the housing market. However, lately limited supply and rising home prices are leading to rising rents, thus slowing growth in this market, according to a report from CoreLogic. Having been on the decline since 2009, single-family rental properties now have about a 2.9-month supply available on the market. For comparison, anything below six months supply in the purchase market is considered low. The result of tight supply, naturally, is rising prices.

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FHFA Reports 7.1% Annual Increase in Home Prices

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released Tuesday its House Price Index (HPI) for February, revealing home prices rose 0.7 percent month-over-month on a seasonally adjusted basis. Year-over-year, U.S. house prices were up 7.1 percent in February, according to FHFA. As of February, the U.S. index rested at 196.3, 13.6 percent below its peak in April 2007 and was roughly the same as its October 2004 reading. FHFA's index has not declined on a monthly basis since January 2012.

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Survey: 22% of Americans Have Never Checked Their Credit Report

Although credit scores play a crucial role in the homebuying process, a recent FindLaw.com survey found nearly a quarter of Americans have never bothered to check their credit report. Overall, 22 percent of the 1,000 adults surveyed said they've never checked their credit report even though credit reporting agencies are required to provide free copies when requested. Out of the 78 percent who said they have checked their credit report, 46 percent checked within the last year.

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Price Plunge Boosts March New Home Sales

After experiencing the sharpest drop in two years in February, new home sales increased 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 417,000 in March, the Census Bureau and HUD reported Tuesday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected March sales to increase to 419,000 from a February's originally reported 411,000. The median price of a new home, according to the Census-HUD report, plunged $17,900 (or 6.8 percent) in March to $247,000, the largest month-over-month decline since February 2011.

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Non-Current Inventory Hits 5-Year Low, Slips Below 5M Mark

The total number of outstanding mortgages in the nation fell below the 5 million mark for the first time since 2008, according to data from Lender Processing Services. In March, non-current loans totaled 4,997,000, down from 5,104,000 in February. The figure for non-current loans includes 3,308,000 million properties past due 30 days or more but not in foreclosure, as well as 1,689,000 properties sitting in foreclosure inventory.

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Illinois Home Sales, Prices Climb in March

Illinois experienced an increase in home sales and median prices over year ago levels in March, the Illinois Association of REALTORS reported. Home sales last month totaled 10,992, up 13.6 percent from March 2012 when sales were at 9,679. At the same time, median prices in the state showed a 3.6 percent improvement from last year, the association reported.

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Gallup: More Americans Expect Home Prices to Rise in Their Area

The infectious optimism surrounding the housing market has the majority of Americans feeling more positive, according to survey results from Gallup. Gallup found 51 percent of those surveyed said they expect home prices to rise in their area over the next year--the first time since 2007 that that number has been above 50 percent. Last year, only 33 percent of respondents gave the same answer. In this year's survey, 34 percent of Americans said prices will stay the same--down from 44 percent last year--while 14 percent said prices will fall, down from 23 percent.

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NAR: Prices Up, Existing-Home Sales Down in March

With a sharp jump in prices, existing-home sales fell 0.6 percent in March--the steepest drop since December--to 4.92 million units, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Monday. Economists had expected a 1.0 percent increase to 5.03 million from February's original report of 4.98 million sales. The median price of an existing single-family home jumped to $184,300, the highest level in seven months. The inventory of homes for sale edged up to 1.93 million units--a 4.7 month supply, both the highest level since November.

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Commentary: No Virginia, There is No Santa Claus

What do you do when you find out Santa Claus doesn't exist? That's the situation former vice presidential candidate/House Budget Committee Chair/potential presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) faces now that the study which provided him with the academic support for budget cuts (aimed principally at so-called entitlements) has been undermined. Harvard economists Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff in 2010 published a research paper which held that for countries with debt loads equivalent to or greater than 90 percent of annual economic output, ""median growth rates fall by 1 percent, and average growth falls considerably more.""

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