Bargains are hard to find in the housing market these days, but the incentives are still there for private investors.
Read More »How Long Will Home Prices Stay on Their Upward Path?
As housing demand continues to rise, interest rates remain at historical lows, credit conditions ease, and the labor market improves, home price growth continues to climbs but for how much longer?
Read More »Fed Rate Hike Not Likely Despite Core Inflation Improvement
When the Federal Open Market Committee closes its meeting next week, it will likely not conclude with a rate hike, but the Fed cannot stand pat, even though core inflation is clearly rising.
Read More »What Effect Do Foreclosures Have on the Nation’s Existing-Home Supply?
Instead of thinking of the foreclosure decline as a contributing factor to the drop in existing-home sales inventory, however, it is more accurate to say that existing-home inventory levels in the years immediately following the crisis were boosted by unusually high foreclosure levels.
Read More »Tight Supply Driving Home Prices Up but Don’t Expect Another Boom
What is the effect of low housing inventory on both new and existing home sales?
Read More »Homeownership Rate Drops to 20-Year Low
The rental vacancy rate, meanwhile, fell 0.4 percentage points to 7.0 percent on a combination of tighter supply conditions and a rise in demand as homeownership looks like a distant dream for some Americans. In a survey last month, Freddie Mac found 61 percent of adults living in rental housing don't plan to purchase a home within the next three years as housing costs and credit challenges keep them on the sidelines.
Read More »Fueled by Lower Gas Prices, Consumer Sentiment Reaches Highest Level in a Decade
According to the group conducting the confidence survey, January's increase—which lifted the index to its highest level since 2004—was driven by an improvement in personal finances, with more consumers reporting increases in household income than any time in the past decade. They're also more optimistic about the labor outlook as job growth continues on a steady track.
Read More »Consumer, Government Spending Boost Revised Q3 GDP Rate Up to 3.9 Percent
The U.S. economy continued to outperform in the third quarter as consumer and government spending provided a boost to gross domestic product (GDP). According to a second estimate from the Commerce Department, GDP grew at an annualized rate of 3.9 ...
Read More »Report: Consumer Sentiment Highest in 14 Months
The increase in the headline index was driven by a more than four-point improvement in the gauge of consumer expectations, which rose to 75.6. On the other hand, the Current Conditions Index fell more a point to 98.5. According to Paul Diggle, U.S. economist for Capital Economics, the small decline "could reflect the weaker pace of payroll growth in August or even the slowdown in some measures of housing market activity."
Read More »Adjusted Case-Shiller Index Paints Different Picture of Housing Market
Beginning with the release of the June report last month, the monthly Case-Shiller reports now include an expanded national series going beyond the previously covered 20 markets. Previously, the national series was only released every quarter.
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