Market Studies

Economists are lowering their expectations for housing starts in 2014, according to a survey performed by the Wall Street Journal. The Journal notes their diminishing optimism is among the most noticeable trend in monthly surveys of economic forecasters in the first half of 2014.

According to Freddie Mac, the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 4.20 percent (0.6 point) for the week ending June 12, an increase of 6 basis points from last week's report. Last year, the 30-year FRM hovered just below 4.0 percent. The 15-year FRM averaged 3.31 percent (0.5 point), up from 3.23 percent in the last report.

Home sellers in Southwestern Pennsylvania may have more to cheer about this summer than just the Pittsburgh Pirates. According to the May 2014 residential real estate report from the West Penn Multi-List, Inc., the outlook for the Southwestern Pennsylvania home market is steadily increasing as demand continues to rise and inventory works to keep up.

The unemployment rate was unchanged in May, staying put at 6.3 percent with 9.8 million Americans unemployed. Unemployment is the lowest it has been since September 2008. However, RealtyTrac's Octavio Nuiry makes the case that there is more to unemployment than percentages, and that a hidden actor is depressing housing market growth—and could cause more problems in the future.

Local home prices rebounded in Southern Nevada in May despite slight decreases from March to April, according to statistics released by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR). The GLVAR reported that the median price of existing single-family homes in the area was up 1.6 percent from April to $195,000.

Annualized housing starts crossed the 1 million mark in April for the first time this year, but little of that improvement came on the single-family side—and that's a serious problem, says the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Measuring new homebuilding against employment numbers—which only recently recovered from their recessionary decline—NAR finds that historically, there is one new home built for every 1.5 jobs added to the economy.

The Wells Fargo Economics Group released its Housing Chartbook for May 2014. The group found that most markets are finding themselves "wildly out of balance" from inflated home prices driven by investor purchases, as well as exceptionally tight inventories that are well ahead of any improvement in demand.

A study released Monday by the Service Contract Industry Council (SCIC) has found that homes covered by a protection plan sell faster and for more money than those without one. According to SCIC's most recent look at home sale prices nationally, homes sold with a protection plan spend, on average, 11 fewer days on the market. SCIC's findings also show that homes on average sold for about $2,300 more when covered by a plan.

While many analysts are celebrating the slow and steady recovery of the housing market, an article by the borrower advice website LoanLove offers a different view of the current state of the United States housing market. The article cites economists who believe the current housing market recovery stretching back 18 months is not a true sign of the market's economic outlook. Rather, the recovery is built on shaky ground that could collapse.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released its latest Survey of Consumer Expectations for June 2014. The survey found that consumer's expect home prices to increase in every region except one—the South—where a slight decrease is expected.