Market Studies

Despite improving builder confidence, sales of new single-family homes dropped to their lowest level since last October, the Census Bureau and HUD reported Friday. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales dropped a stunning 13.4 percent to 394,000 in July. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected June sales to drop to 487,000 from June's originally reported 497,000. June sales were revised to 455,000.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI) rose 2.1 percent from the first to second quarter, marking the eighth consecutive quarterly increase. In June alone, the index was up 0.7 percent month-over-month. Compared with the same quarter last year, home prices increased 7.2 percent, while prices of other goods and services inched up only 1.0 percent. According to FHFA, the inflation-adjusted price of homes rose approximately 6.2 percent over the latest year.

According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.58 percent (0.8 point) for the week ending August 22, up from last week's 4.40 percent. The 15-year FRM averaged 3.60 percent (0.7 point), up from 3.44 percent previously. Meanwhile, Bankrate.com reported a two-year high for the 30-year fixed average in its own weekly survey. The 30-year fixed reached 4.74 percent, Bankrate observed, while the 15-year fixed jumped to 3.75 percent.

In July, sales of single-family homes and condominiums in Illinois reached 16,012--the highest level since August 2006, the Illinois Association of Realtors reported. The total represents a 28.5 percent increase from July 2012. The median price of a home in Illinois also shot up, increasing 14.2 percent year-over-year to $169,000, IAR reported.

With housing markets improving in several capacities across the country, RealtyTrac set out to find which markets are doing best in terms of both real estate wealth and the health of their residents. States with markets performing well, according to RealtyTrac's Health and Wealth report, include Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, North Carolina, California, Tennessee, Montana, Wyoming, Iowa, and Arkansas. To determine the health of a market, RealtyTrac considered factors such as the level of activeness among residents, chronic disease incidence rates, and fast food per capita.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending August 17 rose 13,000 to 336,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected the number of claims to rise to 330,000 from the 320,000 originally reported for the week ending August 10. The number of filings for that week was bumped up to 323,000.

Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research group expects economic growth to gain momentum in the later half of the year following a slow start. Looking ahead, the group expects GDP growth will average 2.0 percent for the year, accelerating to 2.6 percent in 2014 as fiscal drags peel away and the housing recovery continues. According to Fannie Mae chief economist Doug Duncan, ""[t]he biggest risk to this forecast is the expected reduction in the Federal Reserve's asset purchases.""

The number of filings related to suspicious activity for mortgage loan fraud fell year-over-year, while mortgage fraud related to foreclosure rescue scams spiked, according to a recent report from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Last year, mortgage loan fraud (MLF) suspicious activity report (SAR) filings decreased to 69,277, down 25 percent from 92,561. However, the number of MLF SARs related to foreclosure rescue scams increased to 4,427, up 58 percent from 2,799 in 2011.

Existing-home sales soared 6.5 percent in July to an annual sales rate of 5.39 million--the highest level since November 2009--as the price of a single-family home slipped 0.2 percent, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Wednesday. Despite the month-over-month decline, the median price of an existing-home was $213,500, 13.7 percent ahead of the price in July 2012. It was the strongest yearly price gain since October 2005.

National default rates inched up in July, with first mortgages showing a slight increase, according to the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices. For the first time this year, the default rate for first mortgages increased. In July, the default rate was 1.25 percent, up from 1.23 percent in June. The first mortgage default rate though is still down compared to July 2012, when it was 1.41 percent.