Tag Archives: First American

Publishing data covering the month of February 2023, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has released their joint report on new residential construction permits, starts, and completions.

“Housing affordability is the result of the tug-of-war between purchasing power, which is the product of household income and mortgage rates, and nominal house price growth,” said First American Economist Ksenia Potapov.

This is now the eighth consecutive rate hike, an increase of 4.5% since the hikes began.

A new report from the National Association of Realtors shows pending home sales numbers improving on a monthly basis for the first time in six months. Click through to read Chief Economist Lawrence Yun’s thoughts on the matter.

“The steep annual decline in market potential was largely a result of higher mortgage rates, which prevent both buyers and sellers from jumping into the market,” said Mark Fleming, Chief Economist for First American Financial Corporation.

A new blog post by First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi lays out three possible scenarios for the housing market in 2023.

According to First American’s Potential Home Sales Model for November 2022, potential existing-home sales increased to a 5.24 million seasonally adjusted annualized rate, representing a 2.5% month-over-month increase.

ServiceMac President & CEO Bob Caruso shares his perspectives on the impact of technology on the servicing industry, and what lies ahead for the servicing sector in 2023.

After experiencing a near 5% monthly drop in pending October sales, NAR reported the near-20-year high in mortgage rates and expensive home prices forced many prospective buyers to the sidelines.

“But real estate is local, and there are markets where annual price growth isn’t just slowing, but prices are falling from recent peaks,” said Mark Fleming, Chief Economist at First American Financial Corporation.