Tag Archives: Home Sales

Since the crisis, the housing industry has been consistently expanding, but when the pace of growth lost a large amount of momentum in the final quarter of last year, on top of economists' predictions of slow growth, many in the industry are questioning if the expansion is beginning to expire.

Home prices are still higher than then were last year, but have slowed over the last three months, making affordability less of an issue heading into winter.

It's a holiday week, but key metrics that drive housing aren't taking time off.

This week the Federal Reserve is looking to raise interest rates, key housing indicators will show how the market is doing, there's a look at key economic indicators as 2015 closes, and we get a preview of how consumers are looking at things going into 2016. Read on.

Single family rentals, SFRs, were supposed to be a short-term opportunity when real estate hit bottom, but now it's emerging as a new class that big money is looking at. So what's happening?

Which Federal Reserve Districts have experienced the most progress in housing in the last month and a half?

According to RE/MAX, home sales over the last six months, including July, have each recorded the highest number of sales in their respective months since the RE/MAX National Housing Report began in 2008.

"Almost all of our contacts noted a seasonal increase in their residential mortgage business, which was heavily weighted toward new-home purchases," the Fed wrote. "The rapid rise in rental rates was cited as a motivating factor to purchase homes. Little change was reported in delinquencies (already at low levels) and loan-application standards."

Economists at both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have stuck to their predictions that housing will recover in 2015 despite receiving recent reports of slower-than-expected economic growth in the first quarter, including job gains that fell well short of expectations in March. "We remain comfortable with our call that the Fed funds rate lift-off will occur in September," Fannie Mae chief economist Doug Duncan said last week. "The setback in the hiring picture is in line with consumer sentiment regarding the housing market from the Fannie Mae National Housing Survey."

After a slight dip in December likely due to seasonality, REO sales once again had a 60 percent cash sales share for January, according to CoreLogic's January 2015 cash sales report released Thursday.