Tag Archives: Housing Market

According to the NAR's Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), contract signings decreased 1.4 percent to 109.4 in August, down from 110.9 in July. However, the index is still 6.1 percent higher that 103.1 recorded in August 2014.

In the second estimate for Q2 released in August, real GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.7 percent; in the "advance estimate" released at the end of July, it grew at a rate of 2.3 percent. In the third and final estimate for Q1, GDP growth was a mere 0.6 percent, way below expectations.

Industry panelists from a number of companies came together in the lab to talk about regulation, non-depository lending, mortgage servicing rights, and REO to loan products in the three and a half hour lab.

According to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, which measures the market's expectations of Fed target rates on a daily basis, there is a 74.7 percent chance of the Fed raising rates by 0.25 percent this week. On the other hand, the FedWatch data found that there is a 25.3 percent chance of the Fed raising rates by 0.50 percent.

Millennials or generation Y (age 35 and under), which is the demographic many analysts have said will be critical for the future health of the housing market, comprised 32 percent of all buyers – the largest share of homebuyers for any age group.

The index found that 63 percent of respondents indicated that now is a good time to buy a home, up 2 percentage points from last month, while 47 percent said that now is good time to sell a home and 44 percent say it's a bad time.

Ask the Economist is an ongoing series in which DS News talks with an economist about the most pressing issues facing the nation's housing industry and the economy. This installment features Jonathan Smoke, Chief Economist with Realtor.com.

Job gains fell below expectations for the month of August, totaling less than 200,000, but wage growth finally began to show some upward pressure—but analysts are still divided on whether it will be enough to convince the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in their September meeting.

Robust demand and declining inventory were the driving factors behind the increase in home prices, according to contacts in most Fed districts. Inventories in nearly all districts declined or stayed flat, except for Kansas City, where they slightly increased

Q2's real GDP growth is consistent with the positive news for most housing metrics as of late. Existing home sales are at pre-recession levels, and in the July 2015 pending home sales report released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), pending home sales were up by 7.4 percent year-over-year. Affordability and tight inventory remain obstacles to home sales, however.