RealEstateEconomyWatch.com Insight and Intelligence on Residential Real Estate

Six months ago all the stars were aligned for a spring market that would take America’s housing recovery to new levels and perhaps the rest of the national economy with it. Since then too many things have gone wrong take for granted another good year.  First, inventories dragged, failing to replenish at a healthy rate through most of the winter ... Read More »

One third—33% of closed loans—had an average FICO score of less than 700 compared to 24% one year ago, yet another sign that lending standard are easing.  Or are they? According to Ellie Mae’s latest monthly origination report, great progress is being made in reducing the average FICO score to give more average American families a shot at a mortgage, ... Read More »

  Home sales took another deep dive in February, falling 7.1 percent below the 4.95 million-unit level in February 2013 to the lowest level of sales in any month since July 2012, when annualized sales stood at 4.59 million.  The size of the sudden decline suggests that there might be more than bad weather behind the bad news. NAR chief ... Read More »

Lower than normal sales for this time of the year due in part to the winter’s storms are raising concerns about the recovery and lowering lenders’ expectations for 2014 originations.  But they may also be having a beneficial side effect.  Fewer sales are taking some of the pressure off of low inventories that are in the process of rebuilding for ... Read More »

    The outlook for a more abundant, more affordable selection of homes for sale this spring improved considerably in February.  Sellers in most markets are responding to the price increases of the past year, suggesting they are increasingly optimistic about the housing recovery and the underlying strength of market demand through 2014, according to the latest February data from ... Read More »

  The qualified mortgage (QM) rule that took effect in January will raise mortgage rates for borrowerw with lower FICO according to survey of lenders released today. A survey by economists at the National Association of Realtors found that borrowers who cannot qualify for QM status because of their credit histories will pay a big price in higher mortgage rates. ... Read More »

  It’s getting tough to find an apartment for $1000 or less a month in any major market these days according to a new survey from Apartments.com/ Apartments.com recently analyzed data from the top 100 most searched markets on its website to compare the vast variety of apartments available for around $1,000 a month in cities across the country. The ... Read More »

Consumer expectations on home prices rose unexpectedly in February, just in time to build seller confidence to list their houses and restore tight inventories for the fast approaching spring season. Fannie Mae’s February 2014 National Housing Survey took a right turn from January’s results as respondents’ home price expectations climbed significantly  – with 50 percent saying home prices will go ... Read More »

In its latest report on the economy, Federal Reserve economists report that winter weather has contributed to a slowing of real estate markets and inventories are low in most districts. The Fed’s latest Beige Book reports that residential real estate markets continued to improve in several areas, albeit modestly. Boston and New York gave mixed reports on sales, and Philadelphia, ... Read More »

Flat prices at the end of the year brought to a halt the steady progress that has been made since 2009 to free homeowners from the grips of negative equity.  As a result, some 6.5 million properties are still frozen in place and their owners vulnerable to foreclosure. Some 4 million homes returned to positive equity in 2013, bringing the ... Read More »