For the second straight month, the three-year inventory drought punished sales in April, driving them down on every national market report despite demand so strong the prices continued to soar and time on market continued to fall as homes sold a record-setting pace. Sales fell from 2.3 percent to 4.6 percent on a monthly basis and now trail last year’s … Read More »

The supply of homes for sale this spring is so depleted that one of the nation’s valuation firms predicts that the inventory drought will reduce total home sales this year as shortages drive up prices and buyers fail to find properties they can afford, according to the latest analysis from Pro Teck Valuation’s Home Value Forecast. “The lack of inventory … Read More »

March buyers blew the roof off housing markets as they heeded warnings about the limited supplies of home for sale and found houses in record time.  National monthly market reports on March transactions chronicled surge of sales as the spring season kicked off and tens of thousands of new listings turned over in a matter of days. “We expected a … Read More »

Donald Trump’s rise through the GOP primaries and a surprise victory in November unmasked a deep and widespread angst over the quality of nation’s economic recovery. While national numbers on job growth and income levels have looked encouraging to national journalists and Washington-centric politicians, from the perspective of corner cafes and assembly line floors in heartland states, the picture has … Read More »

During the Foreclosure Flood, four to six million foreclosures—about as many homes as are sold nationally every year—switched from ownership to rental, bringing the total of single family rentals to about 14 million, more than ever recorded. The boom in single-family rentals has left an indelible mark on the nation’s housing economy.  The loss of these properties, most of the … Read More »

January is the month when real estate markets traditionally take a breather to restock their shelves for the spring season. In the final quarter of 2016 record demand powered by concern over interest rates and rising prices encouraged buyers to clear the shelves of depleted supplies and strong sales continued into the new year. An analysis of the January market … Read More »

  The good news about January home sales is that the year over year rate reached the highest they reached an all-time high, an annualized total that was a little bit higher than it was last November. The bad news is that the serious problems facing the residential real estate economy grew even more serious during the slowest month of … Read More »

Will 2016 be remembered as the peak of the recovery?  It was the best year for sales in more than a decade.  Will sales take a break in 2017, a victim of political uncertainty, rising rates and prices that are outpacing incomes? Even worse, will 2017 herald a multi-year downtrend in sales? Last year, existing-home sales finished 2016 at 5.45 … Read More »

The real estate economy in the year just past broke records as well as hearts.  As soaring values left homeowners with more equity than they’ve seen in a decade, there’s not much good news in store for thousands of frustrated buyers who couldn’t find a home to buy last year. December’s data from the nation’s leading monthly market reports paint … Read More »

It’s no secret that inadequate inventories have been stunting the housing recovery.  Through November, total housing inventory has fallen year-over-year for 18 straight months and supplies are now 11.4 percent lower than they were two years ago.[1] As inventories decline, rising income, improved employment, and historically low mortgage rates have given demand a shot in the arm.  Sales in November … Read More »