Housing Forecasts
Economists See Weaker Recovery and Declining Homeownership
National median home prices will improve for the balance of the year and end with a slight annual decline before bottoming out by 2013, but homeownership will continue to drop over the next five years, according to a quarterly survey of housing economists and experts released today. Read More »
Lending Standards Give an Inch with Miles to Go
Lending standards for purchase mortgages have eased slightly since January but not nearly enough to stop renewed criticism that high standards are impairing demand. Read More »
Risk Returns to Home Values
In light of the tremendous losses in equity homeowners have suffered over the past six years and the continued uncertainty surrounding the housing market, the economics of home ownership will make sense only if equity can be protected, Scott Ryles, CEO of Home Value Insurance Company, told the nation’s leading real estate journalists attending the 46th Annual Meeting of the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Read More »
More than a Million New Households a Year Forecast
Echo boomers and a moderate level of immigration will add 1.18 million new households a year through 2020, building demand for both rental and ownership housing, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Read More »
Recovery Has Yet to Arrive
The stage is set for the nation’s housing economy to recover, but the recovery has not yet begun. That’s the consensus of a Webinar today from three of Standard & Poor’s economists after presenting the latest data. Read More »
Improving Foreclosure Prices Drive Recovery
Significant price increases in bank-owned foreclosures are driving gains at the national, regional and local levels, helping home prices turn the corner with small quarterly and yearly gains. Read More »
Weaker Home Sales Seen in 2012
Record low mortgage rates are failing to generate stimulate mortgage applications for home purchases, which are down 3.9 percent below last year’s level. As a result, last week the Mortgage Bankers Association lowered its 2012 estimate for home sales. Read More »
Fitch Sees No Bottom Until Late Next Year
Fitch Ratings" outlook for U.S. residential real estate prices has improved slightly in recent months, but the authoritative ratings service still sees no bottom to declining housing prices until late 2013. Read More »