Housingwire cited statistics from Re/Max Wednesday that indicating home sales rose 13.2 percent in December after five consecutive months of declines. Compared to December, 2009 however, sales were five percent lower. From ground zero of the housing crisis, Re/Max found home sales in Phoenix were up more than twelve percent …
The Commerce Department’s U.S. Census Bureau today released data on new residential construction in December, 2010. Permits for new homes jumped 16.7 percent in December compared with private-sector expectations of a 2.9 percent increase. The department says scheduled changes in building codes in January in California, New York and Pennsylvania …
Housingwire reports that while Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren believes recent data show a recovery is finally taking root, he doesn’t expect the housing market to spur economic growth. “In many areas of the country, the impaired balance sheets of borrowers, high foreclosures and high vacancy rates …
The REI Bulletin reporting from the National Association of Home Builder’s (NAHB) International Building Show (IBS) indicates housing starts will see gradual improvements in 2011, establishing momentum for 2012. NAHB Economists told an audience at the show that job growth will provide a stronger stimulus to housing than last year’s …
The country’s economic health is steadily improving and on a path to sustained economic expansion in 2011, according to the Economic Advisory Committee (EAC) of the American Bankers Association. “The economy is transitioning from reliance on monetary and fiscal stimulus to a sustained expansion in the private sector. Businesses and …
Any recipe for a housing rebound will include a revamp of Fannie and Freddie, at least according to Ben Bernanke. Housingwire reports the comments by the Federal Reserve Chairman Friday at a confab presented by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The situation, Bernanke says, is set against a backdrop of …
No Housing Recovery without Fannie and Freddie Revamp Read More
A report on Bloomberg citing information from Realtytrac indicates there could be a 20 percent jump in foreclosure filings in 2011 as banks resume seizures. The good news: the article indicates the peak in foreclosures and the bottom in notices of default, auction or repossession in 2010, a 2 percent …
From Maine, the Portland Press Herald reports that roughly 40 Maine businesspeople met Wednesday with Sen. Olympia Snowe and Elizabeth Warren to discuss how the emerging Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with broad authority to regulate the nation’s financial system might affect Maine businesses. Warren, who is tasked with setting up …
Regulators Hear MH Industry Concerns Over New Agency Read More
From Alberta, Canada comes news that despite a slower market, housing prices are on the rise. The Quesnel Cariboo Observer reports that the median value of the 115 single family homes sold in Quesnel 2010 was $181,000. In addition, 21 parcels of vacant land, 53 homes on acreage, 27 manufactured …
Renowned Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto wrote a book in 2003 called the Mystery of Capital. In it he espoused the theory that many countries don’t take off economically because without private property, would-be entrepreneurs can’t borrow money to start businesses. According to a recent item in Fortune, Colin Barr …
Home Price Declines Could Put Improvement in Employment on Hold Read More
The Federal Reserve reports in its Beige Book that twelve Federal Reserve Districts suggest that economic activity continued to expand moderately from November through December. Conditions were said to be improving in the Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Richmond Districts. Activity increased modestly to moderately in the Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, …
From North Carolina comes news that while construction in Watauga County declined again in 2010, things may be ready for a rebound. The Watauga Democrat reports that new housing starts declined nearly 20 percent last year, with 115 single-family homes, three single-family attached homes and four multi-unit buildings constructed, and …
From Arizona, the Portales News-Tribune reports the City of Portales is on track to issue the same number of building permits this fiscal year as last year. The permits are based on fiscal years, which run July through June. According to records, the city issued permits for 20 single-family dwellings …
Arizona Reports on Permits for Manufactured Home Replacement Read More
From Housingwire comes a report from Altos Research that home prices were down 1.63 percent in December and new listings were entering the market with an even steeper decline. The report indicates prices fell in each of the 27 markets studied by Altos. Prices fell 4.77 percent in San Francisco, …
The Commerce Department says construction spending increased 0.4 percent in November, but building activity is only 2.3 percent higher than in August, when it had fallen to the lowest level in a decade. Total spending increased to $810.2 billion in November at a seasonally adjusted annual rate. The strength in …
The credit quality of first-lien mortgages serviced by large national banks and thrifts remained steady during the third quarter of 2010, but the pace of foreclosures increased, according to a report released Wednesday. The quarterly report by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Office of …
Report Shows Mortgage Performance Steady, Foreclosures Jump Read More
Data through October 2010, released Tuesday by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, show a deceleration in the annual growth rates in 18 of the 20 MSAs and the 10- and 20-City Composites in October compared to what was reported …
The National Association of Home Builder (NAHB) reports sales of newly built, single-family homes increased 5.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 290,000 units in November. Based on Commerce Department figures, the gain represents a partial bounce-back from a near-record low, downwardly revised number of new-home sales in …
American Banking News reports that shares of Cavco hit a new 52-week high on Monday. The stock traded as high as $47.88 during mid-day trading and last traded at $47.88. The report also notes the stock has a 52-week low of $31.50 and a 52-week high of $47.89. Its 50-day …
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury released the December edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard last week. The latest figures show continued home affordability in the housing market, with interest rates near record lows, but the market remains fragile, …
