The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) reports builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes fell one point to 56 in January. Rising home prices, historically low mortgage rates and significant pent-up demand will drive a continuing, gradual recovery in the year …
Housing Market Index Falls One Point, but Still Above 50 Read More
The Texas Manufactured Housing Association (TMHA) reports sales of new manufactured homes in October, 2013 rose +8.20 percent from September and increased +2.41 percent from Oct. of 2012. New sales year-to-date from October of last year were up +12.60 percent. MHProNews has learned sales of used manufactured homes rose 14.29 …
Alberta, Canada’s New Home Buyer Protection Act will offer more consumer protection when the mandatory warranty protection takes effect Feb. 1, 2014. The Canadian Home Builders’ Association-Alberta initially offered coverage on new homes beginning in 1974, and the new act ensures all builders meet the same standards. Modular and manufactured …
Factory-built Homes Covered by New Mandatory Warranty Read More
The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) will hold a hearing Tuesday morning, Jan. 14, 2014, on the effects of the Qualified Mortgage rule that became law two days before the scheduled session. HSFC Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) has long opposed the Dodd-Frank Act, saying the regulations unduly tighten credit for …
Effects of Qualified Mortgage Rule Discussed Two Days in Read More
Former North Carolina Democrat Melvin Watt was sworn in Jan. 6, 2013 as the new head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), replacing the acting head since 2009, Edward DeMarco. The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) says Watt was instrumental in the passage of the Manufactured Housing …
Melvin Watt : New Light at the Federal Housing Finance Agency? Read More
Speaking to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray said the new mortgage regulations that take effect today, Jan. 10, 2014 will protect consumers from the type of risky loan products that contributed to The Great Recession and housing bubble. Reminding NAR members …
CFPB Director Cordray Addresses the National Association of Realtors Read More
Increasingly, more mortgage borrowers are rising to the water’s surface instead of being underwater. According to RealtyTrac, 19 percent of all homes with mortgages were “deeply underwater,” meaning they owed at least 25 percent more on their mortgages than their homes are worth in December, a total of 9.3 million …
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/First American Leading Markets Index (LMI), which recently replace NAHB’s improving market index (IMI), indicates markets in 56 of the 350 major metro markets returned to or exceeded their last normal levels of economic activity, indicating a net gain of two over the previous …
A monthly housing survey indicates half of the respondents are optimistic about obtaining credit for a mortgage, an increase over the 45 percent who felt that way one year ago, despite the recent rise in mortgage rates. This survey from December marks the highest sentiment of respondents since Fannie Mae …
An analysis by Fannie Mae of its 2013 National Mortgage Survey reveals lower income borrowers are more apt to rely on advice from others, such as real estate agents and/or friends and family to determine what mortgage to choose and how much to borrow. They want loan terms and costs …
Online Shopping will Play Larger Role in Choosing Mortgages Read More
According to CoreLogic, home prices in the U. S. rose 11.8 percent in November, 2013 compared to Nov. 2012, marking the 21st consecutive month of yearly increases. “Our pending HPI (Home Price Index) projects that home prices will grow by 11.5 percent for the full year 2013,” Dr. Mark Fleming, …
As pressrepublican.com tells MHProNews, the proposal for a 250-lot residential development on 95 acres in Plattsburgh, New York includes manufactured and modular homes in addition to stick-built dwellings. Chris LaBarge of Peryea-LaBarge Real Estate will submit a request to the Town Council under Planned Development District rules that restricts the …
Housing Development set to Include Manufactured and Modular Homes Read More
According to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, over 11 million renters with minimum wage incomes of $19,000 competed for 6.9 million affordable apartments in 2011. Renters with annual incomes of $15,000 must find a unit for $375 a month for it to be affordable. The center considers housing …
Single-family residential construction rose nearly two percent in November to a seasonally-adjusted rate of $175 billion, $3 billion more than in October, according to information derived by nationalmortgagenews.com from Census Bureau data. Compared to a year ago, spending on land development and home building rose rose almost 17 percent from …
Residential Construction Posts Highest Level in 5 1/2 Years Read More
Would-be investors buying foreclosed homes at auction and renting them are finding the trough is drying up, as auction prices have risen faster than rents, according to Core Logic, resulting in returns on investment (ROI) dropping. “It’s gotten so competitive that discounts at foreclosure are not where they were,” said …
The secondary market mortgage portfolio of Fannie Mae has continued to decline, as directed by the government-service enterprise (GSE) regulator. The $42 billion in mortgages it acquired in November represented a 14 percent drop from October. As reported by nationalmortgagenews.com, Fannie’s portfolio fell below $500 billion for the first time …
As nationalmortgagenews.com informs MHProNews, 84 of the largest 300 housing markets have regained 100 percent of home values since the housing bubble, accounting for nearly 30 percent of tracked markets. Only nineteen markets had a decline in home values, while the remaining markets showed a rise of 50 basis points. …
The S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices reveal home prices in the 20 largest U. S. metro areas notched a 13.6 percent yearly increase, marking the highest gain since Feb. 2006 and the 17th month of annual increases. Thirteen cities earned a double-digit rise, according to worldpropertychannel.com. While average home prices …
S&P Case Shiller: U. S. Home Prices Highest in Nearly Eight Years Read More
CNNMoney has selected several cities where the housing market looks brighter than in other cities for the coming year. Oklahoma City has an unemployment rate of just 5.3 percent as of Nov., 2013, and home values have declined a mere one percent since 2009. Trulia reports 75 percent of homes …
Five U. S. Cities with Expected Top Housing Market Growth Read More
While a Bloomberg survey of economists predicted a one percent increase in pending home sales for November, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports the gain was 0.2 percent, the first in six months following a 1.2 percent drop in October. According to nationalmortgagenews, higher borrowing costs, tight lending standards …
