HousingWire reports mortgage applications increased 16.9 percent for the week ending July 13 over the previous week, and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) says 80.1 percent of that figure was refinance applications, up from 77 percent the previous week. MBA’s Mike Fratantoni says, “Applications for HARP refinance loans accounted for …
MHProNews has leaned from NationalMortgageNews the default rate for both first and second mortgages declined May to June, 2012, with first mortgages defaulting at a May 2007 level, and second mortgages at an eight year low. The composite drop was from 1.5% in May to 1.41% in June, according to …
MHProNews has learned from the IndyStar permits for new home construction in the nine county Indianapolis metropolitan area for the first six months of 2012 increased eight percent over the same period 2011, but fell one percent from June 2011, 428 issued down from 434. Compared to June of last …
Indianapolis, National Housing Permits Drop May to June Read More
MHProNews has learned single-family housing starts have increased each month since Feb., rising to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 539,000 in June, a 4.37 percent increase from a 515,000 rate in May. OriginationNews also says the Census Bureau reports multifamily construction rose from a 182,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate …
Realty Biz News reports the impact of the aging of the U.S. population is the number one issue facing the real estate market. MHProNews has learned an estimated 7,000-10,000 boomers reach 65 years of age daily. As people age they spend less on housing and more on health care, and …
Senior Housing to Hugely Impact Real Estate Market Read More
MHProNews has learned from HousingWire the American homeownership rate fell from 69.2 percent in 2004 to 65.4 percent in the first quarter of this year, and Paul Diggle, a property economist with Capital Economics estimates that rate will decline to 64 percent by 2015, not seen since 1995. Diggle continues: …
If Homeownership Continues Falling, Investors will Own More Housing Read More
In an apparent about-face from its statement a year ago that the manufactured housing industry is near death, IBISWorld now says, according to timesunion, while sales of MH are relatively weak compared to 1998, “improved income levels are expected to generate higher sales of manufactured homes in the five years …
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) states builder confidence for newly built, single-family homes rose six points in July, the biggest monthly jump in nearly ten years, and at 35 points, the highest number since 2007. The survey gauges builders’ perceptions based on prospective buyers, …
AnchorageDailyNews reports retail sales fell for the third consecutive month in June, the first time that has happened since the fall of 2008 at the height of the financial crisis. Sales of furnishings, appliances, garden and building supplies, and at department stores all declined, leading to an overall drop of …
Noting the number of first-time home buyers has dropped 20 percent since 2009, the John Burns Real Estate Consulting firm tells Bloomberg’s BusinessWeek home ownership for 25 to 34 year-olds will continue to fall trough 2015. Staggering student loan debt—federal student loan debt has increased 360 percent since the beginning …
According to the Chicago Tribune, RealtyTrac reports of the homes sold in the first quarter of 2012 nationwide, 26 percent were foreclosed properties, an eight percent increase over 2011. While last year short sales accounted for nine percent of homes sold, this year that has increased to 12 percent in …
The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University says the echo boomers, those born between the late 70’s and early 90’s, while many live with parents, are no less interested in owning their own homes than past generations, and will drive the housing market in the near future. Numbering …
Arizona Daily Star says the median rice of homes in Tucson rose 11 percent from last June to $140,000, but was unchanged from May, according to the Tuscon Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service. The number of days a house is on the market fell to 68 in June from …
Benzinga reports Warren Buffett has changed his tune from a year ago when he noted most everything in the economy was improving except residential housing, for which he now sees a demand in the rental market. He says although Europe is in worse shape now than six weeks ago he …
NationalMortgageNews reports RealtyTrac says foreclosure activity dropped eight percent in Q2 2012 from a year ago. 608,235 foreclosure filings—default notice, auction sale notice, or bank repossession—were reported on U.S. properties Q2 2011, as compared to 558,310 for this year’s filing. MHProNews.com has learned while banks repossessed 40,000 fewer properties in …
Foreclosures Remain a Threat to Stabilizing Prices Read More
Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Index showed slowing declines in home prices earlier in the year, and Zillow‘s survey of economists are expecting an 0.4% decline through this year, but JPChase analysts say the 4.8 million homes in the shadow inventory will drag prices down another two percent this year as …
As energy workers are lured to eastern Ohio to take advantage of the jobs becoming available in the oil and gas fields of the Utica Shale formation, RVBusiness says the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Department of Health have issued a 12-page set of regulations governing water. The …
MySanAntonio tells us the western edge of the Eagle Ford Shale near Interstate 35 south of San Antonio is drawing workers to the drilling fields where an additional 7,900 workers will be needed by 2025, but housing remains a problem. Banks are generally reluctant to lend money for rural housing …
HousingWire says a report by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reveals 40 percent of single-family homebuilders plan on hiring skilled workers within the next year, but 62 percent fear a shortage because so many have left the trades because of a lack of jobs. One study reports shortages …
HousingWire says seriously delinquent mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration hit 713,104 in May, the highest since the beginning of the year, but 23 percent higher than May 2011, and more than double the seriously delinquent loans from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—3.5 percent versus 9.4 percent for FHA. …
