Tag Archives: housing prices

Case-Shiller Home Prices Up, Ownership Rate Lower

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Home prices have stabilized for a while, after the 2013 double-digit price surge brought on by the Fed’s various QE bond purchases and ultra-low interest rates. And homeownership rates are still dropping due mainly to affordability and … Continue reading →

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Housing Starts, Builder Optimism at Recovery Highs

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Privately-owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,174,000. This is 9.8 percent above the revised May estimate of 1,069,000 and is 26.6 percent above the June 2014 rate of 927,000. This … Continue reading →

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Housing Construction Surge—Sign of Better Times?

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner U.S. housing starts jumped to their highest level in nearly 7-1/2 years in April and permits soared, hopeful signs for an economy that is struggling to regain strong momentum after a dismal first quarter. And that is … Continue reading →

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Housing Sales-Construction Continue to Expand

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner The NAR reports total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, rose 2.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million in December from a downwardly-revised 4.92 million … Continue reading →

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Good Pending Sales, Home Prices in 2015

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Pending home sales are rising again. Sales picked up steam in November, to 104.8 from a revised 104.0 in October for a better-than-expected gain of 0.8 percent. It is a sign, along with the Case-Shiller Home Price … Continue reading →

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Fannie/Freddie, Home Prices in Good Shape

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac brought in a combined second-quarter net income of $5 billion, nearly half of the $9.3 billion the two made in the first quarter of 2014, the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s … Continue reading →

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Pending-Home Sales Decline Slightly

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, fell 1.0 percent to 104.7 in August from 105.8 in July, and is now 2.2 percent below August 2013 (107.1). Despite the slight decline, the … Continue reading →

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Yellen + Jackson Hole = Higher Growth

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly New Fed Chairman Janet Yellen plus a few other major central bankers at their annual Jackson Hole conference seem to have committed a heresy by advocating full employment as the goal of central bank policies, above and … Continue reading →

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Economic Recovery Is For Real

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly We are already in July, and can now see that the US economic recovery is for real, in spite of the past winter. Even economic growth is picking up, so that second quarter Gross Domestic Product might … Continue reading →

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Where is Housing Affordable?

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Why aren’t there more home buyers? It seems that housing can’t really recover until household incomes recover, and household incomes are barely keeping up with inflation at the moment. We also know that can’t happen until we … Continue reading →

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