National News

Toll Brothers the Latest Revitalized Builder

Toll Brothers has joined the league of revitalized builders, including Lennar and Hovnanian, if comments from the luxury builder’s CEO are any indication. In an interview with CNBC, CEO Douglas Yearley said his company has been experiencing some of

OCC Foreclosures Finished 2011 With a Sigh

Foreclosures launched by Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)-registered banks and servicers fell by 16 percent in the fourth quarter and by 17.9 percent year-over-year, according to the latest data from the agency, capping off an entire

Housing Prices with a Dose of Reality

Standard & Poor’s released the latest Case-Shiller Indices yesterday, and as has been the trend the last few months, the research firm reported declines in price, specifically a 3.9 percent year-over-year drop in the 20-City Composite, which measures home

Homeowner Aspiration Remains High in Fannie Survey

Despite economic strife and continued difficulties in the housing market, Americans continue to see homeownership as preferable to renting, according to Fannie Mae’s latest National Housing Survey. A study involving 3,000 Americans that focuses on the state of homeownership aspirations in

Principal Reduction Effort Gains Considerable Steam from Unlikely Sources

The principal reduction, and whether the GSEs will embrace it as a central policy for aiding distressed borrowers, is undoubtedly among the most contentious issues facing housing right now, as Acting FHFA Director Ed DeMarco has resisted repeated calls

Pending Sales Maintain Yearly Gains in February

The National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Pending Home Sales Index increased from 88.4 in February 2011 to 96.5 in February of this year, an uptick that suggests some of the strongest existing-home sales in years. A leading indicator for

Predictions in Construction with a Hint of Optimism

By Peter Ricci Economic analysis is among the more unforgiving fields of study in the wide world of

Homebuyers Headed to Smaller Homes in Bigger Cities

A recent study shows that new homebuyers are finding small living spaces in urban areas more attractive than in previous years. According to an article by Housing Wire the Urban Land Institute of North Texas’ executive vice president of policy

New Home Sales Increase 11.4 Percent From 2011

For the second month in a row, new home sales were down monthly but up yearly, increasing 11.4 percent from February 2011 but decreasing 1.6 percent from January 2012’s revised rate of 318,000, according to data just released today

Demand Remains High for Design Services in February

The Architecture Billings Index (ABI), a leading economic indicator of future construction activity, reported positive numbers yet again in February, marking the fourth straight month that the index has been in such territory, according to the most recent press release from the American Institute of

CoreLogic Brings Shadow Inventory Into the Light

Research firm CoreLogic released its latest residential shadow inventory study yesterday, reporting that the ever-nebulous sector of housing in January 2012 stood at 1.6 million units, or a six months’

Construction Start-ups the Latest Indicator of an Industry Recovery

The news cycles have been been abound with positive developments in construction the past couple weeks (and we’ll have a new issue on construction out on Monday), but the Wall Street Journal has just reported on perhaps the most encouraging detail of all

The Shifting Foreclosure Landscape

Two developments in the foreclosure market this week, one involving completions and the other construction, have shown that housing is slowly but surely working its way through the distressed inventories that have long plagued the

February Existing-Home Sales Up 8.8 Percent over 2011

Existing-home sales continued their strong year-over-year increases with the latest data for February, as sales rose 8.8 percent from last year to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 4.59 million, according to the National Association of

Default Rate Declines the Newest Chapter in Improving Homeowner Finances

Standard & Poor’s continued what has been an entire month of credit-friendly news with its reports on first-time default rates, which declined on consumer credit for the second straight month while nonpayments on second lien mortgages hit a new

FHA Delinquencies Remain Foreground Topic

Throughout most of 2011, the finances at the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) received considerable media attention, with analysts and politicians alike predicting the end of the agency. An recent infusion of funds was thought to have alleviated those concerns, but new

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