Housing Market

Housing Market

No Signs of Cooling in Home Prices during this Winter

Data through November 2013, released recently by S&P Dow Jones Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, showed that the 10-City and 20-City Composites increased 13.8 percent and 13.7 percent year-over-year. Dallas posted its highest
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Wait… What? More People Will Buy Homes if Prices go Up

While it seems counterintuitive, could higher home prices lead an increase in home sales? Two Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco senior economists, William Hedberg and John Krainer think so as explained in an Economic Letter titled Why Are Housing Inventories Low? It's not that higher prices
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More Home Owners are Remodeling As Home Equity Returns

Home remodeling saw greater demand in the third quarter as a growth in home equity and home sales prompted more home owners to tackle remodeling projects, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ home remodeling index. The remodeling market index moved higher in the third
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10% of Home Owners Still Underwater

As prices rise, more home owners are regaining equity. But some metros are still facing a disproportionate number of underwater home owners, those who owe more on their home than it is currently worth. Nationwide, 10.6 percent—or 5.3 million—of all mortgage holders remain underwater. Still,
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Brokerages are attracted by perks of ‘Cloud Office’

Virtual real estate brokerage models have been around for years, but because they fail to meet the social and collaborative needs of agents, they often are found to be isolating and uninspiring. Real estate agents fax documents to someone whose name they may not know and who they may never meet,
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Heading in 2014 Where Are Mortgage Rates heading?

Mortgage rates will likely rise above 5 percent in 2014 and average 5.3 percent by the end of 2015, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s forecast. That would mark a big jump over where mortgage rates stand now. The MBA reported this week that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged
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5 questions to help you choose between a 30-year mortgage or 15 – Part 4

Are you looking to refinance? If you already have a mortgage and would like to refinance, now may be a good time. Cecala noted that if your current payments on a 30-year mortgage are high enough, you might be able to refinance into a 15-year mortgage and make similar monthly payments while
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5 questions to help you choose between a 30-year mortgage or 15 – Part 3

Are you buying your first home? First-time home buyers often benefit from selecting a 30-year mortgage because the monthly payments are lower. A longer-term mortgage can make a more expensive home more affordable for a new buyer. According to Cecala, most first-time home buyers "are trying to
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New home buyers could be dissuade by rising mortgage rates

A sharp rise in mortgage rates over the last few weeks means it may be too late for some homeowners to benefit from a refinance. This just as thousands were gaining equity in their homes and finally becoming eligible. At the same time, the still-low rates are encouraging some renters to buy
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A major shift in the housing market

The real estate market has been one of the strongest pillars of the economy following the greatest financial downturn since the Great Depression. Amid low interest rates and a great deal of intervention from policymakers, home buyers received an added incentive to purchase a home. Meanwhile,
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