Blog categorized as Housing Analysis

Last week's jobs report -- a combination of the Department of Labor's Non-farm Payrolls Report and Unemployment Rate -- provided investors and job seekers with unexpected good news.

Job growth for February handily exceeded most economists expectations of 160,000 by adding 236,000 new jobs.

According t...

The previous couple years' doom and gloom outlook is looking like it is turning more upbeat and robust for the rest of 2013.

Home Prices Climb Nearly 10% Over Past Year

In fact, a recently released report by CoreLogic stated that home prices were up 9.7 percent from one year previously.

That kind of in...

The Standard and Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released February 26 show strong growth in the majority of 20 cities and corresponding metro areas tracked during 2012.

The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices measure home prices nationally and locally by compiling data from individual inde...

Home sales rose for the 11th consecutive month according to the National Association of REALTORS® Existing Home Sales Report for January.

This is the first time this has occurred since the period between July of 2005 and May of 2006.

National Average Home Price Up Over 12% Annually

The national average...

Many times real estate market experts point to the feelings of the nation's home builders as a bell-weather signalling the health of the housing sector.

This month's reading indicates that home builders are feeling pretty good.

The National Association of Home Builders / Wells Fargo Housing Market Ind...

Home prices continue their upward climb. 

Last week, the S&P/Case-Shiller Index showed home prices gaining 5.5 percent during the 12-month period ending November 2012, marking the largest one-year gain in home prices since May 2010.

The Case-Shiller Index measures changes in home prices by tr...

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) reports that the Pending Home Sales Index fell 4.3 percent in December as compared to the month prior. The index now reads 101.7.

The Pending Home Sales Index measures the number of U.S. homes that have gone "into contract", but have not yet close...

Home sales dropped last month, but not because demand was lacking. There are fewer homes for sale than at any time in the last 11 years.

According to the National Association of REALTORS®, Existing Home Sales for December 2012 fell to a seasonally-adjusted, annualized rate of 4.94 million homes from ...

The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) Housing Market Index ended its 8-month winning streak this month, posting a value of 47. The January 2013 reading is on level with last month, and remains at a near 7-year high.

The Housing Market Index (HMI) is a measure of home builder confidence....

Home buyers continue to push the U.S. housing market forward.

In November, for the second straight month, the Pending Home Sales Index eclipsed its benchmark reading of 100, posting a value of 106.4.

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) is published monthly by the National Association of REALTORS®. It ...

The U.S. housing market continues to make home price gains.

Earlier this week, the S&P/Case-Shiller Index showed home prices gaining 4.3 percent during the 12-month period ending October 2012, marking the largest one-year gain in home prices since May 2010.

The Case-Shiller Index measures changes ...

Single-family housing starts took a small step back in November.

According to the monthly Housing Starts report from the U.S. Department of Commerce, single-family housing starts tallied 565,000 in November 2012 on a seasonally-adjusted, annualized basis. This marks a 4 percent decline from October, ...

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released its Housing Market Index (HMI), showing another monthly gain -- its ninth in a row.

The HMI -- a gauge of homebuilder confidence -- rose 1 point to 47 in December 2012, lifting the index to its highest levels since April 2006.

Readings under 50...

Foreclosure-tracker RealtyTrac reports falling foreclosure sales nationwide as banks get better at selling homes via short sale.

In its Q3 2012 report, RealtyTrac says that 193,059 homes in some stage of foreclosure were sold, accounting for 19% of all residential home sales. In addition, pre-fo...

Last week's National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) brought positive news about U.S. housing markets and the broader U.S. economy, in general.

According to the IMI, there are now 201 U.S. markets which can be considered "improving".

To meet this sta...

Homes were sold at a furious pace last month.

According the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), the Pending Home Sales Index rose 5.2 percent in October, crossing the benchmark 100 reading, and moving to 104.8.

It's a 5-point improvement from September's revised figure and the highest readin...

Sales of newly-built homes took a small step lower in October, but remain strong.

According to the Commerce Department, New Home Sales slipped 1,000 units last month, falling to 368,000 units on a seasonally-adjusted, annualized basis. 

The final reading fell short of Wall Street expectations, an...