Rapid Reaction: October New Home Sales
October new home sales jumped 6.2 percent from September, to 685,000 units (SAAR), beating expectations and turning in a second straight strong month.
Mortgage Rates Might Climb on Fed Interest Rate Signals
With a shortened Thanksgiving week, the main news regarding mortgage rate movement revolved around the likelihood of a rate hike in December.
October 2017 Market Report: Home Values Growing at Twice the ‘Normal’ Rate
October was the 15th consecutive month in which home values rose by at least 6 percent, which is double the roughly 3 percent annual rate of appreciation we might expect in a more “normal” market.
Rapid Reaction: October Existing Home Sales
October existing home sales grew 2 percent from September, to 5.48 million units (SAAR), the strongest showing since June but still down 0.9 percent from a year ago.
October Home Sales Forecast: Back to Normal
Home sales likely moved past late-summer weather disruptions in October, with both existing and new home sales reverting to recent norms.
Changes to Capital Gains Taxes Could Radically Alter the Calculus for Home Sellers
Proposed changes to the laws governing the exclusion of home sales from capital gains taxes would both radically change the time horizon for short-term homeowners considering selling their home and have a potentially huge impact on the inventory of homes for sale.
12 Counties Account for a Third of U.S. Flood Insurance Claims
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) bails out (literally) underwater homeowners, providing primary flood insurance to properties with significant flood risk. The homeowners who have been buoyed most by flood insurance live in a small number of places with high-value homes.
For all the homeowners the National Flood Insurance program buoys, the program itself barely stays afloat. As the deadline to reauthorize the program quickly approaches – with the House passing a bill this week – federal lawmakers need to decide whether to throw more money into the leaky program, or seriously repair the NFIP.
Mortgage Rates Rise on Economic Data from European Union, Senate Tax Reform Bill
Mortgage rates rose about five basis points at the end of last week on strong economic data coming from the European Union and on the Senate’s tax reform bill. They held steady at this higher level for the first half of the week.
2018 Predictions: The Inventory Crisis Will Drive the Market
In most markets around the country, inventory of homes for sale has become so tight that housing is now a game of musical chairs: Nobody wants to stand up from the home they’re currently living in and list if for sale, for fear they won’t be able to find another home to buy.
