As reported by the National Association of REALTORS®, the number of Existing Home Sales dipped last month, ending the metric’s 5-month winning streak. Newspaper headlines today are overwhelmingly negative on housing. You’d almost believe this year’s housing recovery had ended. That’s hardly the case. See, the other side of the Existing Home Sales story is that — while the [...]
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Housing Starts Slip, But Don’t Think The Recovery’s Been Halted
Housing Starts on single-family homes took a step backwards last month, falling month-over-month for the first time since January. A “housing start” is new home on which construction has started. Don’t let the slowdown fool you, however – the housing market’s recovery is still very much underway. Sales volume is up in most cities Home values are up in most places [...]
Read MoreThe Geographical Concentration Of Foreclosures
Once again, the country’s foreclosures are concentrated in just a few states. As reported by foreclosure-tracking company RealtyTrac.com, more than 50 percent of the country’s foreclosure-related actions in August occurred in just four states: California : 25.76 percent Florida : 17.4 percent Michigan : 5.4 percent Nevada : 5.0 percent The rest of the “Top 10″ [...]
Read MoreWhy Home Prices Are Almost Certain To Rise This Fall
In what’s becoming a regular occurrence, housing data blew away economists expectations Tuesday. As reported by the National Association of Realtors®, the Pending Home Sales Index posted its 6th consecutive monthly gain in July. After a meteoric rise that started in January, the index is now at its highest levels in more than 2 years. [...]
Read MoreAnother Sign Of Economic Recovery : Consumer Sentiment Rising
In a bit of good news for the economy, Consumer Sentiment fell to 4-month lows in August. The drop wasn’t “good news”, per se, but because it wasn’t nearly as large as economists expected, Wall Street cheered it. The index, jointly published by the University of Michigan and Reuters, measures how Americans feel about their situation [...]
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