According to a report by real estate website Zillow, the percent of homeowners with negative equity is on the decline. As of the second quarter, 30.9 percent of homeowners with a mortgage are underwater, down from 31.4 percent last quarter.
Americans have shown continued interest in buying and owning homes. The demand for new homes is real. We need to keep focused on removing obstacles to homeownership. The new QM, when it emerges, should not impede the market further.
Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 372,000 units in July from an upwardly revised pace in the previous month, according to figures released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development
Phoenix, Oakland, Calif., and Boise, Idaho, are among the 10 housing markets that saw the biggest second-quarter improvement in both median list prices and for-sale inventories, according to data from Realtor.com.
Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes improved for a fourth consecutive month in August with a two-point gain to 37 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).
In a report released last week, housing market research firm Metrostudy identified the top 20 master planned communities in Florida based on annual starts.
A study released last week by an Ohio State University researcher identified the 10 cities with the highest percentage of young adults living at home, with the Bridgeport, Conn., metro area coming in at No. 1.
A total of 80 metropolitan statistical areas across 32 states and the District of Columbia were listed as improving housing markets on the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) for August.
Data through May 2012, released today by S&P Dow Jones Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, showed that average home prices increased by 2.2 percent in May over April for both the 10- and 20-City composites.
