According to the Census Bureau, 2.8 million people commute to work 90 minutes or more each day, in each direction. Now, your daily commute may not be as long, but time spent in cars, trains and buses is time away from work and from family. Drive-time can affect a person’s Quality of Life and it’s [...]

Foreclosures stories dominate the national housing news. It seems at least one foreclosure-related story makes its way to the front page or the nightly news every week. But for as much as the foreclosure filing statistics can be astounding — over 300,000 homes were served last month alone — the prevalence of foreclosures depends on [...]

The Pending Home Sales Index rose slightly in December, climbing 1 percent from November. A Pending Home Sale is a home that is under contract to sell, but not yet sold. It’s a figure compiled by the National Association of Realtors® using sales data from over 100 regional listing services and more than 60 large [...]

Reporting on a two-month lag, the government said home values rose 0.7 percent in November.  National home prices are at their highest point since February 2009. But before we look too much into the FHFA’s Home Price Index, it’s important that we’re cognizant of its shortcomings; the most important of which is its lack of [...]

  Conforming and FHA mortgage rates improved last week on the combination of weaker-than-expected economic data and new anti-banking rhetoric from the White House. The S&P 500 shed nearly 4 percent in its worst weekly showing since October 2009 as all 10 sectors fell. As the money left stock markets, it made its way to [...]

November 6, 2009, Congress voted to extend and expand the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit program.  There’s 100 days left to claim it. The expiration date of the up-to-$8,000 tax credit has been pushed forward to spring, requiring homebuyers to be under contract for a home no later than April 30, 2010, and to be closed [...]

Just one month after touching a 3-year high, the National Association of Realtors® Pending Home Sales index plunged in November.  A “pending” home sale is a home that is under contract to sell, but has yet to close. The 16 percent drop marks the first retreat in Pending Home Sales since January of last year. [...]

To be notified when I write something new, sign up for daily email alerts or subscribe to the feed. It’s not only the real estate markets that differ from town to town — the Cost of Living does, too. Insurance costs, tax bills and just plain, day-to-day living will dent a household budget differently depending [...]

Home resales are soaring. For the 4th consecutive month, the Existing Home Sales report revealed what today’s buyers and sellers already know — there’s a lot of buyer activity right now. Existing Home Sales surged 7-plus percent in November, posting its largest number of recorded sales in 33 months.  Sales volume is up 44% higher [...]

To be notified when I write something new, sign up for daily email alerts or subscribe to the feed. Housing Starts jumped last month as builders got back to business.  It’s a telling sign for the economy, but bad news for next season’s sellers. With more homes coming online, home prices may be slow to [...]