Pending home sales for the month of October climbed 10.4% to 93.3, the highest level of 2011. This also represents a 9.2% increase over October of last year. Pending home sales is a forward looking indicator that measures housing contract activity. It is based on signed real estate contracts for existing single-family homes, condos and [...]
SharePrices in the Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index weakened slightly in September, falling 0.6% from August. Of the 20 cities included in the index, only New York, Portland and Washington DC saw increases from August. The 1-year change from September 2010 was down 3.6%. Though both Detroit (up 3.7%) and Washington DC (up 1.0%) [...]
ShareExisting home sales for October rose to 4.97 million, a 1.4% increase from September, and a 13.5% increase from October 2010. An additional positive sign is the decline in the number of homes on the market. Total inventory for October fell 2.2% from September. This represents an 8.0 month supply at the current sales pace, [...]
ShareExisting home sales for October rose to 4.97 million, a 1.4% increase from September, and a 13.5% increase from October 2010. An additional positive sign is the decline in the number of homes on the market. Total inventory for October fell 2.2% from September. This represents an 8.0 month supply at the current sales pace, [...]
ShareBuilding permits rose to 653,000 in October. A 10.9% increase from September and 17.7% higher than October 2010. This is the largest number of permits for 2011 and represents the most since March 2010. The building permits report is used as a guide to gauge future signs of construction. Housing construction is significant in that [...]
ShareThe Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell 0.1% in October. The 12-month reading of 3.5% comes in lower than September’s reading of 3.9%. This chart displays the year-over-year CPI readings for the last 10 months. Generally, as inflation eases, bond prices rise. Higher bond prices can have a beneficial effect on home loan rates as they [...]
ShareRetail sales increased .5% to $397,666 million in October. Though the percentage increase was down from 1.1% in September, it marks the second straight month of strong sales and continues an upward trend in consumer spending. The increase in October brings the 2011 level 7.2% above that of October 2010. This chart shows monthly retail [...]
ShareAccording to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover report (JOLTS), the number of job openings in September was 3.4 million, up from the August reading of 3.1 million. Although the number of job openings is still below the pre-recession reading of 4.4 million in December 2007, there has been significant improvement since the low in [...]
ShareBuying a home that is not in good condition has been hard for buyers who were using traditional home loans for financing. As more and more properties come to market that are in need of repairs, the renovation loans are becoming more and more popular. The 203k renovation loan is a FHA loan that allows [...]
ShareAccording to the Labor Department, 80,000 jobs were added for the month of October. Though down slightly from expectations, there was good news regarding employment as both the September and August readings saw large revised increases. August was revised up 47,000 to 104,000, while September was revised up 55,000 to 158,000. The revised September data [...]
Share