National News

Low Mortgage Rates Boost Pending Sales to Highest Level Since June 2013

Pending home sales are at their highest mark in nearly two years, and all because of one thing. Pending home sales in February rose to their highest mark since June 2013, according to the latest Pending Home Sales Index

3 Sobering Facts About Today’s Skittish Economy

We all know that the economy has improved in recent years, but we also know (and with similar levels of confidence) that there remain considerable hurdles for many Americans in today’s economy. Take a look through our informative graphic

The 6 Ways That Homebuyers Search For Homes

We all know the Internet is prominent, but there are interesting details to how homebuyers search for homes nowadays. It’s no mystery that the Internet is the defining conduit for real estate today, but NAR’s Home Buyer and Seller

5 Important Details About the Latest New Home Sales Report

Sure, new home sales were up in February, but there’s much more than meets the eye. On the surface, it looks like February was a very positive month for sales of newly built single-family homes. According to the latest

NAR: Existing-Home Sales Increase, Inventory Levels Pose Problem

NAR’s report found existing-home sales improved in February, but those gains were offset by skyrocketing home prices. Existing-home sales increased modestly in February, a report from the National Association of Realtors discovered, but shallow inventories across the country are

RESPA-TILA: Big Changes Are Coming

For four decades, RESPA and TILA have run parallel to each other. On August 1, 2015, they’ll be consolidated, and the changes will be significant. In 1974, in an effort to stop widespread corruption in the housing industry, Congress

6 Key Facts About the Homes Consumers are Buying Today

Single-family detached? Senior-related housing? New? Old? What homes do consumers want today? In the grand world of American housing, what properties are holding the most sway with homebuyers nowadays? And how do those preferences shift across generational lines? In our

Builder Confidence Hits Eight-Month Low in March

Homebuilders are feeling a little less confident this month. A key measure of builder confidence declined this month, with the Housing Market Index (HMI) dropping two points to a level of 53. Released monthly by the NAHB, the HMI tracks

New Construction in February Plunges on Weak Multifamily Activity

The latest construction report looks bad, but as usual, there’s more than meets the eye. The numbers do not warm the heart – last month, housing starts were down 17 percent from January and 3.3 percent from Feb. 2014,

The Millennial Mind: Frugal, Inquisitive and Ready to Buy

Ninety-two million Millennials represent the largest living generation and the future of homebuying. Millennials, while not the most active buyers and sellers, are real estate’s most important demographic, and for one reason in particular: there are so many of them.

Consumers Demand More From Lenders

TD Bank survey shows what clients want: more information. In the wake of the rebuilding year of 2014, the market, while still in recovery, has been cast in a distinctly more appealing light, as consumers are once again eager

Homeownership Rate Fell to 20-Year Low in 2014, Worse For Younger Americans

Everyone has seen the various reports that the U.S. homeownership rate has fallen in recent years, but how much as it really declined? To find out, we took a deep dive into the Census Bureau’s data on the matter,

4 Important Details About Today’s Homebuyers

What are some of the defining traits of homebuyers in today’s housing market? Every spring, Christmas comes early in the form of NAR’s Generational Survey, a massively detailed look at homebuyers, sellers and the generational divides that exist between

4 Reasons You Should Doubt the ‘Official’ Unemployment Rate

Sure, unemployment has been falling, but the way we measure unemployment is riddled with problems Last week, we reported that the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent in February, the lowest it’s been in nearly seven years. News

Major Changes Coming to Consumer Credit Ratings

The manner in which the major credit-rating agencies judge consumer credit will change in a big way. The three major credit-rating agencies will be overhauling their methods for addressing both credit disputes and medical bills, according to a new

5 Must-Know Details About the Latest Jobs Report

There were several aspects of the new jobs report that real estate agents should be aware of. The government released its latest jobs report earlier today, and as with past reports, there was a subtle mixture of highly positive and slightly

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