National News

Mortgages in Boston Much More Affordable That Rents in 2014

Everyone knows that mortgages and rents have ran in opposing directions, but the numbers are still jaw-dropping. For some time, we’ve been hearing two independent narratives in housing: one, that mortgage rates and payments were at an all-time low;

6 Important Home Seller Trends That You Should Know

What should you know about home sellers, heading into the 2015 housing market? Our last few stories on NAR’s 2014 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers has focused on the buyer-side of the equation, but now we’re finally taking

Middlesex/Suffolk Counties Less Affordable Than Historic Averages

Yet another round of analysis suggests that housing affordability continues to fall by the wayside in the Boston area. As if we didn’t already have enough indicators on the housing affordability crisis here in Boston, here comes perhaps the most

Google Ready To Tell Readers Your Website Isn’t “Mobile-Friendly”

Google announces intentions to begin labeling websites as “mobile-friendly.” By the end of 2014, eMarketer predicts that upwards of 4.55 billion people will own a mobile phone, and 1.75 billion of those will be smartphones. Ostensibly, that means by

Did Mortgage Lending Just Get Easier?

With Fannie and Freddie’s new mortgage rules coming into effect, the industry questions the impact they’ll truly have. Earlier this month, new lending guidelines previously announced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac came into effect, and now the industry

Could Slowing Asking Prices in Boston Benefit its Market?

What’s the deal with asking prices in our metro area? Asking prices in the Boston area remained positive in November, though they seem to be showing signs of slowing down, according to the newly released Price Monitor from Trulia. Per Trulia’s

The Jobs Report: 6 Good Things (and 2 Bad Things) For Housing

The latest government jobs report was highly encouraging for the economy – and, as a result, for the housing market. Good news alert! The government’s latest jobs report came out last week, and it was a very encouraging one

Foreclosures Remain Low in the Bay State

Foreclosures are being completed at dramatic rates…and why that might not be so good. The newest foreclosure report from CoreLogic highlights the nation’s continued efforts to push through new and long pending foreclosures, but the robust pace of completion

Move, Inc. Files Lawsuit Against Former VP of Product Marketing

Move, Inc., the company that oversees NAR’s realtor.com website, has filed a lawsuit against Curt Beardsley, a former VP of product marketing who, earlier this year, left Move for a new position at competing syndication site Zillow. This marks the

What Income Does Your Client Need to Qualify for a Mortgage in Boston?

At the end of the day, how much income do consumers need to qualify for certain mortgages in our housing market? In our most recent analysis of housing affordability, we looked at what percentage of our housing market’s inventory

Multifamily/Single-Family Construction Post Sizable 2014 Increases

Though overall construction is mostly flat from last year, both single family and multifamily are putting up some encouraging numbers. Residential construction spending was up just 1.3 percent from September to October and 1.8 percent from Oct. 2013, rising

5 Surprising Trends on How Homebuyers are Financing their Purchases

There’s very little that’s conventional in terms of how homebuyers today finance their purchases, as 2014 draws to a close. In our most recent story on NAR’s 2014 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, we looked at how consumers

NAR’s Pending Home Sales Report Tells a Bigger Story

Contract signings are down late in the year but still above average. The latest Pending Home Sales Index report from the National Association of Realtors showed a slight dip in pending home sales in October. Still, levels remain healthy

The Most Worrying Economic Trend for the Housing Market

One aspect of the economic recovery could haunt the housing market far beyond its current cycle. Seven million is a big number, and unfortunately –for both the housing market and the wider economy – it’s attached to a remnant of the Great

If Homebuilding is Flat, Why are Builders So Darn Confident?

It would appear to be a glaring contradiction in the nation’s housing market, but a bit of flip-side thinking immediately clears things up. The HMI, the NAHB’s measurement of builder confidence, rose yet again this month, jumping four points

Boston Home Prices Balance Further in Latest Case-Shiller

Home price growth continued to slow in September, but as we argued with home sales, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Balance was the name of the game for home prices in the Boston’s housing market, which in September rose 4.5 percent