Home affordability took a slight hit this week after the Federal Reserve’s release of its August 10 meeting minutes. The “Fed Minutes” is a lengthy, detailed recap of a Federal Open Market Committee meeting, not unlike the minutes published after a corporate conference, or condo association...

According to the Standard & Poors Case-Shiller Index, home values rose 5 percent in June versus the month prior, and 4 percent from a year earlier.  It’s the 16th consecutive month in which Case-Shiller reported an increase in home values and the third straight month of outstanding results. That...

One day after the National Association of Realtors released the softest Existing Home Sales report since 1995, the U.S. Census Bureau released a similarly-weak New Home Sales report. Americans bought just 276,000 newly-built homes in July. That marks the fewest units sold since the government started...

The number of home resales plunged by 1.4 million units in July, according to the National Association of Realtors®’ Existing Home Sales report. It’s a drop of 27 percent from June; single-family home resales are at the report’s lowest levels since May 1999. Furthermore, because...

Sometimes, you need to look deeper than the headlines to get the news that matters. This basic truth’s latest example comes from the July Housing Starts data, as published by the U.S. Census Bureau. According to the newspapers, Housing Starts improved last month: US Housing Starts Make Modest...

Today, in its first meeting in 6 weeks, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-to-1 to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged.  The Fed Fund Rate remains at a historical low, within a prescribed target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. In its press release, the FOMC said that, since June, the pace of...

The Federal Open Market Committee holds a one-day meeting today, its fifth scheduled meeting of the year, and sixth overall since January. The FOMC is the government’s monetary policy-setting arm and the group’s primary tool for that purpose is an interest rate called the Fed Funds Rate.  The...

According the Federal Home Finance Agency’s Home Price Index, home values are now off just 12.5 percent from their April 2007 peak nationwide.  This, after a half-percent monthly increase in prices in May, on average. Given the state of the market since April 2007, the Home Price Index results...

Mortgage rates have been falling since April but that momentum could reverse tomorrow. The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the July jobs report at 8:30 A.M. ET Friday. With a stronger-than-expected reading, mortgage rates should rise, harming home affordability in Washington. Jobs are a keystone...

The Pending Home Sales Index failed to rebound from a cliff-dive in May, falling by another 3 percent more in June.  The index remains at record-low levels. A “pending home sale” is a home under contract to sell, but not yet closed. The data is culled from local real estate associations...