Sometimes, headlines for housing can be misleading and this week gave us a terrific example. On Wednesday, the Commerce Department released its Housing Starts data for January 2010. The data showed starts at a 6-month high. A “Housing Start” is a privately-owned home on which construction has ...

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 —...

Just one month after from blowing away Wall Street, December’s Existing Home Sales hit the skids, shedding nearly 17 percent and falling to a 4-month low. Don’t be alarmed, though. The plunge was expected. And not just because Pending Home Sales cratered last month. When November’s...

Obama signed the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit today. Congress both extended and expanded the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit program Thursday. The up-to-$8000 tax credit’s expiration date has been pushed forward to spring, requiring homebuyers to be under contract by April 30, 2010,...

For August, the Case-Shiller Index showed annual home values improving across 19 of 20 U.S. markets. It’s the first time in 3-plus years that the benchmark housing index has shown such strength. According to a Case-Shiller Index spokesperson, “The rate of annual decline in home price values...

The national housing supply fell to a 2-year low last month, according to the National Association of Realtors®. At the current sales pace, existing home inventories would sell out in 7.8 months — 30 percent faster versus November 2008. For a 10-month window, that’s a major housing supply...

According to the government, home values edged lower last month. The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Home Price Index report shows values down by 0.3 percent from the month prior – the index’s first down month since April. The Home Price Index is based on the value of homes financed...

For the seventh consecutive month, foreclosure activity in the U.S. was dominated by a tiny subset of states. As reported by RealtyTrac.com, more than half of September’s foreclosure-related activity occurred in just 4 states: 1. California 2. Florida 3. Nevada 4. Michigan These states...

An escrow account is a designated savings account into which funds get deposited for a specific purpose. With respect to real estate and home loans, escrow accounts are used to pay real estate tax bills and homeowners insurance payments. Escrow accounts are managed and disbursed by lenders. When a homeowner...

Buoyed by a generous tax credit, affordable homes, and low mortgage rates, the Pending Home Sales Index posted its seventh consecutive monthly gain in August. It’s the longest winning streak in the index’s history and the highest reading in 2-1/2 years. It’s also another signal that...