For the second month in a row, 18 of the 20 Case-Shiller real estate markets posted higher home values.  It's the 6th consecutive strong showing for the benchmark private-sector housing index. Combined with falling home supplies and rising sales figures, this month's Case-Shiller Index suggests that housing may have bottomed sometime earlier this year. It's cause for optimism. Even Case-Shiller respresentatives seem excited. In its press release, the publishers singled out the index's winning streak, commenting on the recent "stabilization in national real estate ...

Getting approved for a mortgage is about to get harder. For the second time in less than 3 months, Fannie Mae announced changes to its mortgage guidelines. In its official announcement, Fannie Mae details the updates, meant to reduce the mortgage firm's overall risk. The first major change is with respect to credit scoring.  All Fannie Mae loans -- whether underwritten electronically or manually -- require a 620 credit score minimum.  There are very few exceptions. A second change relates to loans with private mortgage insurance.  Homeowners whose loan-to-value exceeds 80 ...

The mortgage market resumed its winning streak last week after a 1-week hiatus.  Markets rallied into the weekend and mortgage rates eased lower overall. It's the third week out of four that rates improved and, ironically, rates may have dropped last week because traders were watching the wrong metrics.  With respect to housing, analysts found August's Existing Home Sales and New Homes Sales reports disappointing.  Both posted weaker-than-expected sales volume, sparking a stock market sell-off that led bond markets higher. It was the wrong reaction. Versus home supply, the ...

As reported by the National Association of REALTORS®, the number of Existing Home Sales dipped last month, ending the metric's 5-month winning streak. Newspaper headlines today are overwhelmingly negative on housing. You'd almost believe this year's housing recovery had ended.  That's hardly the case. See, the other side of the Existing Home Sales story is that -- while the number of units sold did fall by 3 percent -- the months of existing supply fell by nearly a year. To home buyers and home sellers, this is huge.  Home prices are based on supply and demand and with ...

(polymath blues) Let’s face it – the typical real estate transaction is pretty boring. Few of us can get all that excited about yet another “three bedroom, one and a half bath” changing hands in the town or city we live in. The daily occurrence of these deals – and the ordinary properties involved – are simply too commonplace to react any other way. However, every once in a while a truly remarkable property comes on to the market or is developed for sale. Whether it’s a house that’s only nine and a half feet wide or one made entirely of glass, ...

As reported by the government, home prices are rising nationwide, up 0.3 percent in July. Furthermore, versus November 2008, the Home Price Index has clawed back to unchanged. The housing market appears to be holding its own. However, we have to be careful about putting our full faith in the Federal Housing Finance Agency's data.  It's somewhat flawed. The Home Price Index is a national statistic and all real estate is local The Home Price Index's methodology specifically excludes key housing demographics As an obvious example, HPI only accounts for homes with Fannie ...

The Federal Open Market Committee starts a 2-day meeting today in Washington.  The scheduled get-together ends at 2:15 PM ET Wednesday after which the FOMC will issue a press release to the markets. Consider locking your mortgage in advance of the press release.  The FOMC meets 8 times annually and its adjournments are among the biggest market-movers of the year.  The Fed's post-meeting press release is a direct look into the mind of the Federal Reserve and Wall Street is looking for clues anywhere it can find them. After its August 2009 meeting, the FOMC said in ...

After improving in the two prior weeks, mortgage markets finished last week unchanged overall.  Mortgage rates were down early in the week but managed to give up all of their gains late-Friday afternoon.  It's the same volatility variety we've seen in most weeks this year.  Markets moved on to both positive- and negative-type news last week.  On the positive side: Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the recession is "very likely over" Retail Sales were much stronger than expected Warren Buffett confirmed to CNBC that he was back in the market On the negative side, Housing ...