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Author Archives: Tory Barringer

Tory Barringer began his journalism career in early 2011, working as a writer for the University of Texas at Arlington's student newspaper before joining the DS News team in 2012. In addition to contributing to DSNews.com, he is also the online editor for DS News' sister publication, MReport, which focuses on mortgage banking news.

Analysis: Job Outlook Less Than Ideal for Homeownership

With job growth continuing on a strong track, a growing number of housing economists anticipate a comeback in homeownership—particularly among young adults—in the months and years ahead. However, a recent study from Freddie Mac turned up some discouraging results to throw some cold water on economists' high hopes.

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First-Time Homebuyer Share Inches Up in January

First-time buyers accounted for nearly half of homebuyers taking out mortgages in January, improving just slightly from December, according to a metric released by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Isolating only the pool of purchase mortgages guaranteed or insured by the GSEs or the government, AEI estimates the share of first-time buyers was slightly higher at 56 percent.

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Mortgage Balances Rise in 2014

According to a report released Wednesday by credit reporting firm TransUnion, the average mortgage balance per consumer increased to $187,139 by the end of last year's fourth quarter, up from $185,496 in Q4 2013. The greatest increase in mortgage balances came in the super prime risk category.

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Housing Starts, Permits Fall in January

Homebuilders broke ground on new homes at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.07 million in January, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. January's rate of new construction was 2.0 percent below December's revised estimate of 1.09 million units annually but 18.7 percent above the year-ago pace of 897,000 units.

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Home Sales Slow to Start New Year

Analyzing transactions from 53 major metros nationwide, RE/MAX's latest National Housing Report showed home sales plunged 32.1 percent from December to January, more than wiping out the prior month's 14.4 percent gain.

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Household Debt Climbs in Q4, Led by Mortgages

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday that outstanding household debt increased $117 billion from the third quarter of last year to the fourth, putting total indebtedness at about $11.8 trillion as of the end of 2014. Balances went up across most categories, led by a $39 billion increase in mortgage debt to a total of $8.2 trillion.

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