The MReport Webcast: Thursday 2/26/2015

The latest Multi-Indicator Market Index from Freddie Mac, released Wednesday, showed that the U.S. housing market showed continued stabilization for the fourth straight month in December. According to the latest index, 38 states plus the District of Columbia and 40 out of 50 metros showed an improving three-month trend in December. While Freddie Mac said the latest index value indicated a weak housing market, it has been showing improvement. The national index value for December was reported at 74.9, which is a year-over-year increase of 4.41 percent

Three out of the four indicators in the December index increased month-over-month and year-over-year: the purchase applications indicator, the current on mortgage indicator, and the employment indicator all showed increases. The only indicator out of the four that reported a decline was the payment-to-income indicator. The employment indicator, with a reported value of 99.1, showed the highest gains at 2.01 percent month-over-month and 13.52 percent year-over-year.

January saw relatively little change in the number of new home sales from December, according to data released today from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau on new residential home sales in January; however, sales are on the rise from last year. According to the report, homes sold at an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of 48,000 in January. Home sales dropped a slight 0.2 percent from the revised December estimate of 482,000, but still grew 5.2 percent from the January estimate.