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Tag Archives: Home Values

Commentary: Does Homeownership Cause Unemployment?

When President George W. Bush followed his predecessor Bill Clinton in pushing homeownership, one loud dissenter was British economist Andrew Oswald, who argued that far from improving the economy--as Bush (and Clinton before him) said it would--homeownership hurts the economy in the long run. Now, Oswald and Dartmouth Economics Professor David Blanchflower are at it again in a new paper released by the National Bureau of Economic Research with arguments even they admit may be shallow.

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Home Equity Jumps 2.5 Percentage Points in Q1

Household net worth jumped by $3 trillion in the first quarter as real estate values grew $836 billion, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday in its quarterly Flow of Funds report. With a drop in mortgage debt, owners' equity in real estate increased a sharp 2.5 percentage points to its highest level since 2007. Owners' equity as a percentage of real estate value has been on a steady upward trajectory since dropping to 36.3 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

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Beige Books Sees ‘Modest to Moderate’ Growth

Fed

The nation's economy grew at a "modest to moderate pace" from early April through the end of May, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday in its periodic Beige Book. The report cited growing strength in the housing and residential construction sector and the impact on the broader economy, with residential real estate and construction activity increasing "at a moderate to strong pace in all Districts." In addition, "overall bank lending improved modestly since the previous report."

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As Prices Rise Nationally, Local Trends Tell Different Story

Regional prices increased across the nation over the three-month period ending in May, according to Clear Capital's most recent home price report, but metro prices were mixed. According to Alex Villacorta, VP of research and analytics, "the diversity in price performance at the local level is mainly a function of the severity to which a particular housing market was hit during the housing crash." Consistent with this observation, Las Vegas and Phoenix continue to lead the recovery at the metro level.

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Report: Forces Behind Price Gains Won’t Last

Though Radar Logic's home price index continued to see strong gains in March, the firm says there are several signs that the trend won't last, the main one being the issue of limited supply. According to Radar Logic, the three supply constraints that will ease with rising prices are low and negative equity, seller psychology, and building activity, all of which are just temporary factors that will fade as the market continues to pick up steam. Once these "unorthodox" market forces fade, demand will also cease, the report says.

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