Market Studies

Although many homeowners feel confident in the current state of the market, they are a bit more uncertain about the future, Zillow’s Housing Confidence Index.

The number of job openings in construction overall remained stable in July, though hiring in the home construction sector slowed that same month, according the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Association of Home Builders.

The scrutiny borrowers face when seeking jumbo loans might be as tough as ever, but qualifying one is at least getting easier.

The recent stock market fluctuations and seasonal trend changes may have homebuyers perplexed, but there is a silver lining, according to Realtor.com's First Look report for August 2015.

Homeowners continued to overvalue their homes for the seventh consecutive month in August when compared with appraiser opinions. Quicken Loans reported in their Home Price Perception Index that homeowner estimates were 2.65 percent higher than appraiser opinions, the largest gap in over a year.

Consumer attitudes toward the real estate market slid down in August due to economic concerns, Fannie Mae reported in their newly launched Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI). In August 2015, the HPSI fell 0.5 points from July to 80.8, Fannie Mae said. The sentiment level is also down from the peak reached in June 2015 of 84.7 and the index is up 5.3 points from August 2014.

Net equity among U.S. mortgage holders has increased by nearly $1 trillion in the last year, reaching the highest level since 2007, according to Black Knight Financial Services July 2015 Mortgage Monitor.

Despite housing market challenges, U.S. state housing finance agencies remain financially sound as mortgage revenue bond issuance, net interest, median ratios, and other factors trend upward.

Job gains fell below expectations for the month of August, totaling less than 200,000, but wage growth finally began to show some upward pressure. However, analysts are still divided on whether it will be enough to convince the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in their September meeting.

A recent Corelogic report found that foreign buyers are pulling back from the U.S. housing market, but this trend doesn't seem to be influencing Texas markets, where international homebuying activity is gaining momentum.