Data

Including distressed sales, home prices nationwide rose 6.4 percent year-over-year in August, according to the latest report from CoreLogic. The increase marks 30 straight months of year-over-year price growth nationally. August's increase came in below July's rate of appreciation, which clocked in at 7.4 percent in CoreLogic's initial report for the month.

Fannie Mae's chief economist, Doug Duncan, said the latest employment report supports Fannie's "forecast of solid economic growth," and is consistent with the company's September National Housing Survey, "which is expected to show a rebound in consumer expectations regarding housing after a couple of months of eroding confidence."

After slowing for the fourth straight month in August, the Federal Reserve's gauge of conditions in the labor market made a slight recovery in September. The Fed's labor market conditions index, which the central bank said it will now release on a monthly basis, added 2.5 points in September after increasing only 2 points in August—its lowest pace of growth in 13 months.

Despite inching closing to the tipping point, home prices still haven't reached a stage where fears of a bubble are justified, says Trulia. The company recently released its third quarter Bubble Watch report, which measures whether home prices are over- or undervalued relative to their fundamental value. Comparing current movements to long-term trends, the report suggests home prices nationally remain 3 percent undervalued.

Mortgage loans are aging, particularly loans to borrowers with lower credit scores, according to the latest data from Jacksonville, Florida-based Black Knight Financial Services. In fact, the average loan age is currently at an all-time high of 54 months, according to the firm. The average mortgage loan age has been on the rise for about nine years, although the uptick in loan originations last year brought on a "temporary slowdown," according to Black Knight.

Out of 884 community bankers currently active in the mortgage space, 31 percent expect their institution's residential mortgage holdings at the end of the year will be less than their level last year, according to findings released by the Federal Reserve and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. Of those who anticipate reductions in the dollar value of their mortgage holdings, most pointed to increased regulation and compliance costs at the reason.

After giving a soft performance in August, the labor market came back strong last month, knocking the national unemployment rate down below the 6.0 percent mark for the first time in more than six years.

According to the latest Trulia Housing Barometer, while home prices, sales, and delinquency rates are all most of the way back to normal, new construction starts and a poor employment rate among young adults are snagging full economic recovery. However, all five indicators have improved year-over-year, if slightly in some areas.

In a report on Wednesday, the Commerce Department estimated construction spending for the month of August was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $961.0 billion, a decrease of 0.8 percent from July’s revised estimate of $968.8 billion. The drop included a 0.1 percent falloff in private homebuilding from July, though the much smaller public residential construction category saw a 3.3 percent increase.

In a report earlier this week, online listings site Realtor.com observed a largely steady trend line in housing market indicators in August, with prices leveling out from month to month and limited inventory dipping slightly. Demand was most evident among the country's millennial population. However, with relatively few homes on the market, prices pushing upward, and lending standards still tight, few in that group have been able to make the jump to homeownership.