Data

Despite concerns about their current presence, millennials still have a major role to play in shaping the housing market in the coming years, researchers assert in a new report from the Demand Institute (TDI). Based on an analysis of economic and consumer research over the last 18 months, TDI predicts the number of households headed by millennials will reach 21.6 million by 2018, representing an increase of 8.3 million since 2013.

Home sales in August remained below last year's pace for yet another month as prices inched higher, RE/MAX reported Tuesday. The real estate company calculated an 8.2 percent drop in August transactions compared to a year ago. Compared to July, August sales were down 6.6 percent. Out of the last six months, four have seen sales climb above the previous month's pace, RE/MAX reported.

FNC, Inc.'s national Residential Price Index (RPI), a metric of prices in 100 of the nation's largest housing markets excluding REO and foreclosure sales, grew 0.6 percent month-over-month in July, slowing again from 0.8 percent in June (which in turn was down from 1.2 percent in May). The narrower 30-metro composite index saw a similar slowdown, also declining to 0.6 percent growth, while the 10-metro composite saw a half a percentage point drop to 0.4 percent.

In findings released Tuesday, COUNTRY Financial revealed 89 percent of Americans in its most recent Security Index survey feel that buying a home is a key part of achieving the American Dream despite their recent memories of the crash. Even more promising, 64 percent of respondents expressed belief that owning a home is an attainable goal for a typical middle-income family, a significant improvement over last year, when just 41 percent said the same.

In a poll of more than 2,000 consumers, Wells Fargo found 68 percent feel that now is a good time to buy a home, and 95 percent want to own if they don't already. On the other hand, while nearly three-quarters of respondents in Wells Fargo's survey said they "know and understand" the financial process involved in buying a home, large numbers also expressed doubt or misguided notions about homebuying requirements.

Just less than 19,000 tracked mortgage jobs were cut in April, May, and June, according to Mortgage Daily, with more than 20,000 job losses offsetting about 1,600 gains. The net loss is a major jump from the 8,100 reported losses in the first quarter and the nearly 3,000 reported a year ago. All of the reported cuts in the second quarter happened at banks, with credit unions and other non-banks adding jobs.

Real estate information firm CoreLogic DataQuick estimated Friday that August home sales in the state—including new and resale houses and condos—totaled 37,228 last month, down 6.0 percent from July's estimate of 39,608. Compared to a year ago, sales fell 12.5 percent short. California sales have come in below average every month for more than eight years, the firm said.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment edged up more than two points in a preliminary September reading, putting it at a 14-month high of 84.6. The increase in the headline index was driven by a more than four-point improvement in the gauge of consumer expectations, which rose to 75.6.

UCLA Anderson Forecast's third quarterly report of 2014, released Thursday, points to real GDP growth of about 3 percent over the next two years, following last year's full-year growth of 1.9 percent. Though housing has struggled to keep up its momentum so far this year, the market is still expected to fuel economic growth.

As more companies launch their own home price metrics, the much-watched Case-Shiller indices have readjusted their methodology to adapt—and revealed a different picture of home prices in the last few months than originally reported. While the new index comes as a "welcome improvement," it also throws a wrench into what analysts previously knew about home prices during and after the crash, says Paul Diggle, property economist for Capital Economics.