Tag Archives: Home Prices

ZipRealty analyzed two years' worth of multiple listing service data and Census Bureau information to come up with a list of the top 10 most affordable housing markets of 2013. The coveted title of "Most Affordable Market of 2013" goes to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where the median sales price is 5.27 times the median household income. Meanwhile, metros located on or close to the coasts make up the list of least affordable areas. Washington, D.C., takes the top spot, with the average median price costing 16.78 times the average household income.

House prices increased 9.7 percent year-over-year in January, continuing a recent trend, and prices show "no signs of an imminent slowdown," according to Capital Economics.

Strong demand, tight inventory, and positive signs among broader economic indicators led Capital Economics to revise its previous price gain forecast up to 8 percent.

Nearly half of respondents in Fannie Mae's most recent housing survey said they expect home prices to rise in the next 12 months, up from 45 percent in January.

Zillow saw a 16.6 percent decline in its overall number of listed homes in February, indicating an inventory crunch as buyers start to feel more comfortable getting into the market.

CoreLogic's Home Price Index (HPI) saw its greatest yearly increase in nearly seven years in January, the analytics provider revealed Tuesday. Home prices nationwide--including distressed sales--rose on a year-over-year basis by 9.7 percent in January. The spike represents the biggest increase since April 2006, CoreLogic said. CoreLogic's Pending HPI, a metric measuring current trends in home prices, indicates that prices (including distressed sales) in February will likely match January's year-over-year improvement.

National asking home prices have risen 7.0 percent year-over-year since bottoming out last February, Trulia revealed in its February Price Monitor Report. Seasonally adjusted, asking prices increased about 1.4 percent from January and 3.0 percent quarter-over-quarter, marking two post-recession highs. Nationally, inventory fell 23 percent year-over-year in February. Jed Kolko, Trulia's chief economist, explained that while falling inventory boosts prices, the relationship works both ways.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will continue to maintain their dominant role in the housing market, according to a report from Fitch Ratings.

The President has tried repeatedly to describe the impact of sequestration, a mandatory across-the-board cut in federal spending exempting only a small handful of social safety net programs. Despite those exemptions, a simple fact is that people will die as a result of these cuts, and lives could be changed irrevocably. The tragedy in this is not what might happen, although that's pretty severe long-term. The tragedy is both Democrats and Republicans have the means to fix it without having to resort to face-saving techniques.

Redfin's latest survey shows inventory shortage and rising prices are creating frustration for buyers trying to get in on the ground floor of the housing recovery.