Tag Archives: Home Prices

As splintering debt-ceiling negotiations unnerved analysts and ratings agencies, Treasury yields and mortgage rates remained relatively stable over the weekend, reflecting a widespread consensus among investors and market watchers that partisan divisions would soon give way to a grand bargain between policymakers. CNN reported Sunday that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) refused to agree to a set of conditions at the White House, ending dramatic four-month-long negotiations.

Fannie Mae released a July economic outlook Friday tying a slowdown in the economy at large to a sluggish pace in the housing sector a consequence of tight credit, a dearth in existing-home sales, and weak gains across important industries. The mortgage giant predicted a dip in growth over the rest of the year, falling from 2.8 percent to 2.4 percent. Besides restrained credit expansion, the tepid housing recovery is another reason for the modest pace of economic growth seen in the current recovery, Fannie said in the report.

Despite a forward leap by prices, a surge in contract cancellations led to a sudden easing in existing-home sales over June, according to a National Association of Realtors report. Analysts at the trade association placed blame for the lax numbers at the feet of wary lenders and continuing economic uncertainties. According to the report, upward-bound sales across regions like the South and Midwest contrasted with dips in the Northwest and Northeast, alongside a steadily slacking condo sector.

ProTeck Valuation Services and American Mortgage Consultants are teaming up to deliver advanced real estate tools, and ProTeck will now provide real estate valuation and reconciliation via AMC.

Fueling fears about a federal default scenario, fragile debt-ceiling negotiations continued to splinter and stagnate this week, with Republicans refusing to budge on proposed tax increases and Democrats fighting to keep entitlements off the chopping block. If trends continue and the federal government defaults on its national debt, housing economists and mortgage rate analysts predict spikes in interest and mortgage rates, with steep and potentially catastrophic declines in homes sales.

A monthly update from Capital Economics holds that small upticks in home prices and sales reflect anomalous behavior in the market, thanks in part to a generous seasonal uplift. The report predicts continued falls in home sales.

Financial analysis firm Zelman & Associates released a survey signaling mixed results in the homebuilding industry, with new home orders grinding to a halt in May despite 20 percent year-over-year increases. The survey reported that builder sentiment gravitated towards stability, with an industry score topping off at 32.3 on a 0-100 scale, up from 29.6 in May. The Washington, D.C., builders' market remained top dog, while other regions rose only incrementally. Homebuilding starts hovered at 613,000.

HUD and the Treasury Department jointly released the June edition of the Obama administration├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Housing Scorecard, offering mixed results as home sales crested on a slight uptick and an oversupply of foreclosed properties remained in place. According to the Scorecard, existing home sales jumped slightly over June, trending from 25,100 to 26,900. Mortgage rates elevated the new home sales by staying low, with a number of borrowers refinancing their mortgages to recoup losses and boost their savings.

Home sales in Massachusetts fell by more than 25 percent over May in comparison with rates from the same month last year, while home prices shot up, interrupting a five-month-long trend, according to The Warren Group.

With total U.S. debt soaring past $14 billion in May and negotiations over a controversial ceiling raise splintering at the highest levels, analysts worry that the Federal Housing Administration may shut down if the federal government defaults on August 2 -- a crisis scenario that would wreak havoc in housing markets, tightening the credit supply and spoiling a recovery. Analysts suggest that a default by the government would unfairly and adversely impact minority homeowners.