<a href="http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/" title="RealEstateEconomyWatch.com">RealEstateEconomyWatch.com

Apartment rents have made an about face during the first half of the year and they'll continue to rise if vacancies tighten as predicted as more and more households become renters.

Nearly Half of Sellers Cut Prices

By: Steve Cook; Fri, Aug 6, 2010

The number of price-reduced homes on the market increased 5.3 percent in July as compared to June, according to a monthly review of MLS-listed properties within 26 of the country's largest housing markets conducted by the national online real estate brokerage ZipRealty.

Prices Fall on Move-in Properties, Rise on Fixer-uppers

By: Steve Cook; Tue, Jul 27, 2010

Prices on homes ready to be occupied fell an average of 6.8 percent between May and June, but prices for damaged foreclosed properties increased by 5.9 percent during the same period.

New Financial Reform Legislation Transforms Appraisals

By: Steve Cook; Sat, Jul 24, 2010

The financial regulatory reform bill signed into law the week could result in more accurate home valuations, higher appraisal costs, faster closings, more completed transactions and maybe even higher prices, according to critics of a controversial quasi-governmental regulation that the legislation eliminated.

RE/MAX Finds Low Rates Lift Sales

By: Steve Cook; Tue, Jul 20, 2010

In the wake of the homebuyer tax credit, home sales and prices are holding their own, due largely to record low interest rates and the most affordable prices in years, according to the RE/MAX June survey of 54 metropolitan areas.

Falling Home Prices Ignite Boom in Foreign Buyers

By: Steve Cook; Mon, Jul 19, 2010

12 Comments

The number of American homes bought by foreign nationals has nearly doubled in the past year as falling property values and record numbers of distress sales encouraged immigrants and foreign investors to take advantage of affordable prices. With home purchases by US citizens plummeting in the wake of the tax credit, foreigners are now poised to gain an even larger ownership share of the US residential market.

First-time Buyers Fade in April

By: Steve Cook; Mon, May 24, 2010

14 Comments

The end of the tax credit brought about a significant decline in first-time homebuyers in April, the heart of the 2010 home buying season.

Improving Values Discourage Property Tax Appeals

By: Steve Cook; Fri, May 21, 2010

14 Comments

In recent years, falling market values have inspired millions of homeowners to appeal their property tax assessments in hopes of lowering their tax bills, especially in "sand states" where values have fallen the most since 2006. But this year, the rush to judgment may be over.

Remodeling to Recover in 2010

By: Steve Cook; Thu, Apr 15, 2010

Home improvement spending will recover this year, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) released today by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

Pending Sales Return to December

By: Steve Cook; Mon, Apr 5, 2010

2 Comments

The snow melted, the spring housing market warmed up and the deadline loomed for the home buyer tax credit. All three combined to help NAR's Pending Sales Index rise 8.2 percent in February following a dismal January.

Retirement Markets Lose Population

By: Steve Cook; Thu, Mar 25, 2010

Sunbelt markets are experiencing slower population growth because older Americans are staying put in family homes, according new Census estimates released yesterday.

Inventories Rose in February

By: Steve Cook; Wed, Mar 24, 2010

The national housing inventory has risen to its highest level since September, before first-time buyers started rushing to put contracts on houses and beat a November 30 deadline that Congress subsequently extended to April 30. 2010.

Investors Soar as First-timers Fade

By: Steve Cook; Fri, Feb 26, 2010

Fresh data from Campbell Communications' monthly survey of more than 1,500 real estate agents found that the investor market share of buy-side transactions has jumped nearly six points since November, while first-time buyers have fallen more seven percentage points since October.

Inventory Highest in Six Months

By: Steve Cook; Fri, Feb 26, 2010

The national inventory of existing homes is larger now than it has been since the run-up of sales since thousands of first-time buyers rushed to the closing table last fall to qualify for the $8,000 tax credit.

Mortgage Rates Finally Fall

By: Steve Cook; Thu, Jan 7, 2010

5 Comments

Rates for 30-year fixed mortgages switched gears this week, falling slightly for the first time in a month, but remained above last month's record lows.

Rates Rise Into 2010

By: Steve Cook; Thu, Dec 31, 2009

Mortgage rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages ended 2009 with the longest ascending streak of the year, rising for the fifth straight week, to 5.14 percent.

Foreclosure States Lose Population

By: Steve Cook; Sun, Dec 27, 2009

The real estate recession, which has frozen more then 10 percent of homeowners in their homes, has slowed domestic migration dramatically.

Mortgage Rates Break 5 Percent

By: Steve Cook; Thu, Dec 24, 2009

7 Comments

After hitting historic lows three weeks ago, mortgage rates rose above 5 percent this week.

Spring Price Recovery Forecast

By: Steve Cook; Tue, Dec 22, 2009

Improvement in both levels of inventories and unemployment are projected to prevail in the spring of next year.

Shadow Inventory Rises 54 Percent

By: Steve Cook; Fri, Dec 18, 2009

The 1.7 million homes currently in the "shadow inventory" significantly increases calculations of the inventory of homes for sale, according to a new report from First American CoreLogic.

Homeowners Lost Only $489 Billion in 2009

By: Steve Cook; Wed, Dec 9, 2009

1 Comment

Forty-eight of the 154 markets tracked by Zillow showed gains in home values during 2009.

Mortgage Rates Hit Record Lows

By: Steve Cook; Wed, Nov 25, 2009

The average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 5.00 percent, according to Bankrate.com.

Mortgage Rates Sink to Seven-Month Low

By: Steve Cook; Thu, Nov 12, 2009

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to a seven-month low of 5.19 percent.

Underwater Homeowners Come Up for Air

By: Steve Cook; Tue, Nov 10, 2009

The percentage of American single-family homes with mortgages in negative equity fell to 21 percent in the third quarter, down from 23 percent in the second, according to the third quarter Zillow Real Estate Market Report.

Apartment Market Improves Slowly, Vacancies Remain High

By: Steve Cook; Fri, Oct 30, 2009

The apartment market showed signs of improvement in the third quarter, but vacancies and rent levels remain low.

Arizona, California Markets Lead Top Ten List for Home Sales

By: Steve Cook; Tue, Oct 27, 2009

The country's top ten ZIP codes for home sales based on sales-to-list price ratio have diversified significantly this quarter.

Home Price Discounts Shrink as Inventories Fall

By: Steve Cook; Sun, Oct 11, 2009

1 Comment

Falling inventories are helping home sellers gain a negotiating edge over buyers for the first time in many months.

Higher Prices, Fewer Sales Forecast in California Next Year

By: Steve Cook; Thu, Oct 8, 2009

California's real-estate market will rebound in 2010, with modest price increases and steady sales activity, according to a forecast by the California Association of Realtors released yesterday.

National 30-year Fixed Mortgage Rate Falls Below 5 Percent

By: Steve Cook; Tue, Oct 6, 2009

Yesterday rates for 30-year fixed purchase mortgages decreased 4.94 percent after falling last week to 4.96 percent, down from 5.02 percent the week.

One-third of African-Americans Turned Down for Mortgages

By: Steve Cook; Thu, Oct 1, 2009

Homebuyers of every racial minority from African-Americans to Pacific Islanders were more likely to be denied a mortgage last year than white Americans, according to data from lenders released yesterday by the Federal Reserve.

Price Cutting Eases Condo Glut

By: Steve Cook; Mon, Sep 28, 2009

The glut of unsold and foreclosed condos that paralyzed resort and urban markets two years ago has significantly eased in wake of price-cutting and discounting in a number of markets, signaling that the end of the bargain era is in sight and stable markets are on their way.

Loan Demand is Strong as Fewer Banks Tighten Credit

By: Steve Cook; Tue, Aug 18, 2009