“Optimism” was somewhat of a taboo term during the darkest days of the housing downturn, with any encouraging reports on the housing market earning skeptic glances and caustic asides. Now, though, the situation is a little different. Housing starts,

An interesting thing has been happening in the housing market. Home prices, as we’ve reported on numerous occasions, have been rising steadily after bottoming in 2012’s first quarter, but a recent FNC report found a corresponding trend – discounts

January was another strong month of residential construction activity, according to the latest data from the Census Bureau, with building permits increasing 35.2 percent year-over-year. With a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 925,000, building permits also increased 1.8 percent

Oh no they didn’t! Even after taking sweeping steps to shore up its finances and avoid a Treasury bailout, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) still suffered an awkward blow last week, with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) labeling the

Foreclosure filings were down 28 percent year-over-year in January and 7 percent from December, according to the latest Foreclosure Market Report from research firm RealtyTrac. In addition, U.S. foreclosure starts hit a 79-month low, decreasing 11 percent from last month and decreasing

Builder confidence held firm in February’s Housing Market Index, falling just one point from January to a rating of 46, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Despite the decline, the Housing Market Index has risen strong

Roughly half of today’s mortgage originations do not meet the standards of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s qualified mortgage rule, according to analysis by CoreLogic. As CoreLogic explained in its February MarketPulse Report, 52 percent of today’s originations would

A new survey from Lending Tree of more than 1,000 homeowners found consumer confidence on the housing market continues to improve, with sentiments towards buying, selling, financing and the overall concept of homeownership now at very encouraging levels. Doug

By Peter Ricci The national mortgage delinquency rate, which tracks how many of the nation’s borrowers are seriously delinquent on their mortgages, fell in 2012’s fourth quarter, declining from 5.41 percent in the third quarter to 5.19 percent in

By Peter Ricci Well, it was bound to happen sooner rather than later. House Democrats have renewed their calls for President Obama to fire Ed DeMarco, the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) who has single-handedly

She ruled in beauty o’er this heart of mine, A noble lady in a humble home, And now her time for heavenly bliss has come, ‘Tis I am mortal proved, and she divine. “Soleasi Nel Mio Cor” by Petrarch

By Peter Ricci The housing market received some well-earned recognition last night in President Obama’s State of the Union address, with the president praising the market’s rising home prices, strengthening purchase market and the rebounding construction

By Peter Ricci Median existing single-family home price rose 10.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 year-over-year, the strongest yearly increase for home prices since the fourth quarter of 2005, according to the National Association of

By Peter Ricci The typical Realtor was less experienced in 2012 than in 2011, according to the latest numbers from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which found that Realtors last year had, on average, 11 years of experience,

By Peter Ricci Tonight, President Obama will deliver the first State of the Union address of his second term, and along with the expected comments on gun control, climate change and immigration, recent reporting by the Washington Post suggests that

By Peter Ricci A wide number of factors contribute a listing selling for its ultimate price, but recent research suggests that the home’s timeliness could add thousands to the final sale