25 Mar 2015
By Mark Feder

FHFA: Home Prices Rise 0.30 Percent in January

Market Outlook
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported that home prices rose by a seasonally-adjusted rate of 0.30 percent in January, and were 5.10 percent higher as compared to home prices in January 2014. FHFA oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and its home price report is based on sales of homes financed by mortgages owned or backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Month- to- Month FHFA Home Prices Mixed Month to month home price data was mixed for January. Home prices ranged from -0.40 percent in the Middle and South Atlantic census divisions to +2.30 percent in the East…
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02 Mar 2015
By Mark Feder

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – March 2, 2015

Market Outlook
Last week provided several housing-related reports including New Home Sales, Pending Home Sales and Existing Home Sales reports. Case-Shiller and FHFA also released data on home prices. The details: Sales of Pre-Owned Homes Hit Nine-Month Low According to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), Sales of pre-owned homes dropped to a seasonally-adjusted annual reading 4.82 million sales in January as compared to an estimated reading of 4.95 million sales and December's reading of 5.07 million existing homes sold. This was a month-to-month decline of 4.90 percent, and represented the lowest reading for existing home sales in nine months. Lawrence Yun,…
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27 Feb 2015
By Mark Feder

FHFA House Price Index Rises for 14th Consecutive Quarter

Market Outlook
According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), U.S. home prices rose by 1.40 percent for the fourth quarter of 2014 and were up by 0.80 percent month-to-month from November. The seasonally adjusted FHFA House Price Index measures purchase transactions for homes connected with mortgages owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. FHFA also reported that home prices rose 4.9 percent year-over –year from the fourth quarter of 2013 to the fourth quarter of 2014. FHFA Chief Economist Andrew Leventis described the report for the last quarter of 2014 as "relatively strong" and also cited low inventories of available homes…
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26 Jan 2015
By Mark Feder

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – January 26, 2015

Market Outlook
Last week's economic reports included the National Association of Home Builders Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, Housing Starts for December and the FHFA Home Price Index report for November. The National Association of Realtors® also released its Existing Home Sales report for December. Freddie Mac and the Department of Commerce released their weekly reports on mortgage rates and new jobless claims. Builder Confidence Close to Record High, Housing Starts Rise The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported that home builder confidence slipped by one point in January to an index reading of 57. This was not a significant decline…
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