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As part of a broad effort to strengthen the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMI Fund), FHA Commissioner Carol Galante announced a series of changes

(MCT)--A leading measure of home prices in the biggest American cities posted strong year-over-year growth in November. The S&P/Case Shiller 20-city index

Pending home sales declined in December but have stayed above year-ago levels for 20 consecutive months, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. The Pending Home Sales Index,*a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, fell 4.3 percent to 101.7 in December from 106.3 in November but is 6.9 percent higher than December 2011 when it was 95.1. The data reflect contracts but not closings. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says there is an uneven uptrend. "The supply limitation appears to be the main factor holding back contract signings in the past month. Still, contract activity has risen for 20 straight months on a year-over-year basis," he says.

Spending on home improvements and repairs totaled $275 billion in 2011, down 4 percent from 2009 levels and some 16 percent below the market peak in 2007. Loss of home equity with the onset

U.S. house prices rose 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from October to November, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index (HPI). The previously reported

(MCT)—If you’ve put off redoing that kitchen or adding a deck while waiting for the economy to perk up, welcome to the club. Like the rest of the housing market, home improvements and remodeling plunged during the recession as consumers hunkered down. But now that economic conditions are improving, the forecast for home fix-ups is looking up, too. “Future market indicators, which have been lagging a little bit, have jumped up,” said Paul Emrath, a research vice president with the National Association of Home Builders.

The trend of gradual but below-potential economic growth seen in 2012 is expected to carry over through 2013 and into 2014. This modest growth path combined with the real GDP growth rate during the recovery from 2009 to this point of 2.2 percent annualized give credence to claims that the recovery’s slow pace has become the “new normal,” according to Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group. The fiscal cliff and ongoing debt ceiling debate, which are likely to suppress consumer spending in the first half of 2013, continue to present potentially strong headwinds to meaningful growth activity. Overall, a 2 percent growth rate is forecasted for 2013, similar to the subdued pace of 2012. This is despite the fact that the housing sector, which has become a bright spot in the economy since home prices began to rebound in 2012, is expected to provide a rising contribution to GDP in 2013 and in coming years.

Regional Spotlight—Single-family home sales in Massachusetts rose 18 percent in 2012, marking 12 consecutive months of year-over-year sales gains

(MCT)—Sales of existing homes ticked down in December from the month before, while the total for 2012 hit the highest level in five years, according to data released Tuesday by the National Association of REALTORS®. The pace of sales fell 1 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million, according to NAR. For all of 2012, existing-home sales hit 4.65 million, the highest level since 2007 and up 9.2 percent from 2011. “Record-low mortgage interest rates clearly are helping many home buyers, but tight inventory

The year 2012 was a promising one for housing. With consistent improvements in housing construction and prices, home building is once again contributing to economic growth. And the December housing starts report capped off the year with confirmation of these trends. Per Census data, solid gains in both single-family and multifamily production resulted in nationwide housing starts rising 12.1 percent

Century 21 Real Estate LLC, the franchisor of one of the world’s largest residential real estate sales organizations, has announced the results of its Big Game Survey. CENTURY 21®, an advertiser in this year’s Super Bowl, recently surveyed Americans about their game-watching and party plans during this year’s game. The ...

2012 was the year that the U.S. housing market began its long-awaited recovery. Will the recovery continue in 2013, or will we see another setback? And what are the implications for real estate professionals—especially those who specialize in distressed properties? Most economists and market analysts agree that the housing market turned the corner in 2012 and was in the early stages of a recovery. All the metrics were pointing in the right direction: housing starts were increasing;

Freddie Mac recently released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing mortgage rates largely unchanged from the previous week helping to keep homebuyer affordability high, refinancing strong and should continue to aid the ongoing housing recovery. Results showed that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.38 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending January 17, 2013, down from last week when it averaged 3.40 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.88 percent.

December 2012 home prices are expected to rise by 7.9 percent on a year-over-year basis from December 2011 and fall by 0.5 percent on a month-over-month basis from November 2012 reflecting a seasonal winter slowdown, CoreLogic said recently. Excluding distressed sales, December 2012 house prices are poised to rise 8.4 percent year-over-year from December 2011 and by 0.7 percent month-over-month from November 2012, according to the CoreLogic Pending HPI.

Even though the time it takes to sell a luxury property has increased to as long as 260 days in Chicago, 287 in Miami and 197 nationally, overall, fewer sellers are cutting prices. Wintertime sluggishness has slowed luxury markets across the nation. Days on market have been increasing in nearly every major market tracked by the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, and inventories are at a seasonal low, down from 27,600 properties in June to 18,400 in January. Rather than falling with the end of the summer buying season, low inventories have placed upward pressure on prices, which have risen from a median of 1.11 million in September to 1.23 in January, according to ILHM data.