Housing

Greater consumer confidence about the economy is generating increased foot traffic at model homes and the largest backlog of sales orders since 2007, according to executives at builder KB Home.

But the strong demand for tax credits from those projects is also whittling down the investment returns as their riskiness declines, according to a new report by the New York-based accounting firm CohnReznick.

A recent tax change will provide more stability to banks and developers that use the low-income housing tax credit program, and the supply of below-market-rate apartments should increase as a result. But it's not enough to create the economic incentives needed to meet skyrocketing demand for affordable housing in the U.S.

Mortgage credit availability decreased in December on reduced affordable, low-down-payment loan programs, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Consumers became more encouraged by the housing market in December, as they reflected on their higher wages compared to a year earlier, Fannie Mae said.

Mortgage rates rang in the new year by keeping below 4%, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Home prices across the country rose 6.5% year-over-year in November 2015, including distressed sales, according to CoreLogic.

The demand for affordable rental properties has long outstripped the supply, with the gap widening as incomes have stagnated, homeownership rates have fallen and rents have soared in recent years. But now, banks are finding a profitable path to helping ease this severe national shortage.

Manhattan home prices surged to a record in the fourth quarter, propelled by closings of luxury deals in new developments that were agreed to years ago, when construction was just starting on many of the buildings.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is important, but it barely scratches the surface of former House Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael Oxley's impact on banking.