Purchase

New-home construction rebounded by more than expected in January amid strength in single-family starts and a nine-month high for permits, signaling the market is stabilizing thanks to lower mortgage rates.

Despite a lower rate of increase, 2019 equity gains could pull 350,000 households from being underwater on mortgages, according to CoreLogic.

The increase in average mortgage rates this week should not affect the spring home purchase market because other factors remain strong, according to Freddie Mac.

Home sales slowed on Hawaii island and Kauai last month while median prices mostly rose, according to trade association statistics.

Millennial homebuyers took advantage of a winter lull in interest rates, using the opportunity to refinance their loans, according to Ellie Mae.

Mortgage applications decreased 2.5% from one week earlier, although conventional purchase loan volume and amount is on the rise, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

For the first time in seven years, median home prices in metro Denver declined year-over-year, according to a monthly update from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors.

Home price appreciation tapered as buyers battling tight inventory and rising housing costs pulled back from the market, according to CoreLogic.

Home purchaser affordability declined in the fourth quarter, which also negatively affects the amount Americans have to spend on cost-of-living expenses, a report from Zillow said.

Once again, home sales in Ohio dipped as prices climbed in January.

The average price of a new home rose in Texas' four largest markets in January, with Houston leading the gains, according to HomesUSA.com.

Sales of new homes unexpectedly rose in December after a downwardly revised November reading, as lower mortgage rates and more-affordable properties offered some relief for buyers.

The number of homes sold in Marin County, Calif., in January dipped 5.4% to 141 over the 149 homes sold in January 2018, according to CoreLogic.

The conventional market recaptured a lot of the first-time homebuyers it lost during the financial crisis, but service members instead have increasingly stuck with loans insured by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Rises in the amount of low down payment loans and private mortgage insurance due to tight affordability led to the most first-time homebuyers since 2006, according to Genworth Mortgage Insurance.

Freddie Mac again increased its origination forecast for the next two years, as the rate drops of the past few months are expected to boost refinance volume.

Connecticut's real estate market was hit hard in January, with single-family home sales hitting their lowest level for the month in a decade, according to the Warren Group.

For a few months, it seemed the speeding Bay Area housing market was ready to slow down.

The U.S. homeownership rate rose to the highest level since 2014, led by a growing share of buyers in their mid-30s and early 40s.

After a record-breaking year for the New Mexico housing market in 2018, January numbers indicate 2019 will be another good year.