Purchase

If you're in the market for a home in Walla Walla, Wash., options may feel a little slim lately.

Sales of previously owned homes jumped in December to the best pace in nearly two years as historically low interest rates continued to lure buyers despite record-low inventory.

Mortgage application activity slowed down this past week from its fast start to 2020, with a decrease of 1.2% from one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

With interest rates expected to stay low while wages and the overall economy grow in conjunction, Fannie Mae again boosted its single-family mortgage origination outlook for 2019, 2020 and 2021.

The median price paid for an existing, single-family home in the Bay Area fell in 2019 for the first full year since 2011, according to the California Association of Realtors.

The inventory of homes for sale is at a seven-year low and that is likely to continue to shrink in the coming months, a Zillow report said.

Sales of single-family houses in the Greater Hartford area recorded a lackluster 2019, barely gaining any ground over the previous year.

Home sellers in Albuquerque experienced some fortune in 2019 with increased home prices and increased sales across multiple categories, according to the Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors.

Mortgage loan officer compensation remained level year-over-year as an unexpected surge in originations surprised employers expecting it to be a down year, an LBA Ware report said.

Southern Maine's superheated real estate market is presenting challenges to first-time homebuyers and expanding businesses, but shows no signs of cooling off.

As expected, 2019 was another banner year for the Austin-area housing market.

The U.K. housing market perked up in December as Boris Johnson's commanding election win helped push up sales and expectations for price gains.

Canadian real estate is increasingly becoming a seller's market as supply shrinks to decade lows, raising the prospect of rising prices and the re-emergence of froth in some major cities.

Home sales in metro Baton Rouge, La., were 2.2% higher in 2019 than the year before, thanks to a year-end push.

Homebuilder sentiment posted the highest back-to-back readings since 1999, as developers saw a surge in prospective buyers and a bump in the sales outlook.

Loan applications to purchase newly constructed homes rose over one-third annually during December as new residential construction recovered, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mortgage rates for the most part were stable this past week as the markets looked warily at economic and geopolitical events, according to Freddie Mac.

With home price appreciation decelerating, the top end of the marketplace appears to be taking the biggest hit, according to Zillow.

December home prices in Cuyahoga County were up over December a year ago in both the Cuyahoga County suburbs and the city of Cleveland.

The Acadiana, La., area had a second straight record year in home sales in 2019 in terms of homes sold and total dollar volume thanks in part to a busy December.