Housing markets

Hugh Frater was one of four appointed to the Bipartisan Policy Center board, along with former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, a co-chair of its Housing Council.

Year-over-year consumer dollars for home remodeling projects should drop 0.5% by 2Q25, after a 3% decline for the trailing 12 months, said the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

The number of properties sold over the past year was the fewest since 2009, the National Association of Realtors said.

It has become the 29th state to bar NTRAP contracts, with Illinois' legislation on it pending the governor's signature, according to American Land Title Association data.

Total housing starts increased 3% to a 1.35 million annualized rate last month, driven by a 19.6% surge in multifamily construction, according to government data released Wednesday.

Refinance transactions shot up over 15% to their highest volume in almost two years, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Some commenters on the Federal Housing Finance Agency's request for input about the Federal Home Loan Bank system mission demand more focus on affordable housing while others firmly advocated against member incentive programs.

Confidence among U.S. homebuilders fell for a third straight month in July as elevated interest rates weighed on sales and kept construction financing costs high.

The National Association of Realtors was looking to reverse the April decision from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed the Justice Department to reopen its probe into the group.

While the pace of consumer inflation is showing signs of slowing, building material costs are running counter to the trend, according to the National Association of Home Builders.