Housing markets

Purchases of new single-family homes decreased 5.6% to a 679,000 annualized pace last month, government data showed Monday.

The former Trump-appointed Federal Housing Finance Agency head offers insights on the road ahead for mortgage lenders and residential real estate at large.

Contract closings decreased 4.1% from a month earlier to a 3.79 million annualized pace, still the lowest since 2010, National Association of Realtors data showed Tuesday.

The top five cities have an average down payment of $181,282.

Regulatory changes and a dearth of existing new inventory is opening a pipeline of leads in the market, but interest rate pressure cuts into optimism.

Also, Wells Fargo, Finance of America entered into partnerships affecting real estate tax and cybersecurity solutions.

Follow-through has been weak, but there's hope lower mortgage rates could improve conditions, according to new housing reports from Redfin and MBS Highway.

More than half of millennials and Gen Z ranked house hacking — the opportunity to rent out a portion or the entire property to earn extra income — as an important factor in their search, according to Zillow research.

Residential starts increased 1.9% last month to a 1.37 million annualized rate, the highest in three months, government data showed Friday.

With mortgage rates retreating and inflation abating, short sellers who'd been capitalizing on the three-month slump in homebuilder stocks may need to prepare for a rebound toward year-to-date highs.