Housing markets

Northern and East Coast towns have replaced hotspots of the past two years in Florida and the Rocky Mountains region.

During a hearing on racial bias in home valuation, the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau questions the Appraisal Foundation's "weird" regulatory structure.

The action fulfills a promise made previously by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to add an overarching framework for maintaining equitable practices.

The Federal Reserve's focus on what's happening in the labor market makes an economic downturn likely, but many watching the markets expect a policy easing in the second half of the year and growth following that.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell in December to the slowest pace in over a decade, capping one of the housing market's worst years on record amid a rapid jump in mortgage rates.

To monitor the health of lenders still operating, industry watchers should observe firms' abilities to meet covenant requirements, renew warehouse lines of credits and their activity in the mortgage servicing rights market, said Brian Brown, chief financial officer at Rocket Companies.

Generally positive news about the U.S. economy helped push rates lower, but worries about Congressional infighting over the debt ceiling could reverse the trend, Freddie Mac and Zillow said.

But lower mortgage rates and better traffic have made homebuilders a bit more optimistic, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

New U.S. home construction declined for a fourth-straight month in December, wrapping up a disappointing year for an industry that saw annual housing starts fall for the first time since 2009.

Gen Zers and millennials want to "test drive" potential long-term living arrangements and neighborhoods, Javelin Strategy and Research found in a recent survey.

Issuances decreased over 10% annually, while at the same time, builders are still seeing shortages of many materials, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Single-family property values during the year's final three months rose 9.2% year-over-year, but that bump fell below the 13.1% annual rise in the prior quarter.

The value of New York City's 1.1 million properties is projected to rise 6.1% for the next fiscal year, boosted by single-family home prices.

The most attractive cities this year count more homes selling under their listing price rather than over it.

While supply was up by over 54% compared to a year earlier, new home listings decreased, according to Realtor.com.

Among current investors in the market, 7% are between 18 and 29 years old, while 15% of those looking to make their first purchases also belong to the same age group, according to a new study.

Declining mortgage rates and home prices drove more positive views compared to the prior month, but December's overall outlook remained negative, Fannie Mae said.

Increases in values were more likely to stick across the Central U.S, while pandemic boomtowns experienced the biggest declines in median housing costs, according to Realtor.com.

Prices were up by less than 9% year-over-year, according to CoreLogic's report.