Housing markets

The month saw the highest median home sales price ever along with the quickest time ever to sell a new listing.

Economic recovery should soar into the summer as vaccination rates climb and restrictions loosen up, but low inventory is likely to limit mortgage activity into the next year, according to Fannie Mae.

U.S. housing starts fell by more than forecast in April, suggesting that supply-chain constraints and rising materials costs continue to hold builders back.

Mortgage activity fell across the board despite analysis that 14.5 million current qualified borrowers would benefit from a refinance, according to Black Knight.

Homebuyer competition reached new heights right as the purchase market hits its busiest time of year, according to Redfin.

The company is formally launching a new “non-mortgage” unit that will provide small loans for home improvement projects.

In spite of an improving economy, acute competition and supply scarcity soured homeshoppers on the purchase market in April, according to Fannie Mae.

Scrolling Zillow has become a go-to activity for Americans stuck at home pondering real estate upgrades as low interest rates and a shortage of homes to buy fuel the pandemic housing market.

Residential value growth in March reached heights not seen since the lead up to the housing bubble, according to CoreLogic.

As consumers search for homebuying advantages, local lenders discuss the 12 metro areas where it’s more affordable to purchase a property rather than rent a comparable house, according to Realtor.com data.

Mom-and-pop residential real estate investors are seeing more competition from citizens looking to buy homes than from their traditional competitors, large public institutional investors, according to a new survey from real estate data firm RealtyTrac.

“Low inventory has been a consistent problem,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR, said in a statement. “With mortgage rates still very close to record lows and a solid job recovery underway, demand will likely remain high.”

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is dismissing claims that loose monetary policy has led to rising home values and shrinking inventory and insists that the market is buoyed by creditworthy borrowers and investors.

Despite home purchasing power growing for the 14th consecutive month in February, rising property values and mortgage rates are likely to influence would-be sellers to stay put, according to First American.

Property values climbed 12% in February, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index.

The end of the refinancing boom and impending rise in rates are not the only challenges lenders face. As one observer put it, they "can't make loans on homes that don't exist."

Even in the best-case scenario, it would take 45 years to achieve an equal amount of housing-related capital between Blacks and whites.

While government protections currently shield most borrowers and delay process timelines, a growing backlog is likely to hit some areas of the country worse than others.

Purchases of new single-family homes increased 20.7% last month to a 1.02 million annualized pace after an upwardly revised 846,000 rate in the prior month, government data showed Friday.

The ritzy east end of Long Island is somehow still throwing up more high-end listings to meet demand.