Housing markets

Sales of previously owned homes increased unexpectedly in December, capping the best year for the housing market since 2006 as historically low mortgage rates helped power demand.

In a year beset with a pandemic, tornadoes and civil unrest, one bright spot that emerged in 2020 was a residential real estate market that enjoyed record-high sales and home prices in Chattanooga, Tenn.

For the 10th straight year, annual home sales in Central Texas and the median price of those sales surpassed the year-before totals, with 2020's records coming despite the global coronavirus pandemic.

Home construction starts rose for a fourth-straight month in December to the best pace since late 2006 as builders responded to the robust demand for single-family housing.

Homebuilder confidence slipped to a four-month low in January as firms became slightly less optimistic about sales against a backdrop of higher house prices and construction costs.

Bottomed-out mortgage rates cut listing times and housing inventory while sales volume and average prices jumped annually.

Despite mortgage rates expected to rise modestly in 2021, a bolstered Biden administration stimulus package and COVID-19 vaccination efforts bring promise for economic recovery.

The pandemic-fueled exodus from New York City propelled nearby Westchester County to its strongest year for home sales in more than two decades.

Mortgage rates, whose movements until now had not reflected gains in the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield, rose 14 basis points this week, according to Freddie Mac.

Cash offers are taking priority in the Boise, Idaho, area, shutting out homebuyers who need a conventional mortgage.

For eight years after the Great Recession, home prices in metro Atlanta climbed steadily but slowly. Since mid-summer, they have been soaring.

Housing values are outpacing record-low rates and that’s hurting the entry-level homebuyers, but down payment programs and other traditional measures to assist them may only drive prices to greater heights, according to former Freddie Mac CEO Don Layton.

Metro Denver's housing market ended 2020 with a bang, popping the roof with a record-high number of home sales and busting through the basement with the fewest listings available for sale.

December’s housing market sentiment hit a seven-month low, indicating that inventory could be further constrained by sellers waiting for a better time to list, according to Fannie Mae.

Continuing a trend seen during the pandemic, the number of existing homes — excluding condos and townhomes — in the Las Vegas Valley dropped 11% from November.

As housing and lending companies try to eradicate racism and bias from their industries, automated valuation tools could help reach that goal, according to the American Enterprise Institute.

Led by El Dorado County, the Sacramento region became one of California's notable housing and growth hot spots in the final months of 2020, new data show.

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, San Antonio's housing market is booming.

A gauge of pending home sales fell for the third consecutive month in November, suggesting higher prices and limited inventory are slowing momentum in the housing market despite record-low borrowing costs.

A measure of home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose in October by the most since 2014 as ultra-low mortgage rates and increased buyer appetite for more space depleted housing inventory.