Housing markets

Pending home sales during November were led by a 5.2% monthly increase in the South, with smaller advances in the West and Midwest, the National Association of Realtors said.

At least one buyer was looking for a barndominium, while another wanted a roller coaster, according to Zillow's analysis of data from its home search feature.

Changes to buyer broker commissions, along with the National Association of Realtors battle with the Biden Administration, had an impact on how mortgage lenders operated in 2024.

Sales of new single-family homes increased 5.9% last month to a 664,000 annualized rate, in line with the median estimate of economists who expected 669,000.

Activity from smaller mom-and-pop investors dominates the segment, but their impact on overall housing prices might be overstated, Corelogic's research found.

The residential market is expected to face challenges from stubbornly high mortgage rates and limited supply in 2025, particularly after Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments on Wednesday indicating fewer rate cuts are coming.

Boomer wealth surged by $19 trillion in just under five years, with approximately half coming from home equity, according to new Freddie Mac research.

Contract closings increased 4.8% to an annualized rate of 4.15 million in November, the most since March, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.

US new-home construction unexpectedly fell in November as a drop in multifamily projects mitigated a rebound in starts of single-family houses, solely in the storm-ravaged South.  

Gross profit returns fell in a range that could easily be erased on renovation, mortgage and tax charges, Attom said.