Housing markets

An index of contract signings for the purchase of previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly increased in February to a three-year high, representing solid housing activity that's likely to retrench because of the pandemic.

For the housing market in the Twin Cities, it's looking a lot like January as the COVID-19 pandemic puts a chill on homes sales in the metro.

The real estate industry, struggling with coronavirus-linked limitations, got a boost with its sales business reclassified as an "essential" industry.

It doesn't appear that the slowing local and national economy has had much of an effect on the Missoula, Mont., real estate market yet, which has been a seller's market since the end of the last recession.

One of the largest U.S. mortgage firms catering to riskier borrowers slashed 70% of its workforce, signaling a deep slowdown in that business.

Residential estate brokers and agents are scrambling to determine what Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's emergency order means for their industry.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little's order telling Idahoans to stay home for 21 days is likely to create havoc for the state's real estate industry.

Canadians' interest in searching for houses online is waning amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to real estate portal Point2 Homes.

With ambiguity surrounding the length of the COVID-19 outbreak and damage it will cause, consumers are becoming diffident in taking out a mortgage for a major purchase, according to Zillow.

High demand and low interest rates continued to drive strong sales of existing single-family homes in Maine in February, according to Maine Listings.

Purchases of new homes in February held close to an almost 13-year high, showing momentum in the residential real estate market before economic activity fell victim to the coronavirus.

Minnesota Realtors is calling for a halt to all real estate open houses statewide, and they've asked the NorthstarMLS to disable the "open house" feature in its online home listing database.

The $16 trillion U.S. mortgage market — epicenter of the last global financial crisis — is suddenly experiencing its worst turmoil in more than a decade, setting off alarms across the financial industry and prompting the Federal Reserve to intervene.

The percentage of mortgages underwater — when a mortgage exceeds value — has decreased dramatically in South Florida since the Great Recession, meaning the region may be better prepared to weather COVID-19 than the downturn a decade ago.

Realtors are taking advantage of nearly every type of modern technology to maintain the embers of the real estate market.

The coronavirus pandemic is threatening to put a damper on the Marin County, Calif., real estate market as it enters its normally busy spring season, with the nation facing economic uncertainty and a "shelter in place" order forcing the cancellation of many house events.

The real estate market, particularly in the so-called luxury tier, has been struggling for years.

The coronavirus pandemic has created confusion, delays and uncertainty in housing projects around the Bay Area, despite a crushing need for new homes from an industry deemed essential to work through the regional lock-down.

The California Association of Realtors told its members Friday to stop all face-to-face sales activities including showings, listing appointments, open houses and property inspections due to coronavirus concerns.

For Central Texas' long-sizzling housing market, 2020 is the year the unexpected catastrophic global event — the typical caveat in the region's otherwise ongoing rosy market forecasts — has actually come calling.