Housing markets

For months, Palm Beach County's tepid housing market seemed unaffected by the combination of a booming job market and rock-bottom mortgage rates.

May was a record-setting month for the housing market both in the city of Austin and Central Texas as a whole, the Austin Board of Realtors said.

LoanDepot will accelerate hiring initiatives in the third and fourth quarter as it plans to add 1,400 new jobs by the end of 2019. The company credits its technology efforts for the growth opportunities.

People electing to remain in their primary residence for longer periods took more potential home sales out of the market than lower interest rates and higher income brought in, according to First American.

The real estate service Zillow has tried to quantify what has long been real estate conventional wisdom: That gay neighborhoods carry a premium over other neighborhoods.

Sales of previously owned homes rebounded in May to a three-month high as all regions gained amid lower interest rates and a labor market that remains strong.

San Bernardino County, land of the most affordable housing in Southern California, bucked a regional trend of slowing home appreciation in May, seeing its year-over-year prices rise 10.5%.

Housing prices rose commensurate with the temperature, but ongoing inventory issues will keep sales in check, according to Redfin.

Prime selling season is in full swing, but despite another month of a slight increase in home sales, Charlotte still has a low supply of houses for sale.

May housing numbers are on the same track as previous months this year, not as good as 2018's record setting year, but better than any other year since 2008, according to the New Mexico Association of Realtors.

The vast majority of consumers claim it's a good time to sell a house as slowing price appreciation doesn't translate to the promise of a bigger deal ahead, according to the National Association of Realtors.

While low interest rates stimulated demand for housing in the first half of the year, affordability problems are holding back the purchase market, a First American survey of real estate professionals said.

New-home sales in the Houston area rose for the fourth straight month in May, but the market could be tightening as the number of pending sales continued to decline, a new report showed.

It is the largest single commitment from a tech company to fight the housing shortage that threatens to stall the economic engine of Silicon Valley, as even well-paid workers must wrestle with escalating rents or finding a home to buy.

While single-family construction authorizations rose for the first time on a monthly basis in 2019, they trailed three-month and annual comparisons, signs of a continuing market slump, according to BuildFax.

New-home construction fell in May after an April reading that was stronger than initially reported, signaling stabilization in the market amid lower borrowing costs.

The spring housing market brought some good news for both homebuyers and sellers as conditions eased up on both sides of the fence, according to Remax.

Sentiment among homebuilders unexpectedly posted the first decline this year, suggesting lower mortgage rates are failing to give the housing market a sustained boost amid property prices that remain out of reach for many buyers.

Housing finance agencies reported increased demand for their loan products, but at the same time the inventory shortage constrains activity and drives them to work with other public entities to find solutions, Moody's said.

With mortgage rates expected to continue their recent slides over the next 18 months, in tandem with slowed economic growth, loan originations should see a jump through 2020, according to Fannie Mae.