Housing markets

Sales of new and existing single-family homes in the Albany, N.Y., area fell 10% in January from year-earlier levels, the Greater Capital Association of Realtors reported.

As 2019 got underway, weakness in the housing market drove the number of workers employed by nondepository mortgage companies down to a low not seen since August 2016.

New-home construction rebounded by more than expected in January amid strength in single-family starts and a nine-month high for permits, signaling the market is stabilizing thanks to lower mortgage rates.

Despite the pool of refinance candidates shrinking 30% from late 2017, the incentive for mortgage borrowers to refi shot up at the start of the year on interest rate declines, according to Black Knight.

Despite a lower rate of increase, 2019 equity gains could pull 350,000 households from being underwater on mortgages, according to CoreLogic.

The pace of Colorado Springs-area homebuilding in 2019 continues to trail that of last year.

Home sales slowed on Hawaii island and Kauai last month while median prices mostly rose, according to trade association statistics.

Homeowners are stepping up their renovation game this year, which could be good news for home improvement financing, but bad news for the overall housing market as consumers age in place.

Assessing the implications of big tech's inevitable next run at the business of mortgage lending.

While Southern Nevada home prices pulled back in February, the median sale price for an existing home was still up nearly 8% year-over-year.

Millennial homebuyers took advantage of a winter lull in interest rates, using the opportunity to refinance their loans, according to Ellie Mae.

For the first time in seven years, median home prices in metro Denver declined year-over-year, according to a monthly update from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors.

Home price appreciation tapered as buyers battling tight inventory and rising housing costs pulled back from the market, according to CoreLogic.

Minneapolis' offering of affordable starter homes and inflated supply of below-median-priced options made it the housing market with the highest low-income ownership rate, according to Redfin.

Home purchaser affordability declined in the fourth quarter, which also negatively affects the amount Americans have to spend on cost-of-living expenses, a report from Zillow said.

Once again, home sales in Ohio dipped as prices climbed in January.

The average price of a new home rose in Texas' four largest markets in January, with Houston leading the gains, according to HomesUSA.com.

Sales of new homes unexpectedly rose in December after a downwardly revised November reading, as lower mortgage rates and more-affordable properties offered some relief for buyers.

While millennials comprise the largest cohort of homebuyers, the aging baby boomer generation has created 7.86 million more homeowners and 2.82 million renters age 60 and older — growth rates higher than any other demographic.

As the Seattle-area real estate market has slowed over the past year, it's clear things have gotten better for buyers of the region's priciest homes. But people looking for anything resembling affordable housing haven't had the same luck.