Housing markets

Further mortgage payment reductions and other "aggressive" changes to federal policy impacting homeowners are on the roadmap for the coming year.

New-home purchase activity rose 3.1% year over year, but dropped 7% from October, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Remote work helped fuel migration and erased the loss of rural residents that occurred in the decade prior to the arrival of Covid, Harvard researchers found.

The home purchase market, which competes for consumers with rentals, should remain subdued in 2026 because of high mortgage rates and low affordability.

Rising labor and material costs could weigh on final expenses, despite a slower summer for hurricane and tornado claims, according to Verisk.

Confidence among US homebuilders edged up in December as builders continued to deploy sales incentives to motivate buyers.

After home equity surged in 2023, average gains slowed last year before falling into negative territory over the past 12 months, Cotality said.

The lowest-priced properties purchased by investors typically left them in the red when sold, according to the latest home flipping report from Attom.

Hartford, Connecticut, Rochester, New York, and Worcester, Massachusetts, headed the list of the 100 largest metro areas in the country, according to Realtor.com.

Sen. Hassan sent letters to corporate owners of manufactured housing communities, looking for answers on affordability and living conditions for their residents.

Forty percent of Americans planning to buy or sell a home in 2026 worry about a potential market crash, according to a new report from Clever Offers.

Manufactured housing could see eased lending rules if the defense bill removes the "permanent chassis" requirement, expanding FHA mortgage eligibility.

A recent Remax survey found 88% of respondents said they are "very" or "somewhat likely" to purchase a home next year.

New York developers are transforming struggling office buildings into more than 12,000 new apartments in a bid to help offset the city's worst housing crisis in decades. 

Of the 50 highest risk markets in the country, 16 reside in California, followed by New Jersey with nine, Attom found.

Gallego introduced legislation to amend the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program in order to funnel more money into the construction and rehabilitation of homes. 

But just three of the 150 most populous ZIP codes have a mortgage debt-to-income ratio below the conforming threshold of 28%, Movingplace found.

In the New Jersey case, MV Realty and its principals agreed to pay $28 million in fines and restitution for these "Homeowner Benefit Agreements."

Housing affordability will improve by 3% next year, according to First American's September Real House Price Index.

An expanded data set based on the third quarter annual price changes is what the Federal Housing Finance Agency uses to calculate next year's conforming loan limits.