New Home Sales Jump 14.8 Percent in April

New Home Sales Jump 14.8 Percent in April
May 26, 2010, Associated Press

Sales of new homes posted another large gain in April as buyers rushed to sign contracts before government tax credits expired. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that sales of new single-family homes jumped 14.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 504,000 units. The April gain followed a 29.8 percent surge in March, the biggest monthly increase in 47 years.


The Bust's Second Act
May 26, 2010, The Economist

For a brief moment last fall, it looked as though the American housing sector might not be the persistent economic drag economists had feared. Home prices and sales leveled off and began climbing. Construction did the same. In the third and fourth quarter of last year, residential investment was a minor but positive contributor to American output growth. Buoyed by a generous homebuyer tax credit and mortgage rates held down by Federal Reserve purchases, housing markets seem poised for stability, if not a new boom in activity.


Is the Housing Market on the Rebound?
May 26, 2010, TIME

Spring is typically the season when people shop for houses. Many families like to complete their home purchase by the end of the summer so as to not uproot their children during the school year. And let's face it: houses just look more enticing when flowers are out. But the real estate bust and economic downturn have made the past few housing hunting seasons rather slow. Some buyers have waited on the sidelines hoping prices had further to drop.


REO Sales Drop as Short Sales Increase
May 25, 2010, DSNews

With distressed borrowers increasingly turning to short sales as an alternative to foreclosure, the proportion of damaged foreclosure properties, otherwise known as REO, sold during April plunged, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions.