ECONOMY

CNBC
US home price gains ease in June: S&P/Case-Shiller

The pace of U.S. home price gains slowed in June from the previous month, but strong appreciation in the West and South kept growth above the two-year average, according to a monthly report.

 

Business Insider
Pending home sales rise more than expected

Pending home sales rose 1.3% in July, according to the National Association of Realtors.

 

Construction Dive
3 key takeaways from the latest housing market reports

The housing market has been slowly climbing out of the Great Recession, and it still has a long way to go before reaching what are considered normal production levels. This month, a new trend started to emerge in the residential reports released throughout August. And according to experts, that trend mirrors exactly where the market should be.

 

Reuters
U.S. housing market turnover to improve over coming year: Reuters poll

Turnover in the U.S. residential property market is set to rise over the coming year, according to a strong majority of analysts polled by Reuters who also forecast the pace of house price gains to remain relatively steady this year and next.

 

MarketWatch
As housing reignites, even bust towns are booming again

The poster children of the housing bust are back. Last week, Realtor.com released its August "Hotness Index," ranking metro areas on how many days a listing in that area stays on the market, as well as how many web page views it receives.

 

HousingWire
Fannie Mae: Strong labor market decreases foreclosures

A new study from Fannie Mae shows that the jobs market correlates closely to the number of homes in foreclosures, according to an article by Susanna Kim for The Home Story.

The Wall Street Journal
Suburbs trying to attract millennials diverge on development patterns

In the northern Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas, developers are planning to build as many as 6,000 new condominiums and apartments, 10 hotels and 2 million square feet of office space along a one-mile stretch that includes the new corporate headquarters for the Dallas Cowboys. (Subscription may be required.)

The Washington Post
What more than 1 million Craigslist rental listings tell us about the housing market

Craigslist, with its drab gray interface and homemade classifieds, has become the single largest information exchange about the rental housing market in the United States. Its digital bulletin boards have everything: apartment porn for places you'll never afford, weird fish-eye photos by amateur landlords, queries for every conceivable living space from a spare bunk to a full-sized mansion.

CNBC
We're in a new housing bubble: Why it's less scary this time

A decade ago, the U.S. housing market swelled to a bubble of epic proportions. Too many homes were built, and too many people were willing to pay top dollar for them with the help of faulty mortgage products.

HousingWire
CoreLogic: REO sales hit lowest point since housing market implosion

Distressed sales, which include real estate owned and short sales accounted for just 8.4% of total home sales in the U.S. in May, according to a recent report by CoreLogic.

MarketWatch
No all-day breakfast in real estate as McMansion price premium declines

Like many housing innovations from the early 2000s, McMansions saw their popularity spike and then dive. But according to Trulia, the fortunes of the newly-built massive houses share another similarity with the overall real estate market: their value depends on location, location, location.

The Wall Street Journal
Housing market: Why millennials are getting priced out

Millennials have benefited the least from today's strong housing market. A likely slowdown won't help either. (Subscription may be required.)

The Washington Post
The Federal Reserve is debating how to fight the next recession

The recovery from the Great Recession has been one of the longest expansions in American history. Now, the stewards of the nation's economy are starting to grapple with what happens once it ends.

 

HOUSING FINANCE

The New York Times
U.S. will extend HARP home loan program into next year

Seven years after the federal government first offered an option to help some homeowners refinance into more affordable mortgages, the program is being extended yet again, and plans for a new refinancing program are being completed.

 

HousingWire
Here's "clear evidence" the credit box is way too tight

Borrowers who took out mortgages in the past five years are better at paying their mortgages than any other group of mortgage borrowers in history, putting real data to talks that the credit availability pendulum has swung too far the other way since the financial crisis.  

 

National Mortgage News
Regulators' down payment disconnect puts strain on homeownership

Amid the constant regulatory ambiguity that has become commonplace for lenders since 2011, they have also received two distinctly different messages relating to bond loans offered by down payment assistance programs.

 

National Mortgage News
Why Low-Down-Payment Mortgages Could Be a Tough Sell

When Fifth Third Bancorp this summer began offering mortgages with 3% down, it joined a growing list of big banks that have made splashy commitments this year to expanding access to homeownership.
 
LAND USE

The Wall Street Journal
Construction unions stymie low-income housing plans in California, New York

Legislative efforts in two of the country's most populous states to boost urban housing construction are facing a common barrier: resistance from construction unions. (Subscription may be required.)