ECONOMIC NEWS

 

The Wall Street Journal
Phoenix, Las Vegas housing markets return to average growth, 15 years later

In another sign the U.S. housing market is returning to normal, Las Vegas and Phoenix -- poster children of the bubble and bust -- are looking average. (Subscription may be required.)

MarketWatch
Home-price growth accelerates to nearly three-year high in March

U.S. home price gains picked up speed, accelerating to the highest rate in nearly three years, reflecting sturdy demand and lean supply.

MarketWatch
Pending-home sales decline again, deepening housing market funk

A gauge of home purchase contract signings slumped for a second month in April, another sign the housing market is still struggling for a balance between supply and demand.

The Wall Street Journal
Homeowners are again pocketing cash as they refinance properties

Americans refinancing their mortgages are taking cash out in the process at levels not seen since the financial crisis. (Subscription may be required.)

MarketWatch
Why many Americans are worried about buying a home

Our economy has come a long way since the 2007-09 recession: Wages are going up, unemployment sits at 4.4% (the lowest level since May 2007)—and we're in the midst of the second-longest bull market ever.

 

INDUSTRY NEWS

 

The Wall Street Journal
Citing housing shortage, builders push for friendlier laws

The real-estate industry is having success in using the scarcity of affordable housing in the U.S. to persuade lawmakers to give builders more legal protection. (Subscription may be required.)

The Wall Street Journal
Happy 70th to true American suburbia

Today most American homes take four to six months to build, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This makes the following fact even more extraordinary: At one point in the 1940s, a house was completed every 16 minutes in Levittown, N.Y., the first mass-produced suburb in America. (Subscription may be required.)
 

HOUSING FINANCE

 

Bloomberg
This political fight is a big threat to fixing the mortgage market

The latest effort to fix the U.S. housing-finance system may hinge on solving a riddle that wrecked the last attempt: How far will Congress go to ensure that low-income and minority borrowers can get loans while protecting taxpayers against bailouts?

 

HOUSING POLICY

Housing Wire
The Trump Effect on Real Estate

He's known as a real estate mogul, but with proposals that could both boost or blast the housing market, Trump makes it far from clear what his presidency will do for housing, and even industry professionals don't agree on what the future may hold.

 

REMODELING

 

Construction Dive
Remodeling spending growth to continue in 2017

Homeowners who remodel this year are estimated to spend roughly $6,148 per project, compared to $5,800 in 2016, according to a National Association of Home Builders analysis of Census Bureau data, which considered 26,000 U.S. zip codes, the number and age of homes there and their owners' average income and education.

 

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

The Los Angeles Times
California housing bills could take away subsidies for homeowners and add them for renters

California state senators passed a package of housing legislation Thursday, a bid to spend more on low-income housing as well as make it easier for developers to build.

 

HUD

 

Fox Business
Housing chief steps up public profile in coming weeks

President Donald Trump's point man on housing, Ben Carson, takes on a higher profile this month in Washington — an opportunity to spell out his vision on federal housing policy, and to try to avoid some of the verbal gaffes that have stirred criticism in his first months on the job.

 

LABOR SHORTAGES

Bloomberg
Stigma of criminal record fades as U.S. employers get desperate

Shea Rochester, who once spent a month in jail on an assault charge that was later dropped, is now wanted in a different way.