Cash-only purchases of new homes appear to be declining.
An energy-efficiency loan is key to the success of the Active House USA project.
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The plumbing line for capital is wide for publics, narrow for privates.
Builders insist a government backstop remains critical to the continued flow of home buyer credit.
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The waiver for 90-day resales has been extended through 2012.
David Weekley Homes reenters the Phoenix market with the acquisition of the bulk of local builder T.W. Lewis' lots. Plus, a look at the markets where the biggest builders' volume and share might not add up to good operating leverage.
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The Sensible Accounting to Value Energy Act, to be introduced tomorrow, would include a home's energy savings in loans and appraisals.
Without traditional financing, new-home construction cannot begin to recover.
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I've been thinking more about my blog post from last week on the continued tightness in the mortgage markets and how those constraints have been driving a steady increase in all-cash purchases of homes since 2007. In fact, in February and March 2011, those transactions, as a percentage of all known...
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Applications for home mortgages rose sharply last week, with the Mortgage Bankers Association's Market Composite Index jumping 9.3%, seasonally adjusted, from a week earlier, the MBA said Wednesday. The gain was driven primarily by refinancings, with the Refinance Index up 11.2% from the previous...
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Little more than a week and change remains before the loan limits on mortgages eligible to be purchased by the GSEs or insured by the FHA reset Oct. 1. Despite a clarion call from the NAHB and other industry groups like the NAR to lobby for an extension of the current higher limits, the efforts may...
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The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee on Wednesday voted 7 to 3 in favor of 'Operation Twist' in an attempt to "put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates and help make broader financial conditions more accommodative," according to the committee's statement. Stock markets, which had...
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Applications for mortgage loans increased 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis last week from one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Associations weekly report on its Market Composite Index, MBA said Wednesday. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 25.2% compared with the previous...
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With the release of its third quarter results, Lennar closed on its sixth consecutive quarter of profit. All three of the company's operating units--home building, financial services, and its distressed asset division Rialto--contributed positively to the bottom line, each working in synergy with...
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Marty Connor, chief financial officer at Toll Brothers, appearing Friday morning on CNBC, said the company proposes a splitting of underwater mortgages into two loans refinanced at a lower rate, one a primary mortgage covering up to 100% of the value of the property, the other a "soft second...
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Mortgage activity as measured by the Mortgage Bankers Association's Market Composite index increased 6.3% last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, which included an adjustment for Labor Day, from a week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 15.4%. The seasonally adjusted Purchase...
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Mortgage applications fell 4.9% last week from the week before, but purchase only applications eked out a 0.2% gain on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. The MBA's Market Composite Index was down 5.3% on an unadjusted basis; the unadjusted reading on the...
It can mean a new source of revenue, but it also can distract builders from their primary mission building and selling the American dream
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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday proposed no new Fed action to boost the slowing economy in a speech many investors were hoping would include a plan for a third program of quantitative easing. "Although important problems certainly exist, the growth fundamentals of the United States...
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The financial turmoil of August trumped near-record low rates last week as mortgage application volume slipped for both refinancings and home purchases, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. The MBA's Market Composite Index, which measures mortgage application volume, fell 2.4% on a...