Data through May 2010, released by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, a measure of U.S. home prices, show that the annual growth rates in 15 of the 20 MSAs and the 10- and 20-City Composites improved in May compared to those reported for April 2010. The 10-City Composite is up 5.4 percent and the 20-City Composite is up 4.6 percent from where they were in May 2009.Read more

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes declined for a second consecutive month in July to its lowest level since April of 2009, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The HMI fell two points from a downwardly revised number in the previous month to 14 for July.Read more

Single-family housing starts were virtually unchanged from the previous month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 454,000 units in June, according to newly released figures by the U.S. Commerce Department. Meanwhile, a 21.5 percent decline on the more volatile multifamily side weighed down the overall housing production number, which fell five percent to a 549,000-unit rate.Read more

Freddie Mac has released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.78 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 27, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.84 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.91 percent. The 30-year FRM has not been lower since the week ending Dec. 3, 2009, when it averaged 4.71 percent.Read more

Freddie Mac has released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.84 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 20, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.93 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.82 percent. Once again, the 30-year FRM has not been lower since the week ending Dec. 10, 2009, when it averaged 4.81 percent.Read more

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 7, 2010. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 3.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 3.4 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 14.8 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 9.5 percent from one week earlier.Read more

Freddie Mac has released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged five percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 6, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 5.06 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.84 percent.Read more

Pending home sales rose in February, potentially signaling a second surge of home sales in response to the homebuyer tax credit, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in February, rose 8.2 percent to 97.6 from a downwardly revised 90.2 in January, and remains 17.3 percent above February 2009 when it was 83.2. The data reflects contracts and not closings, which usually occur with a lag time of one or two months.Read more

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a new homebuyer tax credit bill, AB 183, authored by Assemblymember Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) and Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield), that will provide a tax credit of up to $10,000 to Californians who are buying their first home or purchasing a brand new home. This legislation, part of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s larger California Jobs Initiative, will play a key role in getting the state's economy moving again by encouraging homeownership and stimulating job creation.Read more

Freddie Mac has released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.01 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Feb. 4, 2010, up from last week when it averaged 4.98 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.25 percent. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.40 percent with an average 0.7 point, up slightly from last week when it averaged 4.39 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.92 percent.Read more