Posted on

Consumer Confidence Hikes in August

Despite the August increase in overall confidence, respondents’ appraisals of current conditions and expectations for the next six months were mixed. While 82 percent of respondents rated current business conditions “good” (23 percent) or “normal” (59 percent), 56 percent of respondents characterized employment conditions as “jobs not so plentiful.” The remaining 44 percent were split […]
Posted on

Market Shifts to Buyers’ Advantage

Recent stock market volatility and seasonal trends may give buyers better financial options and more time to make purchase decisions entering the fall, says Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for realtor.com. August data remains positive with regard to overall housing health as both demand and supply continue to grow. According to realtor.com®’s ‘Advance Read of August Trends,’ which […]
Posted on

Consumer Credit Growth Slows

The Federal Reserve Board recently reported that consumer credit outstanding rose by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.7 percent, $193.0 billion, in May 2015, slower than the 7.6 percent rate of growth recorded in April 2015. Consumer credit outstanding now totals $3.401 trillion. The expansion of total consumer credit outstanding partly reflected an increase in […]
Posted on

Five Reasons Why Most American Homes Will Go Solar

Solar power is finally entering the residential real estate mainstream in America after years in the wilderness. The heady growth conjures up images of solar rooftop panels sprouting up as a common sight from West Coast to East Coast and points in between. Futurist Ray Kurzweil, a noted inventor who is director of engineering at […]

Posted on

Five Reasons Why Most American Homes Will Go Solar

Solar power is finally entering the residential real estate mainstream in America after years in the wilderness. The heady growth conjures up images of solar rooftop panels sprouting up as a common sight from West Coast to East Coast and points in between. Futurist Ray Kurzweil, a noted inventor who is director of engineering at […]
Posted on

Five Reasons Why Most American Homes Will Go Solar

Solar power is finally entering the residential real estate mainstream in America after years in the wilderness. The heady growth conjures up images of solar rooftop panels sprouting up as a common sight from West Coast to East Coast and points in between. Futurist Ray Kurzweil, a noted inventor who is director of engineering at […]

Posted on

Renters Feeling Heat from Heightened Housing Costs

The gap between rental costs and household income is widening to unsustainable levels in many parts of the country, and the situation could worsen unless new home construction meaningfully rises, according to new research by the National Association of REALTORS®. NAR reviewed data on income growth, housing costs and changes in the share of renter and […]
Posted on

Consumers Increasingly Optimistic about Economy, Housing

Amid continued strengthening in employment, consumer optimism toward the economy is growing and appears to be contributing to further improvement in overall housing sentiment, according to results from Fannie Mae’s February 2015 National Housing Survey™. The share of respondents who believe the economy is headed in the right direction increased 3 percentage points last month […]
Posted on

New Study Finds Price Premium for Solar Homes

A study conducted by a team of researchers,  led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Berkeley Laboratory, found that homebuyers are willing to pay more for homes that have installed solar photovoltaic (PV) energy systems. The research (Selling into the Sun: Price Premium Analysis of a Multi-State Dataset of Solar Homes) estimates a price premium of approximately […]
Posted on

Effective Rate on New Home Loans Continues Downward Drift

On average, the contract rate on conventional mortgages used to purchase newly-built homes, remained a constant 4.03 percent in December, according to data released yesterday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). However, initial fees and charges on the loans dropped form 1.23 percent in November down to 1.16 percent. As a result, the average […]