FHA: U.S. House Prices Rise 1.1 Percent in First Quarter 2019
U.S. house prices rose 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2019 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI). House prices rose 5.1 percent from the first quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2019. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for March was up 0.1 percent from February. The HPI is calculated using home sales…
Federal Reserve: Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households Issued
The Federal Reserve Board’s latest Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households found that most measures of economic well-being and financial resilience in 2018 were similar to, or slightly better than, those in 2017. Overall, the financial experiences reported by the 11,000 adults surveyed in 2018 were largely positive, and many families have experienced substantial gains…
FHFA: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Total Refinance Volume Increases in March 2019 as Interest Rates Falls
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today reported that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) completed 234,716 refinances in the first quarter of 2019. FHFA’s first quarter 2019 Refinance Report also shows that 901 loans were refinanced through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), bringing the total number of HARP refinances to 3,495,296 since inception of the program…
HUD and Census Bureau: Residential Construction Activity Report for April 2019
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for April 2019. Building Permits Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,296,000. This is 0.6 percent (±2.6 percent)* above the revised…
FHFA: Index Shows Mortgage Rates Decreased in March 2019
Nationally, interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages decreased from February to March, according to several indices of new mortgage contracts. The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders Index was 4.36 percent for loans closed in late March, down 10 basis points from 4.46 percent in February. The…
ABA: Report Shows Credit Card Market Expanded in Fourth Quarter 2018
Credit card use continued to expand in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the American Bankers Association’s latest quarterly Credit Card Market Monitor. Compared to the previous quarter, purchase volumes increased for super-prime (+2.7 percent) and prime accounts (+1.4 percent), but declined modestly for subprime accounts (-0.9 percent). On an annual basis, purchase volumes…
FHFA: New Report Details Progress on the 2018 Scorecard for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a Scorecard Progress Report today summarizing the 2018 activities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) to further FHFA’s three strategic objectives as conservator: Maintain, Reduce, and Build. Interested parties are invited to provide input on this Report. Feedback can be submitted via FHFA.gov, or to the…
HUD and Census: New Residential Sales Report for March 2019
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential sales statistics for March 2019: New Home Sales Sales of new single-family houses in March 2019 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 692,000. This is 4.5 percent (±17.6 percent)* above the revised February…
FHFA: House Price Index Up 0.3 Percent in February 2019, Up 4.9 Percent from Last Year
U.S. house prices rose in February, up 0.3 percent from the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) seasonally adjusted monthly House Price Index (HPI). The previously reported 0.6 percent increase for January 2019 remained unchanged. The FHFA monthly HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by,…
ABA: Reports Shows Consumer Delinquencies Mixed in Fourth Quarter 2018
Consumer credit delinquencies were mixed in last year’s fourth quarter, with delinquencies falling for the composite index of closed-end loans and rising in other open-end loan categories, according to results from the American Bankers Association’s Consumer Credit Delinquency Bulletin. Overall, delinquencies fell in six of the 11 categories tracked by ABA while five categories rose….