Outlook

Forum Underscores Housing Shortage
   National demand for affordable housing far outweighs the supply, and President Barack Obama's proposed FY 2014 budget doesn't go far enough in addressing the need, according to housing researchers, policymakers and practitioners gathered in Washington, DC for the National Housing Conference (NHC) 2013 Annual Budget Forum.
posted 5/9/13 3:34 PM  read complete story

Home Prices Up, Foreclosures Down
   Single-family home prices soar 9.3% in February from year-ago levels to the highest rate of increase since May 2006 according to the S&P/Case Shiller index of property values in 20 cities, a further indication the housing market is in full recovery mode.
posted 4/30/13 3:17 PM  read complete story

Housing Rises Above Economic Setbacks
   Housing’s recovery will continue despite fallout from tax increases, federal spending sequestration, and the Federal Reserve’s constrained monetary policy, the latest housing market outlook from Fannie Mae shows. The mortgage loan financier predicts 2013 economic growth will come in at about 2.3%, a modest recovery.
posted 4/18/13 4:05 PM  read complete story

Lenders Sure Housing Recovery Is Real
   Almost 70% of mortgage loan professionals feel the housing industry is ready to expand home lending as home prices rise at a sustainable rate. Their certainty in the FICO/Professional Risk Managers International Association survey helps to affirm the housing recovery is real.
posted 4/10/13 09:32 AM  read complete story

Cordray Confirmation To Be Elusive
   Richard Cordray gets a cordial reception as he outlines his successes and goals for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to the Senate Banking Committee, but Republicans on the committee make it clear they won’t back his confirmation as the agency’s director. Former Ohio Attorney General Cordray has headed the agency since January
posted 3/13/13 6:06 PM  read complete story

Bernanke Banks On Housing For Recovery
   In a move to bolster the Federal Reserve’s focus on low interest rates, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke tells the Senate Banking Committee Fed. 26 that the continuing low long-term interest rates sparked a housing market recovery that is now increasing household wealth through rising home prices.
posted 2/27/13 09:49 AM  read complete story

Fed Pegs Housing As Key To Recovery
   Despite reservations about the continuing tight mortgage lending environment, the Federal Open Market Committee signals it sees the housing market as having the potential to cause overall economic growth to be stronger than expected this year.
posted 2/22/13 09:43 AM  read complete story

Mortgage Rescue Legislation DOA
   President Barack Obama implored Congress in his State of the Union address to act on a Senate bill designed to expand mortgage relief to more troubled homeowners. But a recent inspector general report on the status of the administration’s mortgage relief efforts brought the legislation to a screeching halt before it really got off the ground.
posted 2/20/13 11:02 AM  read complete story

Housing, Sandy Relief Threatened
   Federal spending cuts set to take effect March 1 will have harsh consequences on HUD programs and remove millions from the Community Development Block Grant allocation for Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan tells the Senate Appropriations Committee Feb. 14.
posted 2/15/13 10:08 AM  read complete story

Fed Sees Housing Stamina Endurance
   Housing will continue to lead the muddling economy as it emerges from recession, but the Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book portrays little optimism in its overall economic outlook. The monthly economic gauge gives a nod to continuing economic expansion but points to troubling unemployment concerns with a scarcity of qualified workers in
posted 1/17/13 1:22 PM  read complete story