Home prices in Dallas, Texas, have surged over the last year, with experts pointing to the “severe shortage of inventory” as the cause.
According to the MetroTex Association of Realtors, the media price of a home in Dallas was 12.3 percent higher in December 2014 than it was at the same time the year before.
“Buyers are seeing sticker shock, but they’re buying anyway,” said Laura Barnett of RE/MAX DFW Associates.
Image via flickr/Ken Lund
The two most popular real estate search engines now reside under one roof, as Zillow has completed its acquisition of Trulia.
According to CNBC, shares of Zillow rose more than 10 percent on Wednesday, as a result of the news of potential cost-cutting.
“The synergy potential here is significant,” Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff told the news outlet. “There will be significant cost savings as a result of that.”
Image via flickr/Mark Moz
United States Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Tuesday that he has given his fellow U.S. attorneys 90 days to determine whether they may be able to bring cases against any individuals for their roles in the 2008 financial crisis.
Federal prosecutors have already brought charges against several institutions and will now investigate individual employees for potential criminal or civil charges, Reuters explains.
Holder is set to leave office soon, so the decision whether the prosecute will ultimately be left up to Loretta Lynch, who is set to replace him.
Image via flickr/North Charleston
The overall housing market in Miami bounced back for a record year in 2014 – with the sales of single-family homes rising 7.7 percent in the fourth quarter from the same period in 2013.
But one area of the market that didn’t fare so well was the sale of condominiums, which fell 3.3 percent.
And, according to CNBC writer Diana Olick, what’s most troubling about the condo numbers is that there are more than 41,000 new Miami condo units either in the planning, approval and construction stages currently.
Image via flickr/Lisa Cyr
In a new report out Thursday, the Urban Institute identified the top five forces that have contributed to the consistent downward trend of mortgage interest rates over the last year and a half.
According to Metro Trends writers Ellen Seidman and Wei Li, the five main factors are: slow growth and turmoil abroad; upheaval in the oil market; the steady improvement of the US economy; low Treasury rates; and reduced demand for mortgages.
“There certainly are forces pushing mortgage interest rates in the opposite direction, most notably the tapering of the Federal Reserve’s purchases of mortgage-backed securities (MBS),” Seidman and Li wrote. “But so far, these forces have not been sufficient to shop the downward trend in mortgage interest rates.”
Image via flickr/woodleywonderworks
Julian Castro, the Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary, told the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday that he believes the Federal Housing Administrations (FHA) made the right decision last month when it announced it would be reducing its mortgage insurance premiums.
The half-point premium reduction is expected to save two million households more than $2 billion over the next three years, as well as attract more than 250,000 new borrowers to the housing market.
“With FHA firmly on the right track, our responsibility now is to provide responsible borrowers, who are ready to buy, with affordable options to purchase a home,” Castro said.
Image via flickr/US Department of Labor
Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey shows increasing optimism in the market, as employment and economic conditions have improved.
29% of respondents stated that their income has increased significantly over the last 12 months.
48% of respondents said that they expect their financial position to improve in the next year.
Image via Instagram/hl_whiteplains
According to a new report by The Wall Street Journal, the housing market is beginning to see signs of improvement, and much of that has to do with the current growth in consumer confidence.
As the paper points out, new home sales have picked up significantly from last year, with one builder – Taylor Morrison Home Corp. – reporting a 30 percent increase from last year.
“I’ve got to tell you right now, I feel pretty good about what we see in the market in January and how everybody is reacting,” Larry Nicholson, CEO of Ryland, told the paper earlier this month. “I see a lot more positives this year before the Super Bowl than I have in the past, quite a few.”
Image via flickr/Montgomery County Planning Commission
A four-floor townhouse in Brooklyn just hit the market for $40 million, making it the most expensive listing ever in the New York City borough.
According to CNBC, the 17,500-square-foot home boasts 16 bedrooms and 16 bathrooms and is currently divided into eight separate units.
The seller, Jeff Keil, is reportedly a retired banker and bought the property in 1991 for $2.3 million.
Image via corcoran.com
Google can now help you out in your mortgage-related endeavors, as the search engine has just launched a brand new mortgage calculator.
According to CNBC, the calculator can help you figure out how much mortgage you can afford, or switch tabs and input the required info, and it’ll tell you the total cost of your mortgage and monthly payments.
“Preparing for homeownership just got a bit easier,” Google announced on Tuesday. “Starting today you can ask Google things like ‘How much can I borrow at $200 a month?’ or ‘At 5% APR how much can I borrow over 10 years?’ You can even adjust the mortgage amount, interest rate, mortgage period and more to see which financial options fit your needs.”
Image via flickr/Carlos Luna