The fiscal cliff, an economically damaging set of tax hikes and spending reductions scheduled to begin in 2013, has been avoided — for now — and that is good news for housing in the short run. Here are the positives of the deal.
Insurance Service Office, Inc. (ISO) recently analyzed building codes and enforcement and found that Pima County, Ariz., consistently outscored comparable jurisdictions in Arizona and the nation.
According to a report from the National Association of Realtors and Realtor.com, ten housing markets have dropped significantly in the last year, despite a general overall improvement in median sales prices across the country.
More positive news for housing this morning, with Standard & Poor’s Case Shiller report showing that home prices rose 2.2 percent and 2.3 percent in its 10-city and 20-city composite indices in June.
Americans have shown continued interest in buying and owning homes. The demand for new homes is real. We need to keep focused on removing obstacles to homeownership. The new QM, when it emerges, should not impede the market further.
Phoenix, Oakland, Calif., and Boise, Idaho, are among the 10 housing markets that saw the biggest second-quarter improvement in both median list prices and for-sale inventories, according to data from Realtor.com.
A 3 percent increase in residential construction spending in May pushed overall construction spending up 0.9 percent for the month, the largest jump since December 2011.
Economists at the National Association of Home Builders recently analyzed the impacts of the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts (or “Taxaggedon,” as tax policy experts call it) on home builders, and the outlook is not bright.