housing start

Why Home Buyers Should Worry About Falling Housing Starts And Why Sellers Should Cheer Them

April 19, 2009

With respect to housing data, news is rarely positive or negative on a universal level. There’s always two perspectives to consider, after all.

Read the full article →

Plunging Housing Starts Is Bad News For Spring 2009 Home Buyers

November 20, 2008

When it comes to housing data, there are always two questions to consider: How does this impact buyers? How does this impact sellers? This is why housing data is rarely positive or negative on a universal level — one group of Americans is going to see benefit. Today, it’s home sellers. From the government, we […]

Read the full article →

How Terrible Housing Data Can Actually Help Push Home Values Higher

October 18, 2008

Once again, the headlines may be misleading you.  It’s a good thing that Housing Starts dropped last month — despite what the papers say. A “housing start” is a new residence on which construction has started.  Yesterday, the government released September 2007’s Housing Starts data for the country. There was a 10.2% drop in Housing […]

Read the full article →

What’s Good For Home Sellers Is Bad For Home Buyers : Builders Are Dialing It Back

September 18, 2008

In August, home builders broke ground on the fewest number of homes since January 1991. It was the 16th straight month in which Housing Starts declined. But, although the press labels these statistics indicative of a recession, home sellers nationwide quietly applaud them. With fewer new homes coming on the market, home sellers are finding that there’s […]

Read the full article →

Good News For Homeowners : Housing Starts Tumble In July

August 19, 2008

Housing Starts measure the number of new housing “units” on which construction has started and in July, Housing Starts fell to its lowest levels since March 1991. For homeowners, this is a welcome bit of good news because as fewer homes are built, there is less inventory from which home buyers can choose. With fewer homes […]

Read the full article →

Mortgage Rates Spike On Highest Cost Of Living Index Since 1991

July 17, 2008

Another day, another piece of inflationary data. June’s Consumer Price Index showed a 5 percent year-over-year increase in what is now the largest annual Cost of Living increase for Americans in 17 years. This is bad news for both home buyers and homeowners in want of a new mortgage because rising costs are inflationary and […]

Read the full article →

Why Home Values May Rise When Home Building Falls To A 17-Year Low

June 18, 2008

A “Housing Start” is a new home on which construction has commenced and in May, Housing Starts fell to a 17-year low nationally. At first glance, this may seem like a negative for the already-battered U.S. housing market. It’s not. Falling Housing Starts reflects the broader real estate market and shows us that builders are working […]

Read the full article →

Homeowners Rejoice! New Homes Sales Data Is Weak.

January 29, 2008

If you only read headlines this past week, you may have missed two very important points. The first story relates to Housing Starts.  Housing Starts measure the number of new homes entering the construction phase.  The headline blared “Housing starts plunge to 16-year low“. If you are a homeowner, this is terrific news. Because home […]

Read the full article →

The Week In Review (September 17, 2007) : What To Watch For

September 17, 2007

The volatile path of mortgage rates last week followed the changing expectations for Tuesday’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The FOMC sets the Fed Funds Rate, a benchmark interest rate upon which Prime Rate is based. According to Federal Funds Rate futures, there is a 94 percent chance that the Fed will lower the FFR […]

Read the full article →

The Week In Review (June 18, 2007) : What To Watch For

June 18, 2007

After a tame Consumer Price Index report Friday, mortgage bonds staged a brief rally and rates retreated slightly. Earlier in the week, mortgage rates were at their highest point in almost a year. Unfortunately for rate shoppers, mortgage investors are behaving like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde right now.  One moment, they hate the outlook […]

Read the full article →

Hot Housing Starts Figure May Push Mortgage Rates Higher

May 16, 2007

Each month, the Commerce Department releases a statistic titled “Housing Starts” that measures residential construction activity. This morning, the Commerce Department released April’s Housing Starts data (PDF) and the headline data reflected a 2.5% (±9.3%) increase in new construction. Markets had anticipated a 0.8% decrease.  This coincided with a decrease in available homes, as shown […]

Read the full article →

The Week In Review (May 14, 2007) : What To Watch For

May 14, 2007

Last week in the mortgage markets was thick with hype and thin with action. Whenever the Fed meets, there is potential for wild swings in mortgage rates.  And, although the Fed doesn’t control mortgage rates, it’s views on inflation and the economy carry tremendous weight with traders, with economists, with banks, and with governments across […]

Read the full article →

The Headlines On Housing Aren’t Telling The Whole Story

March 23, 2007

As a consumer, it’s very easy to be misled by newspaper headlines.  Today provides a great example. “Sales of Existing Homes Up 3.9% For The Biggest Monthly Gains In Three Years” What was not mentioned in the headline was that total inventory rose by 5.9%, adding more supply than for which there is demand. More […]

Read the full article →

Look Beyond Short-Term Movement Towards Longer-Term Trends In Housing

March 20, 2007

Mortgage rates are somewhat restrained today as the Fed begins its two-day meeting. As reported by the Census Bureau, Housing Starts — defined as the number of units for which construction began — surprised to the high-side, despite a cold February. The 9% increase over January showed relative strength, but when compared to February 2006, […]

Read the full article →

The Week In Review (March 19, 2007) : What To Watch For

March 19, 2007

Sub-prime mortgage news dominated the headlines this past week as the Chicken Littles were out in full force.  Perhaps the fears of a credit crunch are overblown, but then again, perhaps there’s reason to worry. Like everything else in the world of economics, it all comes down to expectations. Markets makes predictions about the future […]

Read the full article →

The Week In Review (February 12, 2007) : What To Watch For

February 12, 2007

Despite the dearth of economic news last week, mortgage rates staged somewhat of a rally.  By the time the week ended. mortgage rates had retreated by half of the prior week’s major run-up.  The week was not without fireworks, however.  In prepared remarks, Dallas Fed President Fisher dropped a hint about future Fed rate hikes […]

Read the full article →

The Housing Engine That Won’t Slow Down

January 18, 2007

Housing Starts handily beat economists’ expectations this morning and CPI showed strength, too, sustaining the market momentum that has trended mortgage rates higher over the last 30 days. The Federal Open Market Committee has repeatedly told us that it expects the economy to slow down in 2007, led by a weakening housing market.  And yet, […]

Read the full article →