Bob Forman's Real Estate Blog

WASHINGTON – Dec. 6, 2013 – The U.S. economy grew at a 3.6 percent annual rate in the third quarter, faster than first reported and its strongest performance in 1 1/2 years. Behind the improvement: Businesses boosted inventories even more than the government had estimated last month. The Commerce...

WASHINGTON – Dec. 5, 2013 – Markets in 54 out of approximately 350 metro areas nationwide returned to, or exceeded, their last normal levels of economic and housing activity, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/First American Leading Markets Index (LMI), released today. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) – Dec. 4, 2013 – Americans ramped up purchases of new homes in October after three months of soft sales, evidence that the housing recovery is improving fitfully. Sales of new homes grew 25.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 444,000, the Commerce Department said Wed...

NEW YORK – Dec. 3, 2013 – Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup will probably issue some mortgage loans that don’t meet the definition of a qualified mortgage (QM). The new gold-standard lending definition – part of sweeping mortgage regulations set to take effect next mon...

NEW YORK – Dec. 2, 2013 – As home prices rise, lenders are showing less willingness to grant short sales, RealtyTrac reports. The number of short sales has been gradually dropping the last few months. Short sales represented 5.3 percent of all sales in October, down from 6.3 percent the previous ...

WASHINGTON – Nov. 27, 2013 – More homebuyers today plan to plant deep roots in their communities rather than move to a bigger or better home in a few years, according to research from the National Association of Realtors®.Last year, 27 percent of homebuyers between the ages of 25 and 44 and 18 pe...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Nov. 27, 2013 – Consumer sentiment among Floridians recovered from last month’s drop, rising to 76 in November from the revised reading of 70, according to a new University of Florida survey.“As expected, consumer sentiment among Floridians regained much of the loss from Septe...

SAN FRANCISCO – Nov. 26, 2013 – Transitional land deals are picking up in 2013, but the recovery’s locations are still very “pocket-oriented,” Nancy Surak told attendees at the “Current Trends in Transitional Land” session during the recent National Association of Realtors® (NAR) convention. Tran...

SAN FRANCISCO – Nov. 26, 2013 – Transitional land deals are picking up in 2013, but the recovery’s locations are still very “pocket-oriented,” Nancy Surak told attendees at the “Current Trends in Transitional Land” session during the recent National Association of Realtors® (NAR) convention. Tran...

WASHINGTON – Nov. 25, 2013 – Mortgage giant Freddie Mac is expecting a good 2014 for housing. Economists predict a much stronger economic recovery will take hold next year, “led by a resurgent housing sector,” according to Freddie Mac’s November U.S. Economic & Housing Market Outlook report. Desp...