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We’ve reported quite a few times this year on the strength of new housing starts, and with today’s job report, that doesn’t look set to change anytime soon. So, in honor of all the new homes being built, we thought it was worth taking a look at the history of the American home. What we…

As much as I’ve been blogging about the successful recovery in the housing market, and as much as delinquency rates have gone down, CNN Money correctly points out that there’s one area of the housing market that, while better, is still weighing down the broader market: underwater homes  Down to 13.4%, the number of homes with…

This is such big news today that we can’t even find the original source — it’s literally all over the Internet — so we’ll just take this one from Detroit. The original cord cutters have reached a threshold. People canceling cable TV for Netflix may still have a way to go, but people ditching land-lines for…

For some context, in 2009 jumbo loans accounted for 5.5% of the market. Contrast that with this year, through September, where they’re accounting for almost 19% of the market — the highest level since 2006 (though still not quite to the peak of 2000). Why the difference? The answer is simple. A conforming loan is…

There was a while there where covering mortgage rates got (depending on your perspective) highly entertaining or highly nerve-wracking, as the news flip-flopped every day. Well, mortgage rates and the housing market all seem reasonably stable at the moment, but one of the big factors driving home prices has been foreign investment. Now it’s time…

OK. The article is a paid op-ed by PIMCO, so they have a vested interest in the position. But that doesn’t mean they’re wrong. The four points Mark makes — strong job growth and consumer confidence; low inventories and rising pent-up demand; a willingness to lend and expanding demand for credit; and relative affordability — are…

We reported earlier this year when Google added a mortgage calculator to organic search results. This week, they’ve taken another step forward. Google Compare now provides “[a] real-time, apples-to-apples comparison of rate quotes”. Of course, there’s a lot more to a mortgage than just the rate quote, and talking to a broker is still key,…

We reported earlier this year when Google added a mortgage calculator to organic search results. This week, they’ve taken another step forward. Google Compare now provides “[a] real-time, apples-to-apples comparison of rate quotes”. Of course, there’s a lot more to a mortgage than just the rate quote, and talking to a broker is still key,…

As we enter the holiday season, many Americans will be traveling quite a bit. For some, that’s just a drive to see local relatives; but for many, it can mean much longer trips, from elderly “snowbirds” heading to warm islands, to expats returning home to see family members. The U.S. State Department regularly issues travel…

Of course, everyone knows that property has different value in different markets. And everyone knows that the cost of labor is different in different markets, so the cost of building houses can vary. But it turns out that, far more important than the cost of labor, local zoning can have a huge impact on housing…