Blog

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…

If you didn’t catch the brief coverage on CNN (here’s the original article , and you’re not particularly active on social media, then you may have missed a particularly heartwarming example of Americans doing the charitable thing. In the wake of the Paris attack last week, even though airports remained open, there were many cancelled flights. It…

Shelby Holliday of the WSJ sat down for a few moments at the CEO Council with Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton. Of course, at this point, we’re all familiar with the e-mortgage regulations that have come through, and the government’s attempts to standardize reporting across the industry. In this video, Layton correctly points out that the…

The third quarter turned in some more positive results on the housing industry as a whole, and mortgage borrowing in particular. The Globe and Mail reported on two key milestones yesterday. First, as of September 30th, the mortgage delinquency rate was 4.99%. Second, for that same date, the percentage of mortgages in foreclosure was 1.88%. Those…

We spend a lot of time blogging about everything surrounding the places we live — homes, markets, interest rates, maintenance, etc…. But of course, even more important are what goes inside our homes: us. America has always been a melting pot, but just how diverse we are may surprise you. Each year, the Census Bureau…

This blog has covered a few times the impact that foreign affairs can have on the U.S. housing market, but sometimes it can be useful to look not just at direct impact, but at global comparisons. Jonathan Lansner over at The OC Register did us the favor of compiling a bunch of global data into…

This blog has covered a few times the impact that foreign affairs can have on the U.S. housing market, but sometimes it can be useful to look not just at direct impact, but at global comparisons. Jonathan Lansner over at The OC Register did us the favor of compiling a bunch of global data into…

Literally every day there are prognostications about the rate of mortgage applications, based on projections of future interest rates. You know what? That’s crazy. And it’s even crazier to make your purchasing decision on projected rate moves. Sure, 1/4pt here or there makes a big difference over 30 years. But in 1972 the average annual…

One of the most interesting things about America is the relationship between the state and the federal governments; and the corollary, what should federal policy be for such a large and diverse country. When it comes to housing, it seems that the government holds two conflicting opinions at the same time: housing should always be…