As reported by CNNMoney.com - "Home sales contracts rise for 8th straight month":The number of signed sales contracts to buy homes rose in September for the eighth straight month, according to a real estate industry report released Monday.The September Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) spiked 6.1% to 110.1, consolidating a 6.4% gain in August. It was the index's highest level since December 2006, when it stood at 112.8.The leap was far better than expect... Read Full Story

As reported by Bloomberg.com - "Sales of Existing U.S. Homes Probably Climbed as Prices Fell":Sales of existing U.S. homes probably climbed in July to the highest level in 10 months, signaling the housing crisis that crippled the world's largest economy is easing, economists said before a report today.Purchases rose 2.1 percent to a 5 million annual rate, according to the median forecast of 64 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. It would be the fourth consecutive gain, capping the longest ... Read Full Story

As reported by CNNMoney.com - "Homes still affordable - really affordable":Homes continue to be more affordable than they have been in nearly two decades.The typical American family, making the nation's median income of $64,000 a year, could afford to buy 72.3% of all homes sold in the United States during the second quarter, according a quarterly report from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500).That's off just a tad from the record 72.5% reached... Read Full Story

Interesting points regarding the U.S. housing market, the recovery, and housing regions where real estate should fare well. Read Full Story

As reported my CNNMoney.com - "Foreclosure plague: No cure yet":Despite some positive signs starting to surface in select housing markets, foreclosures are still on the rise:There were more than 360,000 properties with foreclosure filings -- including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions -- an increase of 7% from June and 32% from July 2008, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosed homes. In fact, one in every 355 U.S. homes had at least one filing durin... Read Full Story

From CNNMoney.com, "Foreclosure filings in record jump":Servicers initiated foreclosure proceedings against 290,000 mortgage borrowers,a jump of nearly 20% from February's 243,000, and the highest monthly totalsince the coalition began tracking data in mid-2007. Starts have risen by morethan a third since January.From the beginning:Since the mortgage meltdown hit in July 2007, 1,447,866 homes have been lost toforeclosure. Wow ... any end in sight? Read Full Story

As reported by CNNMoney.com - "New home sales in surprise rebound":Sales of newly constructed homes unexpectedly rose in February, rebounding nearly 5% after sinking to the lowest level on record in January, according to a government report released Wednesday.The U.S. Census Bureau reported that new home sales rose 4.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 337,000 in February from a revised 322,000 in January. The was the first increase since July, and it comes after sales tumble... Read Full Story

As reported my CNNMoney.com - "Existing home sales spike 5%":Sales of existing homes unexpectedly rose in February, recovering from a sharp drop in the previous month, according to an industry report released Monday.The National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales rose last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.72 million million units, up 5.1% from a rate of 4.49 million in January. February sales were down nearly 5% from year ago levels.Who's buying... Read Full Story

From Bloomberg - On the surface, more terrible news in regards to new housing starts and new construction permits. The silver lining asserted in the video is that we are not "effectively adding new housing to the inventory." Yes, less supply will ultimately leads towards stabilizing this dreadful housing market.Listen to the video to get another opinion on where we're at and what it's going to take to turn this housing market around. Read Full Story

From CNNMoney.com - "Home prices in record plunge -- (NAR 4th quarter housing price numbers chart is at the bottom of the CNNMoney.com article)":Home prices fell 12.4% during the fourth quarter of 2008, the largest year-over-year decline since the National Association of Realtors began keeping comprehensive records in 1979.The median price for a U.S. home sold during the fourth quarter of 2008 fell to $180,100, down from $205,700 during the last quarter of 2007.Prices fell by a reco... Read Full Story