For the first time in eight months, the Loan Application Defect Index for purchase transactions increased compared with the month before, rising 1.3 percent in September over August. Year over year, the Defect Index for purchase transactions decreased 11.1 percent. The Defect Index for refinance transactions also increased by 1.4 percent compared ... Read More ›

Wednesday’s Census Bureau report on new residential construction data for September sends a mixed message to the housing market. Current home buyers received a lift as completions jumped 7.0 percent compared to September of last year, which is additional new net supply added to the housing stock. The continued year-over-year growth in completions ... Read More ›

While the housing market continues to underperform its potential by 7.2 percent, the gap between actual existing home sales and the market potential for home sales narrowed by 1 percent in September compared with August, according to our Potential Homes Sales model. However, even though the performance gap narrowed a bit, the housing market still ... Read More ›

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), a symbol of the housing market crash, are making a comeback, but their resurgence is not an indicator of a potential negative turn in the housing market. An ARM is a mortgage that typically has a 30-year repayment term, but the interest rate is fixed for the first few years of the loan. Once the fixed period ends, ... Read More ›

First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming was interviewed on CNBC yesterday and discussed the impact of rising interest rates on affordability and home-buying demand. Read More ›

Following seven straight months of declining defect risk, the Loan Application Defect Index for purchase transactions remained the same in August compared with the month before. Year over year, the Defect Index for purchase transactions decreased 13.2 percent as compared to August 2017. The Defect Index for refinance transactions is the same as ... Read More ›