The importance of measuring housing affordability is paramount. Homeownership is synonymous with the American Dream and all of the wealth-building benefits that it provides, and housing is the single largest monthly expense for most households. Yet, there are many ways to measure the affordability of housing. Read More ›

First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming explains in an article on HousingWire why reaching a low point in homeownership is no reason to panic about the housing market. Read More ›

We’ve posted the June First American Loan Application Defect Index, which estimates the frequency of defects, fraudulence and misrepresentation in the information submitted in mortgage loan applications. The Defect Index decreased 1.4 percent in June as compared with May and decreased by 12.2 percent as compared with June 2015. The Defect Index is ... Read More ›

First American’s proprietary Real House Price Index (RHPI) looks at May 2016 data and includes analysis from First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming explaining the forces behind the continued low mortgage rate environment and the impact on consumer house-buying power. Read More ›

With the national conventions for the major political parties upon us and the presidential election just a few months away, talk of red versus blue states frequently bubbles up in the media and at the water cooler. Cutting-edge statistical analysis is regularly updated to keep up with the fast changing dynamics of the country’s political leanings. Read More ›

For the month of June, First American’s proprietary Potential Home Sales model showed that the market for existing-home sales is underperforming its potential by only 0.3 percent or an estimated 17,000 seasonally adjusted, annualized rate (SAAR) of sales, an improvement over last month’s revised performance gap of -3.1 percent or 180,000 (SAAR) ... Read More ›