Housing Market Trends

From the First American Economic Center

The First American Economic Center has you covered with in-depth analysis and expert insights on the latest data and trends in the industry.

Fear and loathing in homeownership

By Mark Fleming on October 20, 2015
Achieving the American Dream of homeownership and increasing economic mobility – many recognize that these issues are important, but few realize how closely they are related. Consider that in the next 30 years, collectively, minorities will become the new "minority-majority" in the U.S. Read More

Income

HELOCS Poised to Surge

By Mark Fleming on October 16, 2015
Home equity is back, baby! And, perhaps more importantly, consumers are beginning to take notice. After 13 consecutive quarters of year-over-year house price growth, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) house price index (HPI), and with the Great Recession squarely in the rear view mirror, borrowers are more frequently tapping ... Read More

Interest Rates

Introducing the First American Future Transaction Index (FTI)

By FirstAm Editor on September 24, 2015
Every day, title agents play a critical role in residential, commercial and industrial real estate transactions across the U.S. They work hand-in-hand with real estate agents, lenders, and homebuyers and sellers. They are real estate experts. But, how do they (collectively) feel about key real estate market metrics and industry issues? What’s ... Read More

Real Estate Sentiment Index

Loan Application Defect Index Falls 2.4 percent in August

By FirstAm Editor on September 23, 2015
Today, we’re releasing our third iteration of the monthly First American Loan Application Defect Index, which estimates the frequency of defects in the information submitted in mortgage loan applications. Read More

Loan Application Defect Index

Existing-Home Sales Capacity Increases 0.4 Percent In August

By Mark Fleming on September 16, 2015
Market capacity for existing-home sales has remained close to six million sales on an annualized basis for more than a year First American’s proprietary Existing-Home Sales Capacity (EHS-C) model provides a gauge on whether existing-home sales are under capacity or over capacity based on current market fundamentals. For the month of August, the ... Read More

Housing

Does A Fed Rate Increase Doom Housing?

By Mark Fleming on September 15, 2015
This week, the Federal Reserve has its September meeting where it could potentially decide to increase interest rates for the first time since 2008. The CME FedWatch Tool measures the market’s expectation of Fed target rates.Currently, the market-estimated probability of a 0.25 percent rate increase on September 17 is significantly higher than ... Read More

Interest Rates Federal Reserve