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.

Market Close To Achieving Its Potential

By Mark Fleming on February 18, 2016
For the month of January, First American’s proprietary Potential Home Sales model showed that the market potential for existing-home sales declined by 0.2 percent compared to December and decreased by 7.1 percent compared to a year ago. The Potential Home Sales model provides a gauge on whether existing-home sales are under or over their long-run ... Read More

Housing

Is China Keeping U.S. Mortgage Rates at Historic Lows?

By Mark Fleming on February 2, 2016
In December 2015, the Federal Reserve raised the target range for the federal funds rate for the first time in almost a decade. At the time, there was much discussion regarding the impact this move would have on the still burgeoning housing recovery, specifically through higher mortgage rates and an increased cost of borrowing. Initially, it ... Read More

Housing

The Persistent REO

By Mark Fleming on January 21, 2016
In November 2015, real-estate-owned (REO) sales as a share of all residential home sales remained steady on a month-to-month basis, moving up slightly to 8.2 percent from 8.0 percent in October on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. On a year-over-year basis, this was a decrease of 1.2 percentage points when compared to November 2014, which had an ... Read More

Housing

Market Potential Unaffected By Know-Before-You-Owe

By Mark Fleming on January 19, 2016
For the month of December, First American’s proprietary Potential Home Sales model (previously called the Existing-Home Sales Capacity model) showed that the market potential for existing-home sales increased by 0.5 percent compared to November and decreased by 5.1 percent compared to a year ago. The Potential Home Sales model provides a gauge on ... Read More

Housing

Rising Rates Cool Long-Run Potential Home Sales In November

By Mark Fleming on December 17, 2015
For the month of November, First American’s proprietary Potential Home Sales model (previously called the Existing-Home Sales Capacity model) showed that the market potential for existing-home sales decreased by 2.1 percent compared to October and decreased by 8.0 percent compared to a year ago. The Potential Home Sales model provides a gauge on ... Read More

Housing

Expectations of a Rate Increase Dampens Housing in October

By Mark Fleming on November 19, 2015
For the month of October, First American’s proprietary Existing-Home Sales Capacity (EHS-C) model showed that the market capacity for existing-home sales decreased by 3.1 percent compared to September and decreased by 7.3 percent compared to a year ago. The EHS-C provides a gauge on whether existing-homes sales are under capacity or over capacity ... Read More

Housing