For nearly two years, economists and real estate experts have been on the lookout for the bottom of the housing market. That time is here, says Russell Price, a senior economist with Ameriprise Financial, a financial services company.
If you're on the fence about whether or not it's the right time to buy a piece of real estate, one expert says there is no doubt about it. According to best-selling author Adam Leitman Bailey, "this is the best time in modern real estate history to be buying a home."
Fewer Americans are having trouble paying their mortgages now compared to a year ago, according to a new survey. The bad news? Fewer Americans have mortgages. Some of those who were struggling last year have since sold or foreclosed.
Oracle, Discover and Tiffany are all expected to report year-over-year growth for their most recent quarters this week. Meanwhile, many will be looking for an updated snapshot of the housing market, with three sets of real-estate data coming out.
Some recent reports on the real estate market show home prices starting to stabilize in many areas. Other data suggests the housing market has further to fall. But whichever direction the numbers are heading, there are few tenets that smart buyers and sellers should always follow.
Bargain hunters poured money into Chinese shares Friday, sending the Shanghai Composite Index surging 1.4%. In Hong Kong, however, the Hang Seng Index lost 0.5%, and in Japan, the Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.6%.
U.S. mortgage rates have grown for five straight weeks, in the last week hitting their highest levels in seven months. Ten-year Treasury note yields have been climbing on inflation concerns, driving the higher rates.
Aided by an improving job market and comparatively low mortgage rates, U.S. pending home sales surged a record 10.4% in October. Still, the latest new- and existing-home sales reports suggest a sluggish housing recovery at least into early 2011.
Home sales tumbled this summer, and foreclosed properties bore the brunt of the pain. Sales of foreclosed homes plunged 31% from the year-ago period -- and 25% from the previous quarter. Prices for these properties also fell more than other homes.
When it comes to predicting the U.S. economy, who has the best crystal ball? Lou Crandall, chief economist at economic advisory firm Wrightson ICAP, according to Bloomberg Markets magazine's new list of top analysts released Thursday.
Sales of existing homes were hit with their first monthly decline since July as October sales fell 2.2% to a seasonally adjusted 4.43 million-unit annual rate. However, the drop isn't too surprising, given the usual seasonal cooling of home sales in the fall.
Among quarterly results scheduled for this holiday-shortened week, investors may be thankful for earnings results from Tyson Foods, the Arkansas-based poultry and meat producer. Analog Devices and Deere also are reporting.
