home sales

Home prices declined in January from the prior month as increased mortgage rates continued to slow the housing market. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, which measures home prices across the nation, fell 0.2% in January compared with December on a seasonally adjusted basis, the seventh straight month-over-month decline. On a year-over-year basis, the index rose 3.8% in January, down from a 5.6% annual rate the prior month. The rise in…

The United States is a country of two housing markets. In one, home prices are falling from a year ago. In the other, they’re still posting annual gains. That division runs right down the center of the U.S.In all of the 12 major housing markets west of Texas, plus Austin, home prices fell in January on an annual basis, according to mortgage-data firm  Black Knight Inc.’s home-price index. In the 37 biggest metro areas east of Colorado, except Austin, home prices rose year-over-year.…

The National Association of Realtors releases data this week on home sales. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images…

Sales of previously owned homes rose 14.5% in February compared with January, according to a seasonally adjusted count by the National Association of Realtors. That put sales at an annualized rate of 4.58 million units.It was the first monthly gain in 12 months and the largest increase since July 2020, just after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Sales were, however, 22.6% lower than they were in February of last year.These sales counts are based on closings, so the contracts were likely signed at the end of December…

U.S. existing-home prices fell from a year earlier in February for the first time in 11 years, as a dip in mortgage rates caused home sales to surge from January levels. The national median existing-home price fell 0.2% in February from a year earlier to $363,000, the first year-over-year decline since February 2012, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. Median prices are down 12.3% from their record $413,800 in June. Price figures aren’t adjusted for seasonality.…

Tuesday The National Association of Realtors reports sales of previously owned homes in February. Existing-home sales fell 0.7% in January from the prior month, the 12th straight monthly decline. Canada’s statistics agency releases February inflation figures. Consumer prices rose 5.9% in January from a year earlier, down from the previous month’s 6.3% rise. Wednesday The Federal Reserve announces its latest interest-rate decision following a two-day meeting. The central bank…

Rising mortgage rates are cooling the U.S. housing market, sapping recent buyer interest heading into the crucial spring selling season. Economists, home builders and real-estate agents saw evidence of a thaw in early 2023, when rates declined from over 7% in November to 6.09% in early February. That was enough to lure back some buyers who had adjusted to higher borrowing costs.  Home builders and sellers enticed buyers with concessions such as temporary rate buydowns to make purchasing more affordable. Prices had also…

Alice-Christine Merenda and her family, who live in Munich, Germany, had been thinking of moving to the U.S. for years. A professional translator and interpreter, she said she and her husband, Stefano Merenda, wanted to raise their four children bilingually and admired the freedoms U.S. citizens had amid the Covid onslaught, when Germans were completely confined to their homes.  Then, the war in Ukraine began.  “It kind of proved our decision,” said Ms.…

Home-price growth decelerated in 2022 after a rapid rise in mortgage rates priced many buyers out of the market. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, which measures home prices across the nation, rose 5.8% in the year ended in December, down from a 7.6% annual rate the prior month. The increase was the lowest December-to-December change since 2019. On a monthly basis, the index fell 0.8% in December compared with November, the sixth straight…

Opendoor OPEN -1.62% Technologies Inc. posted its second consecutive quarter of losses, as the online house-flipper continued to lose money on homes it purchased last year.The company said it had $2.9 billion in revenue from selling 7,512 homes in the fourth quarter, down 25% from the same quarter a year ago. The balance of those sales left Opendoor with a net loss, measured according to generally accepted accounting principles, of $399 million for the fourth quarter,…