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Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of May 13, 2013 - Home prices also keep on going, and in a decidedly upward direction. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that for Q1 of this year, the median existing home price jumped 11.3% over last year, the largest annual gain since Q4 of 2005. But Q1 inventory was down 16.8%. The NAR's chief economist expounded: "Inventory conditions are expected to remain fairly constrained this year, so overall price increases should be well above the historic gain of one-to-two percentage points above the rate of inflation."

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of May 6, 2013 - Both taking opportunities and making them have driven the housing market recovery to new accomplishments. For Q1 this year, existing home sales were at their highest level since Q4 of 2009 and new homes sales were the highest since Q3 of 2008. Last week, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Pending Homes Sales were up 1.5% in March and up 7.0% compared to March a year ago. In fact, this measure of contracts signed on existing homes has now been above year-ago readings for 23 months in a row!

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of April 29, 2013 - Even though the housing recovery is well underway, there still is evidence that more hard work needs to be done. Last week began with March Existing Home Sales off 0.6%, dropping to an annual rate of 4.92 million units. In addition, the months' supply of existing homes edged up to 4.7 from 4.6 in February. But even though existing home sales seem to have leveled off in the last few months, they're actually UP 10.3% versus a year ago. It's also encouraging to note that the median existing home price, at $184,300, is up 11.8% over last year.

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of April 22, 2013 - Last week Housing Starts were reported UP 7.0% for March to a 1.036 million unit annual rate, 46.7% higher than a year ago and the highest they've been since 2008. But wait. The boost was all due to multi-family units, up 31.1% for the month. Single-family starts were down 4.8%, although they actually are UP a very healthy 28.7% from a year ago. Analysts tell us the multi-family sector is super volatile from month to month, but they expect large gains for home building overall for at least two years.

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of April 15, 2013 - Last week gave us more evidence that this housing recovery, though growing slowly, will in fact endure. According to a major online real estate portal, listing inventory rose 3.5% from January to March. This beat the gains going into the 2012 Spring selling season, although inventories are still 15% off last year's levels, with only nine of 146 metros showing annual increases. Not surprisingly, the median age of inventory in March dipped to 78 days, down 12.3% from last year, and median asking prices were up 0.5% from February, gaining in 29 of the top 30 metro areas.

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of April 8, 2013 - Patience may not quite be genius in the housing market, but it certainly is paying off. A report by a major real estate search and marketing site said home asking prices in March rose 7.2% annually, while rents on single-family homes were up just 0.1% for the year. Their chief economist explained: "Rising prices and flattening rents change the math. Investors will decide to sell units they've been renting, which would create new, desperately needed for-sale inventory. On the other hand, some renters watching prices rise will rush to buy before they rise further."

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of April 1, 2013 - Today being April 1, it's timely to note that fewer and fewer people are being fooled into thinking housing remains in the doldrums. Yes, the housing recovery has a distance to go, but there's mounting evidence it's well on its way. New Home Sales were up 12.3% in February compared to a year ago. After a super big hike in January, new home sales fell slightly in February, but they're still at a 411,000 annual rate. Plus, the median price of new homes sold was up 2.9% versus a year ago, with the average price up an impressive 14.5%!

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of March 25, 2013 - The U.S. real estate market is certainly putting some boldness into its recovery, as indicated by recent reports. February Existing Home Sales shot up 10.2% from a year ago, the fastest sales pace since the homebuyer tax credit boost in November 2009. The median existing home price is UP 11.6% versus a year ago and has now posted year-over-year increases 12 months in a row! And the FHFA index of prices for homes financed with conforming mortgages is UP 6.5% the past year.

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of March 18, 2013 - Americans currently have bright and happy expectations about housing, according to Fannie Mae's latest National Housing Survey. Their chief economist commented, "Despite fiscal headwinds and political uncertainty, consumer sentiment toward housing is robust and continues to gather strength." Specifically, 48% of survey respondents believe home prices will go up in the next 12 months, a high for the survey begun in June 2010. Only 10% of respondents believe home prices will go down, a survey low.

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of March 11, 2013 - Those of us who haven't been discouraged by the housing market these past few years, can now see the progress we helped to achieve. Last week, more good news came regarding home prices. A leading data aggregator reported national home prices were UP 9.7% in January versus a year ago, the biggest annual increase since April 2006. And the 0.7% monthly advance they posted was their 11th in a row. Many observers feel these price gains will likely boost home sales during the first half of the year.