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Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of February 18, 2013 - There is more and more evidence that the door of opportunity is opening in the housing market. On Valentine's Day Freddie Mac showed us some love in their Housing Market Outlook, which projected starts UP 22% this year, to a 950,000 unit annual rate. Their chief economist commented, "Across the nation, most local housing markets have room for sustainable growth.... As the broader economy heals, expect to see more good news, with house prices continuing their recent upward trend, and home sales and housing starts continuing to post strong growth rates."

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of February 11, 2013 - People who are putting their homes on the market appear to be feeling pretty good these days. An online real estate portal reports that the asking prices of homes listed with them were up 5.9% in January from a year ago, in 86 of the 100 largest metros. Those asking prices grew by a seasonally adjusted 0.9% from December, the largest month-over-month boost since March last year.

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of January 28, 2013 - There's not much that's stopping the housing market from steadily moving forward. For 2012, the National Association of Realtors reported existing home sales UP 9.2% to 4.65 million units, flirting with levels not seen since 2007's 5.03 million homes. The median existing home price is UP 11.5% from December a year ago, the tenth month in a row of year-over-year gains. For 2012, the median price was UP 6.3%, the largest annual price gain since 2005! Completing the picture, although down in December, New Home Sales posted a 19.9% annual gain, their first in 7 years. The median sales price for 2012 was UP 7.2% over 2011, while the FHFA index of prices for homes financed with conforming mortgages is UP 5.6% in the past year.

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of January 21, 2013 - INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE... What's doing pretty well is the housing market. Last Monday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke called housing one positive factor "that's going to help us have, I hope, a better year in 2013 and 2014." Evidence for that came Thursday with an unexpected 12.1% bump in December Housing Starts, to a 954,000 annual rate. Single family starts are up 8.1% for the month and 18.5% over a year ago. New Building permits were up to a 903,000 annual rate, up 27.3% for single-family homes versus a year ago.

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of January 14, 2013 - That's a good thought as we watch the housing market, once doomed to failure, turn into a more successful enterprise. A national online real estate site surveyed more than 100 professional forecasters -- economists, real estate experts, and investment and market strategists. They see growing optimism in the housing market, expecting home prices to rise 3.1% in 2013, after ending 2012 UP more than 4.6%. The site's chief economist commented, "An organic recovery in the housing market really took hold in the latter half of 2012."

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of January 7, 2013 - Our leaders in Washington aren't telling if they've truly resolved to put our fiscal house in order, but at least last week's deal to avert the fiscal cliff left housing a winner on most issues. First, they extended mortgage forgiveness debt relief through 2013. If they hadn't done this, principal balances written off by lenders to help homeowners with underwater mortgages would have been treated as ordinary taxable income. The bill also re-established the deduction for mortgage insurance premiums for 2012 and 2013 for people with adjusted gross income below $110,000.

Austin Mortgage Market Update - For the week of December 31, 2012 - If you need some encouragement to follow the advice of the inventor of the automobile starter motor, look to last week's November New Home Sales, UP 4.4% to a 377,000 annual rate, and now UP 15.3% versus a year ago. The new home median price of $246,000 is UP 14.9% over a year ago. And the months' supply of new homes is now down to 4.7, equal to the lowest level since 2005. Economists say new home sales are usually the last part of the housing market to recover, so this is truly encouraging news.

TEXAS MORTGAGE MARKET UPDATE - For the week of December 17, 2012 - There are just two weeks to go for politicians to broker a deal to stop the country from going over a fiscal cliff of draconian tax hikes and spending cuts. Unfortunately, Washington isn't proceeding with much urgency. Investors reacted poorly to the uncertainty as all three major stock indexes slipped for the week. Not helping things, the economic data was mixed, as inflation cooled and Industrial Production beat expectations, but Retail Sales missed consensus targets.

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of December 10, 2012 - What are rising now are asking prices for homes. A major Web real estate portal reports prices for homes listed there were up 3.8% in November versus a year ago. This is the largest year-over-year gain since the housing downturn began. In addition, the listing prices for the three months ending in November were up 0.8% from the prior three months. And the good news was widespread: annual gains were reported in 76 of the 100 largest metros. Finally, asking price gains are now beating rent price gains in the 25 largest rental markets.

Texas Mortgage Market Update - For the week of December 3, 2012 - We who toil in the housing market must surely be very strong by now, having overcome some powerful forces, not the least of which has been the downward pressure on home prices. The latest evidence that pressure is letting up came with the Case-Shiller home price index, UP 0.4% for September and UP 3% versus a year ago. Nineteen of 20 metros reported higher prices not just for the month, but for the past three months! The FHFA index of prices for homes financed by conforming mortgages was UP 0.2% for September and UP 4.4% over a year ago.