Today’s News Synopsis:

The latest Home Price Report from CoreLogic showed a 7% year-over-year and 1% month-over-month increase in home prices in February, and they are expected to increase 4.7% by next year.  The Commerce Department reported the construction of new homes are both adding to a stronger economy and adding more jobs.  Townhouses are becoming the new popular homes in which people want to live.

In The News:

CoreLogic – “CoreLogic US Home Price Report Shows Prices Up 7 Percent in February 2017” (4-4-2017)

“CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released its CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI^™) and HPI Forecast^™ for February 2017 which shows home prices are up both year over year and month over month.”

CNBC – “Ben Carson watchdog site tracks HUD secretary’s every move” (4-5-2017)

“Like many housing advocates, Guillermo Mayer, president and CEO of the San Francisco nonprofit and legal advocacy group Public Advocates, wasn’t happy with the nomination of neurosurgeon and former presidential candidate Ben Carson to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development.”

Mortgage Bankers Association – “Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey” (4-5-2017)

“Mortgage applications decreased 1.6 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 31, 2017.”

NAHB – “New Homes Strengthen Economy, Spur Job Growth” (4-5-2017)

“Washington, April 5 – As the housing industry celebrates New Homes Month in April, newly released data from the U.S. Commerce Department confirms the significant contribution that residential construction has on the U.S. economy.”

Bloomberg – “Fed Favors Plan to Start Shrinking Balance Sheet Later in 2017” (4-5-2017)

“Most Federal Reserve officials said they backed a policy change that would begin shrinking the central bank’s $4.5 trillion balance sheet later this year, as they reiterated their outlook for gradual interest-rate increases.”

Realtor.com – “What’s Old Is New Again: Why Townhouses Are the Latest ‘It’ Homes” (4-5-2017)

“Recent waves of outside-the-box ideas in housing have brought us teeny-weeny homes, converted shipping containers, prefab modern palaces, and co-housing apartments with luxe perks for millennials.”

ValueWalk – “Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac’s New Bubble” (4-5-2017)

“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac still have housing blood on their hands from the 2008 financial crash. However, the giant GSEs, placed in government conservatorship in September 2008, have now, virtually all by themselves, created another bubble, this time in the multifamily rental market.”

Bloomberg – “Empty Seats at Regulators Hold Back Trump Bid to Undo Dodd-Frank” (4-5-2017)

“President Donald Trump’s push to roll back Wall Street regulations is being held up by his inability to fill open seats at the two main agencies charged with overseeing the financial industry.”