The real estate recovery is just around the corner. Well, that’s if you believe the new housing numbers out this week.
According to data released today by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, prices in February were up 0.4% compared to a year ago, marking a pronounced turn in the market. The numbers would seem positive if it weren’t for the fact that the S&P/Case-Shiller index, the other major housing price report, came out an hour before and was lousy.
Most people know that they get tax breaks on their kids and on the mortgage interest they pay on their homes, but experts say many taxpayers leave a slew of other deductions and credits on the table that could potentially save them big bucks.
It’s now officially a lost decade for home prices. With the release of the January data for the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes, prices in a national composite dropped 3.8% from a year before, rolling back to the levels of early 2003.
Normally, housing markets are seasonal: they heat up in the spring — as nice weather encourages consumers to go outside and shop — and summer, as families try to get their kids settled before the school year. But this year, has spring already sprung?
While you can’t control the price of gas or the direction of the stock market, many of life’s most irritating money challenges do have reliable solutions. Here are 9 all-too-common financial annoyances, and strategies for resolving them.
The $25 billion foreclosure abuse settlement announced last month targets one group very specifically: members of the armed forces.
After the Great Recession, there were some pundits who theorized that real estate would make a W-shaped recovery. With the S&P/Case-Shiller housing prices out this morning, it’s now clear that there are not one but two W’s in the chart — and that’s not a good thing. Index prices fell 1.1% from November to December. In other words, we’ve [...]
While experts continue to warn that housing has not yet hit bottom, a slew of indicators suggest otherwise. The latest is a stellar quarterly earnings report from Home Depot, which is benefitting from hopeful owners sprucing up for the spring selling season.
If you’re watching the real estate markets, the good news is that the Federal Reserve has pledged to keep interest rates low through 2014. The bad news is that the market is going to need it. The November Case-Shiller housing numbers, released this morning, indicate that prices tumbled 3.7% from the year before. That’s below expectations of [...]
What’s President Obama’s plan for getting the housing market back on track? Look for proposals—but not necessarily solutions—in tonight’s State of the Union address.
