Housing Market

homeownership

Homeownership? Most Americans Still Say Count Me In

Talk about mixed signals. Most Americans believe buying a home is a good investment, but a majority also think we’re still in the midst of a crisis, the MacArthur Foundation reports. The group’s annual survey found that 41 percent think we’re still in crisis mode and 20 percent think the worst is yet to come. Yet 56 percent of Americans think buying a home is an excellent long-term investment and one of the best ways to build wealth.

Will a burst of job creation lift housing?

So far, 2015 is shaping up to be a good year for job hunters. In fact, the labor market hasn’t been this strong since the first half of 2006, when the housing market was soaring. But new jobs aren’t enough to give a lift to housing. Stable employment and increasing wages matter most over the long term.

Chicago Property Values Post Double-Digit Growth

Chicago home prices notched their fourth-straight month of double-digit growth in April, with the median sale price rising 10 percent from a year ago. The number of properties sold fell 4.8 percent, and the city’s median sale price reached $275,000 as the spring selling season got into full swing. On average, homes fetched 96.6 percent of their asking price, the highest sale-to-list ratio since last July.

Got $157.3 Billion? Mortgage Bailouts Might Not Be Over

Profits are weakening, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac might be even more fiscally fragile today than they were in 2008. That means a ripple in the housing market could leave taxpayers on the hook for another bailout. For that we can blame Congress and the White House, which never got around to fixing the companies after the mortgage meltdown. That indifference could cost us as much as $157.3 billion for a second bailout if the economy goes really south.
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