NEW YORK – A gauge of future economic activity jumped 1.4 percent in March, the fastest pace of growth in 10 months.
The rise in the Conference Board’s index of leading economic indictors suggests economic growth is likely to continue for the next three to six months.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters had expected the index to grow 0.9 percent last month.
From RealTrends.com: Good news if you’re selling real estate in some areas of Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Washington and New York- those markets that could see prices come back within the next few years. Specifically, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Columbia, South Carolina and several metro areas in Texas, Washington and upstate New York may see earlier market comebacks than the rest of the United States, according to a Fiserv analysis.
From RealTrends.com: Availability of credit and the volume of distressed properties on the market continue to put a damper on the real estate recovery, according to a survey of 200 real estate executives by Akerman & Co, a national commercial real estate company. The report found that:
From RealTrends.com: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace is currently 4.80 percent, up two basis points from 4.78 percent compared to this same time last week. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose over the weekend, with a Sunday spike at 4.88 percent, before coming down on Monday.
From RealTrends.com: Foreclosures decreased 2 percent in February compared to January 2010, according to RealtyTrac’s February 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. Foreclosure filings were reported on 308,524 U.S. properties during the month, still 6 percent above the level reported in February 2009.
From RealTrends.com: Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.97 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending March 4, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 5.05 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.15 … Read more
From RealTrends.com: A number of the industry’s closely watched home-price gauges indicate that stabilization has been slowly creeping into the picture since mid-2009. Analysts at Barclays Capital agree that the tail risk of a sharp decline in housing continues to recede with every passing month. But they caution that there’s still a bit more of a drop in the cards and little chance of sustained gains any time soon thanks to an inflated supply of foreclosures.
The Art of Being Santa Fe
I CAN’T remember how or why it came to be dawn when I first saw Santa Fe from a bus window. It was my first time in New Mexico, the fulfillment of a long-held dream: to visit the land that had inflamed my imagination when as a teenager I’d read D. H. Lawrence’s paeans to the state.
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From Inman.com: Sales of previously owned homes rose 11.5 percent year-over-year in January, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million units, up from 4.53 million units in January 2008. January sales fell from a rate of 5.44 million in December 2009, the National Association of Realtors reported.
