Market Studies

Home sales in Massachusetts remained strong in July despite rising interest rates, data from The Warren Group revealed. Sales for single-family homes rose 18 percent compared to July 2012 to 5,941--the highest level since June 2006, the Warren Group reported.

Confidence among developers of multifamily housing units is soaring, according to survey results released Thursday by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). ""Multifamily developer confidence is currently at an all-time high according to our survey results, and we expect to see that continue for the foreseeable future,"" said W. Dean Henry, chairman of NAHB's Multifamily Leadership Board. NAHB's Multifamily Production Index rose nine points over the second quarter of this year, reaching its highest rating on record--61.

Consumers kept their cash--and credit cards--in their wallets in July as personal spending rose just 0.1 percent, while income increased 0.2 percent, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday. Economists had expected income to grow 0.2 percent but thought spending would increase 0.3 percent.

The national negative equity rate continued to drop in the second quarter as home values marched upward, according to figures released by Zillow. Zillow's most recent Negative Equity Report shows approximately 12.2 million homeowners owed more on their mortgage than their home is worth last quarter, down from 13 million in the first quarter and 15.3 million the same time last year. Those 12.2 million underwater homeowners represent approximately 23.8 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage, Zillow said.

FDIC-insured banks earned a record $42.2 billion in profits in the second quarter of this year, up 22.6 percent, or $7.8 billion, from $34.4 billion a year ago. The increase marks 16th month-in-a-row earnings rose year-over-year. Overall, 53.8 percent of the nearly 7,000 insured banks posted yearly increases in earnings. As profits rose, the list of problem banks shrunk to 533 compared to 612 a year ago. The tally for problem banks is also down significantly from the record high of 888.

Freddie Mac's weekly updated Primary Mortgage Market Survey shows the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaging 4.51 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending August 29, down from 4.58 percent the prior week. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.59 percent. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.54 percent (0.7 point), down from 3.60 percent previously.

As the housing market heals, foreclosure inventory is depleting quickly, CoreLogic reported Thursday. In July, about 949,000 homes were in some stage of foreclosure, down 32 percent from 1.4 million a year ago. CoreLogic also reported steep declines in completed foreclosures and serious delinquencies. According to the data provider's estimate, about 49,000 properties were lost to foreclosure in July, down 25 percent from 65,000 in July 2012. At 5.4 percent, the serious delinquency rate decreased to the lowest level since December 2008, according to CoreLogic.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending August 24 dipped 6,000 to 331,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected the number of claims to fall to 330,000 from the 336,000 originally reported for the week ended August 17. The number of filings for that week was bumped up to 337,000.

While higher mortgage rates have been blamed for the slowdown in pending home sales, they may be contributing to an increase in cash purchases, RealtyTrac suggested in a recent report. In July, about 40 percent of residential property sales were all-cash transactions. The share presents an increase from 35 percent in June and 31 percent compared to July 2012. Short sales also accounted for a bigger share of sales in July, increasing to 14 percent, up from 13 percent in the prior month and 9 percent from a year ago.

The first two phases of the recovery began in 2009 and 2012, respectively, according to Trulia's monthly Housing Barometer. The milestone marking the first phase was when sales and construction first started to pick up. The second phase began when home prices reached bottom and began to increase. The third phase began this spring after housing inventory bottomed out and both inventory and mortgage rates began to climb, according to Trulia. What we're waiting on now, according to Trulia, is the fourth phase, in which ""young adults finally start moving out of their parents' homes.""