Taking Charge The federal government has taken over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Those GSEs have been struggling. The takeover is expected to help stabilize the secondary mortgage market. In his commentary this month, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun discusses what the impact may be on the housing market and the economy. Read more >

 

Get Shorty!

Are short sales a significant part of today’s market for REALTORS®? The simple answer is yes. A recent survey conducted by NAR Research indicates that 40 percent of REALTORS® had clients involved in short sales. The survey also asked about foreclosed property listings and whether or not REALTORS®’ clients were having problems gaining loan approval. Wannasiri Chompoopet reviews results of this just released survey.
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A "Shot in the Arm" for the Housing Market

Economic growth could slow, but will continue to expand, not contract. There is some good news on the housing front as well, as housing activity on a national basis has actually been fairly stable over the last 12 months. The speed and timing of a housing and economic recovery depends on local market conditions. Lawrence Yun gives us his forecast.
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Good News, Bad News

The headlines have been full of tales about high rates of delinquencies and foreclosures. But in our In Focus article this month, Economist George Ratiu discusses the latest data - which show that the news isn’t all bad.
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Existing Home Sales

Existing-home sales declined in June to 4.86 million seasonally adjusted annualized units - a 2.6 percent drop from May's level.  The existing home inventory rose 0.2 percent to an 11.1 month supply at the current sales pace. The national median price for an existing home in June was $215,100 - a 6.1 percent decrease from the median price posted in June 2007, but less than the declines registered in the four previous months.
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Real Estate Insights

Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist
Paul Bishop, Managing Director, NAR Research

Harika "Anna" Barlett, Senior Research Analyst
Wannasiri Chompoopet, Manager of Housing Statistics
Keunwon Chung, Data Research Analyst
Stephanie Davis, Office Manager
Thomas J. Doyle, Research Marketing Manager
Meredith Dunn, Communications Representative
Ken Fears, Manager, Regional Economics
Danielle Hale, Research Economist
Michael Hyman, Research Assistant
George Ratiu, Research Economist
Jed Smith, Managing Director, Quantitative Research
Sophia Stuart, Research Marketing Associate
Caroline Van Hollen, Senior Research Coordinator/Strategic Planning

Copyright ©2008 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Reproduction or reprinting in any form is prohibited without written permission. Editorial questions and requests to reprint articles should be directed to Meredith Dunn at 202/383-1207, or via e-mail at insights@realtors.org.