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In this week’s continuing festival of new housing data, the Commerce Department released information today that showed new home sales fell last month. However, the government did offer some good news. And, of course, there also was a bit of bad news in the report: Yes, new home sales fell month-to-month: 1.8 percent last month, hitting a low points not seen since 1995. And yes, home purchases fell in the past year: A total of 30 percent from February 2007. But–here’s the good news–they didn’t fall as far as some had forecasted. New home sales dropped to a 590,000 annual…

On Monday, housing information from the National Association of Realtors offered hope that the housing situation might be turning around. Existing home sales, the organization said, had increased for the first time in seven months. However, we’re always cautiously optimistic at best–and given the housing data released today, that seems like a solid place to stand. The new data provided further insight, such as: Single-family home prices were down 11.4 percent in January from 2007 levels in 10 major metropolitan areas, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price indexes released Tuesday by New York-based Standard & Poor’s. The overall 20-city composite index…

The National Association of Realtors released its latest data today, and although most news reports have focused on the home sale and price information, some missed one of the report’s most important findings: The home inventory may have shrunk. According to NAR, the U.S. home supply dropped 3 percent at the end of last month to 4.03 million. That’s a 9.6-month supply, compared to the 10.2-month supply that existed at the end of January. Which is a really, really big deal. For months, economists have agonized over the bloated housing supply, wondering when it would shrink, and how. Everyone agrees…

Kids or no kids, you can "recession-proof" your home by buying one in a high-ranked school district–according to a new report from real estate Web site Trulia.com. The advantage of a good school system isn’t exactly a new thought–it’s one of the first thing parents will ask when viewing a property. But the fact it might help a home retain more value is interesting. We’re in what many are calling the worst housing slump in 70–or more–years. If elementary education can actually protect a property over the long-term even for homeowners who don’t have any children, well, that’s worth noting….

Standard & Poor’s recently said it thinks the worst of the subprime securities-related writedowns are over. It’s true, many banks and brokerage firms have already announced their year-end results for 2007. But are we really out of the woods? S&P doesn’t think so. According to an article in BusinessWeek, large banks and investment banks in Europe and North America have so far declared $110 billion in writedowns of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) of subprime asset-backed securities (ABS). S&P suggests insurers and banks in the Gulf region and Asia will add $40 billion to that amount. Past, Present–and Future? The future…

The Fed yesterday announced a large rate cut, bringing the rate down to 2.25 percent–and the backlash already has begun. From NPR: "Fed officials are hoping that by making money cheaper to borrow, they’ll encourage investment and keep the economy from tipping into a recession — if it’s not already there." Yet, as NPR points out, that’s easier said than done. In fact, economist Richard Yamarone of Argus Research believes the cuts are a mistake because making money cheaper isn’t going to fix the mortgage losses that have crippled the economy, hurt confidence in lenders and reduced consumer spending. Which…

Homebuilders may not be feeling great about the residential industry, but the multifamily sector received some good news this week: Construction of housing with two ore more units rose 14.4 percent, and multifamily home groundbreakings increased 14.5 percent. Yet overall builder sentiment is low, according to the National Association of Home Builders, who said  that its housing market index for March was the third lowest reading on record. Buyers are either waiting it out to see if prices fall more or just plain can’t get financing to buy homes, USA Today says. And homebuilders are feeling the effect: The index…

Sad news this weekend from New York–on Saturday, a tragic construction site accident has claimed at least four lives, possibly more. And now everybody is asking: What happened? Newsday has a very informative graphic reflecting how the damage was caused. This morning, the New York Times reported that a large piece of steel meant to secure the crane to the building came loose and fell on top of second support nine stories below, which knocked it loose and sent the crane flying down over a two-block radius. It was no small crane: Measuring 22 stories high, the crane caused a…

In an unusual move, the Boston Zoning Commission set a limit this week on the amount of college students who can live together in off-campus apartments–and its effect on both the college and multifamily housing community is being questioned. Just four students per apartment will be allowed. Clearly, the the college kids are upset; less students per apartment will translate into higher rents for them. But they aren’t the only ones concerned about the ruling, according to the Boston Globe. Other worried parties include: Property owners. "If you reduce my five-bedroom to four, I’ll just raise the rent to what…

We keep hearing that the worst of the housing crisis may be over. But then again, signs are everywhere that it isn’t–and we might actually have much more housing market mayhem to come. On Monday, shares of Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other housing funding sources fell drastically due to growing concerns about the U.S. mortgage market’s health, the Financial Times. It didn’t help that the Freddie Mac CEO also said this week that he thought the decline in home prices was only a third over. Countrywide Financial–the nation’s No. 1 lender–also had a rough financial week because…