When a homeowner sells his home and decides to buy a new one, there are 3 basic options for the residence — sell it, keep it, or rent it.

Unfortunately, no matter which path they choose, move-up homebuyers in need of a new conforming mortgage will find qualifying for a home loan to be more [...]

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index is a popular measure of domestic home prices, released monthly.

The index reports on the largest 20 U.S. markets, painting a broad picture of real estate values nationwide.

Despite the Case-Shiller Index’s two obvious flaws — (1) it only counts repeat sales on single-family residences, and [...]

After a strong start Monday and Tuesday, mortgage markets suffered alongside stock markets in the latter half of last week, leaving mortgage rates higher on the week overall.

Market losses were especially steep Friday and mortgage rates headed into the long weekend on a strong uptick.

Regardless, the reasons that mortgage rates rose last week [...]

Another week, another screaming headline about mortgage rates falling to an all-time low.

Freddie Mac published its weekly mortgage rate survey Thursday and found that the “average” mortgage rate is now 4.96 percent, the lowest since the survey started in 1971.

But, if we look beyond the headline, we [...]

After a weak holiday shopping season, annual retail sales declined in 2008.

It marks the first annual Retail Sales decline since the government started tracking the data 40 years ago.

It also gives credence to the notion that the U.S. economy is suffering through a deeper recession that previously thought. A pullback [...]

An oft-touted benefit of homeownership is its tax benefits. However, like most IRS-related items, understanding how the benefits work is not always clear.

In general, homeowners are entitled to two home-related tax deductions — one for annual mortgage interest paid, and one for real estate tax bills paid.

Not everyone is eligible, though. Some of [...]

Home prices are largely based on Supply and Demand.

If demand outweighs supply, home prices rise If supply outweighs demand, home prices fall

It’s good news for home sellers, therefore, that “used” homes for sale fell 6 percent nationally last month. Less supply often means higher prices.

Of the 29 metropolitan areas [...]