Housing Market | featured news

Home prices kept rising in July across the United States, buoyed by greater sales and fewer foreclosures. National home prices increased 1.2 percent in July, compared to the same month last year, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller index released Tuesday. That's the second straight year-over-year gain after two years without one.

The average U.S. rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage touched its record low this week and the rate on 15-year mortgage hit a new record.

The rebound in the U.S. housing market accelerated in August as residential construction starts increased 2.3% and sales of existing homes rose 7.8%, according to new figures released Wednesday.

San Francisco-based online real-estate listing firm, Trulia, is expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange this coming Thursday, Sept. 20, under the ticker, TRLA, according to a report. The company plans to sell 6 million shares with a price range of between $14 and $16 a share.

Record-low interest rates are out of reach for many homeowners, and a big reason is that millions are underwater. Obama and others are trying to assist them. U.S. interest rates are at rock-bottom levels, but that's not helping most Americans with mortgages.

It may be premature to call it a runaway hit, but in the first month since the Census Bureau released its first mobile application, it’s been downloaded more than 32,000 times. The app, called America’s Economy, provides updated statistics from the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It includes 16 monthly economic indicators,such as house sales, personal income, international trade, gross domestic product and the unemployment rate.

Nationwide home prices shot up 3.8% in July, making their largest year-over-year leap since 2006, according to real estate data provider CoreLogic. The gain marks the fifth straight rise in the gauge, part of a positive swing following a year and a half of slumps. The last time prices rose so much was in August 2006, when they jumped 4.1%.

Citigroup said on Wednesday that it had agreed to pay $590 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by shareholders who contended that they had been misled about the bank’s exposure to subprime mortgage debt on the eve of the financial crisis.

Home prices rose more than expected in June, the fifth month in a row of gains in a fresh sign of improvement in the housing market, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday.

New single-family home sales rose in July but prices fell, giving mixed signals about the strength of the country's budding housing market recovery.