1.Bubble Watch: Local Worries, National Calm
“Although national home prices rose significantly in the past two years, they’re still 5% undervalued compared with long-term fundamentals. Home prices today look overvalued in 19 of the 100 largest metros, including 8 of the 11 large California metros.”
2.More Americans are renting: why the cost is so high (+video)
“For most Americans, there seem to be two types of rental housing in the US these days: pricey and unaffordable.”
3.Rahm Emanuel: Given a choice, Americans want cities over burbs
“The suburbs are losing out to cities when it comes to where people want to live, according to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.”
4.U.S. home sales fall, but consumer confidence hits six-year high
“Sales of new U.S. single-family homes hit a five-month low in February, but a surge in consumer confidence to a six-year high in March suggested the economy was regaining momentum after being held back by severe weather.”
5.New-home sales fell across most of U.S. in February
“Sales of recently built homes fell back in February, as harsh weather and high costs held back buyers.”
6.The Pro’s and Con’s Of Borrowing From Your 401(K) To Finance a Home Purchase
“According to the National Association of REALTORS® 2013 Profile of Home Buyer and Sellers, 8% of first-time buyers borrowed from their 401(k) retirement accounts as a source of downpayment money. It’s a good bet that a significant number of potential first-time buyers, as well as others, are not acquainted with how this works. It’s also a good bet that, among those with the ability to use 401(k) funds, many are not familiar with the pros and cons of doing so. “
7.MBS MID-DAY: Economic Data Fails to Inspire Much Market Movement
“A good thing to keep in mind about any data-based conclusion in financial markets is that details matter. This is true both in terms of the reference to market movement in the headline as well as several of the day’s economic releases.”
8.New Home Sales Turn Negative Year-Over-Year, First Time Since 2011
“After rising by a revised 3.2 percent January, New Home Sales fell 3.3 percent in February according to data released today by The Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The annualized sales pace of 440k homes is the lowest since September 2013.”