Schmidt Mortgage Company Blog

More homes were built in the first month of January, starting 2018 on an optimistic note for economic growth and real estate prices. The number of new housing units being constructed rose 9.7% in January from the previous month to an annual rate of 1.326 million, the U.S. Census Bureau/ U.S. Department of Commerce announced February 16. This marked the third increase in four months. The report indicated that builders are also planning to increase construction activity later this year. Permits to build increased 7.4% in January to an annual pace of 1.396 million. Even with this optimistic trend, economists say the

The number of existing-home sales increased as a whole for 2017, reaching an 11-year high despite December’s sales subsiding from the previous month. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 1.1 percent in 2017 to a 5.51 million sales pace and surpassed 2016 (5.45 million) as the highest since 2006 (6.48 million). “Existing sales concluded the year on a softer note, but they were guided higher these last 12 months by a multi-year streak of exceptional job growth, which ignited buyer demand,” said Lawrence Yun,