With the home buyer tax credit ended and the housing market now largely on its own, how can we expect the real estate market to perform? In the near term, we’ll probably see home sales slide measurably lower. By the third quarter, it will be up to job creation and consumer confidence to bring in buyers.

One factor that should help the market is the improving...

Thirty-year fixed rates may rise to 6 percent by December and to about 6.5 percent at the end of 2011; rates were at about 5 percent in early April.

It’s tempting to think the Federal Reserve’s recent pullback from mortgage-backed securities purchases will drive interest rates higher.

But since it ended those purchases at the end of March, as it had...

The extension and expansion of the home buyer tax credit can be counted on to help home sales throughout the first half of this year, but how will markets fare after the credit expires on April 30 (with deals having until June 30 to close)?

The health of housing for the second half of the year is dependent on jobs, and on this point the picture is mixed. Although we expect...

If 2009 was the year of economic recovery, 2010 will be the year of growth. Thanks to solid gains in the lower end of the housing market, the first-time home buyer tax credit, and the rebounding stock market, lenders in mid–2009 began cautiously lending money beyond the safe Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA loans on which they relied for income during the credit crunch.