Seema Sinha's (seemasinha) Blog

Housing Bright Spot: Pending Home Sales Rise, Market on UptrendCourtesy Susanne - RISMedia Pending home sales are on an upward trend, which has been uneven but meaningful since reaching a cyclical low last April, and are well above a year ago, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. T...

Housing Expected to Add to GDP for First Time in 7 YearsCourtesy Susanne - RIS Media The 2012 outlook is improving modestly from a disappointing 2011. Economic growth picked up in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 2.8 percent and is expected to come in at 2.3 percent for 2012, up from 1.6 percent gro...

Builder Confidence Increases for Fifth Consecutive Month in FebruaryCourtesy - RIS Media Home builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes increased for the fifth consecutive month in February, rising from 25 to 29 on the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today....

Obama Moves Forward with Foreclosure PreventionCourtesy Susanne, RIS Media Last Wednesday, February 1, President Obama announced the details of a plan to help homeowners refinance their mortgages in hopes of bolstering the housing market. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Deve...

Treasury Investigates a Bet Against Home OwnersSource: “Treasury Investigates Freddie Mac Investment,” The New York Times (Jan. 31, 2012) The Treasury Department is investigating allegations against Freddie Mac that accuse the government-sponsored enterprise of “betting against home owners’ abili...