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CoreLogic’s February 2017 Home Price Index Report (HPI) reported gains both year-over-year and month-over-month. Home prices including distressed sales rose one percent month-over-month, and seven percent year-over-year. Some areas, particularly in the western U.S., are still harmed by low inventory. In much of California, Washington, and Oregon, home prices are considered “overvalued” as prices were over 25 percent above sustainable levels.

According to a newly released working paper released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, first-time buyers, as a whole, overpay on housing purchases—, particularly when compared with repeat buyers. Despite buying cheaper, smaller homes, they out-pay repeat buyers by more than 1 percent—and about $3,000—on the same properties. This is likely due to a higher willingness to pay, the paper stated.

Whether they’re considering taking out a home equity line of credit (HELOC) or already in the process, nearly half of homeowners say interest rates are the most influential factor to consider. Almost half of borrowers listed interest rates as the most influential factor when deciding on a HELOC, which is over twice the second most influential factor: loan amount. Additionally, 36 percent of borrowers list the lower interest rates as the most valuable aspect of a HELOC compared to other options.

Many areas of the U.S. have seen home prices exceed supporting economic fundamentals, according to a report from Fitch Ratings. Areas such as Texas and Florida have seen increases in home prices that have led top overvalued homes, as inflation can't keep up.

The flipside of the sellers-market economy of 2017 is that sellers looking to buy a new home are running into the same problems as all other buyers. A new study by Redfin shows that two-thirds of sellers are worried about finding a new property once they sell. And low inventories are reeling from the increasing speed of sales.

Irving, Texas-based lender Caliber Home Loans Inc. announced on Friday that it has completed its acquisition of Banc Home Loans. Caliber is the nation’s fourth largest non-bank lender, ...

The majority of the fastest moving market areas can be found in California. The number one hottest market for both March and February was Vallejo-Fairfield, California; followed by San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California. The median age of inventory for these two areas were 33 days and 26 days, respectively, well below the nationwide median. Areas in California make up nine of the Realtor.com’s top 20 hottest markets. Javier Vivas, Manager of Economic Research at Realtor.com, noted the large drops om days on the market, and its indication of a strong spring buying season.

The latest look at existing home sales by Ten-X anticipates a bump in home sales and prices. The firm’s Nowcast model projects March existing home sales of 5.6 million units and a median sale price of $232,55. But inventory, especially for starter homes, remains tight everywhere.

Seniors are sitting on trillions in untapped equity. A recent report noted that retirement-aged homeowners saw an increase of 2.8 percent in home equity, or $170.7 billion, in Q4 2016. This puts their total housing wealth at $6.2 trillion. However, many seniors are still unwilling to tap into this wealth.

We sat down with industry veteran Joseph Melendez to learn how changing buyer demographics, technology, and the new administration are shaking things up. Melendez is the CEO of ValueInsured, a down payment protection provider based in Dallas. He has more than three decades in the insurance and financial services industry.