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Builders feel confident about current real estate market

More homebuilders are feeling upbeat about where the new-home market stands currently, as well as where it's heading. Builder confidence in the newly built single-family home market surged in July, reaching the highest level since November 2005.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index reached a level of 60 in July. Levels over 50 indicate that more builders are optimistic about sales expectations and buyer traffic.

“The fact that builder confidence has returned to levels not seen since 2005 shows that housing continues to improve at a steady pace,” says NAHB Chairman Tom Woods as quoted in a report from the National Association of Realtors.

“As we continue to progress into the second half of 2015, we should expect a continued recovery of the housing market.”

The increase in optimism coincides with recent data showing a pickup in new and existing-home sales, as well as strong job growth, says NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. However, Crowe notes, builders still face several headwinds, including shortages of lots and labor.

The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder sentiment over current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months, as well as builders' views on buyer traffic.

Q. Are FHA loans becoming more popular with homebuyers?

A. Yes. In fact, these loans reached the highest share of home financing mortgages in the second quarter of this year than at any point in the past two years, a study shows.

RealtyTrac, a source for housing data, released its June and Midyear 2015 Home Sales Report, which shows that distressed sales, cash sales and institutional investor sales in June were all down from a year ago to multi-year lows even as sales to first-time homebuyers and other buyers using FHA loans increased compared to a year ago in June and reached a two-year high in the second quarter.

Q. Is there a way to check a possible noise problem of a home being considered for purchase?

A. Such a service is now being launched in California, with plans to go nationwide. Prospective homebuyers are now getting the ability to judge a home in a new way — by its sound level — in a new feature rolling out to track a neighborhood's noise.

The new company, HowLoud, is dubbing itself as the WalkScore but for noise. So far, the new tool is only available in Los Angeles and Orange counties, but company officials are raising funds to roll it out nationwide, it was reported by the National Association of Realtors.

HowLoud assigns a value to the noise level of a property based on a numerical scale, factoring in noisemakers like vehicle and airplane traffic. The company recently launched a crowd-funding campaign to roll out its prototype to the rest of the country, according to NAR.

Q. Are mortgage interest rates dropping?

A. At this writing, rates are dropping a bit. Freddie Mac recently released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, showing fixed mortgage rates reversing course once again and moving lower amid mixed economic and housing data.

• Email Jim Woodard at storyjim@aol.com.

© 2015, Creators

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