Market Watch

Bigger is still better — at least when it comes to the American housing market. The median size of newly built homes hit a new high in 2014; however, some industry experts think a shift in buyer demographics could cause a reversal of the big-home trend in 2015. Keep reading for the details.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced plans to address the growing statewide problem of so-called “zombie properties.” Keep reading for the details of the bill he is resubmitting to the Legislature.

The National Association of Realtors announced Feb. 23 that January home sales slumped, signaling a less-than-ideal start to 2015. Keep reading to see what experts had to say about the slow start to the year.

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes in February fell on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, released Feb. 17. Continue reading to see why one industry expert linked the diminished confidence to recent winter weather.

Black and Hispanic homeowners have a more difficult time securing a home loan than their white and Asian counterparts, according to a Feb. 9 release from Zillow. Zillow’s analysis also showed that home values in many black and Hispanic neighborhoods lag behind home values in white and Asian neighborhoods at a disproportionate rate. Keep reading for the details.

There is good news and bad news regarding property valuation fraud in the U.S.; it just depends on how you want to look at it. Keep reading for the full story.

Quicken Loans reported Feb. 10 that homeowners’ estimates of home value and appraisers’ opinions of home values were the closest the two have been since 2013. Keep reading to see what Quicken Loans’ chief economist says attributed to the narrowing margin.

A new Fannie Mae survey of 1,000 people asked them to weigh in on their attitudes toward owning and renting a home, home and rental price changes, homeownership distress, the economy, household finances, and overall consumer confidence. Keep reading for the details.

As millennials begin to enter the homebuying market in larger numbers, expect the layout of the modern American home to change, panelists said during a recent conference on home trends and millennial home preferences. Keep reading to see what changes to expect in the near future.

Driven by strengthening private domestic demand, economic growth is expected to accelerate modestly this year, according to Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group. Keep reading to see Fannie’s predictions for the housing market for 2015.