Capital Markets Today

LISTEN FOR A SPECAIL OFFER PROVIDED BY REALTYTRAC FOR CMT LISTENRS AT THE END OF THE PODCAST!! The Federal Housing Finance Agency's  Home Price Index (HPI) shows that home prices rose 5.8 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2015. Prices increased 1.4 percent from the third quarter of 2015, marking the 18 consecutive quarterly price increase in the purchase-only, seasonally adjusted index.  A recent analysis from Capital Economics projects home prices will increase by 6 percent in 2016 with a more modest increases in 2017 at 4 percent.  However, Capital Economics also is projecting that rising interest rates will lead to an economic slowdown in 2018. There are concerns from housing analysts and institutional investors that low mortgage rates have allowed buyers to pay more for homes that would look unaffordable relative to incomes if mortgage rates rose to 5% or 6%.   In addition, global events and low oil prices are causing concern about a decrease in real estate prices in some areas of the U.S. J