It’s official. As of 4:23AM, EDT, this morning, the autumnal equinox was upon us (don’t get us started on why daylight savings time changes don’t align with the equinox). And that means, from here on out, the days are going to be shorter than the nights (though curiously, sunrise and sunset times do not change equally). But don’t get too alarmed just yet. First, it means this blog will have plenty of great, autumnal posts over the next 3 months. And second, the NOAA predicts above average temperatures at least through the middle of October.

Predicting future trends from past results can generally be quite successful; however, the more variables involved, the less accurate the prediction. That’s why this blog post seems a little bit like throwing statistical darts. Nevertheless, the Mortgage Bankers Association threw those darts, and Bill Conerly provided a nice summary for Forbes. Net net? If death rates hold, child bearing age doesn’t change too much, immigration predictions are right, and Millennials throw a monkey wrench, then we could be looking at 1.6 million new units per year over the next decade.

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We love articles from the Motley Fool, because they’re generally quite the opposite of foolish. Yesterday, they came up with 8 things you can do to improve your credit rating — which will almost certainly also improve the interest rate you can get on your mortgage (or any other loan). Most of them are standard fare (e.g., pay all your bills on time, every time), but some of them are a little more surprising — like don’t close accounts. Hop over to the Fool for all of the details.

OK, perhaps you can’t scribble up some notes on your dream mansion, feed the paper into a scanner, and have the home of your imagination pop out — but Big Delta hints at that in the future. Billed as the world’s largest 3D printer, this 40-foot tall behemoth builds houses out of local mud and clay, and almost zero cost. The company designed it to build cheap housing, quickly, in disaster recovery areas, but they’re not afraid to dream big — houses on other planets are listed among potential uses.

All signs recently have been pointing to a sustained housing market, but CNBC reported two conflicting numbers today. Housing starts fell in August 3.0%, which was a larger drop than expected — but it’s mostly been in the Northeast, which fell 33%, according to the attached video. On the other hand, building permits in August increased by 3.5%. Combined, the two numbers seem to indicate that things are still positive, but maybe our last article about overvalued doesn’t mean a bubble, might actually be right.

Fourteen of the top 100 U.S. markets, in terms of home prices, are now “above the long-term fundamental value for that market”. CNBS insists that  this is not a bubble, though in the opinion of this writer, the argument  — that bubbles ultimately pop, and just because home prices are over valued doesn’t mean that they’re going to come down — is more than a little bit fallacious. Still, if you’re not in one of those 14 markets, then the fact remains that fundamentals indicate there’s still room for growth.

There’s a new book out by Bethany McClean — Shaky Ground: The Strange Saga of the U.S. Mortgage Giants — published by Columbia Global Reports, and focused on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Kai Ryssdal interviewed Bethany, and it’s available as a podcast. Additionally, the site includes a reasonably lengthy excerpt from the book. Between the interview with the author and the excerpt, there should be enough of a preview for you to decide if Shaky Ground is your cup of tea or not. 

Boral Limited, a multinational company founded in Australia, focused on building and construction materials, thinks the financial markets are making too much out of any Fed rate hike. According to their CEO, Mike Kane, points out that “consumer confidence is rising, unemployment is low, and the nation’s new housing stock is 40 per cent below its long-term average.” The company doesn’t believe the Feds could increase rates enough to have a substantial impact on the market, and is confident enough that it’s looking to put $800 million to work in acquisitions.

We’ve been reporting for a while that many sectors of the housing market seem to have fully recovered, and almost all are doing well. However, the recovery in mortgage applications through Q1 seems to have stalled. Brena Swanson for Housing Wire gives a nice little summary on the current thinking, providing a completely understandable, short analysis of three reports: a new Capital Economics report, the latest Fannie Mae housing survey, and last week’s Mortgage Bankers Association’s survey.

Normally this blog covers topics directly related to the real estate and mortgage industries, with a few homeowner tips thrown in. However, sometimes it’s good to step a little outside of the same-old same-old. Yesterday, The Street published an article on how to beat the market in September — and their recommendation covers 5 stocks that take advantage of the current housing market. Now, we’re not investing experts, so don’t consider this an active recommendation, but the article is worth a read.