On St. Patrick’s Day, everyone is Irish. But what about the rest of the year? Twenty-two million Americans — 7.2% of the population – say their “primary ancestry” is Irish, according to the Census’s American Community Survey. Another 13.5 million Americans claim at least some Irish ancestry, bringing the total to 35.5 million Americans — 11.6% of the population — with at least partial Irish ancestry. If that sounds low, remember that Ireland’s population today is just 6.4 million – 4.6 million in the Republic of Ireland and 1.8 million in Northern Ireland. So there are almost 6 times as many Americans with at least partial Irish ancestry as there are people who live in Ireland. continue reading

This week’s housing headlines were about several upbeat data releases, the continued debate in Washington about taxes, and the never-ending debate over flood insurance:

Good news on construction, sales, prices, and foreclosures:

• Five Reasons Home Prices Have Been Rising (WSJ)
• Housing Recovery Accelerating, Now 47% Back to Normal
  (Trulia Trends)

Taxes, the fiscal cliff, and housing:

• Mortgage-Interest Deduction Could Be on the Table in “Fiscal Cliff” Debate (Washington Post)
• Tax Hit Looms On Mortgage Relief (WSJ)

In light of Hurricane Sandy, big questions about flood insurance and the impact on coastal areas:

• Cost of Coastal Living to Climb Under New Flood Rules (NYT)
• End Federal Flood Insurance (NYT) — This is an opinion piece, not a news story. I occasionally include opinion pieces in these weekly roundups not necessarily because I agree with the opinion, but because it’s thought-provoking.

Next week, look out for the Trulia Price and Rent Monitors on Tuesday and the monthly government jobs report on Friday.

This week’s housing headlines were all about Washington: the fiscal cliff, Ben Bernanke’s speech, and the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) financial audit:

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Each month Trulia’s Housing Barometer charts how quickly the housing market is moving back to “normal.”  We summarize three key housing market indicators: construction starts (Census), existing home sales (NAR) and the delinquency-plus-foreclosure rate (LPS First Look). For each indicator, we compare this month’s data to (1) how bad the numbers got at their worst and (2) their pre-bubble “normal” levels.

In September 2012, construction starts surged. However, existing home sales fell slightly, and the delinquency + foreclosure rate unexpectedly jumped. continue reading