RealEstateEconomyWatch.com

Banks Could Tank New FHA Refinancing Program

A new FHA program launching next Tuesday allows homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages to refinance at today's record low rates, take at least 10 percent off their principal, and get a new FHA loan that will leave them with positive equity in their home.

Positive Pending Home Sales Stifle Tax Credit Talk

Just when it seemed that only one more negative housing report would be enough to rev up the bandwagon for a new federal homebuyer tax credit, today's pending home sales index for August baffled prognosticators and restored hope the no more government stimulus would be needed to stabilize housing markets.

REOs Put New Pressure on Prices

Rising numbers of real-estate owned properties (REOs) and delinquencies are creating excess supply in housing markets across the country.

Tax Credit Talk Splits Real Estate Community

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan created turmoil in the real estate industry when he said on CNN Sunday that a restoration of the homebuyer tax credit is "not off the table" and that it is "too soon to say" whether the administration's credit tax credit, which expired April 30, will be revived.

Donovan Floats Tax Credit Balloon

After admitting twice that the July home sales numbers released last week were "clearly worse than we expected," HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan did not rule out the prospect that the Administration will revive the homebuyer tax credit that expired April 30.

Economists Saw Housing Recovery Faltering Before July Sales Report

Inventories Soar to Critical Levels

Inventories of existing homes for sale as measured by months supply broke an all-time record in July.

First-time Buyers Sink Below Pre-Credit Levels

Last month, first-time homebuyers' share of the housing market fell lower than it has been since 2008 when the first-time version of the homebuyer tax credit took effect.

Cost of Homeownership Reaches $1,000 Monthly

Homeowners paid a median of $1,000 in monthly housing costs in 2009, compared to $808 for renters, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Homeowners: Worst is Yet to Come

Homeowners have turned more pessimistic about near-term prospects for home values in their local housing markets than they have been in the past three quarters.  One out of three now believes home values in their local markets have not yet reached a bottom and more than a quarter (28 percent) expect home values in will decrease over the next six months.

TransUnion Reports Delinquencies Fall for Second Straight Quarter

Another provider of national credit data reported today that mortgage delinquencies have been falling during the first half of the year, suggesting that the housing sector is beginning to stabilize.

Geithner Blasts Fannie and Freddie

He also announced the Administration will not support returning Fannie and Freddie to the role they played before they entered conservatorship in 2008, "where they fought to take market share from private competitors while enjoying the privilege of government support."

Price Increases Slowed Down Quickly in June

Year-over-year home prices increased in June for the fifth consecutive month, but at a much lower rate than April and May, reported CoreLogic's Home Price Index (HPI).

Gloomy Fannie Sees a Flat Fall

Fannie Mae's economists see 2.5 percent overall growth in the second half of 2010 but forecast housing will be flat for the remainder of the year due to a greater than expected number of sales being pulled forward into the second quarter by the homebuyer tax credit.

Credit Unions Cash in

When traditional banks and thrifts are reining in, credit unions are grabbing market share in mortgages at a rate no one would believe a few short years ago.

Foreclosure Report Stuns Wall Street

However, RealtyTrac;s news wasn't all bad.  In fact, it confirmed a trend of declining default, suggesting foreclosures will decline as well in the months to come

Foreclosures Show Signs of Decline

Another foreclosure listing site reported today that foreclosures are declining at an accelerating rate as subprime resets abate and unemployment, though high, remains relatively unchanged.

Scandal Simmers over HAMP Re-defaults

 Friday the Treasury Department issued its second monthly "scorecard" on the Housing Affordability Modification Program (HAMP and deep in the news release's eighth paragraph was an asterisk that may determine whether the $50 billion program was worth its cost.

Tax Credit Temporarily Checked Falling Home Values

Though home values in the United States continued to decline in the second quarter of 2010, the percentage of single-family homeowners with mortgages who are underwater fell to 21.5 percent from 23.3 percent in the first quarter and 23 percent one year ago., according to the Zillow Real Estate Market Reports.

Apartment Rents are on the Rise

Apartment rents have made an about face during the first half of the year and they'll continue to rise if vacancies tighten as predicted as more and more households become renters.

Nearly Half of Sellers Cut Prices

The number of price-reduced homes on the market increased 5.3 percent in July as compared to June, according to a monthly review of MLS-listed properties within 26 of the country's largest housing markets conducted by the national online real estate brokerage ZipRealty.

Prices Rise 7.9 Percent

Despite reports that sellers were dropping prices following the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit April 30, a new national report found that prices rose an average of 7.9 percent in the second quarter over the first, though price increases on listings slowed in June.

Job Losses and Medical Bills Drive PA Foreclosures

A new study by the Pennsylvania of Realtors provides new evidence that job losses and unexpected medical bills, not subprime mortgages, are the two leading causes of foreclosure in that state.

Pending Sales Sink Even Lower

Pending home sales in June sank below the all-time basement level they reached in May as fall-out from the end of the tax credit continues to traumatize housing markets across the county

Poll Favors New Tax Credit Over Bulldozing Homes

Nearly half, or 48 percent, of those participating in an online survey released today said they want the Federal tax credit for home buyers back to re-stimulate the housing market.

BP Oil Spill Will Cost Gulf Real Estate $3 Billion

The BP DeepWater Horizon oil spill will cost homeowners n in the coastal counties along the Gulf Coast communities from $648 million over one year and to as much as $3 billion over five years, according to a report today from CoreLogic.

Home Prices Heading for a Second Dip

Recent gains in home values are temporary and markets are poised for a 5 percent dip during the balance of 2010.

States Bust Real Estate Agents

California's Department of Real Estate accepted record numbers of real estate licenses revoked and over the past year and accepted record numbers of licenses surrendered by real estate professionals facing disciplinary action.

Foreclosures Move in Next Door

While foreclosures fell in nine out of the nation's ten highest foreclosure markets during the past six months, they are increasing almost everywhere else in the nation as the changing causes of mortgage defaults bring foreclosures home to hundreds of communities.

Madmen to Market Mortgage Modifications

With the number of final mortgage modifications below target  and criticism mounting that it's not making a significant difference in the war to stem foreclosures, the Administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (*HAMP) is asking the advertising wizards of Madison Avenue for help.

Prices Fall on Move-in Properties, Rise on Fixer-uppers

Prices on homes ready to be occupied fell an average of 6.8 percent between May and June, but prices for damaged foreclosed properties increased by 5.9 percent during the same period.

New Financial Reform Legislation Transforms Appraisals

The financial regulatory reform bill signed into law the week could result in more accurate home valuations, higher appraisal costs, faster closings, more completed transactions and maybe even higher prices, according to critics of a controversial quasi-governmental regulation that the legislation eliminated.    

UPDATE: Treasury Backtracks on HAMP Re-defaults

Despite the difficult economy and high unemployment rates, the vast majority of homeowners who modified their mortgages under the Administration's Housing Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) are staying current on their payments, surprising experts and far exceeding previous modification efforts.

RE/MAX Finds Low Rates Lift Sales

In the wake of the homebuyer tax credit, home sales and prices are holding their own, due largely to record low interest rates and the most affordable prices in years, according to the RE/MAX June survey of 54 metropolitan areas.

Falling Home Prices Ignite Boom in Foreign Buyers

The number of American homes bought by foreign nationals has nearly doubled in the past year as falling property values and record numbers of distress sales encouraged immigrants and foreign investors to take advantage of affordable prices.  With home purchases by US citizens plummeting in the wake of the tax credit, foreigners are now poised to gain an even larger ownership share of the US residential market.

PMI Slashes 2010 Home Sales Forecast

PMI, the leading mortgage insurance company, has cut its forecast for increased 2010 sales by more than half after housing hit a wall in May following the end of the homebuyer tax credit.

Foreclosure Picture Improves in First Half

Foreclosure filings fell 5 percent in the first half of the year but still exceed the first six months of 2009 by 8 percent, according to figures released today by RealtyTrac. One in 78 home0wners received a foreclosure notice in the first half.

Home Prices Expected to Weaken

Virtually every other indicator from Pending Sales to Mortgage Purchase Applications is showing home sales headed south with the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit ended April 30.

Ten Percent of Homeowners Regret Buying Their Current Homes

Translated into hard numbers, the poll suggests that 6.75 million homeowners are unhappy and two million feel trapped in their homes because they cannot sell them in the current real estate markets. 

Falling Jumbo Rates Raise High End Sales

High end sales have been picking up through the spring and early summer, even in the wake of the demise of the tax credit, whose impact was felt almost exclusively at the lower end of the market.

Home Sales Contracts Plunge to All-time Low

Home purchase contracts signed in May dropped to their lowest level in the history of the Pending Home Sales Index.  Contracts fell to a level of 77.6\, 30 percent below April and 15.9 percent below May 2009.

Senate Beats Deadline and Clears Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension

After failing by two votes to pass an extension of unemployment benefits that included an extension of the homebuyer tax credit, the Senate last night agreed to a separate bill to give homebuyers an extra three-months to close on a purchase that qualifies for a federal tax credits of up to $8,000.

Foreclosure Sales Fell 33 Percent in Q1; Discounts Rose

Sales of foreclosed properties fell by one third in the first quarter from a year ago and 14 percent from the last quarter of 2009, according to a new report released today by RealtyTrac, the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties.

Sellers and Buyers Disagree on Home Values

Three out of four homeowners think their homes are worth more than the amount their agents recommend they list them for, and 63 percent of agents and brokers say buyers they represent think homes for sale are overpriced.

Critics Assail Dying Tax Credit

As the clock ticks down on the final hours of the homebuyer tax credits, critics of the policy are celebrating their demise even as housing industry lobbyists scramble valiantly for an eleventh hour legislative life boat that will extend them another three months.

Strategic Defaults May Have Peaked Last Year

Despite the recent publicity and current debate about homeowners who walk away from their mortgages even thought hey have the ability to pay; the phenomenon of "strategic default" may have peaked before it was identified.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension Hits the Wall

Legislation containing a three month extension of the popular homebuyer tax credits to allow buyers to close by September 30th died in the Senate last night and the opportunity to extend the credits past the current deadline of June 30th may have passed.

Fannie Ignites Firestorm Over Strategic Defaults

The tough strategic default policy ignited a firestorm of debate across the nation as defenders and opponents of borrowers who abandon their homes even though they have the capacity to pay took to blogs and news outlets.

Supply is High as Shadow Inventory Looms

The inventory of unsold existing homes remained unnervingly high in May, raising questions about the price outlook for the balance of the year, especially in light of an immense backlog of foreclosed properties, known as the "shadow inventory," that will certainly have a depressing effect on prices as those homes begin to come on market.

California’s New Tax Credit Keeps Them Coming as First-timer Traffic Tanks Nationally

California enacted its new $10,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit just in time to avoid the precipitous drop in first-time buyer traffic in May that hit the rest of the nation's real estate markets, according to proprietary data from the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions.

PMI Removes 105 Markets from Distressed List

PMI Group, the nation's leading private mortgage insurer, has removed 105 markets effective June 18, including some of the nation's largest, from its Distressed Markets List.  Homebuyers in those markets will find it easier and less expensive to obtain mortgage insurance.

First-Time Homebuyers Disappeared After Tax Credit Ended

Homebuyer traffic nationwide tumbled in May, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions. Most of the decline was attributable to first-time homebuyers who sharply reduced their home shopping last month.

Housing Crisis Wreaks Havoc on Children

So many families are now paying half or more of their income to pay housing costs that they have little left to support their children, according to the latest State of the Nation's Housing Report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Most Modified Loans Will Re-default in 12 Months

Despite the extensive and lengthy process required to modify mortgages in default so that borrowers could afford their payments, most will default again in a year or less, according to Fitch Ratings.

Post Tax Credit Price Cutting Eases

Price cutting of listed properties apparently has eased as real estate markets recover from the boom and bust of the tax credit. On an annual basis, price cutting declined slightly.

Growing Confidence Fuels Single Family Home Price Increases

Optimism that a sustainable economic recovery is underway is driving increases in home prices across many U.S. metro areas according to an analysis of fourth quarter 2009 prices in 384 metro markets by Fiserv, the leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, and data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

FHA Insurance Premiums to Triple

The House last week approved legislation allowing FHA to increase the annual premiums borrowers are required to pay for mortgage insurance. The Senate has yet to consider the bill.

Broker Price Opinions are Focus of Short Sale Fraud

 Banks using real estate brokers and agents to value short sales are increasingly becoming the victims of fraudulent schemes that have occurred in more than 1 percent of short sales this year and have already cost lenders at least $50 million in lost revenue, according to CoreLogic.

Mortgage Defaults Fell Seven Percent in May

Good news on the foreclosure front continues as defaults fell 7 percent in May. Overall foreclosure activity fell 3 percent during the month and is virtually unchanged from the level of a year ago, according to RealtyTrac's latest report.

Owners Slash Prices After Tax Credit

Nearly half of home sellers in 26 of the nation's largest markets slashed prices in May following the expiration of he Federal tax credit April 30, dropping average prices by nearly $2500 according to a monthly review of MLS-listed properties by the national online real estate brokerage ZipRealty.

Tidal Wave of Buyers Eyes Beleaguered FHA

Of the 12,000 readers of the Home Buying Institute website last month, some 87 percent of those who responded to the survey said they were planning to use an FHA loan to finance their home purchase.

High Risk Delinquency Rates Turn the Corner

The worst looks to be over for the high risk loans that ignited the housing depression.  Alt-A delinquencies declined for the second consecutive month following a steady four-year increase and subprime delinquencies also fell for the third straight month, according to the latest performance metrics from Fitch Ratings.

Record Loan Demand Strains FHA’s Capacity

A patchwork of 37 computer programs that date back to the early eighties and a “sadly understaffed” workforce probably won’t change until FHA becomes an independent agency apart from HUD, said former FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery.

Foreclosures Will Plague the Markets Until 2013

Processing of so many foreclosed properties has slowed down and the so-called “shadow inventory” has grow so large that it will take until 2013 to work them through the system.

Will the Tax Credit Bump Create a Summer Slump?

Evidence is growing that rather than stimulate additional home sales, the final phase of the tax credit may have only encouraged buyers who were planning to buy a home anyway to move up their purchase a few months so that they could make the April 30 deadline and qualify for the credit.

Restoring Default Risk to Pre-Bubble Levels Will Take Five Years

The risk of borrowers defaulting on their mortgages today is much less than in 2006 to 2008, but it will take at least five years for risk to return to pre-bubble levels, a leading expert on default risk told Real Estate Economy Watch.

Consensus Grows that Foreclosures Plateaued in April

A consensus is growing among different foreclosure reporting services that at last foreclosures have plateaued and will start to slowly decline.

First-time Buyers Fade in April

The end of the tax credit brought about a significant decline in first-time homebuyers in April, the heart of the 2010 home buying season.

UFA Sees Mortgage Risks Rapidly Returning to Normal

Default risk for nonprime mortgages fell during the first quarter.

Improving Values Discourage Property Tax Appeals

In recent years, falling market values have inspired millions of homeowners to appeal their property tax assessments in hopes of lowering their tax bills, especially in "sand states" where values have fallen the most since 2006.  But this year, the rush to judgment may be over.

New Survey Reveals Shocking Increase in Strategic Defaulters

 The Trulia-RealtyTrac survey produced the highest number yet of potential strategic defaulters.

Shadow Inventory Reaches 4.3 Million Homes

The large number of homes in serious delinquency, or in the foreclosure process, suggest that the so-called "shadow inventory" of properties owned by lenders but not yet on the market has reached 4.2 to 4.3 million homes, said Jay Brinkmann, MBA's chief economist.

Lowe’s Sees 2010 as Transition Year

Reporting a 2.7 percent rise in net earnings today for the first quarter, the nation's second largest home improvement retailer remains cautious about the balance of 2010.

Prices Fall in the Wake of the Tax Credit

However, if many buyers artificially inflated their prices to take advantage of the credit, that price drop might occur faster in many markets.

Housing Crisis Takes Toll on Agents

Hard times have come to real estate agents as well as to their customers.  With fewer houses to sell and commissions shrinking due to lower prices, more and more agents are looking for work in other fields or settling for less money.

Strategic Defaults Outpace HAMP Modifications

The percentage of foreclosures that were perceived to be strategic was 31 percent in March 2010, compared to 22 percent in March 2009.

Odds Improve for Higher Prices in Two Years

PMI's second quarter U.S. Market Risk Index showed fresh evidence of a recovering national housing market, including improved prospects of higher housing prices in many markets within two years.

Tax Credit Fades Away

The homebuyer tax credit faded away Friday night with a whimper in most markets and a bang in just a few, according to reports from across the county. 

Mortgage Picture Improves Despite 7.39 Million Delinquent Loans

The Mortgage Monitor report released today by Lender Processing Services, Inc., a leading provider of mortgage performance data and analytics, showed modest improvements in the number of loans curing to current and reductions in total new delinquencies.

House Blesses No Down USDA Guaranteed Loans

If you have decent credit, live in a rural area, earn less than 115 percent of the median income in your area, you might just qualify for the best mortgage deal still available in America.

Minority Homeownership Continues to Fall

A steady decline in minority homeownership has driven the national homeownership rate to its lowest level in a decade, according to data released by the Census Bureau for the first quarter of 2010.

New Homes Surge Heralds Future Sales Gains

 Last week's 27 percent surge in new home sales in March, the largest advance since April 1963, signals future increases in existing home sales, which rose only 7 percent in March, and may show the real impact of the homebuyer tax credit, which expires at the end of this week.

Rising Rents Rally Investors

Investors are back in the housing markets, driven by affordable prices, abundant foreclosures, low interest rates and now... rising rents.

Changes in HAMP Create Opportunities for Fraud

Revisions in the government's Making Home Affordable Program (HAMP) may create new incentives for loan servicers and to defraud troubled homeowners according to a new report from the Inspector General who oversees the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP).

Homebuyer Tax Credit Backfires on Buyers

 As the final two weeks of the homebuyer tax credit tick away, many sellers are playing a game of "chicken" with buyers by refusing to negotiate on price and seeking other concessions.

First-time Buyers Blow Away Records

Though conventional wisdom counted them out, first-time home buyers drove the housing market in March, posting a record high share, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions.

Bank Repossessions Hit All-time High

Bank repossessions of homes (REOs) hit a record high in the first quarter.

Remodeling to Recover in 2010

Home improvement spending will recover this year, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) released today by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

Policy by Polling to Seal Fates of Fannie and Freddie

Yesterday the Treasury Department released a seven question public poll whose results will provide input on the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Parents Make It Possible: New Survey Uncovers the Secret of Single Ownership

With virtually all mortgages today requiring a down payment, how is it that single men and women conteinue to account for nearly one-third of all home sales?

Low Prices Warm Up Investors but Freeze Move-up Buyers

According to a new Move, Inc., survey released yesterday, interest in real estate as an investment has more than tripled in the past year.

America’s Ten Fastest Declining Real Estate Markets

A web site popular with real estate agents yesterday released its choices for the ten residential real estate markets in greatest decline based on falling property values in 2009 and other economic factors.

One Out of Ten Mortgages is Delinquent

Despite a slight seasonal improvement over last month, mortgage delinquencies still hover near record highs, 21 percent above a year ago

Fifteen Percent Say it’s OK to Walk Away

When asked if financial distress makes stopping payments on an underwater mortgage acceptable, 15 percent of respondents said yes in Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey, a remarkable level of public acceptance for homeowners who walk away from their mortgages in light of the growing number of defaults in Fannie Mae's portfolio.

Florida Study: Simple Answers Don’t Explain Foreclosures

A study seeking in-depth information on the causes of foreclosures in Florida sponsored by Florida Realtors found that most foreclosures are the result of a combination of factors: living costs, depressed income, health issues and other factors, not a single cause like unemployment or risky loans. Among the most important findings of the Face of Foreclosure [...]

Pending Sales Return to December

The snow melted, the spring housing market warmed up and the deadline loomed for the home buyer tax credit.  All three combined to help NAR's Pending Sales Index rise 8.2 percent in February following a dismal January.

Fear Seen Driving Prices Lower than Last 20 Years

Most metro areas will see prices fall below the lowest levels of the last 20 years, according to the latest forecast from University Financial Associates of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Backfires

Hype and pressure on buyers to act before the home buyer tax credit expires April 30 is causing some real estate agents to criticize their colleagues for pushing their customers too hard to buy a home before the April 30 deadline for the Federal homebuyer tax credit.

Son of HAMP Learns from Experience

The Administration's new effort to keep defaulting families in their homes by modifying their mortgages learned important lessons from problems encountered by its first effort, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

Retirement Markets Lose Population

Sunbelt markets are experiencing slower population growth because older Americans are staying put in family homes, according new Census estimates released yesterday.

Inventories Rose in February

The national housing inventory has risen to its highest level since September, before first-time buyers started rushing to put contracts on houses and beat a November 30 deadline that Congress subsequently extended to April 30. 2010.

Real Estate Professionals Cautious on Direction of Home Prices

Despite their reputation for optimism, a new survey shows that the vast majority of real estate professionals are cautious or negative on the near term outlook for home prices.

Distressed Property Sales Soar

The share of home purchase transactions involving distressed properties surged to almost half in February, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions.

Republicans Attack Obama Mortgage Modification Program

The partisan attack on the program is the most public indication to date that the HAMP program may become a political liability for the Administration.

Fannie Mae Economists Lower First Quarter Forecast

Unpleasant surprises in January home sales and home starts have convinced Fannie Mae's economists to lower significantly their projection of real residential investment in the first quarter released yesterday.

Delinquencies Slow But They Exceed Modifications

The February 2010 Mortgage Monitor report, released by Lender Processing Services, Inc. shows that while delinquency rates in the U.S. have risen to historic highs, the pace of deterioration has slowed. However, the nation's housing market remains far from a full recovery.

Tax Credit Stirs Sales in Local Markets

 Spurred by the pending demise of the federal homebuyer tax credit, buyers are awakening from their snowy winters' nap.

Foreclosures Fall, Optimism Rises

For the second time in three weeks, a major national report on foreclosures and delinquent mortgages suggest that the flood of foreclosures that washed over the housing markets in 2009 is ebbing and may even be at an end.

Where Did the Shadow go?

With the year nearly one quarter over, inventories give no sign of a large "shadow inventory" of foreclosed homes being kept off the market.

Spring Sales Are Slow

As record snows melt away in the Midwest and East, real estate professionals are not seeing the volume of interest or which they had hoped.

Risk of Mortgage Default Rises 58 Percent Higher than in 1990s

Lenders and investors can expect defaults on loans currently being originated today to be 58 percent higher than the average of the 1990, according to the latest University Financial Associates (UFA) Mortgage Report.

Investors Soar as First-timers Fade

Fresh data from Campbell Communications' monthly survey of more than 1,500 real estate agents found that the investor market share of buy-side transactions has jumped nearly six points since November, while first-time buyers have fallen more seven percentage points since October.

Inventory Highest in Six Months

The national inventory of existing homes is larger now than it has been since the run-up of sales since thousands of first-time buyers rushed to the closing table last fall to qualify for the $8,000 tax credit.

Massive Florida Mortgage Fraud Case Unfolding

A two year FBI investigation into Sarasota house flipping is turning into what may be the largest case of mortgage fraud in Florida's history.

Mortgage Rates Rise on Cue

With four more weeks of mortgage surveys to go before the full psychological impact kicks, we'll know whether Freddie's rates are a trend or an anomaly.

One Quarter of Mortgage Holders Sink Underwater

More than 11.3 million, or 24 percent, of all residential properties with mortgages, were in negative equity at the end of the fourth quarter of 2009.

Short Sales See Big Jump in Activity

Short sales have jumped from about ten percent of distressed property sales during most of last year to 15.9 percent of home purchase transactions in January.

Obama Aids Big Bust States

However, the latest foreclosure data shows foreclosure rates are falling in three of the five states where he is sending the aid but rising in heartland states which have not previously experienced widescale foreclosures

Delinquency Rate Falls Below Ten Percent

 The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.47 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2009.

More than One in Four Homes Appreciated in 2009

Despite the fact that nearly one out of four American homeowners owe more on their homes than their mortgages are worth, more than one quarter of American homes actually increased in value last year.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Warms up Spring Home Sales

Record snows may still clog driveways and carpet lawns with ice but the spring real estate market is kicking off across the country earlier than normal as buyers push to make the April 30 tax credit deadline.

Ready for a Housing Shortage this Year?

With healthy inventories, 3 million foreclosures, more and more short sales, falling values, rising vacancy rates, shrinking rents and one third of all homeowners underwater, could we possibly be heading for a national housing shortage this year?

Negative Equity Drives Foreclosures into the Heartland

The trend suggests that no locality is immune from what has become the leading cause of mortgage defaults, negative equity.

“The Federal Government Has Become the Mortgage Market”

Federal programs now stretch from origination to guarantor to securitization and finally to domination of mortgage backed securities markets.

Ten Percent of Prime Jumbo Loans Are Delinquent

The higher end of the US housing market continued to weaken in January.

Fed Official Hints at More MBS Purchases

As the Federal Reserve Bank of New York completed its latest purchases of mortgage backed securities to prop up mortgage interest rates, its president went public with hints that the Fed would consider reopening its soon-to-end program if interest rates spiked or the economy showed new weakness, The Fed is buying $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities [...]

FTC Bans Up-front Fees for Mortgage Modification

The Federal Trade Commission moved to protect distressed homeowners from bogus foreclosure rescue and mortgage modification services...

Obama Budget Limits Mortgage Interest Deductions…Again

The fiscal year 2011 budget submitted to Congress this week by the Obama Administration caps the value of itemized deductions based on income, effectively eliminating the mortgage interest deduction for single taxpayers making more than $200,000 a year , $250,000 for joint returns.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Deadline Freezes Out Short Sales

Time is running out on homebuyers interested in buying hundreds of thousands of affordable homes, as much as 20 percent of the inventory in high foreclosure markets, and still qualify for the homebuyer tax credit.

Homeownership Hangs Tough

Homeownership, thought by many to be a certain victim of the foreclosure crisis, weathered a record year of foreclosures without losing a beat...statistically speaking.

Illegal Aliens Suspected of Massive First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit Fraud

In Texas, 1,000 applications for the tax credit have been filed by people employing a special taxpayer identification number that is used primarily by illegal immigrants.

Home Builders Court Equity Financing

An amazing event at the International Builders' Show earlier this month promises to change the industry's financing structure forever and breathe new hope into the industry.

Obama Was Quiet on Housing

Though most economists believe the nation's housing crisis shares the stage with unemployment as the two fronts where we are failing in America's war to revive its economy, housing barely received a mention in President Obama's first State of the Union message last night.

Cash Offers Foil Homebuyers

With prices hitting or approaching bottom in markets nationwide and record number of foreclosures available, professional investors armed with cash-rich investors are emerging as factor in the lower end of the residential market.

Eminent Domain is Alive and Well

There are indications that as stimulus funds make their way to the state and local levels, more property than ever may be at risk.

First-time Buyers Faded in Q4

First-time homebuyers, the most important segment of the home purchase market in 2009, accounted for a shrinking share of the housing market as 2009 drew to a close.

Real Estate Goes Back to Print

Newspaper real estate ad spending is projected to rise 16 percent in 2010, to $4.4 billion, after falling 34 percent last year.

Property Taxes Clobber Hurting Homeowners

Local governments across the country are responding to the threat to their bottom line by raising taxes.

’09 Foreclosure Binge to Produce Hangover in ‘10

So many properties are in the pipeline that huge numbers of delinquent properties won't come to market until this year or later.

State Homebuyer Tax Credits Sweeten the Pot at Tax Time

First-time homebuyers in California, Texas, New York and Kentucky will have bigger smiles on their faces than those in other states when they do their taxes this year.

Ten Percent of Wealthier Homeowners are Delinquent on Their Mortgages

 The report is yet another sign that the housing crisis and the negative equity it has caused is climbing upscale to some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in America.

Recasting Mortgages Worth $47 Billion Will Increase Defaults

Thousands of homeowners who have been making payments on interest only mortgages are in for a rude shock this year

Foreclosed Fowl Forfeit Roost

At first, all was well at the new location until a neighbor reported the chickens to the county's nuisance line last month.

Commissions Reach Nine-Year Peak

Real estate commissions have risen for four straight years and they are higher today than they have been since 2001.

Mortgage Rates Finally Fall

Rates for 30-year fixed mortgages switched gears this week, falling slightly for the first time in a month, but remained above last month's record lows.

Crime Falls in Foreclosure Hotbeds

Crime rates fell in nearly every one of the nation's leading foreclosure markets last year, exceeding a decline in the national crime rate in many cases, despite the widespread belief that foreclosures spawn crime.

There’s a Land Rush on USDA Housing Loans

As more and more suburban and exurban buyers figured out how to qualify and an infusion of stimulus funds made more direct and guaranteed loans available, the program doubled its volume last year, making 27,871 loans for the year.

Mortgage Rate Prospects Stir Fears of Re-Recession

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman told Bloomberg News yesterday that he sees about a one-third chance the U.S. economy will slide into a recession during the second half of the year.

Lender Failures Set New Record

More than 200 mortgage-related firms ended operations or failed last year.

Prediction: Foreclosure Mills Will Prosper

To a small group of legal professionals who have figured out how to made foreclosures their pot of gold, the Foreclosure Era continues to be a time of prosperity and profit.

Rates Rise Into 2010

Mortgage rates on  30-year fixed-rate mortgages ended 2009 with the longest ascending streak of the year, rising for the fifth straight week, to 5.14 percent.

NY Fed Economists Foresee Steep Decline in Homeownership

The official homeownership rate "will experience significant downward pressure" in the coming years, according to the staff report as dramatic increases in negative equity reduce incentives to own rather than rent.

Consumer Confidence Ends 2009 on Mixed Note

In December, consumer confidence in the economy improved moderately for the second month in a row, but consumers' short term prospects fell.

Fannie Mae’s Delinquencies Rise 163 Percent in 12 Months

The percentage of seriously delinquent loans in Fannie Mae's portfolio jumped in October, rising 26 basis points to 4.98 percent.

Countdown to Change in 2010

As clocks tick down on 2009, its not hard to foresee big changes in store for home buyers and home sellers in the early months of the new year.

Speculator Sticks Ten Banks with 20 Mortgages Worth $6.4 Million

A New York speculator convinced ten different banks to give him 20 separate mortgages to buy 10 homes with no money down and he defaulted on every one.

Foreclosure States Lose Population

The real estate recession, which has frozen more then 10 percent of homeowners in their homes, has slowed domestic migration dramatically.

Mortgage Rates Break 5 Percent

After hitting historic lows three weeks ago, mortgage rates rose above 5 percent this week.

One of Five Modified Loans Fails in 90 Days

That's the good and bad news from the latest Mortgage Metrics Report from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

How Your Tax Credit Can Pay Your Down Payment and Closing Costs

To help buyers who want down payment and closing cost assistance, including those who qualify for the Federal homebuyer tax credit, 19 state housing finance agencies (HFAs) offer special short-term second loans.

Spring Price Recovery Forecast

 Improvement in both levels of inventories and unemployment are projected to prevail in the spring of next year.

Lenders Modified Loans for 680,000 Homeowners

National bank and thrift servicers implemented more than 680,000 home loan modifications and payment plans in the third quarter.

God Bless ‘Em Every One

Unwilling to appear Scroogy a week before Christmas, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and OneWest Bank joined Citigroup, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in postponing foreclosure evictions through January 3.

Shadow Inventory Rises 54 Percent

The 1.7 million homes currently in the "shadow inventory" significantly increases calculations of the inventory of homes for sale, according to a new report from First American CoreLogic.

Some Foreclosure Evictions Break for the Holidays

 Not only were Fannie and Freddie 27 days later this year than last announcing their moratorium, they're giving families facing foreclosures only 15 days of holiday peace, from December to January 3, 2010.

Coldwell Banker’s Gillespie Looks Beyond the Tax Credit

No doubt the tax breaks for both first-time and existing buyers will mean a lot of business for real estate brokerages, but Coldwell Banker is also focused on what happens after credits expire next spring.

Bargains Get Tougher for Investors

Recent industry studies suggest factors are at work that will make bargains harder to find and profit margins slimmer.

Poll Finds 2 Million Unemployed Lost Their Homes

Some 4 million would be at risk of losing their homes and 2 million would have lost them, if the survey's findings proved to be true on a national level.   Total foreclosures in 2009 are expected to exceed 3.5 million, according to RealtyTrac.

Fitch Ratings Sees Better Times for Builders in 2010

A four-year downturn has evidently come to an end for U.S. homebuilders, according to Fitch Ratings in its outlook report for the sector.

HAMP Credited with 40 Percent Rise in California Foreclosure Cancellations

"While many have predicted a wave of foreclosures and REO's, I believe we are instead likely to see a wave of foreclosure cancellations as the Administration kicks off their conversion drive to make more modifications permanent, said ForeclosureRadar CEO Sean O'Toole.

RE/MAX Sees New Federal Short Sales Guidelines Helping Chicago

 New Federal guidelines on short sales are likely to have a beneficial  impact on the metropolitan Chicago real estate market.

Foreclosures Bring Out the Bugs

In the San Francisco Bay region, where foreclosures reached record levels this year, rats and bugs are moving into abandoned houses as quickly as humans depart.

Florida HOAs See Foreclosures Worsening

Some 86 percent of Florida condominium and homeowners associations expect foreclosures and delinquencies to stay the same or increase next year, creating additional revenue shortfalls for their associations.

Only Four Percent of Homeowners Get Obama Loan Modifications

Nine months after the program launched, only four percent of homeowners participating in the government's Making Home Affordable program have successfully had their mortgages modified.

Rates Rise After Record Lows

Thirty-year mortgages averaged 4.81 percent, up 0.10 percentage point from the previous week, when it hit the lowest level since Freddie Mac started tracking it in 1971.

Foreclosure Activity Falls Eight Percent

Foreclosure filings fell nearly eight percent from October and were down 15 percent from the July peak.

Realtors in HomeGain Survey See Prices Stabilizing or Improving

Three out of four Realtors, 72 percent, believe home prices will either stay the same or increase over the next six months.

Fed Governor Says Lenders Flee Foreclosures in Devastated Neighborhoods

Rather than foreclosing on defaulted mortgages in neighborhoods devastated by the economy, lenders are abandoning them because the cost of proceeding with foreclosure is greater than their value.

Farmer Sues Wells Fargo to Feed Foreclosed Animals

"I would have tried to place the animals somewhere safe," the farmer said. "Apparently they're not animal people at all."

Homeowners Lost Only $489 Billion in 2009

Forty-eight of the 154 markets tracked by Zillow showed gains in home values during 2009.

Ten Percent of Homeowners Would Walk Away

Nearly one out of ten homeowners, 9.2 percent or 7.4 million homeowners, say they would likely walk away from their homes, default on their mortgages and suffer the consequences to their credit if they felt financially vulnerable and owed more on their homes than they are worth, according to a new national survey released today.

Failures Cripple Obama Loan Modification Program

 As many as 85 percent of delinquent mortgages are failing the Administration's loan modification process.

Ohio AG Holds Appraisers Accountable

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray charged a Washington D.C. area home appraisal company with improperly influencing Ohio appraisals.

FHA Moves Upscale

The Federal Housing Administration is transforming itself from a lender of last resort serving mid to lower income borrowers into a more expensive lender with a safer, more upscale portfolio.

Wild Parties Trash San Diego Foreclosures

In San Diego, one person's pain is another's...place to party.

Home Pricing Tests Real Estate Agents

For the real estate professional whose role it is to get the most for his client that he can, these are hard times.

Mortgage Deterioration Rate Exceeds 3:1

Of home loans that were current as of December 2008, more than two million, or 4.02 percent, were delinquent or in foreclosure by the end of October 2009.

Are Foreclosures Igniting a Firestorm of Arson?

A year ago fire safety organizations and insurance companies warned that desperate homeowners and business owners facing foreclosure would be burning their property to collect insurance money and avoid the stigma of foreclosure.

Treasury Tweaks Short Sale Incentives to Cut Foreclosures

 This week the Treasury Department released new rules that will help homeowners who need to sell but can't get a price high enough to pay off their mortgage.

FHA and Ginnie Mae Kick Out Lend America

Yesterday the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) today withdrew approval for Lend America to participate in the FHA single family insurance program.

Once Again, Administration Tries to Save Foreclosure Program

The Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced their third attempt to breathe life into the Obama Administration's ailing Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

Judge Wipes Out Mortgage, Shocks Lending Industry

Last week’s ruling by a Suffolk County, New York judge wiping out $525,000 in mortgage debt has sent shudders throughout the lending industry.

Mortgage Rates Hit Record Lows

The average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 5.00 percent, according to Bankrate.com.

Real Estate Investors Walk Away Before Homeowners

When they owe more on a property than it is worth, investors are more likely to stop paying on their mortgage and default than owners living in a primary residence.

Couple Steals Home from 93-year-old Alzheimer’s Patient

A Brentwood, Long Island woman was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years probation for stealing the home of a 93-year-old Queens man suffering from Alzheimer's disease and then let it fall into foreclosure.

Freddie Mac’s Delinquency Rate Rises for 30th Month

Freddie Mac's mortgage delinquency rate for its single family mortgages past due by 90 days or more rose for the 30th straight month in October, reaching a record 3.54 percent of its portfolio.

Frank Wants $2 Billion to Stop Foreclosures

 Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) is pushing to use left over TARP money to help unemployed homeowners stave off foreclosure

Existing Home Sales Soar Ten Percent

Driven by the first-time buyer tax credit, existing-home sales showed another big gain in October, while inventories continue to decline

Investors Fade While Short Sales Soar

Investors buying homes to rent or sell accounted for only 15 percent of the housing market last month as they competed with large numbers of first-time homebuyers.

Unemployment Drives Record Mortgage Delinquencies

Fourteen percent of all American mortgages are either delinquent or in the process of foreclosure.

The Last Days of the Homebuyer Tax Credit

This is it.  No more extensions.  When April 30 comes and goes, the tax credit for everyone is over and buyers have only until June 30 to close.

Foreclosures Overwhelm Rural Communities

 Like suburban areas, rural communities also are suffering the devastating impact of negative equity on their housing markets.

Ponzi Schemer Faces 52 Years for Real Estate Fraud

William Arthur Sassman, 41, is being held in the Sacramento County Jail and bail has been set at $3.2 million.

Delinquent Mortgages Will Set a Record This Year

Mortgage delinquencies hit an all-time high of 6.25 percent in the third quarter.

Hot Refi Checks Leave Illinois Homeowners in the Cold

Last month a process server drove up to his Mokena, Ill. home and handed Franson papers notifying him he owed  his old lender $93,702.51 and they were foreclosing on his home.

Housing Designed for Aging Boomers Perks Up

The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) 55+ Single-Family Housing Market Index showed a six-point increase in the third quarter of 2009,

Lenders Torpedo Home Sales

While the Federal government will be paying out nearly $17 billion in tax credits over the next five months to stimulate home buying, the nation's system of mortgage finance is undermining their ability to get financing.

FHA Should Weather Loan Losses

Under most scenarios the agency should be able to continue to fulfill its mission of facilitating the market's recovery.

New Homebuyer Tax Credits Light Up the Holidays

 Home sales activity across the country is picking up even though we are entering a period when sales usually slow down as the holidays approach.

Mortgage Rates Sink to Seven-Month Low

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to a seven-month low of 5.19 percent.

Low Priced Foreclosures and High Hopes for Appreciation Draw Investors Back to Real Estate

The number of consumers interested in investing in real estate has doubled since March 2009.

Short Cuts Short Out Treasury’s Loan Modification Program

Short cuts, including lack of documentation by borrowers, are crippling the Obama Administration's loan modification program and threatening to significantly reduce the more than 650,ooo loans currently in the trial phase of the program.

Auctions Bid for Seventh Record Year

Gross revenue from residential real estate auctions have skyrocketed 49 percent over the past six years, an increase of $5.6 billion.

Underwater Homeowners Come Up for Air

The percentage of American single-family homes with mortgages in negative equity fell to 21 percent in the third quarter, down from 23 percent in the second, according to the third quarter Zillow Real Estate Market Report.

Delinquent Mortgages and Foreclosures Soared in September

Today one out of every eight American homeowners with a mortgage (12.49 percent) is either in foreclosure or delinquent in their payments.

Banks Tighten Lending Standards Further

One out of every four banks continued to tighten lending standards and terms for prime mortgages in the third quarter.

Tidal Wave of New Defaults Arrives

The first wavelets of a long-dreaded tsunami of new defaults are washing up on the shores of California, Nevada and other markets where prices soared during the housing boom.

Pressure Builds on Property Taxes

A perfect storm is brewing for big property tax hikes across the nation next year, increases that could add significantly to the costs of homeownership

College Towns Cost Less than Average

The average four-bedroom home costs less than $250,000 in 62 percent of college markets surveyed.

How the New Homebuyer Tax Credit Works

 The extension and expansion of the homebuyers tax credit that passed Congress November 5 allows more first-time buyers to qualify and creates an entirely new credit for existing homeowners who buy a new home.

Congress Passes Homebuyer Tax Credit

 The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly this afternoon to pass legislation containing an extension and expansion of the homebuyer tax credit, completing Congressional action and sending the tax credit to President Obama for his signature, possibly as early as tomorrow.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Will Motivate First-time Buyers More than Move-up Buyers

The first-time homebuyer tax credit would do more to defray the purchase price of a starter home than the move-up buyer credit would do for existing homeowners buying a new home.

Senate Clears Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension to Pass This Week

 The Senate last night cleared the way to pass a seven month extension and expansion of the tax credit for homebuyers, making it virtually certain that the legislation will reach President Obama for his signature this week.

Vacancies, No Credit and Falling Values Stress Out Commercial Markets

With high unemployment pushing up vacancies, no credit capacity and property values plummeting, commercial real estate markets remain extremely stressed with little prospect for significant near-term improvement.

Rush to Tax Credit Deadline Pushes up Pending Sales

Contracts on existing homes rose 6.1 percent in September as first-time homebuyers rushed to take advantage of the $8000 Federal tax credit before it expires November 30.

Sales Fade As First-Time Buyers Give Up on Credit

With less than thirty days to go until the first-time homebuyer tax credit expires, home sales are starting to fade as buyers give up on making the November 30 deadline.

Apartment Market Improves Slowly, Vacancies Remain High

The apartment market showed signs of improvement in the third quarter, but vacancies and rent levels remain low.

Foreclosure Hot Spots Spread to Idaho and Utah

Foreclosures fell in five of the top ten markets for distressed sales during the third quarter, but new foreclosure hot spots cropped up in unlikely Western markets.

Rate on 30-Year Fixed Rises to 5.35 Percent

The average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate inched higher to 5.35 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey.

Homeowners Accused of Torturing Loan Modification Agents

A Los Angeles-area couple and three partners were charged last week with torturing two employees of a loan modification company who they believed had defrauded them and reneged on a promise to help save their home in a Los Angeles suburb.

Move-up Buyers to Get Homebuyer Tax Credit

The deal struck among key senators last night to extend the homebuyer tax credit will broaden the benefit to include existing homeowners who are buying a new home as well as first-time homebuyers.

Arizona, California Markets Lead Top Ten List for Home Sales

The country's top ten ZIP codes for home sales based on sales-to-list price ratio have diversified significantly this quarter.

Mortgage Rates Reach 4.92 Percent

The weekly average rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace for 30-year fixed mortgages decreased ten basis points last week to 4.87 percent, down from 4.97 percent the week prior.

“Loan Modification Scam Alert” Targets Scam Artists

The campaign, “Loan Modification Scam Alert,” was launched in Los Angeles , which consistently ranks among cities with the highest foreclosure rates and has the highest number of homes in foreclosure in the nation.

Find the Right Mortgage

Finding the mortgage that is right for you is a very important decision

Homebuyer Tax Credit Set to Pass Senate This Week

An amendment to extend the $8000 first-time homebuyer tax through June and expand it to include all homebuyers is expected to pass the Senate this week despite recent headlines reporting extensive abuse of the program following an investigation by the Treasury Department.

Freddie Mac’s Delinquency Rate Rises for 29th Month

Freddie Mac's mortgage delinquency rate for its single family mortgages rose for the 29th straight month in September, reaching a record 3.33 percent of its portfolio.

Four-Year-Olds Get Homebuyer Tax Credits

Even though they were not old enough to buy a house, more than 580 children younger than 18 have claimed almost $4 million and received $627,000 in first-time homebuyer credits.  Some were as young as four years old.

Mortgage Applications Fall

Last week applications for mortgages fell 13.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

Lend America Charged with Fraud

A mortgage lender known for  its television infomercials touting FHA-backed loans is the target of a Federal civil suit and an ongoing investigation for mortgage fraud.

New York Cracks Down on Mortgage Fraud

Forty-one defendants, in eight separate cases, were indicted yesterday for  allegedly engaging in various mortgage fraud scams that collectively defrauded lenders out of more than $64 million in home mortgage loans on more than 100 properties across New York State.

Fitch: Slowdown in Mortgage Modifications Won’t Last

Though fewer borrowers received modifications in recent months, the delay will be short-lived and soon, according to Fitch Ratings in a new report.

Analyst Report Trashes Fannie and Freddie

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares each fell more than 21 percent yesterday after analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said their common stock was worthless.

White House Boosts Local Housing Programs

The White House yesterday announced a new program to give lower income home buyers and renters a temporary boost in the marketplace.

Home Builder Confidence Dips as Homebuyer Credit Deadline Nears

With the expiration date for the first-time homebuyer tax credit approaching, builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes slipped one point to 18 in October.

Foreclosures Drove September Prices Up Six Percent

Real estate agents participating in the Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions report that residential property values rose 6 percent from August to September.

More Churches Face Foreclosure

Churches, parsonages, church schools and other properties are becoming victims of the same sour national economy that has devastated secular real estate.

Foreclosures Seen Declining in 2010

After reaching an all-time high in 2009, foreclosure starts will to decline after the first of the new year, according to a new forecast from UFA LLC.

Fitch Downgrades Prime Mortgages

Rising unemployment and negative home equity are causing an increasing number of mortgage borrowers whose mortgages have been converted to prime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) to fall behind on their monthly payments, according to Fitch Ratings.

Better Days Ahead for Remodelers

The remodeling industry is turning a corner and annual consumer spending for home improvement should start to rise in the beginning of next year

Foreclosures Reach All-Time High

Nearly one million homes received some form of foreclosure notice during the third quarter, setting an all-time high for foreclosure filings reported by RealtyTrac.

Guilty Plea Ends Mother of All Mortgage Frauds

The "mother of all mortgage frauds" came to an end Friday when an Indianapolis man has pleaded guilty for his lead role in a massive mortgage fraud scheme believed to the largest of its kind ever.

Fed Vice Chair Sees “Subdued” New Home Starts in 2010

The outlook for new housing starts in the coming years is "relatively subdued" due to an oversupply of vacant homes and the likelihood that foreclsures will remain elevated, the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve said yesterday.

Homebuyers Will Regain Negotiating Edge: Zillow Economist

Foreclosures and the demise of the first-time homebuyer tax credit will swing the negotiating advantage back to buyers and away from sellers, who have been enjoying an improved status in many markets as declining inventories discourage price reductions.

Negative Equity Cripples Mortgage Performance

Negative home equity is preventing sustained improvement in U.S. mortgage performance, according to the new monthly report from Fitch Ratings released today

Is a Reverse Mortgage Right for You?

  Reverse mortgages, the kind of loans marketed by aging celebrities to seniors interested in converting the equity in their homes into cash, aren’t the safe haven they are portrayed by marketers,

How to Protect Yourself Against Mortgage Fraud

During this time of financial crisis, an epidemic of mortgage rescue schemes is sweeping the country.  They prey upon families who are facing foreclosure in exploding numbers. Fraudulent mortgage rescue scams raise false hopes and cruelly exploit people who can ill afford it.

How to Obtain the Right Mortgage

Going into debt for fifteen or thirty years can be a scary process-which is exactly why you should make every effort to learn about mortgages, put your finance in shape so that you qualify for the best possible terms, determine what you can afford and then shop hard for the right mortgage for you.

Home Price Discounts Shrink as Inventories Fall

Falling inventories are helping home sellers gain a negotiating edge over buyers for the first time in many months.

Apartment Renters Save Money With Roommates

To save money, more and more renters are teaming up with a roommate or two in a larger unit rather than living alone in a studio or one bedroom apartment, but they are driving up vacancy rates.

Dodd to Push for Six Month Homebuyer Credit

The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee said yesterday he plans to attach an amendment that would extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer's tax credit  six months.

Hill Panel Says Foreclosure Program is Too Little, Too Late

A congressional oversight committee yesterday questioned whether the limited scope and scale of the Administration's Making Home Affordable program (HAMP) will be capable of stemming the ever-increasing flood of foreclosures.

Both Mortgage Modifications and Criticisms Increase

Nearly one month ahead of its self-set schedule, the government has reached the 500,000 mark for trial loan modifications under the Making Home Affordable program.

Higher Prices, Fewer Sales Forecast in California Next Year

California's real-estate market will rebound in 2010, with modest price increases and steady sales activity, according to a forecast by the California Association of Realtors released yesterday.

Apartment Rental Vacancies Go Through the Roof

After setting a 20-year record last summer, the national apartment vacancy rate has risen even higher in the third quarter and there is no relief in sight for landlords through the balance of the year.

National 30-year Fixed Mortgage Rate Falls Below 5 Percent

Yesterday rates for 30-year fixed purchase mortgages decreased 4.94 percent after falling last week to 4.96 percent, down from 5.02 percent the week.

Customer Satisfaction with Homeowners Insurance Rises

For the first time in five years, overall consumer satisfaction with homeowners insurance has increased significantly, driven by favorable customer perceptions of the value of their policies.

Nevada Suit Could Halt Thousands of Foreclosures

A Reno law firm is preparing a class action lawsuit on behalf of Nevada homeowners who face foreclosure by a surrogate company that represents thousands of mortgage owners but doesn't actually own the loans themselves.

Mortgage Rates Near All-Time Lows

In the week ending October 1, 2009, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate averaged 4.94 percent fell below 5 percent for the first time since May, nearing its all-time low of 4.78 percent reached last April.

“Marinstock” to Help Families Facing Foreclosure

A day of music, children's entertainment, food and a healing sanctuary begin at 10 AM tomorrow in Novato, California's Hamilton Amphitheater to raise money to help nearly 80 families from Marin and Sonoma counties who are facing losing their homes to foreclosure

Massachusetts AG Busts Scheme to Prey on Homeowners in Trouble

A Worcester, Mass. grand jury indicted an Oxford, Mass. attorney and three accomplices late last week for a complicated scheme to defraud desperate homeowners facing foreclosure..

Pot Planters Plead Guilty of Massive Mortgage Fraud

Four South Florida brothers pleaded guilty in Miami yesterday to obtaining 18 mortgages fraudulently in five different Florida counties to buy houses for a massive marijuana farming operation.

One-third of African-Americans Turned Down for Mortgages

Homebuyers of every racial minority from African-Americans to Pacific Islanders were more likely to be denied a mortgage last year than white Americans, according to data from lenders released yesterday by the Federal Reserve.

Move-Up Home Buyers are Stuck in Neutral

More renters became homeowners last month but fewer existing homeowners moved up to more desirable homes or neighborhoods even though they acknowledge current home prices are a good value, according to an industry-sponsored survey. Most potential move-up buyers believe homes are more affordable today than in recent months and 69 percent believe the economy is improving.  [...]

One in Ten Homeowners with a Mortgage is Delinquent

One out of ten American homeowners with a mortgage were seriously delinquent in the second quarter and more than half the homeowners whose mortgages have been modified to reduce monthly payments are re-defaulting within a year, according to a new study released today by two Federal financial regulatory agencies.

Fannie Mae’s Delinquent Loans Soar

Nearly one out of twenty mortgages guaranteed by Fannie Mae was seriously delinquent in July, according to the latest data released today from the Congressionally-chartered company.

Home Builders are Strapped for Credit

Nearly two-thirds of the nation's single-family home builders are putting single-family construction projects on hold due to a severe lack of acquisition, development and construction financing, according to a new builder survey conducted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Brookings Economist Blasts First-Time Homebuyers Credit

In an article and video published on the home page of the Brookings Institution, the co-director of the prestigious think tank's economic studies program says extending or expanding the first-time homebuyer tax credit will cost far more than the $15 billion of the current credit, likely in excess of an additional $30 billion.

Price Cutting Eases Condo Glut

 The glut of unsold and foreclosed condos that paralyzed resort and urban markets two years ago has significantly eased in wake of price-cutting and discounting in a number of markets, signaling that the end of the bargain era is in sight and stable markets are on their way.

New Home Orders Increase 62 Percent at KB Home

KB Home (NYSE:KBH), the nation's fifth largest home builder, said orders increased 62 percent and 27 percent fewer consumers cancelled contracts during the third quarter, compared with 51 percent a year ago.

Freddie Mac’s Delinquent Loans Rise for 28th Month

Freddie Mac's mortgage delinquency rate for its single family mortgages rose for the 28th straight month in August, reaching a record 3.13 percent of its portfolio 1.11 percent in August 2008.

ASPCA Says Abandoned Animals are Starving in Foreclosed Homes

Owners may abandon as many as a million or more animals in foreclosed homes this year and many could possibly starve to death before they are discovered, a senior official of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said today.

Extending the Tax Credit Would Motivate 18 Percent of First-Time Buyers

If Congress extends the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers another year, about 18 percent of prospective first-time buyers, or 334,000 buyers, say taking advantage of the credit would be the primary reason they would buy a home next year, according to a new study released today by Zillow.com. About 25 percent of first-time buyers [...]

State Foreclosure Programs Stuck in Neutral

State and local programs to help troubled homeowners stave off foreclosure through mediation have yet to make much difference to date, according to a new report from the National Consumer Law Center.

California Markets Dominate Luxury Housing List

There's a $2 million chasm between America's most expensive housing market, La Jolla, California, where the average home costs $2,125,000, and Grayling, Michigan, where houses go for $112,675, according to Coldwell Bankers' annual home price comparison index.

Geithner Says Financial Reform Will Reduce Costs and Risks

Testifying this morning before the House Financial Services Committee, Treasury Secretary Geithner said the financial regulatory reform proposed by the Administration will include a new consumer financial protection agency that will protect consumers from unexpected risks and reduce the cost of compliance for lenders.

Ex-NYC Police Commissioner Charged with Mortgage Fraud

Bernie Kerik, the former New York City Police Commissioner, was indicted today by a federal grand jury on conspiracy, tax fraud, and false statements on a mortgage application in connection with purchase of his Riverdale, New York apartment.

FHA is Now Running on Empty Says Noted Housing Economist

The Federal Housing Administration took the right steps last week to bring the agency's lending standards in line with private industry practices, but with the loss of its excess reserves, FHA is now essentially running on empty and the jury is out on whether the agency has adequate capital reserves to weather projected losses from defaults and foreclosures, said a noted housing economist who first raised concerns about FHA's financial condition in an article in Real Estate Economy Watch last June (Can FHA Dodge the Bullet?).

Moody’s Economist Sees Ten-Year Housing Recovery

It will take more than a decade for housing markets to regain the ground that has been lost since 2006 predicted a top economic researcher with Moody's Economy.com yesterday, the second leading housing economist to issue a gloomy recovery forecast in the past week.

Loss of State Consumer Powers Contributed to Mortgage Crisis

The assumption of states' powers to enforce consumer protection laws by the Federal government over the past 13 years is a significant cause of irresponsible lending and the housing crisis, according to a new white paper issued by the National Consumer Law Center.

Restitutions Ordered for Michigan Foreclosure Fraud Victims

Michigan homeowners who paid fees to three companies to help modify their mortgages-SaveMyHome USA, Payment Doctors, the Michigan Economic Reinstatement Program-or any other mortgage modification company for services that were not provided can contact the Michigan Attorney General's Consumer Protection for restitution.

Lennar Increases Home Starts

One of the nation's largest homebuilders reported increased losses during the third quarter but also issued a forecast on the housing market that was so rosy it moved stocks higher during pre-market futures trading this morning.

FHA Scrambles to Control Loan Losses

The Federal Housing Administration today tightened credit restrictions to reduce the agency's exposure to risk and announced it was hiring a chief risk officer after the Washington Post reported the agency is rapidly running out of money due to loan losses and its cash reserves are in jeopardy of falling below falling below the minimum level set by Congress.

Opposition Grows to First-Time Homebuyer Credit

Time is quickly running out on the first-time homebuyer tax credit, due to expire December 1 and despite an all-out lobbying campaign, the housing industry faces a battle to extend and expand it.

States and Feds Go to War Against Mortgage Fraud

Top Federal regulatory and law enforcement officials joined with attorneys general from 12 states in Washington today to go to war against financial predators who are practicing mortgage fraud against consumers, including financial rescue scams and loan modification fraud.

Home Prices Will Fall Five More Years

Home prices will continue to fall over the next five years, though the greatest declines have already occurred this year and property value reductions will gradually decrease until 2014, according to a national price forecast released Tuesday at a conference on Challenges in Residential and Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities hosted by Fitch Ratings.

Government Actions Saved Refinancing Homeowners $2.3 Billion

Homeowners who refinanced during the first six months saved $2.3 billion this year due to recent government actions to reduce mortgage rates, according to a new study by Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American CoreLogic.  The study found the median individual monthly savings was $120, a 10.5 percent reduction from the median borrower's previous mortgage payment, and the total benefit to homeowners who refinanced in 2009 will grow to $11.5 billion over the next five years.

Obama Program Slows California Foreclosures

For the first time since it was launched six months ago, the Administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) is having a measurable impact on the rate of foreclosure filings in California, according to the latest report from ForeclosureRadar, a web site that tracks foreclosures California and four other Western states.

Wells Fires Executive for Partying in Malibu Foreclosure

Wells Fargo yesterday fired a senior vice president in charge of managing foreclosed commercial properties for holding parties in a foreclosed home  in an exclusive Malibu community whose previous owners were financially devastated in Bernard Madoff's massive fraud scheme.

Lavish Living Catches Up to Mortgage Fraudster

Last fall David Findel of Colt's Neck, New Jersey made headlines when he spent $400,000 for two season tickets on the 50 yard line in the new Meadowlands home of the New York Jets, scheduled to open next season year.   But he may never get to sit in them.

LA Lenders Charged with Refi Fraud

Since 2007, Los Angeles area homeowners got more debt and less cash than they bargained for when they refinanced through a local brokerage, ALG Inc., three of whose loan officers were arraigned today on a complaint listing 44 criminal charges.

Did Household Debt Trigger Worldwide Recession?

The national economic crisis was triggered by the red ink of millions of American homeowners who refinanced their homes, not the trading pits of Wall Street or the boiler rooms of fraudulent lenders, according to a new study released nearly one year after the stock market plummeted worldwide recession began.

GAO Defines the Future for Freddie and Fannie

After excoriating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for a history of undermining market discipline, missing goals to help underprivileged groups and failing to support housing finance markets during times of financial need, the Government Accountability Office yesterday urged Congress to consider only three options for the future structure of the two government-sponsored housing enterprises.

Foreclosures Will Overwhelm Government Efforts

Even if the disappointingly slow Federal foreclosure program achieves the goals for which it was designed, the foreclosure crisis could be as bad in three years as it is today.  A flood of new foreclosures generated by the double whammy of unemployment and resetting exotic loans will overwhelm the government efforts and impede recovery.

Waves of Resets Promise a New Foreclosure Flood

Two reports out yesterday revived fears that waves of new foreclosures will come crashing down on residential real estate markets as borrowers default on exotic adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) that will reset over the next three years.

3.7 Million Unemployed Miss Payments

About one quarter of the nation's 14.9 million unemployed workers have missed a mortgage, rent, or credit card payment according to a comprehensive national survey of 1,200 Americans nationwide who have been unemployed and looking for a job in the past 12 months, including 894 who are still jobless.

The Mortgage Interest Deduction is in Play

First, there were hints during the campaign.  Senator Obama's stump speech called for a more equitable tax system, which begins with a tax cut for most Americans-those making $75,000 to $100,000.  Then it's paid for by possible increases for those making $200,000 to $250,000 or more.  And the tax increases would include "closing loopholes."

Foreclosed Homes Spawn Violent Crime Wave

Record numbers of foreclosed homes, often empty and abandoned for months before they are resold, have become spawning grounds for violent crime-including assault, rape and even murder.

Reverse Mortgage Fraud Targets Elderly

Reverse mortgages, the kind of loans sold by aging celebrities to seniors interested in converting the equity in their homes into cash, aren't the safe haven they are portrayed by marketers, according to a General Accounting Office report released in July.

Will Greed Kill the First-Time Homebuyers’ Credit?

 With less than three months left before it joins Cash for Clunkers in the ash bin of stimulus programs, will Congress act quickly enough to extend the first-time homebuyer tax credit another year?

Foreclosures Dim Minorities’ Dreams

The make-up of American homeownership is becoming increasingly white as foreclosures turn the dream of owning a home into a nightmare for thousands of minority families, pushing the minority homeownership rate to its lowest level in decades.

Underwater Owners are Failing to Cure

"Cure rates," the percentage of borrowers who recover on their own after falling delinquent on their mortgages, may not be as great as previously assumed, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings.

Stocks Tank on First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit

Even though the first-time home buyer tax credit doesn't expire for three months, analysts' assessment of the pending demise of the  credit sent helped end the stock market's four day rally today, driving down housing and financial stocks.

Delinquencies Soar Nine Percent in Second Quarter

Just when you think the foreclosure picture can't get any worse, it does. MBA's quarterly delinquency survey set another distressing record today.

Loan Demand is Strong as Fewer Banks Tighten Credit

Domestic banks reported increased demand from prime borrowers for residential mortgages for the second quarter in a row, though demand was 45 percent lower than in April, and fewer banks are tightening lending standards, according to the Federal Reserve's July 2009 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices.

Sales Surge as the Homebuyer Tax Credit Ticks Down

With fewer than three and a half months left to close on a home before the $8000 first-time homebuyer tax credit expires, field reports suggest that a surge in sales is already underway and will drive sales up over the next two months.

Foreclosures Set a New Record–Again

Foreclosure filings for July rose 32 percent over a year ago and seven percent over June, according to RealtyTrac.  One in every 355 US homes received a default notice, was scheduled for auction or was repossessed by a bank last month

Buying is Becoming as Cheap as Renting

Home prices have dropped so much in the past two years that if they continue to fall as expected, monthly ownership costs will be less than monthly rents in a number of major markets, according to a new study from the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Low Income Housing Coalition.

Home Values Keeping Sinking in Q2

There's little to smile about in Zillow's latest report on home values:  US home values fell 12.1 percent year-over-year, marking the 10th consecutive quarter of declines; Total home sales fell 23.7 percent in June versus a year earlier; and more than one-fifth (23 percent) of all owners of single family homes with mortgages owe more on a mortgage than their home is currently worth.

Wall Street Wonders About Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Suddenly Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are behaving like Wall Street Wonders instead of government-run utilities with massive debt and virtually no prospect of ever again operating like private entities.

Sizing up The Deutsche Bank Study

Two analysts at Deutsche Bank issued a residential market forecast last week that shook the housing industry and cooled the sound bites about "signs of stabilization."

Report from Connect: Prepared for the Real Estate Recovery?

Like a bride preparing for her wedding, the residential real estate industry is slimming down, primping up, and generally working hard to reinvent itself in anticipation of the day when long-absent consumers will return to the marketplace.

Lenders Flunk First Foreclosure Program Report Card

"Uneven" is a popular word in Washington.  It means things aren't good, but it doesn't let on just how bad they might be.  Best of all, it conveys none of the emotion that normal people use in their daily speech.   "The data show that servicer performance has been uneven," said the Treasury news release accompanying the first monthly report card on the Making Home Affordable loan modification program, which was released today.

Match-up of the Fixes: Cash for Clunkers vs. Homebuyers’ Tax Credit

It's hard to turn on a newscast these days without hearing about the Cash for Clunkers program and what it has done for the auto industry.   It's also hard to resist the urge to make comparisons between Washington's two great fixes to stimulate the economy: C4C and the first-time homebuyers' tax credit.  If you're thinking that the real estate industry needs a Cash for Clunkers program, you might match up of the two fixes to see if it makes sense.   New Housing Forecasts available now at: http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/category/housing-forecasts/forecasts/

Minorities and Foreclosures

Increasing minority homeownership has been a national policy of both Republican and Democratic Administrations for decades, and for good reason.  Traditionally, homeownership has been the path most families have taken to establish financial security.  Moreover, homeownership has long been associated with such positive factors as safer neighborhoods and better neighborhood schools.

How to Find Your Next Home Online

If you're like nine out of ten home buyers today, you are using the Internet to look for a home.  Why not?  The Internet has transformed the way people buy and sell houses.  Real estate search sites make it easy for buyers to check out hundreds of properties in a matter of minutes and for sellers to reach thousands of buyers that they could never reach before.

How to Understand Your Housing Market

 “All real estate is local” is an industry dictum that’s not only obvious, it’s very true.  When you hear on the news that home sales or prices are up or down, chances are that those are national reports that may have little or nothing to do with conditions where you live.

On the Foreclosure Front, It’s Woodshedding Time

Back when people had woodsheds, "woodshedding" meant one of two things.  People "went to the woodshed" to practice  in private such public skills as singing, playing musical instruments and acting.  Woodsheds also were the places fathers took their naughty children and got out the belt or hairbrush, a practice highly discouraged today.

How to Find Your Next Home Online

 If you're like nine out of ten home buyers today, you are using the Internet to look for a home.  Why not?  The Internet has transformed the way people buy and sell houses.  Real estate search sites make it easy for buyers to check out hundreds of properties in a matter of minutes and for sellers to reach thousands of buyers that they could never reach before. 

This Schizophrenic Market is a Long Way from Healing

Like black markets that spring up in ravaged cities during wartime, there's something inherently unhealthy about the existence of a two-tiered housing market, one for "normal" sales and one for "distressed" sales.