RealEstateEconomyWatch.com

Banks Seen Holding REOs for Higher Prices

Real estate agents report banks are keeping foreclosures off the market in hopes of higher prices, a practice that is temporarily reducing the percentage of distress sales but lengthening the foreclosure timeline.

Luxury Prices Lag Lower Price Tiers

For nearly two months, through the heart of the spring buying season, the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing's Market Action Index has stayed stuck at 29, one point below the official level designating a seller's market.

Hedge Funds Drive up Atlanta Prices

A new analysis of institutional investor purchases in Atlanta over the past year found that hedge funds are driving up prices and depleting inventories, yet they are still able to buy properties for less than the market rate.

Lending Standards Loosen Up a Little

FICO scores for approved mortgage applications in April decreased slightly for the fifth consecutive month as lenders turned their attention to financing buyers during the spring buying season.

Tips for Finding Affordable Housing in Boston

No matter what neighborhood you reside in, Boston is an expensive city. With so many awesome things to offer, it makes sense that this city is one of the most expensive in the country to live in. Median rent in Boston in 2012 was $1,881 according to a Boston.com article. Finding affordable housing in Boston can be tough, but it's far from impossible.

Banks Cool to FICOs Below 620

Borrowers with FICO scores of 620 or lower will get a chilly reception from a growing number of banks unless they are willing to make substantial down payments.

Middle Aged Homeownership Plummets

Homeownership fell across all age groups in the first quarter of the year, but declines were greatest not among younger Americans under 35 who have been having problems getting financing and finding homes to buy but among middle aged households over 45, which traditionally register the highest homeownership rates but suddenly registered significant decreases.

Coasts Clean up on Mortgage Deduction

Taxpayers in states along the East and West Coasts are grabbing the lion's share of tax savings from the mortgage interest deduction, the third largest tax expenditure that saved taxpayers filers deducted about $72 billion in 2011.

Pet Wars: Apartments Strike Back

Apartment owners and managers are fighting tooth and claw to dispel the myth that multifamily living is unfriendly to pets, a longstanding motivation that has driven pet-lovers to become homeowners.

Homeownership Makes Most Americans Poorer

From 2009 to 2011, the mean net worth of the top 7 percent of American households rose by 28 percent, while the mean net worth of households in the lower 93 percent dropped by 4 percent, largely because wealthy Americans have the bulk of their holdings in stocks and bonds while most Americans rely heavily on home equity for their personal wealth.

Investors No Longer in the Driver’s Seat

After accounting one out of four home sales in the depths of the housing recession and fueled turn-arounds in dozens of markets where waves of foreclosures and battered home values scared off other buyers, real estate investors today are playing a greatly diminished role in the housing recovery.

Institutional Investors Gobble up Presale Foreclosures

In another sign of institutional investors' appetites for foreclosures, inventories of presale foreclosures have declined nearly twenty percent since last year as lenders have made volumes of foreclosures available via REO tapes to well-funded hedge funds eager to buy in bulk.

Renters Fade as Recovery Takes Hold

With home sales reaching multi-year highs and prices outpacing expectations in the first quarter, the housing recovery is restoring public confidence in homeownership and raising questions about the future demand for expansion of single and multi-family rental capacity.

Mortgages are Coming Home

Since late last year, industry experts forecast a drop in mortgage refinancings as rates rise and a revival of purchase mortgages as the housing recovery creates business for lenders willing to working with home buyers. The spring housing market is here and now the mortgage market is following.

Major Metros are Now Sellers’ Markets

Most sellers are getting as much or more than they are asking for their homes in eight out of 24 major metros tracked by a new market report released yesterday, a sign that the metros have crossed over from buyers' to sellers' markets.

How to Find Secret Homes for Sale

The number of homes listed for sale today is lower than it's been in a decade. Home buyers are scouring Web sites for property listings and when they find a home they like, they often find themselves in an expensive, stressful bidding war. What they don't know is that they're not seeing as many as 15 to 20 percent of the homes for sale in their markets.

Realtor.com: Broad-based Recovery Underway

While the median national list price rose by only a modest amount in March, all indicators suggest that a broad-based housing recovery is beginning to take hold across the nation as a whole. List prices are appreciating at a year-over-year basis in more than 100 of the 146 markets tracked by Realtor.com and nearly all are within reach of achieving positive year-over-year price growth by the end of the year. A successful spring market could move the entire nation into the black.

Twenty Percent of Bankers Expect Lending Standards to Loosen

Expectations among bank risk professionals for the relaxation of lending standards increased sharply in the first quarter, rising from 12.1 to 19.9 percent, according to the quarterly FICO/PRMIA) survey.

CB Previews International Draws the Line on Pocket Listings

As inventories shrink and buyers frantically search for homes to buy off-market, "pocket listings" are becoming more prevalent, especially in luxury markets where the appeal of keeping the entire commission can be hard to resist for listing brokers.

Americans Exit the Housing Crisis with New Appreciation for Renting

Six years of crisis have changed forever the way Americans think about housing. It's good news for rental housing and not so good news for the home ownership industry, according to a massive new study conducted by Hart Research for the MacArthur Foundation.

Nothing to Fear from Zombie Houses

Are zombie houses where the monsters live in the latest Resident Evil sequel? Or are they fraternities decked out for Halloween? Neither.

Inventories are Turning the Corner in Runaway California Markets

The hottest housing prices in the nation at last are encourage more sellers to list their homes, promising more sales and cooler price hikes in the weeks come.

Short Sales Are Growing Longer

Perhaps the greatest advantage of a short sale to beleaguered homeowner facing default and foreclosure is the opportunity to move on with life and put the bad debt behind them as quickly as possible. That advantage is shrinking as short sales take longer to sell than foreclosures.

Lower Rates Benefit Richer Homeowners Most

The Federal Reserve's policy of buying mortgage-backed securities to keep mortgage rates low may be bolstering upper tier home values rather than helping to make homeownership more affordable for entry-level buyers.

Mortgage Approval Rates Rise 18.6 Percent, No Sign of Lower Standards

Mortgage approval rates have risen nearly 20 percent over the past 12 months yet there is virtually no evidence that lenders are relaxing underwriting standards, according to the February originations report from Ellie Mae.

Florida Shifts into Reverse

While the rest of the nation's housing markets experience various levels of recovery, most markets in Florida seem to be relapsing to the heyday of the Foreclosure Era after a brief period of improvement.

Hedge Funds are Fueling Foreclosure Inflation

Though hedge fund purchases on a national level have had minimal impact, in the nation's hottest foreclosure markets hedge funds, or institutional investors, are contributing to double digit foreclosure price increases and dramatic declines in REO inventories.

Early Bird Buyers Try to Beat Tight Inventories

Realtor.com listing data for February suggest buyers are getting an early start to the 2013 home buying season despite the bad weather in many parts of the country and inventories that are still at record lows. Sellers are finally responding to the positive market by replenishing depleted inventories.

Psychoanalyzing Sellers

How real estate has changed in just a few months! For six years, real estate professionals have struggled to get buyers back into the market with advertising campaigns, incentives, and the willingness to suffer social abuse for proclaiming the housing depression to be a great time to buy a home.

Are Hedge Funds Blowing Bubbles?

Last month the New Republic published a provocative article on hedge funds and real estate investing (Your New Landlord Works on Wall Street) by former TV producer David Dayen. He said out loud what many people have been whispering.

The Cost of Recovery: FSBOs are BAAAACK

In the hottest markets around the nation, "for sale by owner" signs are popping up in yards as penurious owners try their hands at selling their own homes. It's another sign of recovery that's raising echoes of the real estate boom seven years ago.

State Laws will Extend Foreclosure Pain by 30 Months or More

The 23 states that require court orders to foreclose and other states that have enacted legislation that delays foreclosure processing will take twice as long as the rest of the nation to clear backlogged foreclosure inventories at their current rate.

Falling Inventories are Hitting the Brakes

At long last, there are signs that the unprecedented year-long decline in for-sale inventories are slowing, though continuing to fall, just in time for the spring home buying season. But inventories may continue to decline through 2013.

Foreclosure Discounts are All Over the Map

The low prices that make foreclosures attractive to investors also make foreclosures toxic to communities and homeowners. The discount between "normal" priced homes and the prices paid for properties than have been through the foreclosure process can spell the difference between profit and loss to an investor at the same time that they drive real estate values into the ground.

Damaged Foreclosures Beckon Bargain-hunters

While prices of normal foreclosures and short sales have been rising, damaged distressed properties are actually becoming less expensive, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey.

Hottest Market Sales Going for a Premium Over List Price

How long has it been since you heard the words "sold at a premium over asking price?" For the past six years, sales prices ended up somewhere south od list prices by at least five percent. Now, in the markets where the recovery is hottest, sellers are increasingly experiencing multiple bid scenarios and buyers are pre-empting the competition with offers over list price that stir up memories of the boom years.

First-time Buyers to Pay for FHA’s Financial Crisis

Facing a financial crisis, FHA is asking first-time buyers to pay for the sins of borrowers who came before them. Increases in FHA mortgage insurance premiums and new, tougher underwriting standards that take effect April 1 will cost new borrowers significantly more than refinancing borrowers who have had an FHA loan four years or longer.

Luxury Sales Approach Sellers’ Market

Top tier properties are getting close to ending their multi-year buyers' market and quickly reaching a more equal balance between buyers and sellers, catching up with less expensive homes.

Lending Standards, Rising Rents Box in Single Buyers

Once the hottest trend in real estate, single homebuyers find themselves trapped between soaring rents and stiff underwriting standards that make it tough for a single income-earner to qualify for mortgages that buy homes that will cost more tomorrow than they do today.

How Alternative Lenders are Repairing the Cracks of 2008

Prior to the housing market crash of 2008, small businesses thrived and profits were easier to come by. However, when the bubble burst not only did homeowners find themselves in a bind, small businesses began to suffer. Ironically, when small businesses relied on a stable economy that rested on the housing market, the world of real estate now relies on small businesses to be prosperous in order to resurrect the glory years from the past. Nowadays, business owners have to take out loans to stay afloat but the big banks are closing their doors. The curtains have not dropped entirely. A business line of credit can be easily obtained though an alternative lender to save small businesses thus stimulating the economy.

Foreclosures Re-infect Florida Markets

It's deja vu all over again in Florida. In a virtual re-run of Florida's housing economy, its foreclosure starts lead the nation, prices are falling and inventories are too big, especially on the coasts.

Less than Half of Today’s Mortgages Will Qualify Under New Mortgage Rules

Two new Treasury Department mortgage regulations designed to reduce lender risk will make it impossible for 60 percent of the mortgages being approved today to be approved in seven years. The impact will be greater for mortgages used to buy homes rather than refinance and in the states where prices have been most volatile.

Obama Considering HARP for Non-Agency Borrowers

President Obama is considering announcing a major expansion of the HARP 2.1 refinancing program in his upcoming State of the Union speech that would make it possible for underwater borrowers whose loans are not held by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to refinance at today's low rates.

As Inventories Shrink, So Do Seller Concessions

With inventories down and prices up, sellers are ending the costly incentives they have been forced to offer buyers during the six-year long buyers' market. Concession-free transactions make deal-making simply on both sides of the table.

Appraisers Warn: Bad Neighbors Can be Very Costly

Bad neighbors with annoying pets, unkempt yards, unpleasant odors, loud music, dangerous trees and limbs, or poorly maintained exteriors can cost homeowners big time.

Affordability Hangs Tough Despite Rising Prices

Despite the greatest price increases in years, affordability has hardly budged from six year peaks and in many of the nation's most expensive markets, it's still rising.

Foreclosure Hot Spots are Far from Healed

Data reports showing prices zooming in Florida and California markets that once led the foreclosure hit parade mask the reality that prices fell so far in some of those metros they still have a long way to go to reach their peaks in 2007-if they ever do so.

How the Crash Battered America’s Housing Stock

Spending on home improvements and repairs totaled $275 billion in 2011, down 4 percent from 2009 levels and some 16 percent below the market peak in 2007. Loss of home equity with the onset of the housing crash contributed to the decline in home repairs, according to a new study by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Will Home Warranties Weather the Recovery?

Foreclosures and lengthy days on market bolstered sales of home warranties at the outset of the housing crash four years ago, but now that foreclosures are down and tight inventories are shrinking days on market, are warranties in for tough times?

“Sand States” are Still the Wettest

Some 10.7 million homeowners, or 22 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage, were in negative equity at the end of the third quarter of 2012, down by 100,000 from the second quarter. But the "sand states", the states that dominated foreclosures for years, still account for a lion's share of underwater borrowers.

For-sale Inventory Only Half of 2006 Level

Only half of many homes in America are listed for sale compared to the height of the housing boom in 2006 while median list prices are about the same as they were a year ago.

Luxury Sellers Hang Tough on Prices

Even though the time it takes to sell a luxury property has increased to as long as 260 days in Chicago, 287 in Miami and 197 nationally, fewer sellers are cutting prices.

CoreLogic: Prices Rose 7.9 Percent in 2012

December 2012 home prices are expected to rise by 7.9 percent on a year-over-year basis from December 2011 and fall by 0.5 percent on a month-over-month basis from November 2012 reflecting a seasonal winter slowdown, CoreLogic said today.

Hedge Funds Shrink Foreclosure Discounts

Demand for foreclosures is so great and supplies are so low in some of the nation's hottest foreclosure markets popular with investors that the price differences between REOs and full-price homes have virtually disappeared.

Built-for-Rent now Five Percent of New Home Construction

One of the hottest specialty markets in home construction is benefitting from the boom in single family rentals that began as a way for entrepreneurs to provide from the flood of foreclosures that has reached 4 million properties since 2007.

Prices will Moderate in 2013

Home prices in 2012 finished the year strong, boosted off the market lows of early 2012. Hot markets in the year to come will reflect improving local economies and low price points.

Fitch Ratings Calls for Housing Price Correction

Home prices are overvalued and price growth is not being driven by fundamentals but by technical factors that could easily change, advised Fitch Ratings Friday. The ratings service believes national prices are 10 percent overvalued, but will likely drop by no more than 2 percent due to inflation.

Mortgage Rates Seen Staying Below Four Percent

Though a number of critical questions face the US economy, from the unfinished business in Washington like the debt limit and spending cuts to lackluster growth, the outlook for mortgage rates is relatively predictable and not very exciting.

Americans are Moving More Often

Rising home values, affordable prices, pent up demand and fewer households underwater on there are motivating more American families to move more often. The average home buyer is expected to stay in a home only 13 years, down from a peak of 20 years in 2009.

Fannie and Freddie have a Florida Problem

Despite falling delinquency rates among lenders as a whole, delinquencies increased for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac borrowers, especially in Florida. Coincidentally, CoreLogic announced today Florida leads the nation in the size of its foreclosure inventory.

Pricey Pocket Listings Put a Dent in MLS Dominance

Pocket listings-homes sold outside multiple listing systems-have become extraordinarily popular over the past year, creating a secondary residential market place that raises questions about the value and role of the Realtor-run MLS system that has dominated residential real estate for more than a century.

Housing Economists: Limiting the MID to Mortgages Under $500,000 Won’t Hurt Most Prices

As the President and Congress attempt to avoid the "fiscal cliff" scheduled to take effect a week from today, most leading housing economists and housing experts believe housing prices won't suffer if the mortgage interest deduction were limited to mortgages of $500,000 or less and eliminated for interest paid on second mortgages for second homes, a possibility in the final negotiations to avoid the fiscal cliff.

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List Prices Flatten Despite Sinking Inventory

Inventories continued to fall to record lows in November and the age of the nation's listings inventory declined, but asking prices failed to rise as housing markets prepared for their annual wintertime hibernation.

November Sales of Foreclosures and Short Sales Plunge to Lowest Level in Three Years

Distressed homes, foreclosures and short sales, which are sold at a discount and depress home values, have fallen to the lowest levels since 2009 and are still dropping, according to the latest November market reports. Fewer discounted distressed sales contribute to forecasts of improving prices in the new year.

Asians Lead Ultra Luxury Foreign Invasion

Nearly twice as many homes priced over $10 million were sold to Asians as Western Europeans in the US last year, while buyers from the Americas dominate a far greater share of the international sales for all price tiers than either Asians or Western Europeans.

Reduced Immigration and Births Slash Population Forecast

Fifty years from now the US will have 20 million fewer residents than previously forecast, according to the Census Bureau's new national population projections released last week, which will translate in reduced demand for housing than expected.

Home Sellers Awake

A year of record low inventories of homes for sale and improving prices may finally be catching the attention of millions of prospective home sellers. Is a seller's market in the offing?

Southeastern and Northeastern Metros Rank Lowest on Home Value Forecast List

While California and Texas markets dominate the top tier of the latest Home Value Forecast ranking, the bottom of the list includes metros that could miss the housing recovery in the months to come.

Homeowners’ Equity Reaches Highest Level in Four Years

In the third quarter, homeowners' equity rose nearly 18 percent over the level of a year ago to reach the highest level recorded since the second quarter of 2008.

Luxury Prices Fall Despite Tight Inventories

Though inventory shortages began at the lower price tiers, tight inventories have worked their way up to the luxury levels in the past two quarters. Expensive homes are selling faster than they were a year ago but third quarter prices are down in many markets compared to a year ago

The Foreclosure Iceberg is Slowly Melting

Iinventories of foreclosures accumulated during the processing slowdown in the wake of the Robogate scandal are slowing shrinking, absorbed by demand so healthy that distress sales are actually rising faster on a national basis than full-priced homes.

Families Rediscover Multigenerational Living

Seventy-five years ago, when America was emerging from the Depression and homeownership was less affordable, one out of four Americans lived in homes with grandparents and adult siblings. Today's housing depression has again forced generations to move in together, but as the housing recovery takes hold, many plan to stay together and revive the multigenerational lifestyle of the past.

Case-Shiller Makes it Official: “We are Now in the Midst of a Recovery”

Two of the nation's most authoritative national housing price indices today reported significant third quarter price increases over last year at this time, and the chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices confirmed that a housing recover is underway.

First-time Buyers Continue to Fade

The first-time homebuyer share of home purchases fell to 34.7 percent in October, down from the 37.1 percent share in June and the lowest first-time homebuyer share ever recorded in the three-year history of the HousingPulse survey.

After Nearly Three Years, Negative Equity Refuses to Budge

As the nation's real estate economy has evolved and slowly improved over the past two and a half years, the geography of almost every leading metric measuring the health of local housing markets has changed to reflect local economic trends and conditions except the one that many economists and policy makers consider to be critical to the national economic recovery.

When Loan Limits Fell, Jumbos Started Jumping

October 1, 2011 was a dark day in the nation's most expensive housing markets. That's the day higher loan limits expired and the sky was expected to fall.

FHA Audit Leads to Higher Fees

The results of FHA's annual audit sent a shock wave through the nation's housing community Friday afternoon as even agency officials could not confirm that the higher borrowing costs it will charge borrowers will enough to cover losses.

The Graying of Homeownership: Tight Credit is Tough on Younger, Single Buyers

High lending standards that make it virtually impossible for millions of younger, single home buyers to get a mortgage are creating an older, more married and wealthier population of homeowners.

Down Payments Fall to Three Year Low

The median downpayment made by all homebuyers in 2012 was 9 percent, ranging from 4 percent for first-time buyers to 13 percent for repeat buyers. The median down payment was the lowest since 2009 but still far above the levels during the housing boom, when nearly half of first-time buyers made no downpayment at all.

Freddie Mac: Homeownership to Fall Further

Just as the national homeownership rate showed signs of stabilizing over the past six months (See Has the Homeownership Rate Bottomed Out?), Fannie Mae's Multifamily Research Group predicted today that the rate would fall another one to two points by 2015 despite the fact that the company, along with Freddie Mac, owns the mortgages for about half the single family homes in the nation.

Has the Homeownership Rate Bottomed Out?

After falling to a 15-year low in the first quarter of the year, then rising by one tenth of a percent in the second quarter, the nation's homeownership rate didn't change at all in the third, suggesting that the rate's seven year slide may be ending as home sales pick up and the recovery sets in.

Foreclosure Inventory is Stuck in Neutral

Completed foreclosures plunged 68 percent in September from a year ago yet the national foreclosure inventory hardly budged in 12 months, according to the latest CoreLogic report.

Distressed Sales Reach Record Low

A continuing slide in the volume of distressed properties seen in the housing market is helping to boost home prices in many parts of the country. Meanwhile, uncertainty about the impact of next month's national elections appears to be causing some would-be homebuyers to delay taking any action until after November, according to the October HousingPulse survey of real estate agents.

September New Home Sales Take Off

New homes, the hottest sector of the real estate market, got even hotter in September as sales hit the fastest pace in two and a half years.

Unlisted Foreclosures Now Available on Zillow

The continuing decline in listing inventories that is choking home sales this fall inspired one of the Internet's leading real estate Web sites to take a fresh approach.

Credit Unions Move in on Mortgages

While full service banks and other traditional mortgage lenders have watched their mortgage businesses decline in recent years, credit unions have doubled their market share since 2009 and originated 8 percent of all mortgages in the second half of 2012.

Lost Home Equity Leaves Thirty-somethings Vulnerable

Contrary to popular belief, loss of equity in their homes since 2007 has hurt adults in their late thirties more than their Baby Boomer parents, contributing to fears that they will not have enough income and assets for their retirement, according to a new Pew Research survey released today.

State Squabbling Diverts AG Settlement Funds

Squabbling between governors, legislatures and the attorneys general who negotiated the National Mortgage Settlement with major lenders has tied up more than $588 million of the $2.5 billion paid by lenders as a result of the agreement and diverted $988 million more into states' general funds for non-housing uses, according to a study by Enterprise Community Partners.

Housing Starts Blow Away the Experts

More new residential units were started in September than any month since July 2008, blowing away expectations and making national headlines for the resurgence in home construction.

List Prices in Heartland Markets Turn Negative

Inventories remained at historic lows in September, down 17.77 percent compared to a year ago and the median list price was marginally higher, but a growing number of older industrialized areas are showing signs of weakness and the gains observed earlier in the 2012 home buying season in many markets appear to be moderating.

This Time the Recovery is for Real

Unlike the past three years, this year the price appreciation gains achieved during the spring and summer won't fade away in the fall and winter because an improved balance between supply and demand fueled by investors, pent up demand and consumer confidence is making today's housing recovery more durable than past efforts in recent years.

Foreclosures Split America

September's foreclosure data showed America has become bipolar over foreclosures, with dramatic decreases in most states but increases nearly as great in judicial states where lenders are speeding up processing of defaults.

One of Five Say it’s a Good Time to Sell

Last month the largest percentage of Americans since the housing bust said they believe it's a good time to sell house, according to the latest Fannie Mae National Housing Survey.

Five Year Forecast: Prices Will Rise 8.5 to 22 Percent

Nominal house prices will continue to rise for the UFA 100, a broad based composite index of 100 US cities. Under current economic conditions commonly used house price indices will rise between 8.5 and 22 percent cumulatively over the next five years, but recovery will be slow for the larger metro areas in the Case-Shiller 10 city composite.

Subprime Mortgages Rise from the Grave

Like a Hallowe'en zombie rising from its grave, lucrative subprime mortgage lending is poised to make a comeback with the help of a forgiving secondary market, an improving housing market and new tools to assess risk.

One Homeowner Out of Eight Undervalues Their Home

About one out of eight, or 17 percent, or homeowners with a mortgage believes their home is worth less than the amount they owe when in fact the opposite is true, suggesting that large numbers of owners are undervaluing their homes, perhaps due to recent home price increases.

Listings Shrink 34 Percent in Two Years and Keep Falling

The unprecedented and unexpected crash in inventory that is driving the nascent recovery by bolstering prices increases began in July, 2010 when listing counts on Realtor.com topped 2.8 million, and two years later have fallen by more than a third.

More Buyers Choose Conventional over FHA Loans

Mortgage financing in the housing market jumped sharply in the month of August, but the use of FHA financing declined, suggesting the government program is losing favor and private lenders are gaining market share.

Are Appraisals Missing by 5 to 10 Percent?

In homogenous markets today, market uncertainty creates a range of prices for homes as great as plus or minus 5 percent and in less stable neighborhoods, appraisals can range from as much as plus or minus 10 percent unless appraisers apply risk management techniques to come up with values that improve pull through ratios and better protect homeowners and investors, a leading valuation firm said last week.

Rustbelt Markets are Missing the Recovery

Not all is going smoothly with the housing recovery as the summer ends. August data from Realtor.com shows that, though inventories are still falling, more and more markets are seeing prices go in the wrong direction, dropping below levels of a year ago.

Rising Values Free 1.3 Million Homeowners

CoreLogic today released a new analysis showing that 10.8 million, or 22.3 percent, of all residential properties with a mortgage were in negative equity at the end of the second quarter of 2012. This is down from 11.4 million properties, or 23.7 percent, at the end of the first quarter of 2012. An additional 2.3 million borrowers possessed less than 5 percent equity in their home, referred to as near-negative equity, at the end of the second quarter.

New Capacity May be Softening Rents

Soaring capacity may be starting to slow the tide of rent increases that have spurred real estate investment and the greatest multifamily construction boom in seven years and record numbers of single family rentals.

Foreclosure Price Surge Greatest in Six Years

The average foreclosure-related sales price in the second quarter ($170,040) soared 6 percent from the first quarter of the year and was up 7 percent from the second quarter of 2011 - the first annual increase in average price since Q2 2010 and the biggest annual increase since Q4 2006.

Urbanization is Destroying Single Family Homes

The total number single family homes in the residential building stock in the United States will shrink by 4 billion square feet in nine years, a new study by a subsidiary of Navigant Research forecast last week.

Inventories Continue to Fall

Record low inventories of homes for sale, which are boosting home values and prices but depressing sales, show no signs of letting up. Though decline is normal this time of year, inventories stubbornly remain at decades-low levels.

Entry Level Wars Erupt

Inventories overall have fallen 20 percent but the supply of lower tier, entry level properties is tighter than that as bidding wars erupt in markets across the country that until very recently were choked with foreclosures and short sales.

Economists Hop on Recovery Bandwagon

Bank of America's announcement yesterday that it has significantly improved its home price forecast for the current year made headlines, but in fact the bank joins a growing list of housing economists who have seen the light and hopped on the recovery bandwagon.

California is Leading the Recovery

The state that gave America Alt-A loans, Countrywide, the first tidal wave of foreclosures, the highest prices during the boom and the fastest fall during the bust now is leading the nation out of the six-year housing depression.

“Normal” Home Sales Soar Despite Obstacles

While sales of distressed properties-foreclosures and short sales- have shrunk since the first of the year, a surge in sales of "normal" non-distressed properties has pushed total home sales through June 4.5 percent higher than last year even though buyers face by tight credit and low inventories.

Fitch Raises the Bar for Single Family Rental Securities

As interest grows in creating a marketplace to sell securitized blocks of single family rentals, similar to the securitization of mortgages, perhaps as early as this year, the authoritative ratings service Fitch Ratings today made it clear that the asset class poses some unique risks and that high investment grade ratings will be difficult to attain due to the lack of historical data and "ambitious growth strategies by regional operators".

Rising Values Push Nearly One Million Homeowners Above Water

The number of homeowners who owe more in their mortgages than they are worth fell by 5.8 percent in the first quarter and nearly a full point from a year ago as rising values pushed nearly three quarters of a million homeowners into the black in the first quarter, and today the total may exceed one million.

Boston Fed Study: Homeownership Values Unchanged Among Most Americans

A new study by economists at the Boston Federal Reserve found that the roughly two-thirds of Americans who did not suffer personal loss from the housing crash and whose knowledge of the housing crisis comes from media coverage have not changed their views towards homeownership.

Rush into Real Estate Rentals Becomes a Stampede

On the same day the Census Bureau released the Q2 2012 Housing Vacancies and Homeownership report showing single family rental vacancies in the second quarter were lower than they have been since the first quarter of 2006, yet another well financed asset management company announced it will spend more than a billion buying, renting and selling distressed homes.

Drought Doesn’t Dent High Foreclosure Backlog

Despite a shortage of lower priced homes in markets across the country, the huge foreclosure inventory refused to decline in June, raising renewed fears that the overhang of discounted properties will put downward pressure on home prices.

How Tight Credit is Strangling Home Sales

Negative equity, lack of consumer confidence, frozen foreclosures and a shaky economy all have received their share of blame for the dearth of sellers and buyers that keeps the housing recovery in low gear and vulnerable. No factor, however, has been as devastating to the housing economy and as difficult to improve as the inability of buyers, especially credit worthy buyers, to get financing

Frozen Foreclosures Frustrate Buyers

Six months after the historic agreement between 49 attorneys general and leading lenders, foreclosure and pre-foreclosure inventories are as high as they were in January, even as investors and first-time buyers fight over scarce discounted properties in the marketplace.

Single Family Rentals Ignite Management Boom

The explosion of single family rentals-houses bought by real estate investors and rented to a single tenant-is creating a new category of property management companies to serve them.

“Ugly Houses” are Looking Good

With growing demand and record shortages of entry-level properties sweeping the nation, the company famous for buying "ugly houses" is sitting pretty.

Forget Green Building, Buyers Still Want Bigger Houses

With just the first stirrings of recovery taking shape across the nation, how could buyers, who have been scarcer than hen's teeth since the fleeting 2010 tax credit boom, suddenly be in the market for larger and more expensive homes?

Tight Inventories Almost Bypass Luxury Market

It's still a buyer's market for properties selling for more than half a million as tight inventories driven by negative equity and slow foreclosure processing and rising prices are having much less impact on luxury homes than on less expensive homes.

Short Sale Discounts Approach Foreclosures

Not only are short sales nearly as prevalent as foreclosures in many markets today, they also are selling at discounts almost as great as foreclosures. Both forms of distress sales are selling at discounts greater than six months ago.

Less Expensive Homes Appreciate Three Times Faster

Tighter market conditions caused by negative equity and a higher level of distress sales are driving up prices three times faster among lower priced homes than expensive ones.

Mortgage Credit Lags Rebound in Consumer Credit

Credit is opening up for autos and other consumer purchases but purchase mortgages account for only a small percentage of the improving picture despite the fact that mortgage delinquencies are down 37 percent among first mortgages since January 2010.

Multiple Offers Return as Buyers are Back but Sellers are Not

Record tight inventories are making it increasingly difficult for growing numbers of buyers, who are creating multiple bid environments in markets that haven't seen buyers battle over homes in six years

Foreclosures Held Steady in May

Though the level of completed foreclosures remains high, it is down 27 percent from a peak of 1.1 million in 2010 according to the latest data from CoreLogic.  Inventories at the national level remain the same as a year ago.

Did Phoenix Overshoot the Downside?

True to its name, Phoenix has risen from the ashes of its foreclosure-ridded real estate market to lead the nation in year-over-year price increases, up 32.63 percent year over year in Realtor.com's May data.

Dead Listings Live Again in Tight Markets

Record-low inventory levels are breathing new life into homes that were withdrawn from the market but now are finding buyers in markets across the country.

Economists See Weaker Recovery and Declining Homeownership

National median home prices will improve for the balance of the year and end with a slight annual decline before bottoming out by 2013, but homeownership will continue to drop over the next five years, according to a quarterly survey of housing economists and experts released today.

How Negative Equity Drives up Prices

Negative equity, which is the result of homeowners owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, has always been viewed as a detriment to the housing economy because it freezes owners in their homes and makes them liable to foreclosure

Lending Standards Give an Inch with Miles to Go

Lending standards for purchase mortgages have eased slightly since January but not nearly enough to stop renewed criticism that high standards are impairing demand.

Student Loan Interest Hike Could Cripple New Buyers

The doubling of interest on student loans set to take effect July 1 could make it more difficult or impossible for large numbers of young first-time home buyers to qualify for mortgages.

More than a Million New Households a Year Forecast

Echo boomers and a moderate level of immigration will add 1.18 million new households a year through 2020, building demand for both rental and ownership housing, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Listing Inventories are Down 20 Percent

Key market indicators for May 2012 suggest that the housing market is steadily moving along a path of stabilization and gradual recovery, reports Realtor.com.

Risk of Mortgage Default Falls to Multi-year Low

Under current economic conditions, the risk of defaults on mortgages currently being originated is only 20 percent higher than the average of similar loans originated in the 1990s and much less than in 2006-2008 period

Sellers Close in on Reality

In the first quarter, sellers slowly inched closer to reality when pricing their homes for sale, but they still have a very long way to go, according to a survey of real estate professionals.

Negative Equity Locks up Inventory

Negative equity, which occurs when homeowners owe more on their mortgages than the equity in their homes, isn't always a bad thing. Lately it's been playing an important role in the lower end marketplace by restricting supply.

Recovery Has Yet to Arrive

The stage is set for the nation's housing economy to recover, but the recovery has not yet begun. That's the consensus of a Webinar today from three of Standard & Poor's economists after presenting the latest data.

Is Florida’s Foreclosure Nightmare Only Half Over?

Despite the dramatic price increases registered by Miami, Fort Myers and other Florida resort communities over the past 12 months, the state's foreclosure nightmare is far from over.

Improving Foreclosure Prices Drive Recovery

Significant price increases in bank-owned foreclosures are driving gains at the national, regional and local levels, helping home prices turn the corner with small quarterly and yearly gains.

Foreclosure Wave Begins to Hit Judicial States

Inventories of bank-owned foreclosures for sale vary increasingly by state as the latest local data suggests that lenders are beginning to release a long-awaited wave of more than one million backlogged foreclosures, primarily in states where a court order is required to foreclose, known as judicial states.

Huge Foreclosure Flood Feared

More than half of all Americans are concerned that a huge wave of backlogged foreclosures to be released by major lenders in the wake of the Robo-signing scandal will lower home values in their markets.

Late May Surge Drives Consumer Confidence

The nation's two most widely reported consumer confidence measures came up with May results that were polar opposites, throwing markets into disarray and raising questions about the housing recovery. But timing may explain the confusion.

House Poor: Hope, Faith and Equity

Have you ever seen someone tease a dog? It doesn't take long to turn a perfectly friendly pooch into a nasty, mean mongrel.

First-time Buyers Rebound

First-time buyers are driving expectations that a recovery has begun. Their numbers and market share are growing despite financing roadblocks and competition with investors for entry-level homes.

Inventories Reverse Course

The housing inventory rose slightly in April, which is unusual in the middle of the spring sales season. The uptick may be the result of rising seller confidence and it should ease concerns that the super tight inventory levels of the last six months have dampened sales by limiting buyer options.

Lenders Show Signs of Easing on Refis

In April lenders loosened up slightly on the loan-to-value ratio used to make approval decisions on mortgage refinance applications. However, but the lid is still screwed down tightly on purchase mortgages used to buy homes, according to the Ellie Mae Origination Insight Report.

Is There Really a Housing Shortage?

It may be hard to believe, but the dramatic drawdown in inventories during this spring buying season is bringing some cries of "housing shortage" from hotter markets around the county. But is there solid evidence to support such a claim?

Are Sellers Waking Up?

It's no secret that this is a good time to buy, but more and more sellers are beginning to think that it's also getting to be a good time to buy... at least better than it was six months ago.

Don’t Forget the Forgotten Inventory

Job seekers who give up looking for employment are not counted as unemployed. They become invisible to the statisticians, but when the job picture improves, as it has in recent months, they flood employment lines and have a huge, unforeseen impact on unemployment rates.

Capital Region Holds its Breath

For years, the Washington metro area has ranked high on every list of the nation's hottest markets.  Now, however, the region's multiple listing service, MRIS, is holding its breath and closely monitoring the situation as a wave of backlogged foreclosures freed by the resolution of the Robogate processing scandal prepares to wash over local markets and threaten vulnerable jurisdictions.

Buyers Walk the Walk

What's wrong with this picture? Attracted by super affordable prices, buyer walk-in traffic is up and tons of prospective homebuyers are kicking tires across the nation during this spring sales season. Inventories are at record lows, which should strengthen prices if you believe in supply and demand. So why are sales plummeting and prices not rising as hoped?

Single Family Rentals Now Exceed Multifamily

While inventories of homes for sale have been shrinking this spring, MLSs are filling the void with rental listings for single family homes that until recently were foreclosures. Some 16.1 percent of all listings on MLSs today are rentals, more than double the number in 2006.

Foreclosure Discounts Shrink in 2012

The rates that foreclosures and short sales are discounted from full-price properties have declined significantly in 2012, especially discounts for higher priced properties and in some of the markets hit hardest by foreclosures in the past.

Lenders Hang Tough as Sales Season Opens

Lenders haven't budged an inch on tough origination standards as the 2012 spring sales season opened last month and conventional purchase and FHA loans gained greater market share.

Down Payments Remain Elevated

Down payments greater than or equal to 20 percent were made by 34 percent of all residential home purchasers last month, a percentage that has remained relatively stable over the past year, according to the latest Realtor Confidence Index survey from the National Association of Realtors.

Online Mortgages Come of Age

Introduced about 15 years ago, sites accepting online mortgage applications continue to increase market share. The latest data from an online lending leader suggests that today's home buyers are shopping and applying for mortgages on the Internet as never before.

Foreclosure Flood Ready to Burst

Even though foreclosure activity over past three months hit the lowest level in five years, don't break out the bubbly. We're enjoying the calm before the storm.

Banks and Investors Learn to Love Short Sales

Lenders and investors no longer give short sales short shrift, according to the latest reports on the distressed sales market.

Is Chicago the Next Atlanta?

Will Chicago be the next big city to witness its housing market implode, virtually without warning?

Midwest Prices Sink Deeper

Median home prices have continued to fall in the Midwest, now 2.4 percent below January levels, while every other region has shown improvement over the past three months.

Lenders Get Even Tougher on Credit

A new report based on data from mortgage applications processed by one of the leading mortgage management software platforms suggests that over the past eight months it has been even tougher to get a loan with less than stellar credit. Average credit scores are up ten points, and both debt-to-income and loan-to-value ratios are down slightly since August.

Oil Powers America’s Healthiest Housing Markets

What three things do Dallas, Midland, Tulsa, Billings, Oklahoma City, and Corpus Christi have in common?

Emotion Drives One in Four Home Sales

As thousands of American families prepare to sell and buy homes during the 2012 season, some 28 percent of women and 25 percent of men put more emphasis on their feelings about a home than they do on the layout, square footage, or price.

In Two Years, Real Estate will Rock

Housing starts will nearly double and home prices will begin to rise in 2013, with prices increasing significantly in 2014.

No Sign Yet of Accelerated Foreclosure Processing

The inventory of homes awaiting foreclosure continued to grow in February as the number of new foreclosures actually declined, a sign that the recent filed multi-state AG agreement hasn't had any early impact on the backlogged foreclosure inventory.

Case-Shiller Echoes Auction Index

No need to worry long about yesterday's depressing Case-Shiller numbers. In a two to three months, count on C-S to be on the way up again.

New Foreclosures Slow in Foreclosure Hot Spots

Markets that experienced the biggest boom in foreclosures in 2009 and 2010 today are experiencing a decline in new foreclosures.

Experts Sour on 2012

As the spring buying season begins, some real estate gurus are getting cold feet about prices despite reports of record low inventories and consistent increases in sales.

Are Families Losing Homes Because They are Overvalued?

Millions of homeowners have lost their homes to foreclosure because they owed more on them than they were worth. Now a new study from two economists at the Cleveland Federal Reserve suggests that some homeowners in poorer markets are losing their homes because their lenders inaccurately overvalue them.

Realtor.com: The Stage is set for Recovery

Inventories are at historic lows, list prices have strengthened over the past 12 months and demand is healthier. The February data from Realtor.com paints a positive picture for the coming recovery.

Eight More Months of Pain

Housing prices will drop four more percentage points and they won't bottom out until next fall. That's the latest forecast from Standard & Poor's housing experts, from a Webcast on the US Housing Market distributed to investors and the media.

Albany is America’s Foreclosure Congestion Capital

For six years the so-called "Sand States"-Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada-have absorbed the lion's share of punishment from foreclosures. But as many of those markets stabilize, the foreclosure plague is moving north and east and a major cause is the congestion of the region's foreclosure processing.

Consumers Warm up Early Spring Surveys

The weatherman is not the only source of spring-like forecasts this week. Two national surveys released today found that consumers are feeling better about the real estate picture for the first time in months

Foreclosures Don’t Faze Top 15 Markets

Despite enduring notably higher levels of foreclosures in February, three out of the nation's four regions shrugged off the uptick in foreclosures and achieved higher prices.

Foreclosure Discounts are Greatest in Midwest, Northeast

The average price of a foreclosure-related sale was only 29 percent below the average price of a non-foreclosure sale during the fourth quarter of 2011, down from a 34 percent foreclosure discount in the third quarter and a 35 percent foreclosure discount in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to RealtyTrac's Q4 and Year End 2011 U.S. Foreclosure Sales Report.

Property Management Challenges Investors

Only two out of ten of the nation's 8.7 million single family rental properties are managed by professionals; individual owner/ investors take care of most of the rest. Last year only about a third of single family rentals, 35 percent, made a profit on their rental income. Some 2.3 million lost money for their owners.

Sinking Inventories Spark Debate

The national inventory of homes for sale is hitting long time lows, prompting both grins and grimaces among housing economists.

Are Sellers Softening Up?

With the start of the home buying season just around the corner, years of low prices and dashed hopes for the long awaited housing recovery may be changing the way sellers price and prep their properties.

Mortgage Delinquencies and Defaults Fell in January

After ticking upwards last fall, the mortgage delinquency rate (over 30 days due) resumed its decline in January falling 2.2 percent from December's low. Defaults also fell from 2.24 percent in December to 2.16 percent last month.

Pressure Rises on FHA

While delinquencies and defaults slowly improve in the housing economy as a whole, FHA's portfolio has grown consistently worse over the past nine months, creating increased pressure on the agency to reduce risk and increase costs to its borrowers, most of whom are first-time buyers.

New Listings Promise Robust Prices

As of February 10, new listings tracked by Altos Research have ticked upwards for five consecutive weeks, suggesting the spring home buyer season will bring the strongest prices the nagtion has seen since the tax credit briefly stimulated demand two years ago.

No Flood of REOs Seen Following the Multi-state Mortgage Settlement

Local markets will probably not be swamped by waves of foreclosures following the multi-state mortgage settlement announced yesterday. Rather, the huge inventory of one to two million foreclosures will enter markets gradually.

Florida Condo Prices Rebounded in 2011

For the first time since the condo crash of 2007, Florida median existing condo prices came roaring back 2011, rising by a hefty 5 percent on a quarter-to-quarter basis.

Finished Foreclosures Fell 24 Percent in 2011, Inventory Down 8.4 Percent

Both the number of completed foreclosures and the volume of homes in the foreclosure inventory fell significantly last year, suggesting that foreclosures have peaked.

Foreclosures Dragged Down 2011 Prices to a 4.7 Percent Loss

Home prices in the U.S. decreased 4.7 percent in 2011, achieving the fifth consecutive annual loss after prices fell five straight months in a row in the second half of the year.

Homeownership Declines Again

In the fourth quarter, the national homeownership rate fell to 66.0 percent,  0.5 percentage points  lower than the fourth quarter 2010 rate (66.5 percent) and 0.3 percentage points  lower than the rate last quarter (66.3 percent).

What Does Recovery Look Like?

Like everything in real estate, recovery will arrive market-by-market. Is this the year recovery will come to your market? Knowing your market's bottom could be critical; how will you recognize it?

Homeownership Stronger in Higher Priced States

Support for homeownership is greater in states whose median home value is higher than the national average, according to a new national survey of homeowners.

Obama HARP Expansion Builds on New Refi Momentum

In his State of the Union speech last night, President Obama announced he will push for legislation that will significantly expand the newly revised HARP program that allows underwater homeowners who are to refinance at today's historically low rates.

Angry Buyers Shoot Agents out of Cannons

British buyers who are angry at their estate agents, property lawyers or mortgage brokers now can take out their frustrations on Web site by firing them out of a giant cannon at buildings for sale, with the chance to get their mortgage or rent paid for six months.

Is the Problem Too Many Homes?

Is an oversupply of housing units the real reason that America is suffering from low prices? Is the glut is so serious that it will plague local housing markets and depress home values for a number of years to come?

Thirty-somethings Got Socked on Homeownership

Americans in their thirties have seen their homeownership rates decline more over the past decade than either younger or older owners.

Outlook 2012: Ingo Winzer Sees Tale of Two Cities

This year will be a tale of two cities. Local employment created by economic growth will drive housing market recoveries, and those markets that create more jobs will see property values and rents improve faster than others that don't.

2011 Foreclosures Fell to Four-year Low; Nevada at a Standstill

Foreclosure activity and the national foreclosure rate last year both fell to their lowest annual level since 2007 and a new state law has brought foreclosure starts and sales to a virtual standstill in the state of Nevada, which has led the nation in foreclosures for the past five years.

Outlook 2012: Total Mortgage’s John Walsh Sees Hope in National Loan Limits

John Walsh, CEO of Total Mortgage Services in Milford CT, is an entrepreneur who has built his mortgage company into a 25-state powerhouse that is continuing to expand. He is a forward thinker, and maybe a bit of a contrarian, who entered wholesale banking last year, with his wholesale channel TMS Funding, when the too-big-to-fail banks like Bank of America pulled out. But he must be onto something, as Total Mortgage has never had to repurchase one of its loans. In addition Walsh is an outspoken advocate for mortgage finance at a time when many lenders are putting their money elsewhere.

Outlook 2012: Why RE/MAX CEO Margaret Kelly Believes This is the Year to Buy

This year real estate markets across the country present a combination of unique buying opportunities that simply haven't been seen before, says Margaret Kelly CEO of RE/MAX, the leading global real estate franchisor with more than 80,000 sales associates in 80 countries.

Atlanta Won’t Miss 2011

Home prices in Atlanta plummeted during the fourth quarter as a flood of foreclosures saturated the market, leaving economists across the nation scratching their heads and local homeowners hoping for a turnaround.

Seller Negativity is Killing Sales

Blame sellers, not buyers, for the lousy real estate market. Deeply negative sentiment is causing sellers to lose sales or keep their homes off the market altogether. Buyer sentiment is not expected to improve in the near term and market activity will remain sluggish for months to come.

Ranks of Real Estate Agents Shrink

Five years of sinking prices and anemic sales have taken their toll on the entire residential real estate business, including the number of agents and brokers serving consumers.

Poor Homes Have Lost More Value than Rich Ones

In the five years since the market peaked in 2006, homes in the bottom quarter of the market have lost more value proportionately than those in the top tier.

Retiree Rentals and Foreign Owners: Is Florida the Future?

The Housing Crisis, which kicked off with the melt down of the Miami condo market in 2006, is changing Florida into a state where new properties are being exclusively marketed for foreign ownership and snow-state retirees who once were the lifeblood of the state's huge second home market now rent instead of buying.

Will Record Flood Losses Save or Drown Flood Insurance?

Just as Congress approaches a drop dead deadline Friday on whether or not to continue the nation's flood insurance program, a new report details the cost and extent of one of worst year for floods in recent history.

Mortgage Banks’ Profits on Originations Soar 377 Percent

Mortgage banks made an average profit of $1,263 on each loan they originated in the third quarter of 2011, up from $575 per loan in the second quarter of 2011 and $346 per loan in the first quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That's a 377 percent increase over a six month period.

Do REO Sales Threaten Homeownership?

During the boom, the only way first-time buyers, minorities and working families could afford to buy a home was through subprime and creative financing. Now that homeownership is affordable, new barriers to financing and competition with investors are locking them out of homeownership and changing the residential fabric of our communities from ownership to rental.

October Prices Sink 3.9 Percent Below 2010

Home prices have declined steadily over the past three months and now trail last year by 3.9 percent, according to the latest CoreLogic Home Price Index.

Three Quarters of Owners Continue to Overvalue

Despite survey after survey showing that consumers expect home prices to continue to decline next year, most homeowners still believe their houses are worth more than what their agents recommend.

Two-time Losers Flood Foreclosure Inventory

Nearly half, 45 percent, of October foreclosure starts were redefaults-mortgages which had previously defaulted and were modified unsuccessfully either by the lender or the federal government. About 105,000 redefaults increased total foreclosure starts in October to 232,865, 11.5 percent more than the level of a year ago.

Closing Crisis Could Erase Pending Sales Gain

A surge in sales contracts signed in October announced by NAR yesterday that inspired hopes of a fall boomlet actually will problem have no impact at all on closed sales.

The Special Role of RealtyTrac

Yesterday's announcement that a West Coast venture capital firm has made a major investment in RealtyTrac, the national foreclosure database, should be good news for the housing industry and for policy makers, who have come to rely upon RealtyTrac data for understanding the foreclosure marketplace and formulating public policy.

2011 Home Sales Poised to Break 5 Million

This year sales of existing homes could exceed five million, a barrier broken only once since the housing markets crashed in 2007.

Investor Sales Surge

Low home prices and strong demand for rental properties are causing a surge in investor buying, driving up the market share of homes purchased by investors.

Soaring Contract Failures Torpedo Sales

A higher than normal rate of contract failures is stifling a recovery in home sales as home sellers and buyers are losing deals at an extraordinary rate.

Holidays Fill Spare Bedrooms

Homeowners fortunate enough to have a spare bedroom or two are putting them to good use this holiday season.  Some four in ten American families (39 percent) are hosting holiday get-togethers that include 15 or more family members and friends, and more than half (54 percent) say they stay overnight with their families so they can all be in one household during the holidays.

Delinquency Rate Hits Three-year Low as Boom Loans Improve

The national delinquency rate for residential home loans fell to 7.99 percent in the third quarter, the lowest reading since the fourth quarter of 2008, and it represents a decline of 45 basis points from the second quarter of this year and a drop of 114 basis points from the third quarter of last year

Home Buyers Suddenly Grow Older

Why did home buyers suddenly grow six years older in one year?

Home Sellers’ Equity Shrinks

They say that the longer sellers hold onto properties, the more equity they will realize.  In recent years, however, just the opposite has been the case.

Will Home Value Insurance Work?

The idea of insurance to protect homeowners from declining home values has been batted around for years, but now it's a reality.  On  September 28, Ohio homeowners became the first in the nation who can buy a real insurance policy to protect their primary residences against lost value when they sell.

Computerized Appraisals Win One in Harp 2.0

The federal government, with the reluctant support of the two leading professional appraisal organizations, has sanctioned the use of computerized, appraisals using algorithms and computerized databases of property data to determine a property's value.

Damaged Foreclosures Continue to Poison Prices

Nearly half of all foreclosures listed for sale are so seriously damaged they need major repair before they are habitable, a percentage that has remained virtually unchanged over the past two years.

Pressure Mounts on Property Taxes

Get ready for record property tax rate increases next year as cities and counties across the nation cut their budgets to the bone and scramble for every tax dollar they can find.

Too Many Renters, Too Few Apartments

They can't build apartment buildings fast enough to meet the demand for rental housing, even though construction is booming across the nation.

First-timers Hang Tough

Rumors to the contrary, first-time buyers are alive and kicking, buying houses at virtually the same pace as they were before the first-time homebuyers credit first stimulated demand two years ago.

Fannie, Freddie to Lose Only $220 to $311 Billion by 2015

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who have already cost taxpayers $169 billion since the federal government took them over in September 2008, will cost taxpayers a totl of $220 to 311 billion over the next three years.

Foreign Buyer Visa Bill Backfires

Legislation introduced in the Senate last week to stimulate property sales by giving visas to foreign investors who spend more than $500,000 to buy US homes is creating a firestorm of opposition on Web sites and talk shows across the nation.

Case-Shiller: Welcome Back to 2003

Remember 2003?  That was the year Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was the hottest movie, the year that America invaded Iraq, and in 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas.  Your home was worth then just about what it's worth today.

Lower Loan Limits Take a Bite Out of Sales

Over the past two weeks inventories and days on market for listings over $500,000 have soared at the same time that the reduction in loan limits that took effect on October 1 starts to bite in luxury markets across the nation.

Renters Outspend Owners on Housing

Renters now spend five percent more of their household budgets on housing costs than do homeowners, and the difference is growing as rents rise.

Landlords Welcome Strategic Defaulters

A new survey of former homeowners who have walked away from their homes found that their credit was good enough after foreclosure for the vast majority to rent new housing and few were required to make a larger than normal deposit.

Net New Renters 1.4 Million, Net New Home Buyers 0

That's what 2011's final score will be, according to Freddie Mac's latest outlook for 2011, as vacancy rates shrivel and sales struggle to stay even with last year's tax credit boom and bust.

Are Sellers Withdrawing?

A decline in inventories is normal at this time of the year as real estate markets buckle down for the fall and winter season.  But the 20 percent plus drop in inventories from last year at this time suggests something else is going on.

Americans Double Up to Make Do

During the Depression, few American homes had an empty bedroom.  The housing recession of the past four years has made empty spare rooms a luxury again by freezing families in place for years and limiting their housing choices.

New York Foreclosures Take 3.2 Years

The average time to process a foreclosure in New York State in the third quarter is now 986 days, the longest of any state and a new record for New York.  When sales time is added, the time from default to a new owner closes is now 1179 days, or 3.2 years.

Boomers are Betting on Real Estate

Even though the real estate depression  has delayed many from moving ahead with plans to sell the family home, baby boomers are a red hot market for investment properties.

Spooky Fears Haunt Consumers

Consumers don't plan to buy homes anytime soon because they think prices will fall farther next year, mortgage rates will stay low for a long time and they're very worried about their personal financial situation.

Real Estate Employment Shrinks

The real estate sector has lost 13,100 jobs since May, nearly reaching the employment level last year when sales suddenly crashed following the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit.

Jobs Report Lifts Rates Above 4 Percent

The U.S. economy added more jobs than expected last month, and employment gains for the previous two months were revised higher-not great news considering the jobless rate is unchanged at 9.1 percent but good enough to stop mortgage rates from setting new records.

Will Spring Bring a Triple Dip?

The unimaginable is now a possibility.  According to the latest forecast by one of the nation's leading housing data providers, by the end of the first quarter next year, the nation's average home prices could sink below the lowest levels reached earlier this last year, when prices set a new record low.

New Fees Drive Up Cost of USDA Home Loans

Government guaranteed mortgages that require no down payments are becoming increasingly expensive top borrowers due to fees that are designed to make the program revenue-neutral in the federal budget.

Seriously Delinquent Mortgages Hit Three-year Low

Of the approximately 4 million mortgages that are either 90 or more days delinquent or in foreclosure, the number that are delinquent 90 days or more days has shrunk to levels not seen since 2008.

Bank Risk Managers Foresee Years of High Foreclosures, Low Prices

FICO's latest quarterly survey of bank risk professionals found that growing optimism of late 2010 and early 2011 has been replaced with a markedly pessimistic outlook for defaults and home prices.

Loan Limits Drop Tomorrow

For the first time in three years, the upper limits on single family home mortgages in high-cost areas qualifying for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's government guarantee will decline at midnight tonight.

Mortgage Lenders Take a Week to Answer the Phone

Mortgage lenders take almost 7 days on average to respond to consumer inquiries via phone and over one day to respond to inquiries received via email, resulting in a poor return on their marketing investment, bottom line under-performance and a disappointing or even damaging customer experience.

Shadow Inventory Joins Biggest Losers

The so-called shadow inventory of foreclosures-properties that are seriously delinquent by not yet listed on multiple listing services for resale-is shrinking faster than a Weight Watchers spokesperson.

Mortgage Delinquencies Resume Decline

After two months of increases during and following the Congressional debate over the federal deficit last June, mortgage delinquencies may have resumed their decline.

Thirty-Somethings Fear Home Values Won’t Help Retirement

Nearly half of all homeowners in their thirties have lost hope that their homes will recover enough value in time to play an important role in paying for their retirement.

How to Predict Local Home Prices

You're about to put an offer on a home, but you're worried that prices will sink and you won't get the best deal.  You're putting your home on the market and you want to get the most you can for it but you can't wait forever to sell it.  You've found a great deal on a foreclosure that looks like a great investment, but how what will it be worth a year from now?

Soaring Prices Suggest a Florida Phenomenon

According to the latest data from Realtor.com, the world's largest real estate site, Florida single family home and condo prices are zooming at the same time that the rest of the nation is still recovering from the first quarter's double dip.

RE/MAX Reports Summer Sales Bump

Sales in July and August broke the seasonal summer sales pattern, which normally declines with the end of the traditional home buying season in June.   Instead, the hottest month this also produced sales hotter than 2010.

Millions of Drowning Homeowners Pay Excessive Rates

Seventy five percent of all homeowners who owe more on their homes than they are worth are paying mortgage interest rates nearly a point higher than today's average rate for a thirty year fixed mortgage.

DC, Baltimore Enjoy Best August Sales since the Bust

Pending sales in the Washington DC and Baltimore markets returned to boom levels for the first time in years, even though prices experienced a seasonal decline.

Summer Prices Fail to Warm the Double Dip Chill

As summer days fade away into fall, the long term impact of this year's buying season on prices is coming into clear focus.

Go Figure: Record Low Rates AND Record Low Mortgage Apps

The latest headlines from Freddie Mac and MBA make it clear beyond a doubt that the old assumptions about the housing economy no longer work.

Five Ways to Fight a Low Appraisal

What do you do when the appraisal on the dream home you want to buy comes in below the price in the offer the buyer has accepted... even as much as 10 to 20 percent below?

Seasonal Buying Drives June Prices

June home prices rose for the third consecutive month, ending the month with the largest seasonal gain year to date.

Independents’ Profits on Purchase Mortgages Soar 66 Percent

Independent mortgage banks and subsidiaries made an average profit of $575 on each loan they originated in the second quarter of 2011, up from $346 per loan in the first quarter of 2011, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Second Quarter 2011 Mortgage Bankers Performance Report released today.

Foreclosures Now Take 20 Months

The average home entering the foreclosure process today won't house new owners until the next President has been inaugurated and in office for three months.

Irene Drowns Uninsured Homes

The price tag for residential properties caused by flood damage from Hurricane Irene's huge storm surges along the East Coast could total than $59 billion worth of flood-related damages to a total of 900,000 properties and many if not most are not covered by flood insurance.

Short Sales Soar 19 Percent in Second Quarter

Short sales of pre-foreclosure properties jumped 19 percent in the second quarter even as sales of bank-owned foreclosures declined and overall distressed sales were flat.

Purchase Mortgages Falling to 20 Year Low!

Lenders will write fewer mortgages for home buyers this year than in any year since 1991.

Old Rules No Longer Apply

Never before have housing markets experienced low interest rates, high unemployment, and a glut of inventory hiding in the shadow.

RE/MAX Faults Lenders, Appraisals

Strict lending standards, bad appraisals and concern about the economy all contributed to lower than normal sales in July.

July Sales Fell Less than Last Year

Existing-home sales declined in July from an upwardly revised June pace but are notably higher than a year ago, when sales suffered a double whammy from seasonal decline at the end of the spring buyer season and the expiration of the home buyer tax credit.

Fixing the Housing Crisis Would Create One Million Jobs Annually

By writing down all underwater mortgages to market value, the nation's banks could pump $71 billion per year into the economy, create more than one million jobs annually, save families $6,500 per year on mortgage payments.

Despite Unemployment, Mortgage Default Rates Plunge

First and second mortgage default rates in July fell to levels lower than three years at the onset of the recession three years ago  despite continued high unemployment levels.

Credit Concerns Keep Renters from Buying

Only 23 percent of renters living in single family homes-where more than half the nation's renters live today--believe that renting makes more sense than buying a home.

REOs Extend Foreclosure Pain

Bank-owned foreclosures (REOs) are taking significantly longer to sell than foreclosures bought and resold by investors, extending the timeline for REO foreclosures even longer than the extraordinary delays for resulting from slower processing.

USDA Has $11.2 Billion to Guarantee No-Down Mortgages

The US Department of Agriculture has only two months to spend $11.2 billion on its no-down payment rural development loan program, a record amount at this juncture in the federal fiscal year for the program that provides no down payment mortgages to borrowers in rural and suburban markets.

Tight Credit Strangles First-Time Buyers

Difficulties getting financing are increasingly keeping first-time buyers from buying homes in spite of very affordable prices in most markets.  One serious result has been a slowing of the absorption of foreclosures and short sales.

TransUnion: Mortgage Delinquencies Plummeted in Second Quarter

The national mortgage delinquency rate (the rate of borrowers 60 or more days past due) decreased for the sixth consecutive quarter, dropping to 5.82 percent at the end of the second quarter in 2011 according to a quarterly analysis of credit-active U.S. consumers by TransUnion.

A Triple Dip for Housing Prices in 2011?

Will the latest stock market crash, the debt ceiling fiasco, the shaky economy,  the mess in Europe, and soft housing markets result in a triple dip in home prices across the nation this year?

Rental Vacancy Rate at 6 Year Low

Lost in the announcement last week that homeownership rates have fallen to their lowest rate since 1998 was a piece of good news for real estate professionals and landlords alike.

Foreclosure Timeline Soars to 587 Days

The average loan in foreclosure today has not seen a payment for 587 days, a new record and the total of loans in foreclosure or seriously delinquent now is 12.8 percent higher than last year.

June “Normal” Home Prices Only 1.1 Percent Below 2010

June prices of non-distress sale homes were down only 1.1 percent from Juje 2010, and improvement over May, when prices were 2.1 percent below the previous year.

MID Survives Untouched by Debt Compromise

The debt compromise that cleared Congress today and is headed to the President for his signature before the midnight deadline does not change the mortgage interest deduction, which allows homeowners to deduct the interest on mortgages they pay if they itemize.

Foreclosures Fall Across America

  Foreclosure activity decreased in 85 percent of nation's metropolitan areas in the first half of the year and all top 10 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates posted decreasing foreclosure activity.

Contract Rate Falls to 2011 Low

The National Average Contract Mortgage is 4.62 percent, lower than it has been all year. This is a decrease of 0.12 percent from the previous month. Many lenders use this rate in adjusting some adjustable-rate mortgages. This index was the only index rate that federally chartered savings and loan associations could use as an adjustable-rate mortgage [...]

Luxury Homes are Moving Faster

Homes valued over a half a million a selling faster than they have in more than a year, and prices are holding steady, according to the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing's weekly report.

Deficit Compromise Opens the Door for Huge Cutbacks in Mortgage Deduction

The "Gang of Six" compromise on the federal deficit that has been endorsed by President Obama mandates the most significant reductions in the mortgage interest deduction in the 98 years it has been in effect.

Closing Costs Soar

Though home prices are just drying off from a painful double dip earlier this year, closing costs are soaring.  Title and origination fees alone now cost 2 percent of the mortgage, an increase of 8.8 percent in just one year.

Freddie Mac Sees 2011 Sales Up 5 Percent

Freddie Mac's economists are sticking with a prediction of positive sales growth this year despite the abysmal June jobs report.

RE/MAX Reports Inventories Are Shrinking

Inventories in 53 markets surveyed last month by RE/MAX are down nearly fifteen percent from a year ago, when the tax credit boom was winding down, another indication that housing markets have recovered from the tax credit-induced sales boom and the bust that followed it.

Foreclosure Filings Fall Yet Processing Takes Longer

Foreclosure filings in the first half of this year fell 25 percent from the last six months of 2010 and are off 29 percent from the first half of 2010.

June Makes it Three in a Row!

For the third month in a row, modest increase in list prices and inventories are creating the most positive pricing trend since the homebuyer tax credit expired a year ago.

New Foreclosure Study Finds the More that’s Owed, the Longer the Defaulter Can Stay

Homeowners living in houses worth over $417,000 can live in their homes mortgage-free without fear of foreclosure for more than a year, but those in the less valuable homes are getting thrown out in 300 days or less.

Clear Capital Forecasts More Price Declines this Year

  Economic consulting firm Clear Capital reported prices nationally have decreased by 3.2 percent in the first six months of 2011 and are forecast to drop another 2.4 percent in the second half of 2011

New Billion Dollar Emergency Loan Program Hopes to Stave Off Foreclosures

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in conjunction with NeighborWorks America launched a new Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program (EHLP) today to help homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure in 27 states across the country and Puerto Rico.

High Rollers Move Up

  While a third of homeowners struggle to stay above water on their mortgages, nearly a quarter of those in the upper income tiers have been trading up to take advantage of deals in the luxury home market.

Agents and Owners Turn Increasingly Pessimistic on Values

  Half of agents and 42 percent of homeowners in a second quarter survey expect home values to decrease or stay the same through the end of the year, according a second quarter survey.

Freddie, Fannie Delinquencies Down a Full Point

The percentage of seriously delinquent mortgages-those that are 90 past due or in foreclosure-held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have fallen more than a point in the last year.

Prices Rise for Second Consecutive Month

Hours after NAR announced an 8.2 percent jump in May prices, CoreLogic confirmed its May numbers show a second consecutive month-over-month increase.

May Pending Home Sales Rise Above 2010 Levels

NAR's Pending Home Sales Index 8.2 percent to 88.8 in May from an upwardly revised 82.1 in April and is 13.4 percent higher than the 78.3 reading in May 2010. The data reflects contracts but not closings, which normally occur with a lag time of one or two months.

Third Residential Web Site Goes Public

HomeAway, Inc., an Austin, Texas based site that matches home owners with travelers looking for vacation rentals and sales, priced eight million shares at $27 each this morning to raise $216 million in its initial public offering under the symbol AWAY. The Austin, Texas-based online marketplace for vacation properties priced at the top end of its $24-$27 price range.

Foreclosure Sales Plummeted in May

There are significantly fewer foreclosure sales today than there were before foreclosure moratoria were put into place during the Robogate scandal last fall and foreclosure sales are declining.

Case-Shiller: Slight Increase in April

S&P/Case-Shiller's 10 and 20 city composites rose less than one percent in April over March, the first price increase the indices have measured in eight months.

Experts Agree Prices Have Bottomed Out and Will Stay There

A significant majority of the 108 economists and experts participating in MacroMarkets' June Price Home Expectations panelists believe that the bottom for home prices arrived in the first quarter or will arrive sometime before year-end.

Real Estate Economy Watch Honored by NAREE

The National Association of Real Estate Editors recognized Real Estate Economy Watch as the second best web site of 2011 dedicated solely to real estate or home design coverage.

Prices Perked up in April

U.S. house prices rose slightly in April for the first month-to-month increase since last May, according to new numbers released today by the Federal Home Finance Agency, a branch of the Treasury Department.

Shadow Inventory Slowly Fades

The so-called "shadow inventory" of foreclosures, properties in the foreclosure pipeline but not yet listed on multiple listings services, slowly shank over the pst year but still amount to five months' worth of home sales.

Mortgage Defaults Hit Four-year Low

Default rates on first and second mortgages sank lower than they have been since 2007 and 2006 as more and more homeowners are meeting their mortgage obligations on time.

Mortgage Mess Cripples Spring Sales Season

Homebuyer traffic, a major indication of future home sales, tumbled in May, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey.

Biggest Generations will Redefine Cities and Suburbs

The largest generations in the nation's history, Baby Boomers and their children, will be hugely influential in redefining living and working environments for decades to come

New Index Finds April Prices Improved

  April home prices have improved over March in the new national composite index launched yesterday by FNC at the National Association of Real Estate Editors Annual Meeting in San Antonio.

CB: Niagara Falls Most Affordable

  Once America's favorite honeymoon destination, Niagara Falls, NY is the most affordable housing market in the nation, and Newport Beach, CA is the priciest.

RE/MAX: Home Prices Hang Tough

  Year to year prices in May are still 7.2 percent below those of a year ago, but they've virtually the same as April's on a year to year basis.  However, the number of closed transactions and price also increased from April to May.

Radian’s Mortgage Delinquencies Rose 8.6 Percent in May

New mortgage delinquencies reported by Radian Guaranty Inc., the mortgage insurance subsidiary of Radian Group Inc., rose 8.6 percent in May and the major mortgage insurer reported a slower pace of the decline in its delinquency inventory.

Administration Rips Four Major Mortgage Lenders

Four of the nation's largest mortgage lenders are "in need of substantial improvement" to service homeowners applying for mortgage modifications  under the Making Home Affordable Program (HAMP).

REAL Trends: May Sales Show Surprising Strength

A third consecutive spring market report has May home prices rising in the wake of the double dip reported by S&P/Case-Shiller in the first quarter.

May Home Prices Spring Back

Home sales prices continued a downward trend in May, but only half as far and half as fast as in April.

Negative Equity Ducks a Bullet

Despite double dipping to their lowest levels since 2009, housing prices in the first quarter failed to drive up the percentage of homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages.

Fannie Finally Mandates Consistency

After more than 3.5 million families have lost their homes to foreclosure over the past five years, Fannie Mae has issued new standards requiring servicers to take a consistent approach for handling delinquent mortgages.

“Catfish” Recovery Outswims Case-Shiller

New listing prices, which lead transactions by three to six months, are already up 8.7 percentage points over the March trough, an indication that sellers are pricing more confidently, said Scott Sambucci, vice president of market analytics for Altos Research in a Webcast for customers yesterday.

Realtor Income Off 7 Percent Since 2009

The real estate recession has been tougher on real estate agents and brokers than it has property owners over the past two years.

National Price Breakthrough!

Home prices increased on a national basis by 0.7 percent between March and April 2011 for the first time since the home-buyer tax credit expired in mid-2010.

Why Washington DC is in the Black

Only one market among the 20 tracked by the S&P/Case-Shiller index released today reported positive price growth in the first quarter.

Talent Shortages Ignite Relo Boom

The disparity between available jobs and skilled talent has sparked companies to adapt to a more competitive market and nearly half of hiring managers and recruiters say they have started to recruit talent from geographies outside their local market due to talent shortages, promising a boost in real estate relocation services.

Harvard Study Warns of Rent Bubble

For renters, the national recovery could be very bad news.  That warning came from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies' latest report on America's rental housing.

Investors are Bearish on Next 12 Months

Real estate investors are slightly more bearish than the general public about the outlook for prices in their local markets over the next six to 12 months.

Appraisals Are Still Killing Home Sales

One out of ten Realtors (11 percent) report that low appraisals are killing home sales contracts and an addition 10 percent say they are delaying closings, according to an April NAR practitioners survey of Realtors.  Some 14 percent report that appraisals coming in under the purchase price are sending purchase deals back to the negotiating table.

Luxury Homes Selling Faster

Luxury homes have been spending about 16 percent less time on market since early March even though inventories have been rising, which is normal during the Spring buying season, according to the latest weekly report from the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing.

RE/MAX: Prices Rise in 34 Markets

Nationally median home prices rose 2.2 percent in April over March, rising in 34 of 55 markets surveyed, but are still 7.9 percent below a year ago during the height of the tax credit frenzy.

First-time Buyers Evaporate

First-time buyer market share fell 18 percent below the level of a year ago, reducing absorption of distressed properties, which accounted for nearly half of all sales during the month.

Negative Equity is “Stubbornly High”

Negative equity, which remains "stubbornly high" as the economy slowly improves, is concentrated among lower valued properties in foreclosure and in properties valued between $100,000 and $200,000 reported CoreLogic in its monthly US Housing and Mortgage Trends Report.

Foreclosure Inventories Ebb But Still Outpace 2010

The inventory of homes in foreclosure awaiting resale fell slightly in April, but they are still 12.7 percent higher than they were a year ago, according to Lender Processing Services April 2011 month-end mortgage performance statistics.

More Owners Remodel Rather than Move

The March BuildFax Remodeling Index, which is based on building permit data, increased for the seventeenth straight month on a year-over-year basis as the residential remodeling industry continued to strengthen and more homeowners opted to stay where they are and remodel rather than move.

Financing Costs Sales for 75 Percent of C21 Agents

A survey of 1500 Century 21 professionals released this week confirmed what many real estate agents and buyers have been saying for months:  The lending environment is too constraining for potential homebuyers, slowing the rebound of the housing market and the economy in general.

Massive Backlog Freezes Foreclosures

"Massive" delays in foreclosure processing brought the number of new foreclosures to a 40-year low in April, extending the average foreclosure timeline to 400 days but reached 900 days in some states.

Turnaround: Four Months and Counting?

Price declines will end and average U. S. home prices will stabilize  by Labor Day.  Prices in even the hardest-hit markets will level out by the end of 2012.

Florida Sales Rise, Prices Fall

Will Florida, which has been at the forefront of both the housing boom and bust, also lead the nation out of recovery?

Q1 Home Values Echo Price Drop

First quarter home values fell dramatically, roughly echoing the significant prices drops in the first quarter reported by Clear Capital and others who have confirmed the long feared double dip.

Spring Breathes Life into Prices

  A seasonal uptick in both median prices and inventory has appeared in most metropolitan areas across the country, contradicting earlier price reports, according to Altos Research's 20-city Composite trends data in April.

Prices Double Dip and Keep Falling

Not only did April data confirm the double dip in home prices nationally, real estate markets now have entered "uncharted territory" with the absence of a tax credit incentive for the first time in three years and are still falling.

US: Deutsche Bank Fraud May Cost More than $1.5 Billion

Yesterday the Justice Department sued Deutsche Bank AG, one of the world's 10 biggest banks by assets,  for at least $1 billion for defrauding taxpayers by "repeatedly" lying to a federal agency when securing taxpayer-backed insurance for thousands of mortgages.

Banks Build Record Foreclosure Inventory

  The pace of foreclosure starts increased by a third in March, building the national inventory of REO properties to an all-time high of 2.2 million at the end of the month.

Gallup: Time is Right to Buy

Consumer attitudes towards the housing markets are echoing views in the years immediately preceding the peak of the housing boom, according to a new national survey by the Gallup poll.

Spring Warms Luxury Demand

It's still very much a "cold" buyer's market according to the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing's April 24 Luxury Housing Report, but early numbers from the spring home buying season suggest that demand is warming up.

High Rents Soak One in Four Tenants

 As a result of long-term increases in rents and utility costs combined with falling renter incomes, one in four renters, or 10.1 million households, spends more than half their income on rent and utilities.

Congress Doubles Funding for Troubled USDA Housing Loans

While slashing funds for disability, elderly, homelessness and Native American housing programs, Congress has doubled the funding for a USDA housing program that may cost the government $4 billion in defaulting loans because over a third of the government-guaranteed rural home loans in its portfolio may be ineligible for the program.

Nearly Half of Sales Now Distressed Properties

  Sales of distressed properties rose to 48.6 percent in March - the second highest level seen in the past 12 months, according to the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey.

Prices Turn Back the Clock to 2004

  House prices fell 1.6 percent in January, retreating to levels of seven years ago, before the housing boom began.

Delinquencies Fall After Negative Equity Rises

Mortgages delinquent 30 days or more are continuing to decline steadily even though the number home owners who owe more on their homes rose slightly in the fourth quarter last year.

Home Sales Seen Eking Out an Increase

Though deteriorating home price expectations among consumers could cause some potential homebuyers to remain on the sidelines this spring, leading indicators suggest that home sales will manage to eke out a slight rise from last year's record lows.

Agents Compete on Price

In a field once thought to be dominated by standard commission rates, today  home sellers select real estate agents on the basis of price more than any other factor, according to a new survey of nearly 800 sellers, by HomeGain.

Slow Processing Stretches Foreclosure Pain

Reforms in the processing of foreclosures that have been put in place in the wake of the Robogate scandal are slowing the foreclosure timeline and extending the corrosive effects of large numbers of foreclosures on local markets.

Homeowners Resigned to a Multiyear Recovery

Nearly half of all homeowners whose properties lost value during the housing recession expect it to will six years or more for their homes to return to pre-recession levels and nine out of ten expect it to take at least three years, according to a survey released yesterday by Pew Research.

Get Ready for a Weak Recovery

Some markets are stabilizing now and on the macro level, the housing recovery is not far away, according to Sam Khater, senior economist at CoreLogic.  But the long awaited recovery won't be much to get excited about, at least initially.

Refinancings, Reverse Mortgages Cost Mortgage Jobs

Mortgage sector jobs went from a net gain in 2009 to a net loss last year, though the drop was far from the 90,000 mortgage workers who lost their jobs in 2007.

Corelogic: Non-distressed Prices are Stabilizing

Nationally home prices fell for the seventh month in a row in February according to the CoreLogic HPI, declining by 6.7 percent year over year after declining by 5.5 percent in January 2011 compared to January 2010.

Housing Subsidy is $2,085 per Household

The federal government spent about $244 billion on housing-related grants and tax expenditures in fiscal year 2009, or roughly $2,085 per household, according to a new study by Pew's Subsidyscope project. By contrast, the government devoted a per household average of $212 to the energy sector (FY 2009), $400 to the transportation sector (FY 2008) and $429 to the nonprofit sector (FY 2008).

Fewer Homeowners Have Problems Paying Mortgages

A new Harris Poll released yesterday found that the percentage of homeowners having difficulty paying off their mortgages has fallen from 29 to 22 percent over the past year, a 24 percent decline.

Left Unloads on Qualified Residential Mortgage Rule

Lenders, home builders and real estate agents fighting a new regulation that could significantly raise down payments and loan-to-value ratios are gaining support from an unlikely quarter.

States Consider Dictating Foreclosure Appraisals

Outrage over legislation that would require appraisers to ignore distress sales in selecting comparable properties for appraised houses forced Maryland legislators to back down from the idea, though three other states are still considering the idea., including Nevada which is holding a hearing on the bill today.

Shadow Inventory Shrinks

  The inventory of unlisted properties that are in the foreclosure pipeline shrank slightly over the past year but remains at a nine months' supply.

Homeowners Still Pay Credit Cards Before Mortgages

Despite a steadily improving economy and declining mortgage delinquency rates over the past year, more homeowners still are paying credit card bills before their monthly mortgage payment, a three year old practice than roughly parallels the foreclosure era and the emergence of "strategic defaults," where mortgage holders walk away from their homes even though they can afford the mortgage payments

Depressed Prices Descend into Dreaded Double Dip

Home prices officially reached the long feared double dip in January as prices of single-family homes in 20 major cities fell for a sixth straight month, according to the authoritative S&P/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor's.

Massive Foreclosure Inventory Overwhelms Sales

An enormous backlog of foreclosures dominates the foreclosure picture at every level, outpacing the monthly sales volume by a factor of thirty and promising to continue the Foreclosure Era for months and years to come.

Most Owners Pessimistic for the Long Term

Fewer than half the nation's homeowners expect the value of their homes to appreciate over the next five years, a 6 percent decline from last month and just three points above the lowest level measured in almost two years.

Bargains Beckon Canadians South

Lower prices and the strong Canadian dollar are encouraging one in five Canadians to buy U.S. property today, according to a new survey of by the Bank of Montreal.

Sellers Keep Faith as Inventories Rise

Despites declines in prices through the fourth quarter and January, sellers are expecting nearly demand to be as strong as it was at the beginning of the homebuyer tax run-up in sales a year ago according to February data released today by Move, Inc.

Experts See Only Weak Recovery by 2013

A panel of 111 leading housing economists, real estate experts, investment and market strategists have lowered their expectations of the housing markets and now see only a weak recovery taking place two years from now.

Investors Dominate Distress Sales

Investor activity dominated a sluggish distress sale market in February as homebuyers are increasingly frustrated by difficulties getting financing, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey.

Delinquencies Fell Faster in January

The delinquency rate on mortgages 30 days or more past due fell by more last month than it has in nearly a year, according to Lender Processor Services' Mortgage Monitor report to be released later this week.

RE/MAX Survey: February Prices Down 5.9 Percent from 2010

Though February home sales rose over January, they were 3.0 percent below the level of February 2010 and median prices were off 5.9 percent from a year ago in the 54 U.S. markets surveyed in the RE/MAX National Housing Report.

Default Risk Rises for Nonprime Mortgages

The potential default risk on nonprime mortgages that were closed in the first quarter rose to the same level as loans closed last spring and fall after a drop in the fourth quarter, according to the UFA Default Risk Index, which measures the risk of default on newly originated nonprime mortgages.

“Housing Sector Still Depressed”

  It's official.  The Fed's Open Market Committee yesterday affirmed that the housing sector still depressed even though the economic recovery is on a firmer footing and spending and investment continue to expand.

Foreclosures Take a Dive

Foreclosures hit their lowest level in three years in February, in part because of the continuing confusion and disruption caused by the Robogate scandal last fall and in part because delinquencies have fallen steadily for a year as the economy slowly recovers.

Buyers’ Selection of Luxury Homes Grows

Inventories of homes for sale for over one million rose above  30,000 nationally last week according to the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing's weekly housing report.

Prices Seen Stabilizing After Spring Fling

  Last month prices continued to decline in 27 key markets as listing inventories rose just in time to sweeten the coming home buying season for buyers but they should act now because small increases are appearing on the national level, according to Altos Research's Real-Time Housing Market Update.

Cash Deals Break the Bank

  All-cash home sales are setting records in market after market around the country as investors account for a growing share of home purchases and individual buyers, especially first-time buyers, fade as mortgage rates rise and home buyer demand softens further.

New Delinquencies Continue to Fall, But So Do Foreclosure Sales

New delinquencies and foreclosure starts continued to fall in January, but increases in foreclosure processing and sales were not enough to offset swelling foreclosure inventories or lengthening foreclosure timelines. In fact, the average loan in foreclosure has not made a payment in over 500 days, according to Lender Processor Services' February Mortgage Monitor report.

Minorities and Young Keep Homeownership Dream Alive

Fannie Mae's latest National Housing Survey found that younger Americans, Hispanics, and African-Americans are generally more positive about owning a home than the general population even though Gen Yers and minorities suffered the steepest decline in homeownership over the past five years.

Home Sellers Regret Going it Alone

  Homeowners who used a real estate professional to sell their homes reported a 50 percent better closing rate than those who went it alone, according to a new consumer survey by HomeGain.

Online House Hunting Rises 10 Percent over 2010

In January the number of searches for homes by buyers on the Internet's largest homes-for-sale site, a potential an indicator of future demand, rose 10 percent over a year ago, a time when large numbers of buyers were getting ready to take advantage of the homebuyer tax credits.

Half of January Home Sales were Distressed Properties

Almost half of the homes sold in January were foreclosures or short sales, the highest level of distressed sales in nearly a year, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey.

Delinquency Rates Dip Downward Again

  Delinquency rates (on mortgages 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure) have been the brightest light in the gloomy foreclosure picture over the past year.  Two new reports confirm that delinquencies are falling to pre-recession levels, a sign that the economy is steadily improving and the end of the foreclosure plague may be in sight.

CoreLogic Blasts NAR for Overstating Home Sales

The "most popular measure" of existing home sales, the National Association of Realtors' Existing Home Sales, has increasingly overstated home sales for ten years as measured by five other sources, and reached a level in 2010 that is 15 to 20 percent higher than actual sales, according to data provider  CoreLogic, which made the charges in its US Housing and Market Trends Report.

Three Biggest Lenders Close Over Half of U.S. Mortgages

More than half of last year's mortgage originations were generated by just three lenders, according to the Fourth Quarter 2010 Mortgage Lender Ranking from MortgageDaily.com.

Capping the Mortgage Interest Deduction: Third Time the Charm?

For the third straight year, the Obama Administration has proposed limiting the value of the mortgage interest deduction by limiting the amount that wealthier tax payers can deduct.

Obama Plan for Fannie and Freddie Holds Short-term Surprises

  The Administration's plan to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the next five to seven years and replace their functions with new regulation and private sector capital announced this morning contains some short term surprises that will impact real estate consumers and the housing economy within the next year.

Is There Light at the End of the Foreclosure Tunnel?

Not so long ago, foreclosures were rare and mortgage-backed securities were considered sleepy, conservative, super low risk investments.  In fact, there is reason to hope that the end of the multi-year foreclosure nightmare is finally in sight. The flow of future foreclosures has steadily slowed over the past year. Delinquency and default rates have been falling consistently.

Foreclosure Inventories are 7.8 Times above Normal and Rising

A report by Lender Processing Services today confirms Fitch Ratings' analysis yesterday that the volume of defaulted loans moving to REO status has fallen to a trickle as a consequence of the Robo-gate scandal, contributing to a backlog of foreclosures that threatens to reverse the overall decrease in foreclosure inventory caused by the steady decline in new delinquencies last year.

Robo-gate Will Haunt REO Inventory for Four Years

Fall-out from the scandal known as "Robo-gate" will lengthen the time frame for clearing all the current non-agency inventory of distressed properties to four years, according to a new report today by Fitch Ratings.

HAMP Cuts Re-default Rate

Homeowners who modified their mortgages under government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) are staying current on their loans at a far better rate than critics expected and are outperforming industry modifications, according to the largest data from the Treasury Department.

Slower REO Sales Ease Price Declines

National quarter-over-quarter home prices slid 1.6 percent in January but prices turned positive during the month, the first uptick since mid-August, according to Clear Capital's Home Data Index.

Is Your Market Stabilized?

It's official.  Home prices in three major real estate markets have been declared stabilized by the authoritative Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes and six more are in the offing.

Homeownership Tanks to 12 Year Low

A smaller percentage of American households own their own homes today than at any time since 1998, a dramatic decline from the all-time high in homeownership just six years ago

First-time Buyers Show Signs of Life

Seven months after the first-time homebuyer tax credit expired, first-time buyers registered a surprisingly strong share of housing markets across the country, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey.

Challenges Face Luxury Homes

Things were looking up for luxury home sales during the tax credit boomlet last year.  However, the credit wasn't the primary reason; after all, $4000 isn't a compelling incentive to well-heeled move up buyers in the million dollar plus housing bracket.

Private Mortgage Insurance Booms in a Shaky Market

  Even as overall home sales soured over the past six months, home buyers and lenders are turning to private mortgage insurance (PMI) at a record rate to get into homes with a lower down payment and reduce their exposure to risk. Since July, when home sales tanked following the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit, the [...]

Homebuilders Regroup After Miserable 2010

Look for fewer new home starts in 2011 as fears of a double dip in prices mount and builders lick their wounds from last year, which was the "worst year ever" for new home sales, according to the chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders.

Jobs and Distress Sales To Drive Local Prices in 2011

factors, unemployment and prevalence of distressed sales, will determine the fates of local real estate market prices in 2011, according to the latest forecast from Clear Capital.

Fewer Lenders Failed in 2010

Fewer mortgage-related firms closed their doors during 2010 than in 2009 based on the Mortgage Graveyard from MortgageDaily.com

Home Prices Teeter on a Double Dip

A 20-city composite of home prices through October as measured by the S&P/Case-Shiller Indices is teetering on the brink of falling below recent lows in 2009 to create a price new low and achieve the "double dip" in prices long feared by the real estate industry.

Insecurity Grips Consumers as 2010 Ends

Almost half of all Americans say they expect economy to get no better in the same in the coming year and two in five Americans (42 percent) feel less secure than they did a year ago while one-third (36 percent) feel just as secure and one in five (19 percent) say they now feel more secure.

Economists See Slower Housing Recovery

The recovery of housing prices will take at least four more years, according to a monthly survey of 110 leading economists and real estate experts, significantly longer than previously estimated.

First-Time Buyers React to Rising Rates

A sharp increase in interest rates is driving first-time homebuyers back into the market, increasing first-timer share of the home buying market according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey.

RE/MAX Reports Inventories Reach Year High

In November inventories in 54 metropolitan areas rose to a year-high of 10 months' supply as sales fell 25.9 percent and prices sagged 1.7 percent from a year ago according to the RE/MAX National Housing Report released today.

TransUnion Sees Double Digit Decline in Delinquencies Next Year

Mortgage delinquencies will drop nearly 20 percent by the end of 2011 to 4.98 percent of all mortgages from an expected 6.21 percent at the end of 2010, according to the latest forecast from TransUnion, one of the three top credit rating bureaus.

Are Only 57 Percent of Americans Really Homeowners?

Is the homeownership rate really ten percent lower than the Census Bureau says it is?

Poor Condition of REOs Depresses Home Values

The quality, as well as the quantity, of many bank-owned properties in the REO inventory is creating a drag on home values because they are difficult to sell in today's market, Scott Sambucci, vice president of Altos Research, said yesterday in a Webinar for investors.

Midwest Home Prices Plunged in November

Home prices have fallen on a national basis for three months in a row, declining by 5.8 percent in November compared to August, according to a leading price index released today.  The Midwest region experienced the biggest quarterly price change (-9.9 percent) and increasing numbers of local markets dropped into double dip territory.

2011 Outlook: Stars Align for Buyers with Low Rates and Prices

Interest rates below 5 percent and prices bottoming out in the first half of the year will drive two of the three main ingredients for buyer affordability to cyclic lows next year, Freddie Mac's chief economist said yesterday.

Rural Foreclosures: The Hidden Heartland Inventory

You've heard of the Shadow Inventory?  The Heartland's foreclosure inventory isn't in a shadow.  It's totally hidden.

Foreclosure Discount Grows, Home Values Fall

Not only did the number of foreclosures grow during the third quarter, so too did the "foreclosure discount," the difference between the average price of foreclosed properties and properties for sale that are not in foreclosure.

Counting the Casualties of the Housing Depression

When it comes to getting a mortgage, building a new home or buying an existing one, there's a good reason consumers don't experience the same level of service that existed at the height of the housing boom five years ago.  The ranks of real estate professionals have been devastated

Fannie Finds The Bottom Has a Hole in it

Fannie Mae's most recent nationwide housing survey finds that consumers are less certain that the housing market has bottomed, and continue to be wary of buying a home.

Experts Forecast Low Prices For Years

A panel of 103 leading housing economists and real estate experts predict cumulative home prices will rise an average only 8.3 percent over at least the next three years, according to the latest 2010 MacroMarkets Home Price Expectations Survey.

Consensus Sees Better Sales by Mid 2011

Though most forecasters are bearish on the outlook for property values next year, due largely to the overhang of foreclosures that is worsening with the self-imposed moratoria by several big lenders, a consensus is building for improved demand by next summer as the overall economic picture brightens.

Mortgage Rates Soar

Freddie Mac's weekly survey of interest rates rose for the first time in eight weeks, soaring 22 basis points for a 30-year fixed loan, the highest rates have been since August and the largest one-week increase since June 4, 2009 when the rate on a 30-year fixed rose 38 basis points.

Mortgage Fraud Rises 20 Percent Since 2009

Mortgage fraud increased by more than 20 percent since the fraud rates reached their lowest point in early 2009, according to an update of CoreLogic's Fraud Trends Report.

Falling Prices: CoreLogic Makes it Two in a Row

Home prices declined for the second month in a row after rising slightly for the first seven months of the year, according to CoreLogic's Home Price Index for September.

Sellers’ Profits Fell 8 Percent Last Year

Even though home sellers are holding on to their homes longer, they are making less profit from the equity in their homes when they sell, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors.

Banks Tighten Standards as Mortgage Demand Falls

Even as demand for mortgages declined with the expiration of homebuyer tax credit in the third quarter, a small number of banks tightened standards on both prime and nontraditional mortgage loans, reversing a slight net easing reported in the second quarter.

Falling Prices Sweep America

Declining home prices spread across the nation last month, reaching 25 of the 26 top markets tracked by Altos Research.  Only Washington, DC, with its large Federal workforce, experienced a gain.

Owners Stay Home During Housing Depression

Homeowners are staying put as long as they possibly can and house flipping is almost nonexistent today as consumers weather the longest housing depression in modern times.

Rental Vacancies Shrink, Ownership Vacancies Rise

Nothing shows the pendulum swinging away from home ownership and towards rentals more clearly than the latest vacancy data from the Census Bureau.

Election Spells Doom for Fannie and Freddie

Among the many messages voters sent to Washington yesterday was: Get the government out of financing homes now and let the private sector do it.

Fitch Foreclosure Forecast Casts a Pall on Recovery Hopes

Not until March 1, 2014 will the last of the seven million properties that are currently delinquent, in foreclosure, or bank-owned  finally return to life as homes or investments.

Mortgage Insurance Booms as Buyers Struggle

Despite 19.1 percent fewer home sales in September than a year ago, private mortgage insurance applications received by leading mortgage insurers are up 32 percent in the past 12 months.

Mortgage Bankers Bet on Rebound in Home Sales

Expecting overall mortgage originations to fall about $400 billion next year, the Mortgage Bankers Association hopes for a 30 percent rebound in mortgages originated for home purchases next year, according to its economic forecast released Tuesday.

Home Prices Slide in Third Quarter

Predictions by housing bears that the fourth quarter will kick off a slump in housing prices that will last long into next year seem to be coming true a couple of months early, according to price reports released yesterday.

Fannie and Freddie Trump Homebuyer Tax Credit

Keeping Freddie and Fannie solvent has cost taxpayers six times as much as the homebuyer tax credit and, depending on the economy, could just about equal the cost of mortgage interest deduction over the next two years, according to projections released yesterday by the Federal Housing Finance Administration.

Fewer Economists See Housing Recovery in 2011

Hopes are sinking and uncertainty is on the rise that a housing recovery will begin next year, according to a monthly survey of housing economists.

Support for Homeownership Falls 6 Percent

The number of Americans who believe buying a home is a good financial decision has fallen every year since 2007 and reached a low of 77 percent this year, according to an annual survey released yesterday by the National Association of Realtors.

Farm Loan Defaults Soar in 2010

Farm loan delinquencies have hit a 17-year high, and 2.3 percent of all agricultural production loans made by commercial banks were past due, up from 1.3 percent a year ago, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Crisis Freezes Foreclosures as REO Inventories Rise

As investigations and multi-month delays in the foreclosure process begin, those who will suffer most are JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, according to a new survey of foreclosure exposure, and foreclosure suspensions are coming at a bad time, just as foreclosue sales are down and REO inventories are rising.

ForeclosureGate Won’t Close til 2011

Almost hourly the nightmare facing the housing industry worsens as the ramifications of what is being called ForeclosureGate become clearer.

Did Too Many FHA Buyers “Borrow Forward?”

  Will the newly imposed changes to the FHA loan program, which finances one out of every three residential transactions in America, cause another drop to home sales?

Owning Now Cheaper than Renting in 18 Major Markets

Rising rents and falling property values in many major markets are combining the change the rent vs. buy equation for thousands of potential homeowners around the country.  Suddenly homeownership is within reach of buyers who don't need a tax credit to make the numbers work.

Poverty Moves into America’s Suburbs

Some 1.6 million more poor people live in America's suburbs than its cities, according to a new study by scholars at the Brookings Institute.

California Faces Gloomy 2011

Real estate sales in America's largest state will decline 10 percent this year with hopes for a lackluster 2 percent rise in 2011.

Harris Poll Detects Uptick in Home Buying Sentiment

A new Harris Poll released today finds no significant changes in consumer expectations in how Americans will spend their money on big ticket items over the next 6 months, with the possible exception of homes.

Fannie Confirms Delinquencies Declining

In its second quarter report, Fannie Mae confirmed what others have previously reported:  since the first of the year, serious mortgage delinquency rates have slowly but steadily declined.

Fitch Expert Sees Prices Falling 10 Percent

Home prices will fall another 10 percent before they stabilize in the second half of next year, Roelof Slump, Managing Director of Structured Finance Experts for Fitch Ratings told investors Thursday.

Mortgage Modifications are Sticking

Though the Administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) is falling far short of its goal of helping three to four million homeowners, the program is succeeding at helping those who do make through the program are stay current on their payments and avoid re-default.

Low Appraisals Still Sink Sales

Despite the repeal of a rule unpopular with appraisers and agents alike, low appraisals are still killing deals across the nation, slowing sales at a critical time in the housing markets.

One-third of Americans Score Too Low for a Mortgage

Mortgage lenders have raised standards on credit scores so high that nearly one-third of Americans are unlikely to qualify for a mortgage because their credit scores are too low.

Though Foreclosures Rise, Delinquencies Wane

While foreclosure starts remain high, the longer term foreclosure picture is improving as evidence mounts that delinquencies, though still very high, are declining, despite the economy.

Straightening Out the MERS Mess

Could 62 million homeowners be secure from the threat of  foreclosure because their mortgages are held by an industry-run electronic mortgage registry that a California bankruptcy court recently ruled cannot be used to establish ownership of the loans?

August Existing Home Sales Spell Relief

The flood of bad news on home sales took a breather in August as sales, inventories and prices all moved in the right direction, though all three metrics have a very long way to go to return to normal levels.

Expectations Rise for Prices to Fall

Both real estate professionals and homeowners soured on the direction of home prices in the third quarter and nearly half of the 1,100 professionals participating in a new survey by HomeGain expect prices to fall over the next six months.

Support for Homeownership Sinks at Critical Juncture

Sliding numbers on the value of homeownership in Fannie Mae's latest nationwide housing survey brought in sharp focus the debate over Federal housing policy at a critical time.

August Sales Fall but Prices Hold Steady…For Now

Home sales tumbled in August but prices held steady, at least for now, despite falling demand and rising inventories in most markets according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions.

Distress Sales Market Share to Rise

Distress sales, foreclosures and short sales will increase their market share during the fourth quarter as the tax-credit induced sales bump disappears and buyers return to bargain shopping.

PMI: Home Sales Set to Rise

The drop in home sales following the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit is probably over and sales may actually rise in the August to October period.

Freddie Foresees Price Declines

Home prices may fall an additional 1 to 1.5 percent in the third quarter but they will stabilize during the first half of 20011 and begin to rise during the balance of the year, according to the September forecast issued by the GSE's economists.

Outlook Brightens for Luxury Markets

While the end of the homebuyer tax credit has left most real estate markets begging for buyers, the luxury and second homes markets may be in for a boost in 2011

Nine of Ten Consumers Postponing Big Purchases Through 2010

Fear that a double dip recession will threaten their personal finances is driving nine out of ten potential buyers out of the market for big ticket items like homes and cars for at least the next three to four months, according to a new national consumer survey released today.

Move-up Buyers Claim One Third of Tax Credits

Preliminary reports indicate that more existing homeowners than expected took advantage of the homebuyer tax credit to help buy a new home this year.

FHA Softens Mortgage Insurance Blow

On October 4, buyers use FHA financing will encounter an unusual surprise.  Their mortgages will cost more over time, but it will cost them less than it does today to close on their loan.

Housing Faces the Fall

The consensus among the experts that home prices will fall farther before they hit bottom may become a self-fulfilling prophecy as the very buyers so desperately needed to buy up the excess inventory and stop the price slide will wait until they are absolutely sure that prices have reached their lowest point.

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.

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.    

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.

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.

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.