It was reported today that the Case-Shiller 20-city home price index fell 0.5% in March from February, but prices rose 2.3% from March 2009, which was the second straight year-over-year gain. Home prices have risen about 3% nationally from their April 2009 bottom, but they are still nearly 31% below their July 2006 peak.
The co-creator of the Case-Shiller index, who predicted in 2005 that the housing bubble would burst, says he worries that home prices rose last year only because of the fede
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The Mortgage Asset Research Institute in a recent report showed that incidents of mortgage fraud and misrepresentation by professionals in the mortgage industry in the U.S. increased 7 percent from 2008 to 2009. The pace has slowed since the 2007-2008 increase of 26 percent. View the full post thru the hyper-link
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The National Association of Realtors just reported the pending home sales index rose a seasonally adjusted 5.3% in March, and was up 21.1% compared with a year earlier. Click the hyper-link to view the full post.
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California homebuilders pulled permits for 3,714 total housing units in March, a 4 percent increase compared with March 2009, and 7 percent higher compared with February, according to the California. View the full post through the hyper-ink.
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The Federal Reserve is no longer buying mortgage backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Some people worry mortgage rates could rise as a result. This video explains why home mortgage rates could increase. Read the full post and watch the video through the hyper-link.
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As of March 16, only 38% of the grant money from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) had been “obligated,” meaning a municipality has a formal contract at a specific address in place. More than 300 local governments have barely made a dent in their funds, according to a recent U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report. Some communities have used their money to buy, renovate and resell homes to low- and moderate-income families. Others demolished eyesores or bought multif
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Obama’s administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Under the HAMP, borrowers and lenders work out an agreement to reduce the monthly payment on the property for a trial period of three months. Read the full post thru the hyper-link
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The Fed did what they set out to do – purchasing $1.25 Trillion in Mortgage Backed Securities, and succeeding in their plan to lower home loan rates and help stabilize the housing sector. And even though they stretched out the length of the program slightly – in order to soften the impact of the end of the program – the training wheels are now off, the safety net is gone, and home loan rates have already moved higher. In fact – as the Fed will now gradually become a seller of their massive hold
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The National Association of Realtors (NAR) in it’s just released report said its pending home-sales index rose to 97.6 from a downwardly revised 90.2 reading in January. READ the full post thru the hyper-link.
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Early last year, the Federal Reserve began purchasing mortgage-backed securities, which helped maintain low interest rates for consumers. However, the Fed’s purchase program ended in March, and some analysts forecast interest rates to increase throughout the rest of the year. One financial publishing company predicts that rates likely will rise to 5.5 percent by mid-2010 and close the year at 5.75 percent to 6 percent. Read the full post thru the hyper-link
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California homeowners might be seeing another $10,000 tax credit offer soon. Despite the economic woes of the state, the governor has signed a bill offering this tax credit to home buyers.
Is this sound business judgment? California has a $20.7 billion deficit in the general fund budget over the next 16 months and owes $8.8 billion in short-term loans that have to be paid off by June. There is an additional $120-plus billion in outstanding bonds and interest that will be paid over decades
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Time is running out on the federal tax credits for first-time and repeat buyers. First-time buyers who enter a binding contract by April 30 and close escrow before July 1—and meet the income limits—are eligible for the full $8,000 credit (maximum, or 10 percent of the sales price, whichever is less) on their federal tax returns. The first-time home buyer credit applies to homes purchased for $800,000 or less, and does not require repayment if buyers live in the residence for three or more years
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While some economists are concerned about the possibility of an ongoing housing market downturn in 2010, one recent report finds that increased home affordability and government incentives will help stabilize the housing market this year. Read the full post thru the hyper-link
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Today the Obama administration announced yet another housing program. Today’s plan proposes to reduce the amount some troubled borrowers owe on their home loans.
The $14 billion for the program will come from the administration’s existing $75 billion foreclosure-prevention program. Now under-water homeowners will get huge principal reductions and new loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration.
Be sure to read the full post thru the hyper-link.
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Talking-heads who claim the U.S. housing market has "bottomed," or even that it will "bottom" in 2010, don't have the slightest grasp of fundamental economics. Government and the vast majority of media are using the old tactic of trying to talk us out of this downturn. Any bit of positive new is over-emphasized while the terrible, realistic conditions are hardly noted. The government has spent trillions of dollars and has not made ca significant impact on the problem. Government saved Wall
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Nationwide, about 4 million homeowners are 90 days or more delinquent on their mortgages or in foreclosure proceedings, according to Moody’s Economy.com
Celia Chen, a housing economist at Economy.com. said: “trial modifications and other delays have kept many of those mortgages out of foreclosure, but by the end of this year, 2.4 million borrowers are expected to lose their homes.” Read the full post.
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Under an Obama administration program due to begin in the next few weeks, many borrowers who get reduced payments on their first-lien mortgage through the administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program automatically would get a break on their second-lien mortgage. READ THE FULL POST THRU THE LINK BELOW:
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Housing numbers aren’t great now, and MoneyWatch real estate blogger Ilyce Glink believes things will only get worse this spring. See this video thru the link below:
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