Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aren’t granting reductions in homeowners’ loan balances, as has been widely noted of late. Nevertheless, some Americans who have gotten into trouble on their mortgages are actually seeing their loan balances cut, as a debate rages in Washington about whether doing so on a wider scale will be effective.
More than 35,000 homeowners received principal reductions from their lender last year, the Office of the…
Added by GLOZAL on March 29, 2012 at 12:55pm — No Comments
Realtor.com recently released its picks for top investment markets, based on February 2012 data of 146 markets on housing inventories, price trends, and unemployment rates. The following are the six housing markets that came out on top as best investments:
1. Tucson, Ariz.
Median…
ContinueAdded by GLOZAL on March 28, 2012 at 1:19pm — No Comments
The Federal Housing Administration announced that starting April 1 it will not insure mortgages to borrowers who have an ongoing credit dispute of $1,000 or more on their file.
To be considered for an FHA-backed loan, borrowers will either have to pay the remaining balance on the credit dispute or enter…
ContinueAdded by GLOZAL on March 28, 2012 at 10:54am — No Comments
“Prices are bottoming now,” according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecast, released this week.
In the fall, the analysts had predicted home prices would drop by 8 percent from the second quarter of 2011 through the first quarter of 2013 — but now they’re revising that forecast, realizing the…
ContinueAdded by GLOZAL on March 26, 2012 at 10:23am — 5 Comments
In 1513, Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León set sail in search of Bimini, a mythical land said to house a spring that restored youth to anyone who drank from it. After scouring the Caribbean and Florida, he returned empty-handed, and the Fountain of Youth remained undiscovered. Perhaps he was just looking…
ContinueAdded by GLOZAL on March 23, 2012 at 9:30am — 2 Comments
A high number of foreclosures continue to beat down on several housing markets. For six years, Nevada has held the No. 1 spot for highest foreclosure rate in the country and still does, despite reaching a 58-month low in foreclosures in February, according to the most recent data from RealtyTrac. While the…
ContinueAdded by GLOZAL on March 22, 2012 at 10:02am — 2 Comments
A number of housing markets nationwide have been seeing modest increases in median list prices. In the last year alone, median national list prices ticked up 6.82 percent year over year in February, according to Realtor.com data of 146 metro markets. And a number of markets have seen increases in just one…
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Thirty-three percent of real estate professionals reported that a contract fell through in December -- up from 9 percent reporting contract failures in December 2010, according to National Association of REALTORS® survey data.
A recent Chicago Tribune article spotlighted some of the common reasons for…
ContinueAdded by GLOZAL on March 20, 2012 at 9:14am — 3 Comments
Foreclosures are expected to pick-up as soon as banks begin to clear their backlog of troubled loans. RealtyTrac is projecting a 25 percent increase in foreclosures in 2012.
If an increase does occur, some housing experts wonder how it will impact overall home prices and whether the discounts for REOs…
ContinueAdded by GLOZAL on March 19, 2012 at 4:13pm — No Comments
Median list prices nationwide increased 6.82 percent in February compared to February 2011, according to the latest data from Realtor.com, tracking 146 markets.
“The nation’s housing market as a whole are in better shape today than at any time since the 2009-2010 tax credits,” according to…
ContinueAdded by GLOZAL on March 19, 2012 at 10:55am — 5 Comments
The housing market continues to show signs of a turnaround with 99 real estate markets now making up this month’s Improving Markets Index. Texas has the most cities on the list.
Just before launching into the spring selling season, about a quarter of all metro areas are showing improvements to…
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As part of a settlement with state attorneys general, the five largest mortgage servicers are adopting new requirements for short sales, which is expected to speed-up what has been known as a lengthy process.
Here are some of the new requirements for servicers under the settlement:
Added by GLOZAL on March 16, 2012 at 10:05am — 11 Comments
Are YOU Up for the 90-Day member challenge? With people joining every day, GLOZAL wants to reach 1 million members in 90-…
ContinueAdded by GLOZAL on March 14, 2012 at 9:00am — 2 Comments
The government was able to chip away at its foreclosure inventory in 2011, reducing it by nearly half, HousingWire reports in analyzing financial statements from three government enterprises.
From the end of 2010 to 2011, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development…
ContinueAdded by GLOZAL on March 13, 2012 at 11:00am — 6 Comments
Fifty-one percent of Americans in a recent poll say that if their financial situation were to improve, they’d buy a home. Coming in second on the list of wishes, they’d make repairs or improvements to the home they already have, according to the poll of more than 1,400 Americans conducted by the National…
ContinueAdded by GLOZAL on March 12, 2012 at 10:01am — No Comments
While home prices are starting to show more signs of stabilizing, some states are already seeing prices start to climb. The states with the highest price appreciation in January, according to new data released by CoreLogic, are:
Added by GLOZAL on March 8, 2012 at 6:00pm — 2 Comments
Pricing your home realistically will most certainly get potential buyers through the door, but how do you get them to fall in love with the home? A recent article at U.S. News & World Report offers some of the following tips for sellers in enhancing their home’s appeal.
Added by GLOZAL on March 8, 2012 at 3:16pm — No Comments
More borrowers are exploring financing options to cover the costs of rehabbing properties they buy. “Rehab” loans are surging in popularity, according to a New York Times article.
“We’re seeing an explosive growth in these loans,” says Ed Brehm with Prospect Mortgage, one of the country’s largest…
ContinueAdded by GLOZAL on March 7, 2012 at 12:13pm — 2 Comments
More lenders are allowing home owners in default to stay-put in their homes longer--and even negotiating special arrangements with them, such as the lender paying the home insurance if the home owner pays the utility costs, The New York Times reports.
Why the postponement? Banks don’t want the cost…
ContinueAdded by GLOZAL on March 6, 2012 at 11:36am — No Comments
If a home isn’t enough for your buyer, how about an entire town?
A small village known as Pray, Mont., is for sale, which means one buyer could own his or her very own town for $1.4 million. The small village, founded in 1907, is about 30 miles north of Yellowstone National Park and boasts a population…
ContinueAdded by GLOZAL on March 5, 2012 at 12:20pm — 2 Comments
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