WASHINGTON – Nov. 30, 2011 – Matt Hamilton has dutifully paid the loan on his Maitland house and a Longwood rental condo, but until now he could not refinance them to obtain more-affordable interest rates because the properties are financially underwater.



Starting Thursday, Hamilton and many of the other quarter-million Orlando-area residents with “underwater” mortgages can apply for a new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinance program geared for pretty much everyone…

Television personality Brooke Mueller has sold the gated Los Feliz home she once shared with her ex-husband, Charlie Sheen, for an undisclosed amount.



The buyer is actor Simon Helberg of "The Big Bang Theory."



The restored 4,179-square-foot villa has four bedrooms and 4 ½ bathrooms. A fountain stands in the tiled front courtyard of the Mediterranean-style home, built in 1927.



Inside, the dramatic two-story entry has wood floors and a vaulted…

WASHINGTON (AP) – Nov. 29, 2011 – U.S. home prices are falling again in most major cities after posting small gains over the summer and spring, the latest evidence that the troubled housing market won’t recover any time soon.



The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday showed prices dropped in September from August in 17 of the 20 cities tracked. That was the first decline after five straight months in which at least half the cities in the survey showed monthly…

WASHINGTON – Nov. 29, 2011 – Average interest rates on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage dropped slightly to 3.98 percent last week, remaining at 60-year lows for the fourth week in a row, Freddie Mac reported.



The decline was only .02 percent from last week’s average 4 percent interest rate.



Freddie Mac spokesman Chad Wandler said the recent interest rates haven’t been near such lows for at least 60 years since long-term rates began being recorded.



Last year at this…

Builders mostly have stayed on the sidelines the last few years in many metro areas while construction permits and housing starts have dropped to only a fraction of what they once were during the housing boom days and even prior to that. But in many areas across the country, housing starts and permits at least leveling off. What’s more, in some places they're rising. 

The cities that are seeing the most construction activity in single-family homes and multifamily units are ones that…

New U.S. single-family home sales rose in October and the supply of homes on the market fell to its lowest level since April of last year, showing some healing in the battered housing sector.

The Commerce Department on Monday said that sales edged up 1.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted 307,000-unit annual…

The clock is ticking on homeowners who want to take advantage of Bank of America's recently announced short-sale incentive program.

To collect up to $20,000, qualified sellers must get their homes listed for sale by the end of November.

The bank, which services 1.1 million Florida mortgages, says it…

According to STR Global, hotel occupancy performance in Abu Dhabi following the Formula 1 Grand Prix that took place last weekend (November 11th to 13th) on Yas Island was up compared to 2010, but remained lower than the first race weekend in 2009.



Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix…

NEW YORK – Nov. 22, 2011 – Though the tight economy makes it difficult for Americans to buy or build homes, many have discovered that they can get a house for 40 percent to 60 percent less than they would pay for new construction with a little sweat equity.



THE house was just $1. The catch? A delivery charge of nearly $22,000.

Still, Julie and Randy Olson decided it was worth it. In 2007, they had bought 120 acres of farmland in Brook Park, Minn., only to…

Some housing markets are still battling high numbers of foreclosures that are continuing to put downward pressure on overall housing prices. Many of the cities facing the highest spikes in foreclosure are facing high unemployment rates, underwater borrowers, and low median family income. 

24/7 Wall…

Between listing and sale, some home sellers find that the relationship with their real estate agent sours. As much as they'd like to, homeowners can't just walk away from an agent they no longer want to work with. They usually must negotiate their way out.

Talk it…

10. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida

Metro mover’s index: 1.87

Median home price: $142,000

Home value decline from peak: -53.4%

Unemployment: 10.2%

Like most of the state of Florida, the…

The back to school season is often characterized by parents and students making last-minute mad dashes to purchase school supplies, uniforms, bus passes or books.  This year, parents with college-bound students or investors interested in college towns may be considering an…

Last year the economic forecasting firm Fiserv predicted that home values would sink around 5% in 2011, and that prices in three-quarters of the nation's major metro areas would fall. The bad news is, the firm wasn't that far off the mark. The good news: In the coming year, Fiserv thinks 95% of the 384 metro…

SAN FRANCISCO – Nov. 18, 2011 – The federal government has shut down dozens of Internet scam artists who had been paying Google to run ads making bogus promises to help desperate homeowners scrambling to avoid foreclosures.



The crackdown announced Wednesday renews questions about the role that Google’s…

This week, the federal government released more details about its revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program, which sets out to allow more home owners to refinance their mortgage and take advantage of ultra-low rates. The program is geared to those who are current on their…

Now, in many areas throughout the United States, owning your own home may be more affordable than you think. If you currently rent or are considering homeownership, now is the time to make a smart buy.

Freddie Mac First Look Initiative

Freddie Mac will offer homebuyers and select…

People like to interact with others who are like them. This basic premise is a key to successful interactions with buyers and sellers. At the REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Anaheim on Sunday, real estate trainer Jackie Leavenworth walked a crowd of about 80 REALTORS® through the DISC system — a…

MIAMI, FL 11/16/2011.   Applications for U.S. home mortgages dropped last week, erasing the gains of the week before as demand for refinancing evaporated, an industry group said on Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, dropped 10.0 percent in the week ended Nov 11.…

It’s no secret that the U.S. housing market has seen better days. From falling home values and impaired labor mobility, to backed-up inventories and a flood of foreclosures, there are countless ways that real estate affects the economy at large.



One of the unfortunate results of a bad housing market is…