Housing recovery… A good week for it! The housing recovery showed signs of strengthening this week, as two new reports showed home sales and prices on the upswing. Existing-home sales have soared nearly 8 percent from a year ago, the National Association of REALTORS® reported this week proving the Housing recovery is on the upswing. …
Category: News
Sep 21
Home Buyers Canceling Contracts?
Home Buyers Canceling Contracts? With a high number of Home Buyers Canceling Contracts, even as the housing market picks up and sales are on a rise, new data from Capital Economics shows. Nearly 18 percent of signed contracts on existing home sales were canceled from May through July. What’s more, 36 percent of real estate …
Sep 21
Home building Bounces Back in August
Home building Bounces Back in August. Home building Bounces Back for single-family homes was at its fastest pace in more than two years during August, as the new-home market continues on in recovery mode. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that single-family housing starts soared 5.5 percent, marking the best pace since April 2010. Construction of homes …
Sep 19
REO Sales – Fannie Takes Bigger Grip Over them.
REO Sales – Fannie Takes Bigger Grip Over them. Fannie Mae announced that it will no longer be using third-party management vendors and sales teams to help manage its REO properties. The mortgage giant will now be handling the management of its REO inventories through its in-house staff. “We have reduced our REO inventory from 162,489 …
Sep 19
Foreclosures Continue to Fall From Last Year’s Levels
Foreclosures Continue to Fall From Last Year’s Levels Foreclosures are down 13 percent from a year ago when they had reached a 17-month high, RealtyTrac reports. Foreclosures include default notices or scheduled foreclosure auctions. Many experts had been predicting a foreclosure wave to occur this summer with foreclosures reaching elevated levels. But the “wave” has …
Sep 18
Strategic Defaulters targeted by ‘Mortgage Cops’
Strategic Defaulters targeted by ‘Mortgage Cops’. The Office of the Inspector General at the Federal Housing Finance Agency is trying to find strategic defaulters and collect on what they still owe. Strategic defaulters are often underwater home owners who walk away from their mortgages even though they still have the means to pay. Experian has …
Sep 17
Fed Moves to Keep Mortgage Rates Low
Fed Moves to Keep Rates Low. The Federal Reserve announced Thursday that, in an effort to re-ignite economic recovery, it was taking aim at mortgage rates — a move that will likely take rates even lower from their current record lows. The Federal Reserve announced it will purchase $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities that will …
Sep 13
Undeveloped Land in High Demand
Undeveloped Land in High Demand. Investors have a new target in real estate: undeveloped land. They’re snatching up undeveloped land heavily discounted in bankruptcy proceedings from developers and banks that foreclosed on the builders once they ran out of money for their projects, Reuters reports. The investors then resell the land for up to 20 …
Sep 13
Back-to-School Mentality Drives Housing for Fall
Back-to-School Mentality Drives Housing for Fall. Forty percent of real estate agents and brokers say the end of vacation season will likely bring a refocus on real estate and a primary driver behind fall home sales, according to a recent survey. ERA Real Estate has dubbed it the “ back-to-school mentality” for the real estate …
Sep 12
Home prices have Progressed, But Have they Recovered?
Home prices have Progressed, But Have they Recovered? Home prices have posted some of their strongest gains this year in nearly six years. But while prices have likely hit bottom, the public shouldn’t confuse that with a full recovery. A lot more still has to happen to get to that point, analysts say. For one, …
Sep 10
Smaller Banks Now Under Fire for Foreclosure Abuses
Smaller Banks Now Under Fire for Foreclosure Abuses. After a landmark mortgage settlement against the nation’s largest banks earlier this year, the U.S. state attorneys general are now investigating smaller banks for alleged foreclosure mishandlings. The U.S. state attorneys general are reportedly targeting U.S. Bancorp, PNC Financial Services Group Inc., SunTrust Banks Inc., and HSBC …
Sep 10
Homes Are Selling Faster
Homes Are Selling Faster. Sales are quickening their pace as the time to sell a home decreases and falls more in line with a “balanced” housing market, according to new research by the National Association of REALTORS®. The median time a home listed for sale was on the market in July was 69 days, down …
