Apr 02
Millennials Embrace Unique, High-Tech Spaces. The Millennial generation is about 90 million strong—forming the largest demographic wave in the country’s history—and some reports suggest they’re readying for home ownership. Millennials’ entrance into home ownership has been delayed due to the recession, high unemployment, and high student loan debt. They’ve been living in their parents’ …
Apr 02
Mortgage Counseling Pays Off, Study Shows. Home buyer counseling leads to significantly lower mortgage default rates, according to a new study by NeighborWorks America. The study found that borrowers who went through a prepurchase counseling program were nearly a third less likely than non-counseled borrowers to fall behind on their mortgage payments by 90 …
Apr 01
New Database Allows Americans to Post Mortgage Gripes. Americans have a lot of gripes when it comes to mortgages. Of the 90,000 consumer complaints that have been filed so far to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new consumer complaint database, 50,000 have related to mortgage issues. Complaints over loan modifications, foreclosures, and other servicing …
Apr 01
FHA Premiums to Rise April 1. Starting Monday, borrowers will be charged higher mortgage insurance premiums on new Federal Housing Administration loans. The annual fee on the majority of FHA loans will rise by 0.1 percent on April 1. This marks the third time the FHA has increased its mortgage insurance premiums in two …
Mar 29
Are First-Time Buyers Being Shut Out? Across the country, first-time home buyers have been putting in offers on homes, but many of them keep losing out. One working mother says she’s put in 30 offers on homes in the $100,000 range in the Atlanta area, bidding $2,500 to $3,000 above the asking price, but …
Mar 29
Mortgage Delinquencies, Foreclosure Rates Fall. The foreclosure picture continues to show year-over-year improvement, with delinquencies down and foreclosure inventories falling, according to a report of February data from Lender Processing Services (LPS), which provides technology and data for the mortgage and real estate industries. The total U.S. loan delinquency rate — loans 30 or …
Mar 28
Competition Heats Up for Home Buyers. Bidding wars are brewing again in more housing markets, and buyers are finding themselves up against increased competition in snagging a home. California buyers reportedly are feeling some of the biggest competition in the housing market, as inventories of homes for sale have fallen at the same time …
Mar 28
New-Home Sales Slow in February as Prices Rise. New-home sales posted the largest drop in two years, falling 4.6 percent in February, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Housing experts say the bad weather may have had a big part in the dip, just as the new-home market had shown signs of picking up its …
Mar 27
Will Farmland Values Reverse Course? Farmland values have risen rapidly over the past few years, renewing fears of a bursting bubble in that sector. In Iowa alone, farmland values have surged 90 percent since 2009. Mike Duffy, an economist at Iowa State University, says that an acre of farmland in the state used to …
Mar 27
Some Buyers Snap Up Retirement Homes Early. With home values falling over the past few years, some buyers are seeing a great opportunity to buy their retirement home now instead of waiting until they retire years later. For example, in one of the largest retirement areas in the nation — Century Village in Boca …
Mar 12
Brokerage Creates ‘Sneak Preview’ App for Listings @properties, a Chicago-based brokerage, has created a mobile app that allows its real estate professionals to market listings to one another before the properties show up in the multiple listing service. “Our 1,100 agents form a powerful ‘market within a market.’ The app makes the market incredibly efficient,” …
Mar 12
Many Americans Face ‘Megacommutes’ About 600,000 Americans travel more than 90 minutes each way—more than 50 miles—to get from home to work each day, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report. Megacommutes are known for being worst in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and New Orleans. Megacommuters tend to be …
