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February 22, 2012
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Daily News Articles

  • Mortgage Bills May Soon Be Simpler to Grasp
    02/22/2012

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed a standardized mortgage statement that sets out to make it easier to understand the information about your loan on one page. 

    The proposed mortgage statement, released last week, includes a breakdown of such items as the amount paid from the monthly payment toward the principal, interest, escrow, the outstanding principal, maturity date, and any prepayment penalties. For adjustable-rate mortgages, the prototype also shows when the interest rate on the loan will begin to reset. 

  • Grubb & Ellis Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
    02/22/2012

    One of the nation’s largest commercial real estate  brokerages filed for bankruptcy this week. Grubb & Ellis says the financial crisis and the sluggish commercial property market are to blame. 

    Grubb & Ellis also announced it will sell nearly all of its assets to BGC Partners, a financial brokerage firm that says it wants to make a push more into the commercial real estate arena, The New York Times reports. 

  • Lawmakers Seek to Fund Teardowns With Gov’t Bonds
    02/22/2012

    Vacant foreclosed homes are still wreaking havoc in some neighborhoods across the country, creating eyesores and pulling down overall home prices.

  • 8 Markets Where List Prices Have Fallen the Most
    02/22/2012

    Median list prices nationwide are up 3.69 percent year over year, according to Realtor.com data, which tracks 146 metro areas. More housing markets are showing signs of stabilizing, as inventories of for-sale homes are dropping.

    But a few metro areas continue to see falling list prices. Many of these areas are plagued by foreclosures that are chipping away at home prices. 

    The following eight metro areas have seen the largest year-over-year drops in median list prices. 

  • Low-income Renters Struggle to Find Affordable Housing
    02/22/2012

    A study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition has found that for every 100 families considered "extremely low income," there are only 30 affordable units available to rent nationwide. "Extremely low income" renters are considered those who earn less than 30 percent of the median income in the metro area which they live. 

    The number of extremely low income renters has grown in recent years. In 2010, the number swelled to 9.8 million -- nearly a quarter of all renters nationwide.  

  • Defaults of the Rich: Walking Away From the McMansions
    02/22/2012

    Wealthy home owners with huge loans worth more than the value of their mansions are walking away from luxury homes in some of California's toniest neighborhoods, even if they still can afford the monthly payments.

    Foreclosures on loans over $1 million are up nearly 600 percent nationwide since 2008 and, according to a Reuters report, at least 180 houses in Beverly Hills alone have been foreclosed, scheduled for auction, or served with a notice of default in recent months.

  • The 10 Most Popular Housing Markets
    02/21/2012

    Chicago continues to hold on to the top-spot in January as the most widely searched housing market at Realtor.com. The following are the top searched housing markets from last month, according to Realtor.com data of 146 metro areas.

    1. Chicago
    Median list price: $186,000 

  • Housing Inventories Drop, List Prices Rise
    02/21/2012

    In a growing number of housing markets, sellers are facing less competition now compared to a year ago.

    Inventory of for-sale homes has dropped by about 23 percent compared to this time last year, and fell by 6 percent alone from December 2011 to January 2012, according to Realtor.com data. 

    The age of the inventory is also declining, and is nearly 5 percent below levels last January. 

  • Fewer Home Owners Behind on Payments
    02/21/2012

    The number of home owners behind on their mortgage payments dropped to the lowest level in three years, according to a report of data from the fourth quarter of 2011 released by the Mortgage Bankers Association. 

    "Mortgage performance is also improving faster than the overall economy," says Jay Brinkmann, MBA's chief economist.

  • Is the Downsizing Trend Fading?
    02/21/2012

    Homes are getting bigger again. Census Bureau data shows that 2011 home starts were bigger with more features and amenities than those built in 2010. 

    According to the data, the average new-home size grew from 2,381 square feet in 2010 to 2,522 square feet in 2011. Forty-two percent of the new homes had four or more bedrooms, and 28 percent of the new homes had three or more full bathrooms.