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March 5, 2012
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Daily News Articles

  • Is Your Seller Serious About Selling?
    03/02/2012

    When sellers aren’t realistic about the price in listing their home, they may not be all that serious about getting their home sold in the first place. 

  • Number of Underwater Home Owners Grows
    03/02/2012

    Nearly 23 percent of home owners owe more on their houses than they are currently worth, according to new data from the last three months of 2011 released by CoreLogic. 

    More specifically, the number of underwater home owners rose slightly from 22.1 percent in mid-2011 to 22.8 percent by the end of last year. 

    "When they're upside down, borrowers may be current on their payments but they're more vulnerable to economic storms — like job losses — that could tip them over into default," says Sam Khater, senior economist at CoreLogic.

  • Mortgage Rates Drop Closer to All-Time Lows
    03/02/2012

    After rising last week following positive housing indicators, mortgage rates fell back near all-time lows once again this week, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey. 

    "Fixed mortgage rates bottomed out in January and February of this year, which is helping spur the housing market,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

  • Entire Town for Sale in Montana for $1.4M
    03/02/2012

    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 of 197, according to Census data. 

  • Chicago Area MLS Adds 'Green'
    03/02/2012

    To protect against “greenwashing” and false claims of “green” homes, a midwest MLS is adding green fields and disclosure documents to more easily highlight and verify these selling features.

    Real estate professionals in the Chicago metro part of the Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) organization will now have access to new multiple listing service data fields, which they can use to highlight energy efficiency features in a home. MRED encompasses northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and portions of northwest Indiana.

  • NAR: REO Rental Programs Largely Unnecessary
    03/02/2012

    Housing markets are complex and varied, and a government pilot program to turn bank-owned properties into rentals could be disruptive and counterproductive in some markets, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.

    NAR urges the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to proceed cautiously with its Real Estate-Owned (REO) Initiative pilot program to sell homes repossessed by government agencies to private investors to convert into rental units.

  • Webinar: Take a Tour of the New REALTOR.org
    03/02/2012

    REALTOR.org is being redesigned to give you easy access to the most authoritative, timely, and useful information from your association. In this webinar, Realtor.org site designers will walk you through the changes and show you how you can provide feedback.

  • Short Sales Rise, More Banks View it as a Better Option
    03/01/2012

    Banks are more willing to agree to a sale at a lower cost than a home owner’s mortgage balance in order to avoid having the property fall into foreclosure, which can be more costly for a lender. 

    In the fourth quarter of 2011, there were more than 88,000 short sales, a rise of 15 percent compared to a year prior. In all, short sales made up 10 percent of all home sales sold in the fourth quarter, according to recent data released by RealtyTrac.

  • Bernanke: Economy Improves, Threats Loom
    03/01/2012

    Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers Wednesday that the economy is improving, and the Fed plans to carry on with its policy of holding key interest rates low — at least for now. 

    In recent months, the economy has steadily shown signs of improvements: Unemployment rate has dropped for five consecutive months, and consumer confidence has been on the rise, posting its highest point in a year in February. Stocks recently have posted large gains. 

  • Fannie Needs $4.6 Billion More in Bailout Money
    03/01/2012

    Fannie Mae announced Wednesday that it will ask for an additional $4.6 billion in federal aid after posting a big loss in the fourth quarter and a disagreement with Bank of America, Reuters News reports. 

    Fannie Mae said it had a $2.4 billion loss in the fourth quarter, bringing the government-sponsored enterprise’s total to $16.9 billion in losses for 2011. 

    The government took control of Fannie Mae and fellow GSE, Freddie Mac, in September 2008. Both GSEs have faced steep losses from a surge in defaulting loans the last few years.