Thursday
March 8, 2012
Home > News & Commentary > [term]

Daily News Articles

  • Housing Affordability Soars to Record High
    03/07/2012

    Low mortgage rates and falling home values have brought housing within reach to more families than ever before, according to the latest National Association of REALTORS® housing affordability index. 

    Housing affordability in January reached its highest level since NAR began tracking it in 1970. The index -- which tracks median home price, median family income, and the average mortgage rate -- reached 206.1 in January. 

  • Obama Slashes Refi Costs on FHA Mortgages
    03/07/2012

    Home owners who have mortgages backed by the government may be able to refinance their mortgages at a lower interest rate as well as not have to bear the high refinance fees to do so, President Obama announced at a news conference Tuesday. 

    The Federal Housing Administration will cut its upfront fees for refinancing loans. The plan is expected to reduce mortgage payments for the average FHA borrower by about $1,000 a year for up to 3 million borrowers, the administration announced.

    Eligible borrowers must have FHA loans that were issued before June 1, 2009.  

  • Foreclosure Backlogs Starting to Clear, Report Says
    03/07/2012

    Foreclosure starts rose 28 percent while foreclosure sales soared 29 percent in January compared to the previous month, according to the latest Lender Processing Services’ January Mortgage Monitor report.

  • 5 Ways for Sellers to Lure More Buyers
    03/07/2012

    Pricing your home realistically will most certainly get potential buyers through the door, but how do you get them to fall in love with the home? A recent article at U.S. News & World Report offers some of the following tips for sellers in enhancing their home’s appeal. 

  • The Million-Dollar Home Search
    03/07/2012

    When home buyers are looking for properties priced at $1 million or higher, they most often target the Sun Belt areas, according to Realtor.com searches from January.

    Inman News recently featured the top searched markets for $1 million-plus homes, based on data from Realtor.com. The following areas came out on top:

    1. Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif.

    2. Orange County, Calif. 

    3. Miami

    4. Chicago

    5. San Diego, Calif.

    6. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla. 

  • Second Time Around for Used Building Materials
    03/07/2012

    Home buyers with an eye on teardowns are discovering a secondary income stream reclaiming and selling everything from hardwood flooring to pedestal sinks.
     
    Outside Chicago, buyer Tim Carey decided to tear down the two-bedroom, one-bath home with a damaged foundation and water leaks. But by having a company deconstruct the home for reuse or recycling, he benefited from the nearly $135,000 in raw materials that were donated to a charitable organization.
     

  • Home Prices Stabilize Despite Increase in REOs
    03/06/2012

    An increase in distressed properties on the market is no longer chipping away at overall home prices, an “unusual and encouraging” sign, a new report suggests. 

    In fact, the report found that in the top 15 metro areas REOs dramatically increased in February, but those areas still showed average gains or mostly stable home prices compared to the previous month, a new report by Clear Capital shows. Distressed properties typically are known to put downward pressure on nearby home prices. 

  • Mortgage Fraud Cases Rise 20%
    03/06/2012

    The percentage of mortgage fraud activity rose 20 percent in the third quarter compared to a year earlier, a report by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network finds. Almost 62 percent of the nearly 20,000 suspicious activity reports in the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, began about four years ago, the report noted. 

    Suspicious activity included loan workout or debt elimination, questionable refinance or loan modification attempts, as well as Social Security number discrepancies on loan applications. 

  • 'Rehab' Loans Surge in Popularity to Fix Up Properties
    03/06/2012

    More borrowers are exploring financing options to cover the costs of rehabbing properties they buy. “Rehab” loans are surging in popularity, according to a New York Times article. 

    “We’re seeing an explosive growth in these loans,” says Ed Brehm with Prospect Mortgage, one of the country’s largest processors of 203(k) loans. The spike in demand is from the higher number of bank-owned properties as well as borrowers who can no longer get home equity loans, he says.

  • Rare Southern Plantations Go Up for Sale
    03/06/2012

    A number of South Carolina’s privately owned historic plantations are hitting the market, a rare occurrence in property sales. Housing experts say that the sluggish economy and cost of maintaining these properties as well as generational changes in ownership are the reasons behind the increase in plantation sales.

    The plantations in South Carolina for-sale range in size from 350 acres to 7,000 acres and are listed from $3 million up to $20 million.