Category Archives: Other

The Obama administration’s latest housing scorecard shows signs of stability filtering into the housing market, with home equity numbers rising 7.4% between the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012. The scorecard – which is compiled by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Obama administration and Treasury – noted that home equity rose $457.1 billion in the first quarter of 2012, the highest level reached since the second quarter of 2010. Sales of previously owned homes also grew 9.6% in May from year ago […]

While single-family housing starts remain down, rental demand is driving new multifamily construction. But how long the demand will last is uncertain — an uneasy consideration for investors whose current investments may take years to hit the market. “People who are thinking about renting are going to think about buying again, so the increase in demand for rental housing will start to plateau and supply will still be high,” said Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow ($39.65 0.54%), who said he thinks the demand for multifamily housing will be met […]

A surge in homebuilding pushed construction design spending up 0.9% in May, the largest amount in five months, further indication that the housing sector is slowly recovering. For those organizing their own construction process, make sure you have the proper material to be prepared for anything, like industrial fans and other important equipment. Construction spending reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $830 billion – 11.3% above the 12-year low hit in February of last year, according to numbers released Monday by the Commerce Department. Every year, 4500 construction workers […]

Under new rules that took effect June 15, underwater borrowers with Freddie Mac- or Fannie Mae-backed loans who sell their homes in a short sale now will receive decisions on whether their short sale is approved from lenders within 60 business days. The new guidelines are viewed as a way to speed the short sale process, which once averaged eight months, according to RealtyTrac. The long wait often had buyers walking away from the deals. But despite the faster deadlines now in place, the process can still be prolonged if […]

Citigroup ($27.64 0.18%) saves the most money when doing short sales among the largest mortgage servicers in the country, according to Barclays Capital research. The bank conducts a short sale on 40% of its resolutions of troubled loans, the third highest percentage. Bank of America ($8.06 0.01%) and JPMorgan Chase ($35.88 -0.1%) each resolve roughly half of their problem mortgages through short sale. Because of the extended time it now takes a foreclosure to be completed and the maintenance and litigation costs involved, short sales reduce loss severities by as […]

The big drop in inventories of homes for-sale is helping once-expired listings finally get sold. Sellers are finding relisting their properties may offer them more luck now than a few months ago, real estate professionals report. Nationwide inventories of single-family homes, condos, townhouses, and co-ops has fallen about 20 percent in the last year, according to Realtor.com. Inventories are at some of their lowest levels ever observed. Meanwhile, more buyers are coming off the sidelines, wanting to take advantage of record low mortgage rates and low prices, but are finding […]

Recent housing surveys are showing an uptick in home prices, particularly in cities in warm-weather “sand states” that had been hard-hit during the housing slump, such as in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Miami, and Tampa. But some housing experts worry that the lift in prices may be temporary due to banks “hoarding foreclosures.” Some real estate professionals allege that the “synthetically pumped prices” are being caused by “banks stockpiling foreclosed properties and purposely keeping them off the market until area prices truly soar.” For example, in Phoenix, in the “sand state” of […]

Small to mid-sized cities will likely be the “biggest winners in the housing market two decades from now,” predicts Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist. Some of these cities will be near large metro areas while some may be more distant and include small to mid-sized cities in college towns too, Humphries adds. Humphries says market “winners” in the next 20 years will likely be places like Austin, Texas; Savannah, Ga.; Athens, Ga.;  Rochester, N.Y.; Boulder, Colo.; Madison, Wis.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Spokane, Wash. “Why do I think that these communities […]

State and federal laws that set out to prevent defaulting home owners from being evicted may actually be jeopardizing the housing recovery and even extending the slump, economists told Reuters. More than 400 foreclosure laws were enacted nationwide last year, according to the National Conference of State Legislature. Many of these laws set out to help struggling home owners modify their loans and stay in their homes. But some studies show that the laws may be delaying a full housing recovery from taking hold. A study by Federal Reserve economists […]

Joining other states considering similar moves across the country, the Illinois Department of Revenue plans to bring taxes on real estate transferred to and from mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including charges for foreclosed properties. But the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is trying to stop such taxes. It has filed a lawsuit against Illinois to prevent the state from charging real estate transfer taxes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. FHFA argues in the lawsuit that the government-sponsored enterprises should be exempt because they are under conservatorship […]