Category Archives: Other

Here’s great news that hopefully sticks: Foreclosure filings in Mecklenburg County for July fell — make that plummeted — to just half the number filed in July 2010, according to Thursday’s report from research firm RealtyTrac Total filings for Mecklenburg for July: 702. In July 2010: 1,441. That’s a 51% decline. July’s numbers are also down 29% from June 2011, when 992 filings were recorded. The figures compiled by RealtyTrac include default notices, lis pendens, foreclosure actions and auctions, and lender repossessions. The number of homes seized by financial institutions […]

Foreclosure rates continue to decrease dramatically year-over-year in the Memphis area and across the nation, but the slowdown necessarily doesn’t portend positive news, according to RealtyTrac Inc. RealtyTrac Inc. Latest from The Business Journals Home foreclosures up 10 percent in Austin areaRealtyTrac: Foreclosures fall to 44-month low; California still one of top statesWashington state’s foreclosure rate falls Follow this company ’s latest monthly data. RealtyTrac reported there were 547 foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — in July in the greater Memphis market, down 61 percent […]

Combination of crushed prices, lots of vacancies and down economy have these cities reeling For three years, the real estate market has been going in one direction — primarily down. Some areas, however, have begun to recover. Recent S&P/Case-Shiller data show that among the top 20 housing markets in the U.S., 18 had very modest improvements in sales prices during May. Others, like Washington and Boston, have began to at least stabilize from a year ago. Few markets, however, can match Washington and Boston. Robert Shiller has been stating that home […]

For three years, the real estate market has been going in one direction — primarily down. Some areas, however, have begun to recover. Recent S&P/Case-Shiller data show that among the top 20 housing markets in the U.S., 18 had very modest improvements in sales prices during May. Others, like Washington and Boston, have began to at least stabilize from a year ago. Few markets, however, can match Washington and Boston. Robert Shiller has been stating that home prices could fall another 10% in the next year. Inventories in some major […]

A group of lawmakers are pushing the Obama administration to extend the forbearance period to 12 months for unemployed home owners with mortgages owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. About 27 lawmakers, all Democrats from the House of Representatives, issued a letter to President Obama this week urging the change to help those with job losses save their homes while they seek employment. Earlier in July, the Obama administration extended the forbearance period to unemployed borrowers from three or four months to 12 months for those with […]

Realtors are feeling better about the Massachusetts real estate market than they were a year ago, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors announced today. In June, the Realtor Market Index was 29.17, up 2.8 percent from June 2010. This is the first year-over-year increase since May 2010, the association said in a news release. The Realtor Price Index in June was 38.30, down 18.2 percent from the June 2010. The Market Index and Price Index are based on monthly responses from a random sampling of members of the Massachusetts Association of […]

California real estate agents say closing short-sale transactions are “difficult” or “extremely difficult,” and said procedures by mortgage lenders and servicers are only serving to make matters worse over the past six months, according to a new survey.   The lender satisfaction survey was conducted by the California Association of Realtors. More than three-fourths (77%) of agents said short-sale transactions were difficult or extremely difficult, up from 70% in December, according to the CAR survey. The survey gauges agents’ experiences working with lenders in their most recent transaction. The majority […]

The 2010 US Census data are showing some major transformations in the demographics of cities across the country. Chiefly, that unmarried and same-sex couples raising children are moving into neighborhoods once the exclusive redoubts of the nuclear family. In Indiana state, New York City and one Seattle neighborhood, Census data recorded an upsurge in unmarried and/or same-sex couples at 33 percent up 27 % and 55 % respectively. Incredibly, the staunchly conservative South is becoming a popular place for same-sex couples to raise children. By some estimates, nearly one-third of […]

Many second-home owners make very little use of their properties. The exchange service gives members variety and flexibility. If there is one drawback above all others about owning a vacation home, it’s that you’re stuck going to the same place year after year. Well, “stuck” may be too strong a word. But you are limited. Unless you have the wherewithal to travel at will anywhere you like, you are pretty much restricted to that one spot. Or at least you were until 18 months ago, when a fledgling exchange service […]

Before the bust, rising prices fueled the housing market, enabling buyers to start small and climb the ladder. Now that promise of upward mobility has been all but shattered, gumming up the market. Back in the frothy days of 2007, Luciano Mor needed only a weekend and a Craigslist ad to find a buyer for his two-bedroom starter home. The split-level house, on a quiet Silver Lake street, sold for $749,000, commanding nearly twice what he paid in 2002 and about $50,000 more than a real estate agent had suggested […]