Fading government stimulus and waning buyer enthusiasm caused Southern California’s housing market to soften in August — but not as badly as earlier in the summer. The median price for a Southland home in August dropped 2.4% from the month before to $288,000, the third consecutive month-to-month drop for the closely watched indicator, San Diego [...]
Filed under: California Real Estate News, Economic Recovery, Home Buying, Home Prices, Home Sellers, Home Selling, Housing Market Trends, La Times, Local LA Real Estate News, Market Update on September 16th, 2010 | Comments Off
Real estate deals in which lenders agree to take less for a property than the balance on the mortgage have tripled since 2008, a report says. Sales of homes for less than the amount of their outstanding mortgage debt have tripled since 2008, particularly in California and the Sunbelt, according to a report released Tuesday. [...]
Filed under: California Real Estate News, Economic Recovery, Foreclosures and Short Sales, Home Prices, Home Sellers, Housing Market Trends on August 11th, 2010 | Comments Off
An index of home purchase contracts fell 2.6% in June from May as the expiration of federal tax incentives for buyers continued to damp demand from home shoppers for a second straight month, according to the National Assn. of Realtors. The trade group’s pending home sales index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed for [...]
Filed under: Economic Recovery, Home Buying, Home Selling, Market Update, National Real Estate News on August 4th, 2010 | Comments Off
Homeowners who owe so much on their mortgages that they can’t refinance may want to consider bringing some money to the table to take advantage of today’s near record-low interest rates. That’s what Frank Nothaft did. And he isn’t alone. Millions of people in recent months have become part of a phenomenon known as “cash-in” [...]
Filed under: Economic Recovery, Housing Market Trends, Market Update, Mortgage News, Mortgage Rates, Refinancing on July 12th, 2010 | Comments Off
Wealthy simply see loss of home as one bad investment and walk away LOS ALTOS, Calif. — The housing bust that began among the working class in remote subdivisions and quickly progressed to the suburban middle class is striking the upper class in privileged enclaves like this one in Silicon Valley. Whether it is their [...]
Filed under: Economic Recovery, Foreclosures and Short Sales, Lending Info, loan modification, Mortgage News on July 9th, 2010 | Comments Off
Two reports released Monday raise hope that the country’s tide of home-loan defaults may finally be starting to recede, but the picture is far from clear. Credit data giant TransUnion said serious delinquencies – home loans on which borrowers are at least 60 days behind on payments – fell slightly across the nation in the [...]
Filed under: California Real Estate News, Economic Recovery, Foreclosures and Short Sales, Lending Info, loan modification, Mortgage News on July 7th, 2010 | Comments Off
Reporting from Washington – Here’s a sobering message for anyone who has a federally insured reverse mortgage or plans to apply for one: If you don’t pay your local property taxes or hazard insurance premiums, you should know that the risk of losing your house to foreclosure is about to increase. Although the Federal Housing [...]
Filed under: Economic Recovery, Federal Housing Regulations, FHA loans, Lending Info, Mortgage News, Reverse Mortgages on June 30th, 2010 | Comments Off
Reporting from Washington – Short sales have been the hot solution for financially stressed homeowners and their lenders for the last year, but here’s another potent foreclosure alternative that’s about to take center stage: deeds-in-lieu. Some of the largest mortgage servicers and lenders in the country are gearing up campaigns to reach out to borrowers [...]
Filed under: Consumer Protection, Credit Scores, Economic Recovery, Foreclosures and Short Sales, Lending Info, loan modification, Mortgage News, Problem Solving, Refinancing on June 28th, 2010 | Comments Off
The May increase to $305,000, compared with the same period a year earlier, reflects a shift in sales in the region. Purchases climb 7.2% as buyers rush to take advantage of tax incentives. The Southland’s housing market surged in May with the median home price soaring 22.5% from its year-earlier level as tax incentives for [...]
Filed under: California Real Estate News, Economic Recovery, First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit, First-Time Homebuyers, Foreclosures and Short Sales, Home Buying, Home Prices, Home Sellers, Home Selling, Housing Market Trends, Local LA Real Estate News, Market Update, Mortgage Rates on June 21st, 2010 | Comments Off
Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell this week to their lowest level this year and were just barely above their all-time low, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. But demand for loans to purchase houses remains sluggish more than a month after the end of a federal program to stimulate the economy through tax credits for [...]
Filed under: Economic Recovery, Federal Housing Regulations, Home Buying, Lending Info, loan modification, Mortgage News, Mortgage Rates, National Real Estate News, Refinancing on June 11th, 2010 | Comments Off
