November 4, 2011
- How to Avoid Craigslist Real Estate Scams
There is a new scam using Craigslist targeting renters offering amazing deals, but after they collect your deposit, they disappear.
Have you been scammed on Craigslist, or know of someone who has? We'd love to hear about it. Just use the comment link below to tell us your story.
October 25, 2011
- Real Estate Prices Up - Inventory Down
The housing market, which has struggled with an oversupply of homes for years, faces a new problem now: a lack of attractive inventory.
There were more than 2.19 million homes listed for sale at the end of September, down 20% from a year earlier, according to a new report from Realtor.com. That is the lowest level [...]
October 11, 2011
- Homeowners and Renters Show Increased Interest in Homebuying
Despite the recession and declines in home prices, Americans still view homeownership as being important to the economy and the American family, according to the "Housing 360 Survey" conducted among more than 3,005 homeowners and renters across the U.S.
"We thought people would be soured after watching home values fall but instead we found the typical [...]
October 4, 2011
- Home Prices Continue Four-Month Run of Gains
Home prices in the U.S. rose 0.8 percent between June and July, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said recently.
The agency's House Price Index (HPI) has been trending upward since April of this year. That string of gains is coming off a streak of declines that was three times [...]
October 2, 2011
- Fed Move Won't Change Things Much
The Federal Reserve's latest effort to boost the economy by driving down long-term interest rates won't have a big impact on home and car buyers, savers or credit card users.
Any noticeable changes from the central bank shuffling $400 billion of its portfolio are likely to be mixed. Although borrowers may benefit from lower rates on [...]
September 6, 2011
- Home Prices Post Slight Gain for July
Home prices rose 0.8 percent during the month of July, marking the fourth consecutive month of increase, according to CoreLogic's July home price index, released recently.
Despite the monthly increase, prices declined 5.2 percent year-over-year. The decline is smaller when considering only non-distressed sales – 0.6 percent year-over-year.
"While July's numbers remained relatively positive, particularly for non-distressed [...]
September 3, 2011
- More Homeowners Refinancing Into Shorter Loans
More homeowners prefer to pay off their mortgages sooner as interest rates have stayed near rock-bottom and weak labor conditions have caused them to reduce their debt loads.
According to a recent survey, the current trend in refinancing into shorter-loan terms is a stark contrast to the one during the height of the housing boom, [...]
August 19, 2011
- Mortgage Conforming Loan Limits Changing Soon
The conforming loan limits are changing – what does that mean and why should you care?
For most borrowers, it probably means nothing at all, in fact the majority of the country falls into the standard conforming limit and they won't be affected at all.
Since 2006, the conforming loan limit has been set at $417,000. In [...]
August 6, 2011
- Real Estate: New Home Sales Update
New home sales in June fell by 1.0% from May, to a rate of 312,000. Relative to a year ago, sales are up 1.6%. While the rebound is more than welcome, it is still a very dismal rate of new home sales. Also, there was a downward revision to the May numbers of 4,000 to [...]
July 21, 2011
- Housing Starts Increase in June
Privately-owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 629,000. This is 14.6 percent (±10 9%) above the revised May estimate of 549,000 and is 16.7 percent (±11.8%) above the June 2010 rate of 539,000.
Single-family housing starts in June were at a rate of 453,000; this is 9.4 percent (±11.1%)* above [...]
July 18, 2011
- Mortgage Interest Deduction: Crunch Time
Federal budget negotiations are moving into a critical period as the government will run out of money by August 2nd unless something is done to stop it. In the last week, President Obama has stepped forward and met with both Democratic and Republican leaders in the US Senate and House of Representatives in an effort [...]
July 17, 2011
- Housing Numbers Show a Hint of Promise — But Is It Real?
In a surprising twist, some of the best housing numbers in eight months came out recently. We checked with Editor in Chief of AOL Real Estate Laura Goldstein. She cautioned against getting too excited, too quickly. Underlying the numbers might be a seasonal uptick and stalled foreclosures, which tend to suppress prices.
We'll continue to stay [...]
July 12, 2011
- Foreclosures Slow, But Huge Backlog Remains
Fewer Americans had their homes repossessed by banks or were put on notice for being behind on their mortgage payments in April compared to a year ago.
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July 3, 2011
- Housing Market Continues To Take A Pounding
As new indicators on the languishing national housing market continue to stream in it remains apparent that the crisis brought about by the bursting of the housing bubble is far from over. Newly released figures reveal that the prices of houses declined with greater speed during the opening quarter of this year than at any [...]
June 21, 2011
- Home Price Bargains For The Summer
Home prices are already one third off their highs, but this summer could bring the real discounts. Buyers are still cautious, and anxious sellers will have to price aggressively to get them off the fence.
Several factors appear to be leading to blow-out prices:
Accelerating price drops: Home prices have already reached their lowest level since the [...]
June 18, 2011
- U.S. Home Equity at Lowest Level in Generations
Home values are way down since the housing market hit its peak in 2006. The S&P/Case-Shiller Price Index, which is a measure of the home values in 20 metropolitan statistical areas is down by nearly a third since the market peaked. Although home prices were briefly buoyed by the 2009 and 2010 home buyer tax [...]
June 11, 2011
- Pending Home Sales Down - Foreclosures & Delinquences Drop
Pending home sales fell substantially in April with unusual weather and continued economic softness hindering a recovery in the housing market, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The trade association, which has more than 1.2 million members, said its pending home sales index, which is based on contracts signed, decreased 11.6% to 81.9 for April [...]
May 29, 2011
- High Gas Prices Changing Buyer Decisions
The rise in gas prices is influencing buyer decisions as they shop for a new home, causing more buyers to make short commutes and home offices a top priority, according to a recent survey of more than 1,000 real estate professionals about buyer trends.
Seventy-five percent of the real estate professionals surveyed say the spike in [...]
May 28, 2011
- Second Mortgage Defaults Post Sudden Increase
According to data released by S&P Indices and Experian, the default rate on second lien mortgages has increased for the first time in at least five months.
The agencies’ report shows second mortgage defaults rose from 1.42 percent in March to 1.51 percent in April. First mortgages, on the other hand, saw a decrease in default [...]
May 22, 2011
- Outlook for Condo Market Not as Bleak
Recent news has highlighted the severity of the renewed downturn in prices of single-family homes, but Capital Economics says although condominiums will not escape altogether, over the next year or so condo prices are likely to fall by less than their single-family counterparts.
According to a market analysis released recently by the research firm, demand for [...]
