By Mike Colpitts The rapid decline of housing prices is easing in many of the worst hit markets with slower housing deflation, according to a study of the most severely affected markets by Housing Predictor. The impact may lead to improving conditions and could soon signal a bottom to the market in some areas of… Continue reading Housing Deflation Easing
Category: 2009 Housing Market
Foreclosures Rise in Third Quarter
Foreclosure notices were reported on nearly 1-million U.S. residential properties in the third quarter, marking a five percent increase from the second quarter, according to RealtyTrac. One in every 136 residential properties received a foreclosure notice in the last three months. Some 937,840 properties had foreclosure notice filings. However, notices dropped four percent in September… Continue reading Foreclosures Rise in Third Quarter
Foreclosures Could Hit 25 Million
By Mike Colpitts The huge number of homeowners who say they will walk away from mortgages if housing prices keep falling could have long lasting repercussions for the U.S. economy that would take years to emerge from. According to a new survey conducted by Housing Predictor, as many as 25-million homeowners may walk away from… Continue reading Foreclosures Could Hit 25 Million
Finding Your Housing Value System
By Lois A. Vitt Are you stuck trying to make a housing decision? Small wonder. Your housing decisions are about everything in your life, not just the design and location of your home. They involve your inner motivations, desires, and well-being as surely as the objective circumstances of managing your housing-related finances or the logistics… Continue reading Finding Your Housing Value System
Investors Slammed by Housing Crash
By Mike Colpitts Homeowners are facing an economic crunch from the housing crash, but investors often face even more severe repercussions. More than 1 in 3 foreclosures are of investment owned properties, and should the foreclosure epidemic worsen as forecast that number is expected to rise as more investors walk away from mortgages. During the… Continue reading Investors Slammed by Housing Crash
Congress Finally Proposes Homeowners Help
By Kevin Chiu A proposal to halt the record number of foreclosures and force lenders to work with homeowners to modify mortgages was introduced in the Senate Wednesday by Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed. Rhode Island is one of the worst 10 states to be affected by the foreclosure epidemic. The bill would establish a… Continue reading Congress Finally Proposes Homeowners Help
Pilot Program Could Help Home Foreclosures
By Mike Colpitts The federal government response has been painstakingly slow to the foreclosure epidemic. But one city councilman is proposing a pilot program that could give mortgage holders of distressed homes a chance to stay in their residences amid the worst economic downturn in a generation. The program, already approved by the Los Angeles… Continue reading Pilot Program Could Help Home Foreclosures
Appraisal Reforms Sought
By Kevin Chiu Already under attack for inaccurate and sometimes fraudulent appraisals, a coalition of real estate industry related organizations is banding together to reform appraisal practices in an effort to fix part of the system that triggered the worst real estate crash since the Great Depression. Appraisers have been named as defendants in a… Continue reading Appraisal Reforms Sought
Nationalized Lending May be Permanent
Nearly 9 out of 10 home mortgages are now being sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government sponsored enterprises taken over by the federal government at the peak of the financial crisis and backed by taxpayer money. The government supported program has strongly nationalized mortgage lending and put the housing market on life-support.… Continue reading Nationalized Lending May be Permanent
Housing Shows Stabilization
By Mike Colpitts More than four years after beginning its downturn, many housing markets are stabilizing. Stabilization is key and the first step in the recovery process as markets settle from the worst housing crash since the Great Depression. The long-running housing depression is far from over, but there are more indications that stabilization is… Continue reading Housing Shows Stabilization