Category: 2010 Housing Market

Mortgage Company Wins Award Going Green

By Mike Colpitts As hundreds of banks and mortgage companies go out of business due to the troubled economy and rough mortgage lending market a Houston, Texas based mortgage company is winning awards, but not for doing a record volume of loans. The company won the Green Originator Award from Mortgage Technology magazine for its… Continue reading Mortgage Company Wins Award Going Green

Sunshine States Carry Foreclosure Slide

By Mike Colpitts Major sunshine state metropolitan areas accounted for the top 19 of 20 foreclosure rates in the U.S. during the third quarter of the year, according to the quarterly report compiled by RealtyTrac. California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona cities had the highest number of repossessed residential properties. Among all the metro areas tracked… Continue reading Sunshine States Carry Foreclosure Slide

Mortgage Applications Show Promise with Low Rates

Applications for new mortgages rose for the second consecutive week as applications for new home purchases and refinances moved higher on near record low rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Purchase applications grew by 3.9% for the week ending Oct. 22, while refinancing rose a more modest 3% over the previous week. The improvement… Continue reading Mortgage Applications Show Promise with Low Rates

Loan Modifications Top 3.7 Million Homes

By Kevin Chiu Mortgage servicers have modified nearly 3.7-million home mortgages since the housing crisis started in 2007, according to a private group of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors. The organization, Hope Now estimates the industry completed almost 150,000 permanent loan modifications during August, the last month for which figures are available.… Continue reading Loan Modifications Top 3.7 Million Homes

Home Auctions Boom despite Sales Moratorium

By Kevin Chiu In Las Vegas, gamblers are refraining from putting down payments on homes in neighborhoods to find some of the best real estate deals at auctions. In Los Angeles want-a-be homeowners are checking home listings online to check prices, and then turning out to bid on auctions in search of bargains. And in… Continue reading Home Auctions Boom despite Sales Moratorium

First Home Price Decline in Year

Core Logic, a heavily viewed monitor of U.S. home prices said its home price index dropped for the first time in 2010 in August, sending prices just 1.5% lower for the year. However, the index also showed positive appreciation in more than a handful of states. The Core Logic index has had an unusually low… Continue reading First Home Price Decline in Year

Refinance Mortgages at Lowest Rates in Decades

Mortgage rates are near their lowest levels in decades, although they have risen slightly since hitting all time lows in mid-October. The rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage hit 4.19%, the lowest since 1951, according to the Federal Housing Administration. A small rise in rates has produced an increase in home refinances, which represents… Continue reading Refinance Mortgages at Lowest Rates in Decades

Whistleblowers Explode Foreclosure Crisis

By Kevin Chiu Working at a feverish pace to keep up with a record volume of foreclosures, bankers, attorneys and bank servicing companies have allegedly broken laws to foreclose on at least tens of thousands of homeowners. But only over the last six months have the sorted details of the four people that have made… Continue reading Whistleblowers Explode Foreclosure Crisis

Poll Shows Housing Rebound Delayed

A rebound in the housing market is certain to be delayed a number of years as a result of mortgage lenders implementing foreclosure moratoriums, according to a new Housing Predictor poll. But more than two-thirds of all respondents feel that the delay will be four years or less. In fact, the largest percentage or 42%… Continue reading Poll Shows Housing Rebound Delayed