By Mike Colpitts In a move to drive up new home sales, the nation’s largest publicly traded luxury homebuilder is giving away vacations to attract buyers. Toll Brothers will pay up to $4,000 in airfare and vacation accommodations to visit one of its four new home communities in Florida. The “Fly and Buy” program was… Continue reading New Home Builder Giving Away Vacations
Category: 2011 Housing Market
Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae Bailout Reaches $317 Billion
By Mike Colpitts The cost of bailing out giant mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae is actually $317 billion so far, according to the Congressional Budget Office, more than double what the Obama administration has claimed. Before the mortgage giants are cleaned-up it’s likely the government will spend at least $1-trillion on foreclosed mortgages,… Continue reading Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae Bailout Reaches $317 Billion
Sarah Palin’s Daughter Turns Landlord
Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol is becoming a landlord in Phoenix. The ex-Dancing with The Stars contestant, whose out of wedlock pregnancy alarmed the Republican religious right wing during Palins run to win the vice presidency, has moved out of her Phoenix area home, and has put it on the market as… Continue reading Sarah Palin’s Daughter Turns Landlord
Record Low Mortgage Rates 8 Straight Weeks
By Mike Colpitts For eight straight weeks, mortgage rates have hit new record lows as uncertainty over the Eurozone combined with concerns over the U.S. economy unsettles financial markets. The Freddie Mac average for a 30-year fixed rate loan reached 3.67% last week. However, government officials in Spain asked for $100 billion to bail-out the… Continue reading Record Low Mortgage Rates 8 Straight Weeks
Bums No More, Mortgage Defaulters Good Risks
By Kevin Chiu Homeowners who default on their mortgages and still make good on their other debts like credit cards and car payments aren’t risky consumers to lend to and are bums no longer, according to a new study. The survey was conducted by TransUnion, one of the U.S. largest credit reporting agencies. Among other… Continue reading Bums No More, Mortgage Defaulters Good Risks
Negative Home Equity Strengthens
By Mike Colpitts Homes in negative equity or with mortgages that are higher than the property’s current market value declined in the first quarter of 2011, according to a leading real estate research firm. Residential properties were down slightly from 11.1 million homes or more than 23% of properties in the prior quarter. The drop… Continue reading Negative Home Equity Strengthens
Fix Housing to Fix U.S. Economy
By Mike Colpitts There’s an old economic theory in real estate: “The housing market is nine months to a year and a half in front of the rest of the country’s economy.” It’s as simple, bottom-line and easy as that. Fix the housing market to fix the U.S. economy. The stock market gets the daily… Continue reading Fix Housing to Fix U.S. Economy
Mortgage Interest Rates Drop Six Straight Weeks
By Mike Colpitts Driven by slower economic activity and sluggish home sales, mortgage interest rates dropped for six straight weeks as the fixed rate 30-year loan fell a slim one-hundredth of one-percent to an average rate of 4.60%, according to Freddie Mac. The rate on the 15-year mortgage also saw a drop. Slower economic activity,… Continue reading Mortgage Interest Rates Drop Six Straight Weeks
Congress Breaks Down on Mortgage Reform
By Kevin Chiu Only weeks into efforts to gather input on changes to rewrite regulations affecting home mortgages, Congress is signaling that it’s already caving in to special interests lobbying against such reforms. An unprecedented alliance of organizations from the real estate industry, new home builders, mortgage companies, banks, civil rights groups and other lobbyists… Continue reading Congress Breaks Down on Mortgage Reform
Housing Foreclosure Crisis Five More Years
By Mike Colpitts The foreclosure crisis, already the harshest to hit U.S. homeowners in history is projected to drag on another five years, and will include more than a total of 15-million mortgage holders, according to a new Housing Predictor forecast. More than 7-million homes have been foreclosed since the crisis started as a result… Continue reading Housing Foreclosure Crisis Five More Years