By Mike Colpitts When it comes to housing markets that are the most likely to recover first, the key ingredient above any other is jobs. Unemployment has been the highest it has been for two years in decades and the political football surrounding employment is the most heated topic today. Despite higher profits for employers,… Continue reading First Housing Markets Likely to Recover
Category: Credit
Homeownership Falls to Decades Low
By Kevin Chiu Homeownership has fallen to 66.9%, the lowest level on record in more than a decade, according to the U.S. Census Bureau as a result of rising foreclosures and mortgage holders walking away from loans they can no longer afford. The same annual study found that there were 1.9-million vacant homes listed for… Continue reading Homeownership Falls to Decades Low
Poll Shows Home Prices to Rise
Home prices are expected to rise in the next one to four years by a large majority of Americans, according to a new Housing Predictor survey. The opinion poll found that nearly two out of three respondents feel that housing prices will start to go up within one to four years. The online poll shows… Continue reading Poll Shows Home Prices to Rise
Homes Sales Decline Amid Deeper Economic Worries
By Mike Colpitts Home sales declined sharply in July after the expiration of the home buyer tax credit, falling 27.2% to the lowest level in 15 years, according to the National Association of Realtors. The fall in existing sales was widely anticipated among real estate analysts, who expect deeper economic worries as a result of… Continue reading Homes Sales Decline Amid Deeper Economic Worries
Tax Credit Again, Poll Says
Nearly a majority of respondents to the latest Housing Predictor poll want the federal government to re-institute the federal tax credit for buyers to re-energize the housing market, which has been in as long as a five year downturn in some parts of the country. The new survey found that 48% of all those polled… Continue reading Tax Credit Again, Poll Says
Credit Unions Gain Mortgage Business
By Kevin Chiu Credit unions are attracting more business from conventional banks and mortgage lenders in the wake of the financial crisis, as bankers lose customers as a result of loose lending practices and distrust with the foreclosure of millions of homes. Risky mortgage lending practices, in which many banks turned a blind eye to… Continue reading Credit Unions Gain Mortgage Business
Home Sales Higher On Tax Credit Incentive
By Cheryl Reams Home buyers motivated by expiring federal tax credits drove existing home sales 7.6% higher in April to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.77 million units, topping analysts’ projections, according to the National Association of Realtors. The increase in sales of single family homes, condos and townhouses pushed the associations heavily watched annual… Continue reading Home Sales Higher On Tax Credit Incentive
California Burning Through Housing Inventory
Re-invigorated by a special $10,000 state tax credit, the California home market has been experiencing a rebound and a drop in housing inventory on the market. More than half of all homes sold by real estate agents in the last year have received multiple offers. Historically, when California begins a rebound in home sales the… Continue reading California Burning Through Housing Inventory