By Kevin Chiu The foreclosure crisis has produced an overpowering series of affects across the U.S., destroying businesses, taking away livelihoods, tossing millions of homeowners out of their homes and pressuring home prices in the over-whelming majority of neighborhoods lower. The crisis, first forecast by Housing Predictor almost five years ago as the first real… Continue reading Foreclosures Forecast to Hit 15 Million Homeowners
Category: Florida
Florida housing market
Mortgage Delinquencies Drop
By Kevin Chiu The number of homeowners behind on their mortgages has dropped as a result of a higher number of mortgage modifications, according to one of the nation’s largest providers of mortgage data. The drop in mortgage delinquencies is a positive sign for the housing market, despite an uphill battle banks and mortgage companies… Continue reading Mortgage Delinquencies Drop
Home Buying Affordability Hovers at Best Level
By Mike Colpitts Home buying affordability hovered near its best level in more than 20 years in the second quarter of the year, according to the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo housing index. The measure indicates that 72.6% of new and existing homes sold during the quarter were affordable for families earning the national… Continue reading Home Buying Affordability Hovers at Best Level
Jumbo Mortgage Rates to Feel Little Impact
By Mike Colpitts Loan limits on jumbo mortgages are scheduled to be slashed as a result of changes required in the Housing and Economic Act of 2008. However, the impact is expected to be limited by many lenders. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will reduce mortgage limits on loans in the highest metropolitan areas of… Continue reading Jumbo Mortgage Rates to Feel Little Impact
Homeowners Stuck With High Mortgage Rates
The over-whelming majority of homeowners with underwater mortgages are stuck with high interest rate loans and are unable to refinance their mortgages, according to real estate research firm CoreLogic. Some 10.9 million home mortgages were in negative equity in the second quarter of the year, and another 2.4 million were close or within 5% of… Continue reading Homeowners Stuck With High Mortgage Rates
Bargain Hungry Home Investors Thin
By Kevin Chiu Like them or hate them the real estate market needs bargain hungry home investors to pick through foreclosures as scavengers to eventually clean-up the inventory. But the ranks of investors hunting for deals are thinning out as homes that need work become harder to re-sell. The distressed real estate market, high unemployment… Continue reading Bargain Hungry Home Investors Thin
Some Rising Prices Don’t Make a Recovery
By Mike Colpitts Rising home and condominium prices in isolated markets scattered across the U.S. rarely develop into a sudden real estate recovery, but demonstrate the differences of local housing markets. For the first time in years the average prices of homes and condos in Miami moved higher in July, showing that even in downtrodden… Continue reading Some Rising Prices Don’t Make a Recovery
Short Sales Rise to Aid Real Estate
By Kevin Chiu At least two of the U.S. largest commercial banks are increasing the volume of short sales in efforts to increase their profit margins even as more homes bloat the inventory of properties that aren’t producing profits for the lenders. The transition hasn’t been an easy one for lenders in these wild days… Continue reading Short Sales Rise to Aid Real Estate
Market May Lead Home Prices in Recovery
By Mike Colpitts Home and condominium prices soared higher for the first time in more than five years in Miami as existing sales in the metropolitan region rose at a rapid pace in July, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. The spike in average home prices may signal a major turn around for the… Continue reading Market May Lead Home Prices in Recovery
Mortgage Fraud Strike Force Busts 27
By Mike Colpitts Twenty-seven South Florida residents were indicted on charges related to a series of mortgage fraud schemes after being arrested by the U.S. Mortgage Fraud Strike Force. The busts produced by the special task force now account for more than 500 arrests since it was started four years ago involving more than $620-million… Continue reading Mortgage Fraud Strike Force Busts 27