By Mike Colpitts Hundreds of lawsuits winding their way through courtrooms in the U.S. could ultimately determine the future of the housing market in America. A major case involving the attempted foreclosure of a home in Utah could produce a court precedent on which other cases could stand. Courts are hearing cases over foreclosure challenges… Continue reading Courts May Decide Housing Market Future
Category: Florida
Florida housing market
Miami Home Sales Go Nuts
By Mike Colpitts Condominium and single family home sales are surging in Miami, once the nation’s epicenter of the real estate crash. Condo sales jumped 46% in May and single family home sales rose 20% over a year ago. The surge in sales was led by 1,420 condominiums that changed hands during the month, which… Continue reading Miami Home Sales Go Nuts
Mortgage Company Executives Sentenced to Prison
By Kevin Chiu Two former mortgage company executives have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a fraud scheme involving more than $2.9 billion that contributed to the failures of their company and Colonial Bank. Desiree Brown, the former treasurer of Taylor, Bean and Whitaker was sentenced to six years in prison for… Continue reading Mortgage Company Executives Sentenced to Prison
ACLU Says Foreclosure ‘Rocket Docket’ Unconstitutional
By Mike Colpitts The American Civil Liberties Union says that Florida’s ‘rocket docket’ designed to speed up the foreclosure process to benefit bankers’ is unconstitutional, and will challenge the system to the fullest extent of the law in court. The U.S. 20th Judicial Circuit operates the system, which covers foreclosures in five Southern Florida counties,… Continue reading ACLU Says Foreclosure ‘Rocket Docket’ Unconstitutional
New Home Builder Giving Away Vacations
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
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
Hurricane Storm Surge Poses $300 Billion in Home Losses
By Mike Colpitts Hurricane driven storm property damage in ten major urban areas along the Atlantic and U.S. Gulf coastlines would exceed $300-billion in home losses, according to an assessment by a real estate research firm. It’s the second annual assessment by Core Logic, developed to enhance understanding of the heightened risk storm surge damage… Continue reading Hurricane Storm Surge Poses $300 Billion in Home Losses
Housing Downturn Reaches Year Five
By Mike Colpitts The downturn in the U.S. residential housing market is approaching five years, which arrives in just one week with the start of June. Housing markets in California and Florida were the fist to feel the impact of the slowdown that resulted from a combination of Wall Street shenanigans and bankers creative financing… Continue reading Housing Downturn Reaches Year Five
Foreclosures Fall Seven Straight Months, But Still at Crisis Level
By Kevin Chiu Hampered by internal bank and mortgage servicing company delays, foreclosure notices fell to a 40 month low in April, declining 9% from the prior month and 34% from a year ago. The slowdown represented the seventh straight month of delays in the foreclosure crisis as a result of the moratorium put in… Continue reading Foreclosures Fall Seven Straight Months, But Still at Crisis Level
Homeowner Associations May Hit Record Lawsuit Volume
By Mike Colpitts Homeowner and condominium associations straddled with high debt in the real estate crash are resulting in at least thousands of member-owners refusing to pay monthly fees, and may reach record lawsuit volume in U.S. courtrooms. The development was determined during a routine Housing Predictor survey of markets monitored across the nation. The… Continue reading Homeowner Associations May Hit Record Lawsuit Volume