Category: Housing Market

Investor Purchases Rack Up

By Mike Colpitts Investors shopping for a deal are purchasing more than one-in-five residential properties in the U.S. and make up the second largest share of home purchasers right behind first time buyers. The rise in investor purchases has been developing over the last year as home values and the prices on all sorts of… Continue reading Investor Purchases Rack Up

Banks Mortgage Servicers Penalized

By Mike Colpitts Nearly four years after the foreclosure crisis began to make inroads to wreck the U.S. economy and mortgage lenders started foreclosing on homes without proof of ownership, the U.S. Treasury is finally taking action to withhold payments to three of the nation’s largest banks as a way to penalize their mortgage servicing… Continue reading Banks Mortgage Servicers Penalized

Manic Positive Side of Housing Mess

By Kevin Chiu In what seems like the manic side of the housing mess, young couples are sometimes finding themselves as the lucky beneficiaries of the foreclosure crisis. Take Adam and Lindsey Blackmon of Newport News, Virginia for example. The couple wasn’t even shopping for a home when they couldn’t help but notice a two-year… Continue reading Manic Positive Side of Housing Mess

Interest Rates Hold Steady as New Home Purchases Fall

By Mike Colpitts Restrained by a weak U.S. economy and lower demand for new home purchases, mortgage interest rates held steady after moving just one-basis point last week, according to Freddie Mac. The rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage remained at 4.50%. The fixed 15-year loan narrowly edged up two basis points to 3.69%. New… Continue reading Interest Rates Hold Steady as New Home Purchases Fall

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

Jumbo Mortgages to Get More Expensive

By Mike Colpitts Mortgages on the nation’s most expensive homes are about to get more costly. In October the government is expected to halt backing jumbo mortgages of more than $625,500 through Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, triggering higher interest rates and down payments. The change could also send home values lower in some high-end… Continue reading Jumbo Mortgages to Get More Expensive

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

Mortgages Biggest Spike in 3 Months

Demonstrating that there’s pent up demand for refinances and new home purchases despite erratic highs and lows in the marketplace, applications for home mortgages spiked to the highest level in three months as mortgage interest rates continued to fall. The biggest jump in the last quarter was led by refinancing, which gained 16.5% for the… Continue reading Mortgages Biggest Spike in 3 Months

Black Hills, South Dakota All the Rage

By Mike Colpitts Nestled amid the meadows of open range land and surrounded by a national forest, Canyon Springs Preserve offers the quiet privacy that millions dream of in the back country. It’s a quiet oasis with more than 50% conservation land bordered by national forest in Black Hills, South Dakota. Long before the real… Continue reading Black Hills, South Dakota All the Rage