By Mike Colpitts Home sales fell for the second month in a row in March, despite unseasonably warm weather and record low mortgage rates, according to the National Association of Realtors. Existing home sales, which include single family residences, condominiums and townhouses declined 2.6% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.48 million. However, the number… Continue reading Home Sales Fall Two Straight Months
Category: Housing Market
US Economic Fear Sends Mortgage Rates Lower
By Mike Colpitts Fear over the U.S. economy and European debt woes sent mortgage rates to all-time record low levels this week as the benchmark 30-year fixed rate loan hit 3.84%. The previous record low was set in early February at 3.87%, according to Freddie Mac. Growing fears over the health of the economy sent… Continue reading US Economic Fear Sends Mortgage Rates Lower
Real Estate Roller Coaster Rides into Spring
By Mike Colpitts The roller coaster ride in the U.S. real estate market got more evidence of continuing as the new home builder index for single family homes declined for the first time in seven months in April, according to the National Association of Home Builders-Wells Fargo index. The home builders index declined three notches… Continue reading Real Estate Roller Coaster Rides into Spring
More Than Half of Homeowners Can’t Move
More than half of all homeowners with a mortgage are unable to move or make a change in their housing situation as a direct result of being underwater on a mortgage, according to a new Housing Predictor survey. Some 54% of those surveyed online said they were halted from making a move. The other 46%… Continue reading More Than Half of Homeowners Can’t Move
Mortgage Rates Ease Lower
By Mike Colpitts Uncertainty over the U.S. economy and lower rates paid to investors on U.S. Treasuries sent mortgage rates lower for the week, hitting 3.88% on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, which is just one basis point off of its all-time record low, according to Freddie Mac. Rates have now been under 4% for… Continue reading Mortgage Rates Ease Lower
Mortgage Banker Pleads Guilty in $6.5 Million Scheme
By Ryan Jackson When the housing market collapsed hundreds of thousands of mortgage and real estate agents who made their livings in real estate suffered, losing incomes, and many have been foreclosed as a result of the collapse. But one Florida mortgage banker admits to leading a criminal conspiracy to defraud HUD out of more… Continue reading Mortgage Banker Pleads Guilty in $6.5 Million Scheme
FDIC Puts Real Estate Up for Auction
By Ryan Jackson Flooded with an inventory of foreclosures, the government’s Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which has taken over hundreds of failed banks since the collapse of the U.S. real estate market, is holding an online auction to sell off some of its properties. The FDIC is auctioning-off 50 Midwest homes and commercial properties… Continue reading FDIC Puts Real Estate Up for Auction
Florida Capital Named Baby Boomers Favorite
The capital of Florida has been named the favorite U.S. city for baby boomers to retire by a Washington based economics research group. Tallahassee, Florida won out over 20 other cities considered for the prestigious award as the ideal place to retire. The southern city was selected after researchers considered a combination of factors, including… Continue reading Florida Capital Named Baby Boomers Favorite
Freddie Mac Fails at Mortgage Modifications
By Mike Colpitts One of the nation’s giant mortgage lenders, Freddie Mac provided only 4,308 mortgage modifications during the month of March in the U.S., and 13,677 for the first three months of the year, according to public figures provided by the lender. The weak volume of mortgage modifications would get the government backed lender… Continue reading Freddie Mac Fails at Mortgage Modifications
$25 Billion Bank Monitor Hires Accountants
By Ryan Jackson The monitor appointed to oversee the banks $25 billion settlement with 49 state attorney generals in the robo-signing scandal has hired six accounting firms to help monitor the agreement. Forty-nine states reached an agreement with the nation’s five largest banks in February over the forged signings of millions of foreclosure documents involved… Continue reading $25 Billion Bank Monitor Hires Accountants