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
Category: Housing Market
Wyoming Guest Ranch Goes To Auction
The real estate bust hasn’t just left homeowners, the unemployed and those who took out too large of a mortgage on their homes out of luck. A massive guest ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming with all the fixings’ is going up for auction. The Darwin Ranch was listed for $8.5-million, but didn’t sell after more… Continue reading Wyoming Guest Ranch Goes To Auction
Refinancing Program to Aid Underwater Homeowners
By Mike Colpitts The U.S. government’s giant mortgage lenders will soon expand refinancing to underwater homeowners on their mortgages in efforts to reduce the growing number of homes being foreclosed, and aid the nation’s hurting economy. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will “remove barriers that exist in the current refinancing program” allowing more homeowners to… Continue reading Refinancing Program to Aid Underwater Homeowners
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
Home Short Sales Surge
By Mike Colpitts Bank assisted short sales of homes surged in the second quarter of the year as buyers snapped up discount priced properties at some of the lowest mortgage rates in decades. The surge in home purchases from pre-foreclosures account for an eighth of all residential sales, but represent less than a quarter of… Continue reading Home Short Sales Surge
Mortgage Modifications Near 5 Million
Banks and mortgage servicers not associated with the government’s Making Home Affordable program have made more than 4 million mortgage modifications to home mortgage borrowers, according to the private agency organizing the efforts. There were about 56,000 modifications made in July through organizations associated with the group, the latest month available, Hope Now representatives say.… Continue reading Mortgage Modifications Near 5 Million
Guilty Plea in Condo Fraud Scheme
By Kevin Chiu A Las Vegas man has pleaded guilty for his role in a scheme to gain control of a condominium owners association and illegally direct business to a law firm and construction business. Steven Wark, 54, admitted that he operated a fraud scheme for nearly six years starting in May 2005, in which… Continue reading Guilty Plea in Condo Fraud Scheme
Low Appraisals Slow Home Sales
By Kevin Chiu Appraisers are taking heat for home sales not improving in many areas of the U.S. as new uniform guidelines for appraisals go into effect. The new federally mandated requirements ushered in through Dodd-Frank financial reform went into effect Thursday. Dodd-Frank reform in relationship to appraisals is intended to require lenders to be… Continue reading Low Appraisals Slow Home Sales
Few Bankers Go to Prison in Financial Crisis
By Mike Colpitts Besieged by Wall Street and banking irregularities more than three years after the financial crisis exploded on Wall Street, only a handful of banking industry executives have been sentenced to prison in the fallout of the U.S. mortgage crisis that transformed the U.S. economy. A New Jersey based mortgage company president was… Continue reading Few Bankers Go to Prison in Financial Crisis
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