Category: States Market

By Kevin Chiu Propelled by lower home prices and record low mortgage rates home sales climbed 21% in the third quarter of the year in Miami, indicating that the market is finally in a rebound from its long downturn, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. The increase marks nine straight quarters of rising sales… Continue reading Miami Home Sales Rebound

By Kevin Chiu The purchase of Countrywide Financial may be getting to be one of the worst banking acquisitions in U.S. history for Bank of America. Since the nation’s biggest bank bought troubled Countrywide in the throes of the financial crisis in 2008 the bank’s home loan department has lost $8.5-billion and counting in bad… Continue reading Bank of America Drowning in Countrywide Debt

By Mike Colpitts Pushed by bank moratoriums and improving mortgage modifications, notices of foreclosure declined modestly in October, but equaled almost the exact number reported a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac. Initial filings were made against 332,172 U.S. residential properties, a 4% drop from the prior month. Full foreclosures (REOs) declined month-over month in 33… Continue reading Mortgage Modifications and Moratoriums Slow Foreclosures

Mortgage rates fell to a new record low for the week, hitting 4.17% on a fixed 30-year mortgage, according to Freddie Mac. The FHA says it’s the lowest rate on record since 1951. Rates dropped as a result of the Fed announcing that it will purchase $600 billion in U.S. treasuries in a second round… Continue reading Mortgage Rates Hit New Record Low

Pushed by near record low mortgage rates, applications for home purchases and refinances made a solid rise for the week, indicating more home buying activity than many analysts thought was developing, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The composite index, a combination of both refinancing and home mortgage applications rose 5.4% for the week. Purchase… Continue reading Purchase and Refinance Loan Applications Rise

By Kevin Chiu Bank lending should improve in commercial real estate in the next year, positioning U.S. investment property to deliver attractive returns once again, according to a leading independent non-profit real estate and education organization. Stephen Blank, Urban Land Institute’s fellow for real estate finance says that mortgage financing should finally begin to show… Continue reading Bank Lending Projected to Improve

By Mike Colpitts When it comes to housing markets that are the most likely to recover first, the key ingredient above any other is jobs. Unemployment has been the highest it has been for two years in decades and the political football surrounding employment is the most heated topic today. Despite higher profits for employers,… Continue reading First Housing Markets Likely to Recover

By Kevin Chiu Homeownership has fallen to 66.9%, the lowest level on record in more than a decade, according to the U.S. Census Bureau as a result of rising foreclosures and mortgage holders walking away from loans they can no longer afford. The same annual study found that there were 1.9-million vacant homes listed for… Continue reading Homeownership Falls to Decades Low