An inventory shortage is driving home prices up in some Arizona cities as the region faces a dwindling supply of cheaply priced foreclosures. But as more foreclosures hit the market later this year the rate of housing inflation is forecast to slow. Phoenix area home sales are sliding as a result of the inventory shortage… Continue reading 2012 Arizona Housing Market
2012 Maine Housing Market
Extraordinarily sluggish home sales and slowly declining home prices are preventing Maine housing markets from making a full-fledged recovery, but cities and towns throughout the state are hardly experiencing a major drop in home values either. Maine is turning out to be one of the safest bets so far in the fallout of the U.S.… Continue reading 2012 Maine Housing Market
Homeowners Receive Short Sale Cooperation
By Mike Colpitts Homeowners are receiving cooperation from banks and mortgage lenders to sell their unaffordable homes as short sales at higher levels. The increase in short sales is being driven by investors calling for banks to cut their losses, resulting in a reduction of homeowners walking away from their home mortgages. Scam artists preying… Continue reading Homeowners Receive Short Sale Cooperation
2012 Wisconsin Housing Market
The lowest mortgage rates on record and the lowest home prices in more than a decade are driving the Wisconsin housing market out of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Home prices are even beginning to show some signs of movement, and are forecast higher in most of the state through the remainder… Continue reading 2012 Wisconsin Housing Market
Refinances Surge on Record Low Mortgage Rates
By Mike Colpitts Bolstered by a jump in home refinances, home mortgage applications surged higher last week on to nearly a record breaking pace. The Mortgage Bankers Association Refinance Index increased 9.4% from the prior week. The average contracted mortgage rate on a fixed 30-year loan dropped to 4.05%, the lowest in the history of… Continue reading Refinances Surge on Record Low Mortgage Rates
2012 North Dakota Housing Market
Driven by growing energy markets in natural gas and oil exploration, North Dakota was virtually immune from the Great Recession. The state is also seeing its biggest boom in history as thousands of newcomers flock to the region, but that doesn’t leave North Dakota in perfect shape either. The same booming scenario is forcing some… Continue reading 2012 North Dakota Housing Market
Pressures Heighten on Underwater Principal Reductions
By Mike Colpitts The U.S. secretary of housing is stepping up pressure on the nation’s giant mortgage lenders to provide principal reductions on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae mortgages in a move supported by the Obama administration. The effort would supply a much needed fix to the housing market. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan made the… Continue reading Pressures Heighten on Underwater Principal Reductions
2012 Indiana Housing Market
Higher prices paid for corn and soy beans to farmers are having a major impact on the Indiana economy as it makes strides to improve from its housing downturn. Lower home prices combined with close to record low mortgage rates are driving a reemergence of home buyers in some areas of the state. The decline… Continue reading 2012 Indiana Housing Market
2012 Montana Housing Market
Despite being one of the strongest areas in U.S. home value stability, Montana saw home prices decline during the real estate collapse, but record low mortgage rates are driving the state that claims the title as Big Sky Country to recover from the downturn and is forecast to see additional gains the remainder of the… Continue reading 2012 Montana Housing Market
2012 Kentucky Housing Market
The bloated inventory of homes listed for sale in Kentucky is showing some evidence of shrinking as more first time buyers purchase homes with historically low mortgage rates. But in most areas of the state home prices are still falling at nearly unprecedented rates as high joblessness unsettles the region. In Louisville home sales are… Continue reading 2012 Kentucky Housing Market