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Real estate markets to watch in 2012

Where will the “Hot” real estate markets be in 2012? 
What would be the best cities to buy real estate in?

Boy, wouldn’t we all love to know the answers to those questions!  Considering this is, by far, the worst, and longest lasting, downturn in the real estate market I have seen in my 33 years in

Continue reading… Real estate markets to watch in 2012

Mortgage Interest Rates Fall Again to Yet Another New Record Low

Today Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, showing average mortgage rates have dropped to new all-time record lows!

Mortgage Interest Rates Reported:

What are the hot spots in the U.S. attracting home buyers?

Well, I guess my wife and kids aren’t the only people that want to move to Florida!  According to a report released by Trulia, house hunters from all over the country are searching for homes in Florida.  In fact, of the top 10 metro areas where demand among online house hunters is strongest, seven are

Continue reading… What are the hot spots in the U.S. attracting home buyers?

Home prices in U.S. fall in November - Back to mid-2003 levels

This morning, the S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for November was released showing US home prices decreased from the month before as well as the year before. The 10-city and 20-city composites fell by 1.3 percent each and the home price indexes were down 3.6 percent and 3.7 percent respectively from the year before. For a

Continue reading… Home prices in U.S. fall in November – Back to mid-2003 levels

New homes sales fall in December and make 2011 worst year on record

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for December 2011 showing a decrease of 2.2 percent from the month before, and a decrease of 7.3 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for December was 307,000 homes, down from an

Continue reading… New homes sales fall in December and make 2011 worst year on record

One in five home sales is a foreclosure and only two-thirds the cost of a non-foreclosure home

Foreclosure Price 34 Percent Below Average Price of Non-Foreclosures

RealtyTrac, today released its third-quarter 2011 U.S. Foreclosure Sales Report, which shows that sales of homes that were in some stage of foreclosure or bank owned accounted for 20 percent of all U.S. residential sales in the third quarter of 2011, down from 22 percent of all

Continue reading… One in five home sales is a foreclosure and only two-thirds the cost of a non-foreclosure home

Ten cities that receive the most online home searches

Realtor.com, which claims to have more traffic on it’s website than any other real estate website in the world, released their report for December showing how 146 metro areas in the U.S. stack up in terms of popularity for home searches.  Chicago was number 1 on the list again this month, followed by Detroit, MI,

Continue reading… Ten cities that receive the most online home searches

Home sales and prices increase in December; Inventory down to near-normal level

Today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in December were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.61 million units which is an increase of 5.0 percent from the month before and an increase of 3.6 percent from a year ago. The actual number of homes

Continue reading… Home sales and prices increase in December; Inventory down to near-normal level

New Home Starts in 2011 Set All-Time Record Low

The last couple of months I have said that, “unless something changes dramatically, 2011 will hit a new record low of new home starts. Unfortunately, nothing dramatic happened, and 2011 has ended with only 428,600 new home starts setting a new record low and significantly below the prior all-time low of 445,200 starts in 2009.

Mortgage Delinquences Increase in December but are Down over 25 percent from a year ago

Mortgage delinquencies in December increased to 2.24 percent of all mortgages, a slight increase from the month before when delinquencies were at 2.22 percent but a decrease of over 25 percent from a year ago when the rate was 3.01 percent. The mortgage delinquency rate is something I pay close attention to because it is

Continue reading… Mortgage Delinquences Increase in December but are Down over 25 percent from a year ago

Foreclosure actions in 2011 hit lowest level since 2007!

This morning, RealtyTrac released their 2011 year-end U.S. Foreclosure Market Report which shows that 2,698,967 foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions) we’re reported on 1,887,777 properties in the U.S. during the year, a decrease of 34 percent from the year before and marking the lowest level since 2007!

Home prices decline in November; fourth consecutive month of declines

A report released this morning by CoreLogic, one of the nations leading providers of property information shows that home prices in the U.S. fell in November 4.3 percent from the year before and declined by 1.4 percent from the month before marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline in home prices.

Mortgage interest rates fall to match all time low!

This morning, Freddie Mac released the results of it’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey revealing that the interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.91 percent, matching the all-time low!  Makes me want to go out and borrow some money!   At this time last year, the interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate

Continue reading… Mortgage interest rates fall to match all time low!

Mortgage Rates Finish 2011 Near Historic Lows

Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS), showing average fixed mortgage rates finishing the year near their all-time historic lows. Thirty-year fixed rate mortgages averaged 3.95 percent and have been at or below 4.0 percent for the past nine consecutive weeks keeping homebuyer affordability at a near all-time high.

Hawaii homeowners have highest mortgage amounts in U.S.

Ah the beauty and splendor of Hawaii! Living in paradise comes at a price though as Hawaii, by far, leads the nation in average loan amount on a home, coming at $677,299 according to a report just released by LendingTree.com. Coming in a rather distant second is Washington D.C. at $393,453, followed by

Continue reading… Hawaii homeowners have highest mortgage amounts in U.S.

Homeowners in U.S. to lose nearly $700 Billion in value during 2011;  Is the worst of it over?

While losing $700 Billion in value in U.S. homes in a year sounds horrible, the good news is, if we end this year around this number the total loss in home values for 2011 will be smaller than the prior four years! This information is from the newly released Zillow Real Estate Market Reports, which

Continue reading… Homeowners in U.S. to lose nearly $700 Billion in value during 2011;  Is the worst of it over?

Home Prices Fall In October;   back to mid-2003 levels

Dennis Norman

This morning, the S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for October was released showing US home prices decreased from the month before as well as the year before. The 10-city and 20-city composites fell by 1.1 percent and 1.2 percent respectively and the home price indexes were down 3.0 percent and 3.4 percent respectively from the

Continue reading… Home Prices Fall In October;   back to mid-2003 levels

FHA Extends Waiver of Anti-Flipping Regulations Through End of 2012

FHA “anti-flipping” regulations prohibit lenders making an FHA loan on a home that the seller has owned for less than 90 days. However, in 2010 this regulation was waived temporarily through January 31, 2011 by FHA in an effort to help the housing market conditions. Subsequently, that waiver was extended through the

Continue reading… FHA Extends Waiver of Anti-Flipping Regulations Through End of 2012

New home construction in November inches up;  Curent pace slightly ahead of record-low

The last couple of months I have said that, “unless something changes dramatically, 2011 will hit a new record low of new home starts. Well, the actual numbers this year will still most likely be a record low, but at least the rate of new home starts for November has now inched above the

Continue reading… New home construction in November inches up;  Curent pace slightly ahead of record-low

Mortgage delinquencies increase in November;   Foreclosures decline from month before

The U.S. mortgage loan delinquency rate was 8.15 percent of all home loans in November, up 2.7 percent from the month before and down 9.6 percent from a year ago, according to the “First-Look” report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data. The

Continue reading… Mortgage delinquencies increase in November;   Foreclosures decline from month before

30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage Matches All-Time Record Low at 3.94 Percent

This morning Freddie Mac released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) which showed average 30-year fixed-rate mortgages matched an all time record low of 3.94 percent, and there was an all-time record low rate for 15-year fixed rate mortgages.

California Number 1 in Mortgage Fraud Ranking

The Mortgage Fraud Index from MortgageDaily.com has California at the top of the list for mortgage fraud activity during the third quarter of 2011.

The mortgage fraud index for third quarter was at 1173, down almost seven percent from the prior quarter when the index was at 1261, but up over 16

Continue reading… California Number 1 in Mortgage Fraud Ranking

Foreclosures decrease in November

This morning, RealtyTrac released their U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for October 2011 which shows that foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions) we’re reported on 224,394 properties in the U.S. during the month, a three percent increase from the previous month and a decrease of 14 percent from the year before.

Continue reading… Foreclosures decrease in November

National Association of REALTORS says "Sales were weaker than people thought"

Today CNBC reported that the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), the country’s leading source of existing home sales data, will be revising their home sales numbers from 2007 through October of this year downward because of “double counting, indicating a much weaker housing market than previously thought”. This is not a new thought

Continue reading… National Association of REALTORS says "Sales were weaker than people thought"

Poll shows housing market second only to jobs in voter influence in 2012

A recent survey by Houselogic.com, a consumer website from the National Association of REALTORS, shows that jobs will be the most important issue for voters in the 2012 election, followed next by housing. Over half the respondents said jobs would be the top issue as they head to the polls next November and almost

Continue reading… Poll shows housing market second only to jobs in voter influence in 2012

Report shows home prices fell in October; third consecutive month of home price declines

A report released this morning by CoreLogic, one of the nations leading providers of property information shows that home prices in the U.S. fell in October 3.9 percent from the year before and declined by 1.3 percent from the month before marking the third consecutive monthly decline in home prices.

Is the housing market seeing the beginning of a "soft landing"?

“We may indeed being seeing the beginning of at least a ‘soft landing’ in housing,” said Michael Feder, President and CEO of Radar Logic.

The latest housing market report by RadarLogic contained said, while trends in home prices remain negative in most major U.S. metropolitan areas, there are indications that market conditions

Continue reading… Is the housing market seeing the beginning of a "soft landing"?

Baby Boomers Helping Their Kids Buy Homes

Want to buy a house but a little short on cash? If your parents or grandparents are of the baby boomer generation then no problem, they’ll give you the cash! Well, at least one in five will according to a recent survey by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.

Home sales jump in October to highest level in 18 months

Dennis Norman

The National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index for October shows an increase of 10.4 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and a 9.2 percent increase from a year ago. This is the first time in four months that the index has increased and marks the highest level the

Continue reading… Home sales jump in October to highest level in 18 months

Fewer Homeowners Underwater on Mortgage

A report released today by CoreLogic shows that 17.10 percent (96,986) of all St. Louis homeowners with a mortgage were in a negative equity position in the third quarter of 2011, down slightly from 17.30 percent the prior quarter. Negative equity is also referred to as being “underwater” or “upside down” and refers to

Continue reading… Fewer Homeowners Underwater on Mortgage