Foreclosure Nation

Greg Rand, a 20-year real estate veteran and author of Crash Boom (Career Press), recently divulged five new trends in the struggling housing market. “The secret to making sure your real estate doesn’t turn into a money pit is to watch the trends, so you can predict where the prices will rise and w...

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In what Standard & Poor’s analysts described as a “welcome shift from recent months,” the closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller index showed its strongest positive movement since June of last year with the release of Tuesday’s report. The 20-city composite reading posted a 0.7 percent increase in April...

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The shadow inventory of repossessed and soon-to-be repossessed homes not yet visible to the market has been trimmed, according to new data released by CoreLogic Wednesday. The company reports that as of April 2011, the industry’s shadow supply fell to 1.7 million units, down from 1.9 million units...

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Home prices in the U.S. rose in April for the first time since last spring, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported Wednesday. The agency’s House Price Index recorded a 0.8 percent seasonally adjusted increase between March and April – the first month-over-month gain since May 2010. T...

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Backlogged foreclosures, severe oversupply, and negative equity triggered a further decline in home prices in April, according to the latest RPX Monthly Housing Market Report from Radar Logic. The New York-based real estate data and analytics company tracks home prices in 25 major metropolitan are...

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Pending home sales rose strongly in May with all regions experiencing gains from a year ago, pointing to higher housing activity in the second half of the year, according to the National Association of Realtors®. The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings,...

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June 24, 2011 The U.S. housing market has fallen into a double-dip slump after last year’s stimulus-driven stabilization and will continue to weigh on the pace of economic recovery through the coming year. Housing-related output has fallen dramatically since the bubble burst in late 2006, detract...

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Distressed properties accounted for just 31 percent of existing-home sales in May, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Tuesday. The ratio of distressed homes – typically bank-owned or pre-foreclosure short sales – took a dive last month compared to earlier in the year. May’s market...

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Existing-home sales were down in May as temporary factors and financing problems weighed on the market, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Existing-home sales1, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, fell 3.8 percent to a se...

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An oasis of stability in a struggling condo real estate market, Fort Lauderdale is continuing to outpace the tri-county area, according to a recent report. Since 2003, roughly 5,100 condominiums were created or converted in the city's downtown and beach area. Now, fewer than 2 percent of the create...

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John Burns Real Estate Consulting (JBREC) released a housing report card Thursday that confirms most key market indicators trending southerly, signaling more distress may be in store. “The existing home market continues to remain weak, with most indicators still grading at poor levels and almost al...

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Ongoing deterioration in real estate markets and rising levels of distressed residential and commercial properties are areas of acute concern for officials at the Federal Reserve. “[R]eal estate conditions have remained weak and adversely affected the performance of many banks,” Michael R. Foley, ...

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According to Freddie Mac’s latest market outlook, over the first four months of 2011, sales of existing homes are up 5 percent from the pace of 2010 — in line with the GSE’s earlier projections of a 5 percent annual increase in existing-home sales this year. Regardless, Freddie’s economists say go...

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The Federal Reserve published a new rendition of its popular Beige Book on Wednesday, relaying insight from professionals in the field on regional market conditions. A number of Fed districts noted improvements in overall credit quality, specifically Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Kansas City,...

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The Federal Reserve said growth will lag this year as the central bank finally acknowledged Wednesday what most Americans have long since realized: “Inflation has picked up.” The Fed’s statement, a customary event at the conclusion of every policy meeting, is the status update traders, bankers, bus...

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Precursor to Existing-Home Sales Heads Higher Pending sales of existing homes rose again in March, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The trade group’s monthly reading of contract signings – which is a forward-looking indicator of where sales of prev...

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Washington - Pending home sales increased in February but with notable regional variations, according to the National Association of Realtors®. The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator, rose 2.1 percent to 90.8, based on contracts signed in February, from 88.9 in January. The inde...

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Data released this morning by Standard & Poor’s show that the 20-city composite reading of the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index fell 1.0 percent in January 2011 when compared to the previous month. The 20-city composite is down 3.1 percent from its January 2010 level. San Diego and Washington D....

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The much-feared "double-dip" in housing may finally be here, as home prices in 11 major U.S. cities reached new lows in December, according to data released today. Home prices across 20 major U.S. cities have fallen drastically over the last year, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index ...

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The housing market remains mired in trouble, with plummeting prices and slumping sales. First-time buyers are fleeing, sellers are frustrated, builders are depressed and lenders are skittish about making new loans. “The numbers are gloomy, no question,” said the economist Karl E. Case. “We’re boun...

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The number of home sales now pending is up in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. Miami-Dade is experiencing the biggest boost, with total pending sales – including single-family homes and condominiums – rising 18 percent, year-over-year in March, to 11,...

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Although the foreclosure crisis at times appears like an all-encompassing national problem, there are states and metropolitan areas that are harder impacted than others. From the onset of the foreclosure crisis, four states have continually had relatively worse foreclosure problems: Arizona, Califor...

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NEW YORK - High residential vacancies are killing many housing markets, as foreclosed homes sit on the market and depress sale prices and property values. And it's only getting worse: The national vacancy rate crept up to just over 13% according to last week's decennial census report. That's up fr...

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Reports have recently emerged of homeowners being sued for mortgage fraud after taking out "no-doc" loans -- mortgages that require very little documentation. Courts have even turned to a new form of "debtor's prisons." WASHINGTON -- More Americans signed contracts to buy homes in February, but s...

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The latest RPX Composite price from the New York-based real estate data and analytics firm RadarLogic, which tracks home prices in 25 metropolitan areas, declined to $179.50 per square foot in January, its lowest level since 2007. According to the company’s January 2011 RPX Monthly Housing Market ...

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A gain in the number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes in February failed to make up for the ground lost a month earlier, a sign the U.S. housing market has yet to join the economic recovery. The index of pending home resales increased 2.1 percent after a 2.8 percent dro...

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Sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell sharply in February, after several months of increases, according to a report released Monday, in an another blow to a sagging housing market that may have further to fall. Existing home sales dropped 9.6 percent from January to February to an annual rate ...

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WASHINGTON Existing-home sales fell in February following three straight monthly increases, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Existing-home sales1, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, dropped 9.6 percent to a seasonally...

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WASHINGTON — Home construction in the United States is all but coming to a halt. Americans are on track to buy fewer new homes than in any year since the government began keeping data almost a half-century ago. Sales are now just half the pace of 1963 – even though there are 120 million more people...

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A recent report by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reveals interesting information regarding the shadow inventory of the hardest hit states. It is pretty well known that Arizona, Nevada, California, and Florida have been most affected by the foreclosure crisis. Together the four states ...

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TRENDS. All indicators MOM and YOY are (1) moving in the wrong direction (2) for enough time to be called a trend. Another trend is spreading to other states; . others included in ‘top’ foreclosure states now (CA,FL,AZ,MI,GA,TX,IL,NV,OH,WI). Prices were down in 18 states 6 months ago. Now 4...

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Existing-home sales fell in February following three straight monthly increases, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Monday. Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops, dropped 9.6 percen...

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LAS VEGAS -- The promise of palm tree groves and low-priced real estate lured Alan and Katherine Ackerly across the Rocky Mountains from Denver to Nevada in 2004, where thousands of new houses beckoned brightly as any neon sign. They came to buy their retirement home. But the real estate bust took ...

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Housing starts posted their biggest decline in 27 years in February while building permits dropped to their lowest level on record, suggesting the beleaguered real estate sector has yet to rebound from its deepest slump in modern history. Groundbreaking on new construction dropped 22.5 percent last...

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South Florida home values fell 14.5 percent, year-over-year, in January, to a Zillow Home Value Index of $138,600, according to data from the Seattle-based online real estate company. By comparison, home values nationwide fell 7.3 percent, to an index value of $172,182. The index measures the valu...

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New data from RealtyTrac shows that foreclosure filings nationwide dropped 14 percent between January and February, as overall activity last month sunk to its lowest level since February of 2008. RealtyTrac says total foreclosure filings – including default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank rep...

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The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reports that home prices nationally dropped 0.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 when compared to the previous three-month period. FHFA’s index is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. O...

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Industry data released Monday showed that the number of homebuyers who signed contracts in January for the purchase of previously owned homes declined from both the previous month and year-ago levels. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) says its January index of pending home sales is down 2....

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New data from Clear Capital indicates that the slow-down in foreclosure activity may be having a positive effect on property values in some parts of the country. However the company’s report states that despite a national trend toward flattening of home prices, the western United States is draggin...

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Data released Thursday from HOPE NOW shows that while permanent loan modifications outpaced foreclosure sales in the month of January, the gap between the two is getting smaller. In January there were around 101,000 permanent loan modifications completed, down from 111,000 in December 2010. There w...

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They say “it’s all in the numbers,” but what if the numbers don’t match up, in fact don’t even come close, even when comparing apples to apples – in this case nationwide homes sales to nationwide home sales? The real estate data and analytics firm CoreLogic has released a market report in which th...

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Amid reports of home sales being boosted, the reality remains that the market is in a dark place. Sales prices are down, and though mortgage rates remain at record-lows, few people are qualifying for loans under the strict standards banks have in place. Add to that list the woes of real estate agen...

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-- More people bought previously occupied homes in January. But sales surged on a rising number of foreclosures and all-cash deals, and not first-time home-buyers. The rising number of distressed sales forced home prices down to the lowest level in nearly nine years, a troubling sign for the strugg...

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Buying a home in Ohio is very affordable, according to a recent article at CNNMoney.com, which reveals the five metro areas where the average family can easily afford to buy a median-priced home. Ohio cities claimed three of the five spots. Here are the most affordable housing markets, accordi...

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Housing starts in January reached their highest rate in four months, increasing more than analysts expected, the Commerce Department reports. Housing starts jumped 14.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 596,000 units. Housing starts in January were helped by a 77.7 percent jump in ...

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WASHINGTON - The economy grew slower than initially estimated in the fourth quarter as government investment contracted more sharply and consumer spending was less robust, a government report showed on Friday. Gross domestic product growth was revised down to an annualized rate of 2.8 percent, the ...

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The housing crash may have been more severe than initial estimates have shown. The National Association of Realtors, which produces a widely watched monthly estimate of sales of previously owned homes, is examining the possibility that it over-counted U.S. home sales dating back as far as 2007. T...

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The Quarterly Reports NAR releases statistics on state-by-state existing-home sales and metropolitan area median home prices each quarter. The state existing-home sales report includes single-family houses, condos and co-ops. The price report reflects sales prices of existing single-family homes by...

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While home prices continue to fall in many markets across the country, CNNMoney.com has compiled a list of cities that are expected to defy that trend. Here are six metro areas expected to record some of the largest price gains in real estate by 2012: 1. Tacoma, Wash. Median home price: ...

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Three out of four home owners — or 78 percent — say their homes are the best investment they ever made, according to Trulia.com’s biannual American Dream survey, which has tracked attitudes toward home ownership since 2009. Despite foreclosures and underwater homes continuing to batter the real...

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ORLANDO, FLA. (Feb. 15, 11:50 a.m. ET) — The forecast for housing starts for 2011 is sobering, no matter what economist you ask, or in what context you place those forecasts. So it’s likely to be a rough year ahead for many companies that supply the building and construction industry, particularly ...

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check out the clip on CNBC today! Today’s Release: Covers January 2011 Real news is in multi-family Permits: 562K. Down 10.4% MOM (from December 2010 @627K). Down 10.7% YOY (from January 2010 @ 629K). SF 421K Down 4.8% MOM (from December 2010 @ 442K). MF January 2011 @ 125K. Expected after la...

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2011 AT 8:30 A.M. EST CB11-29 Erica Filipek or Stephen Cooper Manufacturing and Construction Division (301) 763-5160 NEW RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION IN JANUARY 2011 The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly ann...

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On Thursday the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that home sales increased in 49 states during the fourth quarter of 2010, with 78 markets experiencing price gains from the fourth quarter of 2009. Despite sale price declines in 71 metropolitan areas, the national average of home sal...

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Property prices could fall back to crash levels in some cities. Despite signs of recovery, house prices are expected to fall by as much as 13 percent in some areas, thanks to a combination of high unemployment, and the large number of bank-owned homes, which often sell at much lower prices. Clear ...

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States that once topped charts for new home sales gains are absent from this year’s list, according to new research from Housing Intelligence. While California, Nevada, Arizona, and Florida are handling a flood of distressed properties, states with strong employment growth are emerging as the stro...

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WHAT’S the outlook for home prices over the next decade? It’s not easy to tell. We need to confront the basic fact that near the beginning of the 21st century, the market for homes in much of the world suddenly became more speculative than ever. This enormous housing bubble and burst isn’t com...

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Robo-signing, fraud and other documentation concerns that prompted some lenders to turn off the spigot of foreclosures temporarily last fall will likely stall housing recovery for a year. That was the prediction Friday from well-known economist Mark Vitner, who was among the speakers at an econom...

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The number of contracts signed for purchases of previously owned homes rose again in December, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Thursday. The trade group’s pending home sales index increased 2.0 percent compared to its November reading, which was revised down...

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The number of people who signed contracts to buy homes rose in December, marking the fifth increase in the past six months. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that its index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes rose 2 percent last month. The index had posted a 3.1 ...

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Pending home sales improved further in December, marking the fifth gain in the past six months, according to the National Association of Realtors® The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator, increased 2.0 percent to 93.7 based on contracts signed in December from a downwardly revise...

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WASHINGTON: New single-family home sales raced to their highest level in eight months in December while prices were the highest since April 2008, raising cautious optimism for a housing market recovery. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday sales jumped 17.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted 329...

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Pending home sales improved further in December, marking the fifth gain in the past six months, according to the National Association of Realtors® The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator, increased 2.0 percent to 93.7 based on contracts signed in December from a downwardly revise...

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Florida lost 8,500 construction jobs in December, falling to 338,400 from 346,900 in the previous month. And, between December 2009 and December 2010, the Sunshine State lost a whopping 20,200 construction jobs, according to employment figures compiled by the Associated General Contractors of Americ...

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The volume of distressed residential properties in the United States is the primary factor hindering a full recovery in the country’s housing market, according to Standard & Poor’s (S&P). Given the pace of defaults during the housing downturn, the market’s inability to quickly absorb the excess vo...

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S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices - & FiServ U.S. Home Prices Keep Weakening as Nine Cities Reach New Lows According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices New York, January 25, 2011 – Data through November 2010, released today by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller1 Home Price I...

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The increase in hotel transactions and low cost of debt and equity have driven down rates of return to pre-recession levels. This article sets forth an overview of recent hotel cap and discount rate trends and provides an outlook for 2011. The hotel investment market has taken a 180 degree turn ove...

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The U.S. Treasury's toxic asset funds have gained 27 percent since they were created to help revive the mortgage-backed securities market, according to data expected to be released later on Monday. As part of the government's deeply unpopular $700 billion bailout program, the funds were set up to r...

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A recent report by the Chicago Booth/Kellogg School shows around 26 percent of Americans have faith in America’s financial system. And though that number doesn’t seem to be that impressive, it is, says the Financial Trust Index, which was released Monday. In January 2009, when the Chicago Booth/Ke...

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Fewer people bought previously owned homes last year than in any year since 1997. But home sales in December jumped to fastest pace in seven months. The National Association of Realtors says sales fell 4.8 percent to 4.91 million units in 2010, the weakest performance in 13 years. Home prices ...

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Sales of previously owned homes surged 12.3 percent in December, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Thursday. Existing-home sales have increased five of the last six months and have now hit a seven-month high, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.28 millio...

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WASHINGTON — The number of people who bought previously owned homes last year fell to the lowest level in 13 years. But home sales in December jumped to fastest pace in seven months. The National Association of Realtors says sales dropped 4.8 percent to 4.91 million units in 2010. That was slightly...

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WASHINGTON: Groundbreaking on new U.S. home construction fell more than expected in December to its lowest in over a year, suggesting the battered housing sector remains a major roadblock to economic recovery. U.S. housing starts dropped to an annual rate of 529,000 units, the Commerce Department s...

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MIAMI -- Sales of existing single-family homes in the Miami metropolitan area in December were 734 vs. 623 a year earlier, a increase of 18%. Meanwhile, December sales in Miami rose 70% from December 2008, according to the Miami Association of Realtors and the Southeast Florida Multiple Listing Se...

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The delinquency rate on loans included in conduit and fusion U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) deals skyrocketed 79 percent over the past 12 months, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Delinquencies started 2010 at 4.90 percent. By the end of December, the rate of past-due loan...

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"We have magneto trouble. How, then, can we start up again?" mused John Maynard Keynes in December 1930, likening the stagnant economy of the Great Depression to a broken generator in an automobile. Fear not, he wrote, the car eventually would get rolling again, and "we need not assume . . . that mo...

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Recent market data analyzed by Lender Processing Services (LPS) highlights evidence of delays in the resolution of unpaid mortgages in the wake of widespread reports of robo-signing and reveals congestion in areas where delinquent loans are languishing. The clogged foreclosure pipelines servicers ...

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The latest home price gauge published by Standard & Poor’s recorded its largest monthly decline since February 2009 and its largest annual decline since December 2009. The data has led the firm’s top analysts to make the claim, “The double-dip is almost here.” The closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller...

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The number of contracts signed for purchases of previously owned homes climbed again in November, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) late last week. The organization’s pending home sales index rose 3.5 percent based on contracts signed in November. That follo...

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Last week the Wall Street Journal > published four housing-related issues to keep an eye on in 2011, which really haven't > changed much. #1 is jobs. "Who's going to buy a house when they're not certain they'll > have a job in six months and when it looks like home prices are likely to fall anoth...

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We all remember the worst of 2010: high unemployment, an ongoing foreclosure crisis and megabanks, whose legally dubious practices in foreclosing on millions of homes, managed to spread public anger and financial uncertainty. To figure out just how the economy would shape our lives in 2011, we ...

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According to a recent update to the real estate market forecast from Veros Real Estate Solutions, select markets in the United States can expect 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent appreciation in home values over the next 12 months. Although only mild appreciation is expected, approximately 40 percent...

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Existing-home sales got back on an upward path in November, resuming a growth trend since bottoming in July, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops, rose 5.6 percent...

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Sales of existing homes rose in November, but analysts said increased employment and better access to credit were needed before the housing market could achieve a sustained recovery. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that existing-home sales rose 5.6 percent to a seasonally adj...

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Existing-home sales got back on an upward path in November, resuming a growth trend since bottoming in July, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Wednesday. Sales of previously owned homes rose 5.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million, according...

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Home prices in the United States bounced back slightly during the month of October, according to data released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Wednesday. FHFA’s house price index is calculated using purchase prices of homes backing mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fan...

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Yesterday we learned that according to the NAR, Existing Home Sales rose 5.6% to > a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million in November from October, but > are about 28% below late 2009's levels. MBS prices finished the day roughly unchanged, > and the 10-yr closed at 3.35%, but it was a...

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The monthly RE/MAX National Housing Report, released Friday, shows housing prices remaining relatively stable, with sales still experiencing some declines. The survey of 54 metropolitan areas shows that November sales were 4.9 percent below October sales, and 25.9 percent below sales for November ...

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Rising mortgage rates helped push first-time homebuyers to buy properties in November, while investors lost some of their enthusiasm for distressed properties last month. These are two of the major findings of the latest HousingPulse Tracking Survey released by the market research firm Campbell Surv...

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Imagine sitting on a four-legged stool and one of its legs suddenly collapses. Or, put another way, let's say one of the key organs in your body stops functioning. Obviously, you're in trouble in either case. You can say the same thing about the economic ravages from the ongoing hell in housing, wh...

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While signs show the economic recovery is strengthening, palpable change is still a long way off. Falling home prices and high unemployment aren't expected to significantly improve any time soon. Looking forward about six months, the economic forecast is slightly rosier than it has been, as the Lea...

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The number of U.S. homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth fell in the third quarter, but the decline stemmed from banks getting more aggressive on foreclosures, not from home values going up, according to trade-industry data released Monday. In Deep: Underwater Borr...

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DSNews By: Joy Leopold 12/10/2010 The Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland released a report in November detailing the urgent need for measures to stabilize the housing market. The 13 page report, titled, A Way Forward on the Housing Crisis, says that “to allow the ho...

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A new report from ZipRealty shows the supply of homes for sale in November declined by an average of 3.78 percent in 26 major metropolitan areas that the company researched. The Emeryville, California-based ZipRealty, Inc, measures inventory from month to month and also compiles quarterly results o...

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Freddie Mac analysts point to five features that they believe will likely characterize the 2011 housing and mortgage markets: 1. Low mortgage rates. With Fed observers expecting the central bank to keep the federal funds rate at its current target range of 0 percent to 0.25 percent for most (or a...

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Based on the latest S&P Case-Shiller index, Capital Economics has concluded that house prices are now 17 percent undervalued relative to disposable income per capita. Housing has never before looked as undervalued, the firm pointed out in a research note released to DSNews.com. Looking at the data...

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Americans continue to grapple with uncertainty about the housing market, with 58 percent of U.S. adults expecting recovery to be at least another two years away, according to the results of a new survey conducted by Trulia and RealtyTrac, which tracks homebuyers’ attitudes toward foreclosed homes...

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Recently released information from Radar Logic Incorporated claims home prices experienced a much sharper decline than the decline shown in other companies’ reports. Radar Logic’s September 2010 RPX Monthly Housing Market Report released on Thursday shows the composite price experienced a 2.7 perc...

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As in the past, key macroeconomic drivers of the economy – such as income growth, unemployment rate, and inflation – will affect the performance of the housing and mortgage markets in 2011. With fiscal policy supporting aggregate demand for goods and services and an accommodative monetary policy pro...

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Pending home sales jumped in October, showing a positive uptrend since bottoming in June, NAR says. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator, rose 10.4 percent to 89.3 based on contracts signed in October from 80.9 in September. The index remains 20.5 percent below a surge to a ...

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Sales of new homes took another dip in October, sliding 8.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 283,000, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported last week. New-home sales are down 28.5 percent compared to October 2009. The pace was inconsistent across the country with sales in the So...

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The Federal Reserve released its latest rendition of the popular Beige Book Wednesday. Economic conditions across the country were described as “continuing to improve, on balance.” On the housing front, though, contacts in the field said markets remain “depressed” and have weakened further since the...

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Despite the national moratorium that brought foreclosures to a halt in October, the speed at which lenders were filing and courts were processing foreclosures in Florida was not enough to cut into the sales of foreclosed residences in the tri-county area. And, along with that increase in sales has ...

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New data released by RealtyTrac Thursday shows that distressed homes – including those in default, scheduled for foreclosure auction, and REO – accounted for 25 percent of all U.S. residential sales in the third quarter. These properties sold at an average of 32 percent below the price of their no...

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In 1980, the U.S. economy was in the middle of a severe downturn, and jobs weren’t easy to find. So Lou Crandall, after earning a bachelor’s degree with a focus on economics from Cornell University, scattered resumes far and wide. One went to an employment agency looking for bilingual workers. Cra...

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In 1980, the U.S. economy was in the middle of a severe downturn, and jobs weren’t easy to find. So Lou Crandall, after earning a bachelor’s degree with a focus on economics from Cornell University, scattered resumes far and wide. One went to an employment agency looking for bilingual workers. Cra...

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In 1980, the U.S. economy was in the middle of a severe downturn, and jobs weren’t easy to find. So Lou Crandall, after earning a bachelor’s degree with a focus on economics from Cornell University, scattered resumes far and wide. One went to an employment agency looking for bilingual workers. Cra...

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people who signed contracts to buy homes rose in October, the third gain since contract signings hit a decade low. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that its index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes rose 10.4 percent in October. Contr...

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WASHINGTON — New home sales tumbled in October while the median home price dropped to the lowest point in seven years. Sales of new single-family homes declined 8.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 283,000 units in October, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. It was the fou...

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October wasn’t a good month for home builders. The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that new home sales fell 8.1 percent last month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 283,000 units. In addition, the median home price fell to$194,900, the lowest level in seven years. At this sales pace, t...

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Home prices in the United States continued to fall in the third quarter, with declines widespread in most parts of the country, according to data released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Wednesday. FHFA’s purchase-only house price index (HPI) is calculated using sales data from mortg...

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In September, when existing home sales rose 10 percent, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a statement announcing the numbers meant a sales recovery had begun. One short month later, and after only two months of gains, sales have slumped 2.2 percent to a 4.43 million annual rate,...

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Home prices in the United States have declined for two months in a row, according to CoreLogic’s market index, after rising for the first seven months of the year. The latest CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI) shows that national home prices, including distressed sales, declined 2.79 percent in Sept...

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The industry’s ominous shadow inventory of REOs that have yet to hit the market and soon-to-be-REOs increased by more than 10 percent between August 2009 and August 2010, according to new figures released by CoreLogic Monday. CoreLogic defines shadow inventory as the number of properties that are ...

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Hanley-Wood's ProSalesOnline.com identifies seven trends that the magazine’s editors believe will have the biggest impact on housing in 2011. 1. Big builders are wringing the extras out of construction costs and dropping the national average cost-to-build 36 percent to $52 per square foot. 2. ...

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According to Jones Lang LaSalle’s 2011 National Commercial Real Estate Outlook, the majority of the commercial real estate (CRE) industry can expect a commercial comeback in 2011. The Chicago-based financial and professional services firm announced its findings at a yearly media Webcast event this...

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Consumer demand for home loans plummeted last week as mortgage interest rates shot up against the backdrop of the Federal Reserve’s announcement to pump more money into the economy – an initiative that’s fundamental design is to keep interest rates low in hopes of buoying economic growth. The tota...

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Economist Tony Villamil foresees a slow but ongoing recovery of the South Florida economy, barring an unexpectedly dramatic decline in government employment. "The economy is improving but very slowly," said Villamil, dean of the business school at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens. "Usually wh...

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Nearly one-quarter, or 23.2 percent of U.S. homeowners with a mortgage, were underwater on the loan in the third quarter, meaning they owe more on the home than it is worth, according to figures released Wednesday by the real estate data provider Zillow. The third-quarter underwater number rose fro...

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Inventories of homes listed for sale are dwindling across the country, in some markets, significantly, according to Altos Research. The California-based real estate data and analytics firm released a new market update this week. The Altos 10-city composite of homes listed for sale fell 4.64 percen...

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Sales of existing single-family homes fell in the third quarter in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, but were up slightly in West Palm Beach, according to figures from Florida Realtors. Existing condo sales, meanwhile, soared in Miami and West Palm Beach, but fell in Fort Lauderdale. Prices for homes...

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Many experts say the difference is California's simpler foreclosure process, which doesn't involve the courts. By Alejandro Lazo and E. Scott Reckard, Los Angeles Times November 5, 2010 Advertisement California and Florida had a lot in common during the housing industry's last boom-and-b...

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Nine percent drop in bank repossessions may be due to "foreclosure freeze" IRVINE, Calif. – Nov. 11, 2010 — RealtyTrac? (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ for October 2010, which shows foreclosure ...

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The number of contracts signed for purchases of previously owned homes unexpectedly dropped in September. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Friday that its pending home sales index slipped 1.8 percent – the first decline reported since June. Economists polled by Reuters were anticipa...

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During the third quarter of this year, 2.7 percent of current mortgage balances transitioned into delinquency, according to new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That’s up from 2.6 percent that became newly delinquent in the second quarter. Fed officials called the quarterly increase ...

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Residential property values fell 0.2 percent at the national level during the third quarter of this year, according to Integrated Asset Services (IAS). In front of a seasonal slow-down in home sales, IAS says the data foreshadow “particularly difficult times ahead” for the country’s housing markets...

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The Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller’s office is disputing county foreclosure data provided by Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac. According to RealtyTrac figures, the number of initial foreclosure filings in October rose to 1,958 from 1,175 a month earlier. However, the Palm Beach County ...

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Forty-two percent of homes in South Florida were under water in the third quarter, down from 43.2 percent in the previous quarter and 45.1 percent a year ago, according to Seattle-based Zillow. Still, that’s nearly double the national negative equity rate of 23.2 percent. Home values in Miami...

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Market data collected by Lender Processing Services (LPS) during the month of September reveals that foreclosure timelines continue to increase, with borrowers in the latest stages of delinquency or in foreclosure languishing without having made a mortgage payment for up to 16 months. The company’s...

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Existing-home sales rose again in September, affirming that a sales recovery has begun, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops, rose 10 percent to a seasonally a...

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WASHINGTON — A mixed picture of the economy emerged one day before key midterm elections that have focused on the nation's financial health. Spending by Americans slowed in September and their incomes fell for the first time in more than a year. At the same time, manufacturing activity grew by the ...

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The analysts at Capital Economics say that dreaded double-dip is already underway, in both housing activity and residential property prices. “It is becoming clear that the housing market cannot stand on its own two feet,” said Paul Dales, U.S. economist for the international research firm. Dales...

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New figures released by Fitch Ratings put the industry’s shadow inventory at 7 million homes. The agency defines the shadow supply of properties as loans that aredelinquent, in foreclosure, or real-estate-owned (REO) by the servicer, and Fitch says based on recent liquidation trends, it will take mo...

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WASHINGTON — Home prices are falling further, suggesting a bottom hasn't been reached in many metro areas. Millions of foreclosures are expected to pour onto the market in the coming years. That's likely to force prices down and hurt even cities that had begun to rebound. Investigations into banks'...

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WASHINGTON (AP, BY ALAN ZIBEL) -- Home prices are weakening around the country, even in metro areas that were showing strength earlier in the year. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released Tuesday fell 0.2 percent in August from July. Fifteen of the cities showed monthly...

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By Paul Owers and Harriet Johnson Brackey, Sun Sentinel Broward County home prices rose in September, but a long-term recovery hinges on the depth and duration of foreclosure freezes by several big lenders. The county's median price of existing homes sold last month was $214,200, a 7 percent inc...

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CARRIE BAY DSNews.com Sales of previously owned homes rose in September for the second straight month. Data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Monday revealed a 10 percent jump in existing-home sales last month. The month-to-month gain was more than analysts were expecting,...

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By: Carrie Bay DSNews.com Home prices in the U.S. declined 1.5 percent in August compared to a year earlier, CoreLogic reported Monday. It’s the first time this year the company’s index has recorded an annual drop. Mark Fleming, chief economist for California-based CoreLogic, warned that price dec...

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By Alan Rappeport in New York Published: October 26 2010 14:24 | Last updated: October 26 2010 18:03 Financial Times US house prices tumbled in August, raising fears that uncertainty surrounding foreclosure moratoriums could send the fragile real estate market into an end-of-year swoon. Home ...

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By: Carrie Bay 10/26/2010 DSNews.com Home prices across the country slipped in August, according to data released by Standard & Poor’s Tuesday. The agency’s closely-watched gauge of residential propertyvalues recorded a 0.1 percent drop in the composite reading of 10 cities tracked, while the 20-...

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Huffington Post ALAN ZIBEL and JEANNINE AVERSA |WASHINGTON — Sales of previously occupied homes rose last month after the worst summer for the housing market in more than a decade. And fears over flawed foreclosure documents could keep buyers on the sidelines in the final months of the year. Sale...

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In its new housing outlook report, The Concord Group—a real estate strategy firm based in Newport Beach, Calif.— predicts that national home sales will recover by the fourth quarter of 2010, with some well positioned markets improving by late 2011 or early 2012. "The Concord Group estimates sales ...

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here were 357,000 new households created between March 2009 and March 2010, down from about 1.3 million per year between 2002 and 2007, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. With household formation at a 63-year low, the supply of homes on the market is nearing a record high. "When people are af...

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by Jed Smith, Managing Director, Quantitative Research NAR’s Existing Home Sales (EHS) numbers estimate the size of the residential market—providing the annual rate of sales each month. The data are based on the level of sales in a specific month, seasonally adjusted to an annual rate. In July the...

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Home prices in the United States found their floor during the early part of 2010 and are expected to begin trending upward next year, according to a panel of elite economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) for its October 2010 Outlook. “The housing recovery is in...

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With top lenders like Bank of America and PNC issuing far-reaching moratoriums on foreclosures, now may just be a better time to rent than buy. A simple calculation called the price-to-rent ratio can give you an indication of whether it's a better move to rent or buy a home. Trulia, the online real...

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Home value depreciation remained steady in August after improvement stalled in July, according to the Zillow Real Estate Market Report released Friday. The Seattle-based company’s market data shows that nationally, home values fell 0.3 percent between July and August (about the same as the chang...

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Former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker and economist Nouriel Roubini seem equally pessimistic about a U.S. economic recovery. "This has not been an ordinary recession," Volcker, who chairs the president's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, said in a Toronto speech Thursday, according to Bloo...

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Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the U.S. economy is likely to be “fairly bad” or “very bad” over the next six to nine months. “We see two main scenarios,” analysts led by Jan Hatzius, the New York-based chief U.S. economist at the company, wrote in an e-mail to clients. “A fairly bad one in which ...

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Clear Capital Sees Evidence of Early Winter Slowdown in Home Prices By: Carrie Bay 10/06/2010 DSNews Data released by Clear Capital Thursday shows that quarter-over-quarter home prices were down 0.2 percent in September compared to the previous month’s reading. It’s the first time in months nati...

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It’s no secret that the volume of distressed residential properties is weighing heavy on U.S. housing markets and is prolonging any meaningful recovery. Of even greater concern is the industry’s growing backlog of homes thatneed to be liquidated and resold but have yet to make their way to the marke...

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By: Associated The number of people who signed contracts to buy homes rose in August for the second straight month but remained far below last year's pace. The weak economy and fears that prices will fall are keeping many consumers away from the housing market. The National Association of Real...

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Washington, October 04, 2010 Pending home sales have increased for the second consecutive month, according to the National Association of Realtors®. The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator, rose 4.3 percent to 82.3 based on contracts signed in August from a downwardly revised 7...

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Existing home sales were up 7.6% MOM from July to August 2010, but still down 19% YOY from August 2009. In terms of volume that translates to 4.13 million annual sales compared to 3.84 using July's number. That says good things for the demand side of the supply-demand equation affecting prices....

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Recession May Be Over, but Joblessness Remains By CATHERINE RAMPELL NYT The United States economy has lost more jobs than it has added since the recovery began over a year ago. Enlarge This Image Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Demonstrators in San Francisco this month. The United ...

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Housing Affordability: A Possible Good Omen by Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist NAR Amid all the media reports on how housing is still “in the tank,” one piece of news seemed to have escaped many of the pundits. Housing affordability could possibly reach an all-time high of near 200 in the sec...

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Household Growth: Projections from The State of the Nation’s Housing Report by Selma Lewis, Research Economist Each year, the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University issues a report on “The State of the Nation’s Housing.” The report provides an overview of the U.S. housing ma...

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Gross Domestic Product: What You Need to Know by NAR Research Staff Gross Domestic Product – GDP – measures the total final market value of all goods and services produced in a given year in the United States. A number of components make up the GDP: Consumption, Investment, Government Expenditur...

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Americans' net worth plunged in the second quarter of this year, new data from the Federal Reserve show, erasing the gains of the previous two quarters and adding evidence to the argument that the economy has entered a double-dip recession. The net worth of households and non-profit organizations...

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CORELOGIC on Thursday announced the inaugural release of its U.S. Housing and Mortgage Trends report, a bi-monthly study of housing sales, valuation, negative equity, and foreclosure activity and trends. The California-based research firm says its data indicate “more distress with distressed ho...

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The Census Bureau’s latest report on poverty and health insurance coverage is bleak. With millions of Americans out of work, it could hardly be otherwise. Census BureauThe record number of people last year without health insurance — 50.7 million, up from 46.3 million in 2008 — provides stark evi...

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Recession Raises Poverty Rate to a 15-Year High By ERIK ECKHOLM Published: September 16, 2010 Recommend Twitter comments (499) Sign In to E-Mail Print Single Page Reprints Share CloseLinkedinDiggMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalink The percentage of Americans struggling...

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Home prices have hit upon relatively stable ground in recent months – a welcome reprieve from the freefall days most markets had grown acutely accustomed to after the reverberating bursting of the housing bubble. But that stability may be fleeting. If you heed the words of the seers keeping a...

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Housing conditions continued to show signs of stabilizing during the second quarter of this year, following a downward trend that began to reverse itself in mid-2009, HUD says in a new report. The federal agency immediately follows that assessment, though, with “the housing market’s recovery remains...

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The U.S. Census Bureau and HUD publish an American Housing Survey ever two years. The recently released 2009 Survey reflects some interesting measures; The U.S. population as of 12/30/09 was 308 million and change. The age distribution in our country is as follows: 20% are age 0 to 14. 67% are...

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Home prices rose in June for the third consecutive month – a precipitate of the homebuyer tax credit that sparked a flurry of purchase activity during the spring months and helped to prop up home values. Buyer demand, though, has now dropped off substantially, as evidenced by the sharp decline in...

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Moody's says it expects home price appreciation to be “soft” for the next couple of years. The company says there were 1.8 million more vacant homes sitting on the market than what is considered the norm at the end of the second quarter. According to Moody’s, this imbalance of supply-and-demand, ...

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The latest numbers released at 9 AM EST today for June 2010 reflect home sales values; Up 1.0% MOM (from June 2010) (pretty much flat line) (Miami up 1.1%) 20 city up 4.2 % YOY (from June 2009). 10 City up 5% (but last year was horrible) 17 of 20 cities in composite up in June. ...

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New EXISTING HOME SALES number were released Tuesday June 22 at 10 AM by NAR for May. We expected to see a rise of about 6%. But instead saw a slight decrease. Given that this number measures closed sales, we should see at least another month of home buyer tax credit boost so this lower than ex...

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CredAbility Consumer Distress Index is a new quarterly stat tracking shifts in the average American household financial condition over time. CredAbility was f/k/a Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta. The new index measrures consumers employment, housing, credit, household budget...

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GDP: A relapse into recession in not likely. GDP growth this year is about 3.5% and will be about the same next year. Employment: Inventories are lean so businesses will be spending there as well as on equipment then have been putting off. Continued federal stimulus will help, but that tapers...

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$13 trillion nation debt 39.68 million on food stamps. Realtytrac foreclosure on 367,056 properties in March. MBA over 10% with mtg missed payment between January and March - record high. Banks own greater share of residential housing net worth in US than all Americans. Stat...

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Numbers released today indicte that home prices year over year are up. But prices month over month are down (which means eventually year over year numbers will reflect this decrease as well). The uptick in sales reflected by the home sales numbers a few days ago appear to have not translated to...

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The Pending Home Sales Index based on contracts signed in January, fell 7.6% from December, but remains 12.3% higher than January 2009. The Northeast fell 8.7% in January but is 20.5% higher than January 2009. The Midwest dropped 8.9% but is 11.8% above a year ago. The South slipped 2.1%...

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Estimates of shadow inventory have ranged anywhere between 1.7 million properties to 7 million. The reason for this wide range of estimates stems largely from varying perceptions of what exactly shadow inventory means. Those whose definition of shadow inventory refers to seriously delinquent loans (...

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"Option ARMs" resets are anticipated to occur between the second half of 2010 and 2012. The largest share of Option ARMs (60%)is concentrated in California. Other areas with high concentration of Option ARMs are those states also reporting the highest foreclosure rates: Florida, Nevada, and Ari...

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First American CoreLogic numebrs are indicating 11.3 million plus homes (24% of all homes with mortgages) in negative equity by year end 2009 with another 2.3 million approaching (only 5% equity). This adds up to about $801 billion underwater and theoretically at risk. 3Q 2009 the number was 10.7...

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According to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, residential property values were down 2.5 percent in Q4 2009 compared to a year earlier, a significant improvement over the annual variances in the Q1 (-19.0 percent), Q2 (-14.7 percent), and Q3 (-8.7 percent) of 2009, and sho...

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We see that home prices kept falling but slower than they did at the end of last year; Down 2.5% Q4 2009 compared to Q4 2008. But the 2008 to 2007 number was down 18.2 percent. Month to month prices rose 0.3% from December November 2009 overall in 20 markets, but fell in 5 markets. According...

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According to US Census Bureau numbers released this morning, new home sales in January 2010 were down 11.2% from last month/December 2009 and down 6.1% from last year/January 2009. Last month 3 of the 4 US regions showed a decline in new home sales; 35% down in the NE, 12% in the W and 9.5% in the ...

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According to the latest quarterly statistics released by NAR Research, total state existing-home sales, including single-family and condo, jumped 13.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.03 million in the fourth quarter - up from 5.29 million in the third quarter. Existing-home sales r...

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REOs and pending foreclosures will likely take 33 months – or nearly three years – to clear if liquidation rates hold steady....

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Strong gains in existing-home sales were the predominant pattern in most states during the fourth quarter, with many more metro areas seeing prices rise from a year earlier, Sales increased from the third quarter in 48 states and the District of Columbia; 32 states even saw double-digit gains. ...

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Strong gains in existing-home sales were the predominant pattern in most states during the fourth quarter of 2009, with many more metro areas seeing prices rise from a year earlier, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Realtors ® . Total state existing-home sales, includi...

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Realty Tracs January 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows that foreclosure filings were reported on 315,716 U.S. properties during the month, 1 in every 409 housing units. That's a decrease of nearly 10 percent from the previous month but still 15 percent above January 2009. Last month’s de...

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In November, the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed during the month, fell to 95.6, a 16.4 percent decrease from surging activity in preceding months due to the anticipated expiration of the homebuyer tax credit. Following the extension and expansi...

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While existing home sales fell 16.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.45 million units in December from 6.54 million units in November, sales remained 15 percent above the 4.74 million-unit level of December 2008. There were 5,156,000 existing-home sales for all of 2009, a 4.9 percent jump ...

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The latest release from Case Shiller show price down 0.2%. Thats 30% down from the '06 peak and a bit above 5% down from this time last year. But its in line with what we've been predicting, a decline of about another 5 to 10% in prices for 2010. Most of the decline will be seen between now an...

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We knew this was exactly what would happen. We're past the worst of it. Expect more dips. But don't panic. Last month existing home sales were donw 16.7%. ...

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In the big picture, 2009 can be credited with; Wrapping up a total 33% average home price decline for the US since the bubble burst. Prices bottoming in June '09 and inching up so far each month since. The beginning of a borader economic recovery. BUT Foreclosurses have not slowed. ...

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Sales in November 2009 were up 44% over November 2008. More than half of the sales were to first time home buyers, probably due to the rush to close under the tax credit before anyone knew it would be extended. 33% of the sales involved distressed properties and 19% were cash deals, more than twic...

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Inventory is down to 6.5 months but can be expected to increase, perhaps to around 8 months supply, as foreclosures flood the market and sales slow as the credit ends in June and interest rates increase. ...

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Pending Home Sales, a forward looking indicator based on contracts signed in November 2009, fell 16% from October but is still 15.5% higher than November 2008. PHS dropped 25.7% in the NE but is 14.7% up YOY. On the South PHS fell 15% but is 14.7% up YOY. In the West PHS dropped 2.7% but is 21.4...

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At small banks with less than $1 billion in assets, commercial mortgages comprise an average of 32.5% of that total. This is 6 times higher than banks with $50 billion or more in assets. As of September, commercial delinquency reached 5.59%, up from 3.51% six months earlier. According to some co...

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Great Article by Monica Hatcher of the Miami Herald; When home supply exceed one year prices fall. With 6 to 9 month inventory price tend to be stable. Less than that and prices appreciated. As of now in Miami Dade there is s ; 4 month supply of homes under $100K 8 months uplly of homes ...

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The latest stats acorss all fronts are no surprise. We're nearing a bottom across the board. The variation by location, property type and price is becomeing more obvious. As is the fact that this is not going to be a simple or quick recovery. Jobless claims last week appeared to decrease by 10...

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The Housing Pulse Survey is an annual telephone survey of 1000 urban and suburban adults in the top 25 media markets, designed to assist NAR in gaining information on consumers' attitudes and concerns about housing opportunities. Some recent results are interesting: Two-thirds of Americans think ...

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Some economic observers are predicting another wave of foreclosures later this Summer or the Fall. That’s because lenders that have held off on foreclosures as part of President Obama’s plan are now move forward aggressively to clear the backlog of troubled mortgages. There is fear that these risin...

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According to the WSJ, nearly 85% of the country’s housing markets are facing an increased risk of home price declines over the next two years, and prices are likely to slide in half of the largest 50 U.S. markets through the beginning of 2011, according to a report from mortgage insurer PMI Group In...

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1 kid in every classroom in American currently lives in a home thats in foreclosure. 43% of us spend more than earn 52% of us live paycheck to paycheck 42% of us don’t have enough liquid assets to support 3 months Lenders lose 20 to 60 cents on the dollar on each foreclosure. Typically...

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Home inventory is down 21% compared to last year but that doesn’t include REOs. FNMA is biggest REO owner, currently listing only about 35 to 50 % of their REOs at any given time. Banks list about 60% of theirs. They’re estimated to have 765,500 REOs now and expected to peak at 1.3 million late 2...

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9000 a week. Originally estimated 2 million. Now 5 to 6 million. Nationally 250,000 new filings in March, 1 in ever 10 homes Miami Dade has 600 new foreclosure filings each month. 75% of all new cases are foreclosures, takes 300 days – used to be 150. Original indicator = rate resets. Now also un...

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2008 20 major areas decreased in price over 18%, $3.3 trillion equity lost – 14 million underwater, another 230K a month. Florida 2nd with 1.3 million underwater – Mod wont help us since more than 5% underwater. ...

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$12 trillion in mortgages. $1 trillion in seconds 70% held by banks Top servicers service 50% and $440 billion in seconds. ...

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Housing is 19% of GDP Tourism is a $1.9 billion per day industry. 1 in 7 US jobs impacted. Shopping centers are $2.25 trillion in sales and $125 billion in state sales tax 70% local government taxes come from real estate • 30% residential • 40% commercial Over 200 publically traded REITS with ...

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650K jobs lost in March, 2 million so far. 6.1 million unemployed. Real estate supports 9 million jobs Construction supports 1.6 million self-employed and 6.7 million salaried workers 1 in 7 jobs impacted by tourism ...

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1900 75% Rented 2006 68% Owned ...

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Properites in the higher price range are finally seeing bigger hits. Up until now most of the foreclosures were at lower pricepoints. Places like the Hamptons where Wall Streets once elite are hardest hit for obvious reasons. One reason is the continued lack of availability of jumbo mortgage loans...

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Condo sales remains an especially soft spot in the road to recovery. One reason is the shere number of units built and the fact that they were especially attractive to investors/speculators. But the other reason is the problems faced by associations now as foreclosure units remain deliquent on their...

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The good news is refinances are up by a whole lot from last year. Its good because we know the underwriting standards are making these new loans safer investments and the lower, predominantly fixed rates are making the homes more affordable for Americans. Hopefully more old fashioned refinances w...

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NAR released their latest states this AM. First time buyers are about 53% of all sales now. Most agree sales will begin to strengthen but prices continue to drop. About 40% of sales now are foreclosures or distressed which typically sell form about 20% less. It typically takes 1 to 3 m...

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As of now there are over 900,000 properties currently in foreclosure nationwide, a 71% increase from this time last year. This according to a recent MBA survey. A RealtyTrac report released today tells us what we already know, that the cities with the highest forelcosure rates are concentrated i...

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The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index show no area experienced year-over-year price gains, the eighth straight month that has happened. Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Francisco continued to lead decliners, with year-to-year drops over 30%. In 20 major metropolitan areas, home prices dropped 18.2% from t...

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By the end of 2008, slightly more than 9 percent of all mortgages in the United States were either delinquent or in foreclosure, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The number of loans in foreclosure hit a new record of 2.3 million last year, more than double the volume in 2006, and indus...

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