Archive for 2010 Investing

Despite a tax credit that may make it more attractive for first-time homebuyers to purchase property, home sales declined in February. According to a joint release from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, sales of new single-family homes declined 2.2 percent during the second month of the year when [...]

Today’s look at the high-end housing market reveals how more sellers are beginning to get more realistic about home prices and cut deals on million-dollar homes. Many housing economists say that for borrowers who can get a mortgage and who have stable incomes, pulling the trigger on a house they like makes a lot of [...]

Wynn Bloch has always dutifully paid her bills and socked away money for retirement. But in December she defaulted on the mortgage on her California home, even though she could afford the payments. Bloch paid $385,000 for the two-bedroom in 2006, when prices were surging. Comparable homes are now selling in the low-$200,000s. At 66, [...]

In a speech on the Federal Reserve exit strategy to the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, chairman Ben Bernanke noted that the government-led credit provision, the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) is reaching its end this month. The exception to this deadline, however is newly issued commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and loans [...]

In February 2010, the delinquency rate among commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) pools reached 6%, up from 5.7% in January and, according to the analytics firm Realpoint, could be possibly heading toward 11-to-12% by the end of the year. Realpoint tracked delinquency data on $797bn of CMBS pools for the report. The total delinquent unpaid balance [...]

Foreclosures Decrease in January: Report.

Orlando Regional Realtor Association members posted 4,043 new sales contracts in the month of February, a 66.1 percent jump over February 2009 and the greatest monthly tally since the ORRA began recording the statistic in 2005 at the height of Orlando’s red-hot market ORRA Chairman Kathleen Gallagher McIver said the sales reflect real-time buyer interest. [...]

Last week Warren Buffet will rebound in 2011, today Sam Zell (another billionaire) said essentially the same thing. Zell speaking with Bloomberg says the recovery will start at year end and gain strength in the middle of next. The concern I have is not the financial markets now, it is the relationship between the markets and [...]

Does it matter whether a real estate agent charges you a flat commission rate — say 6 percent — or quotes you a flat rate but adds hundreds of dollars labeled an “admin” or administrative fee? A top federal housing official says it might matter a lot, especially when minimal or no separate services are [...]

HomeGain®, the first website to provide free instant home values, today announced the results of its nationwide home prices survey of over 1,400 current and former HomeGain  members. The results of the HomeGain First Quarter 2010  Home  Prices Survey indicates that the vast majority of real estate professionals nationwide believe that home prices will decrease [...]