NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Home prices fell in November for the first time in seven months, according to a industry report released Tuesday. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index recorded a decline of 0.2% from October. Prices were down 5.3% compared with 12 months ago.
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The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averages 4.98% for the week ending Jan. 28, down from 4.99% last week and 5.10% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey.
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The lead story in commercial real estate today is the dynamic duo of Tishman Speyer and BlackRock walking away from Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan. The two have been trying to refi $4.4 billion in debt on the 11,200-apartment property, to no avail. So now they’re handing over the keys to the lenders.
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The turmoil in the US housing market has been punctuated with a wave of residential foreclosures. With sellers looking to offload foreclosed properties, often at a loss, the discounted prices have been identified as potentially profitable investments by speculators betting on a housing rebound. But across the country, where are the best opportunities?
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US existing home sales (EHS) fell a disappointing 16.7% as the rush from the first time home buyers credit earlier in the fall depleted sales in December. However, sales had rebounded significantly from the lows last Jan-Mar and have reduced inventories significantly as well.
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Despite a more stable financial system, banks are still not lending and the quality of loans on their books continues to get worse as the U.S. housing market remains in the doldrums, a top official at the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Existing home sales fell in December, the month after a federal tax credit was slated to expire, according to a real estate industry report issued Monday. The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales plunged 16.7% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.45 million units, down [...]
U.S. mortgage applications fell for the first time in four weeks, reflecting a dramatic drop in demand for home refinancing loans, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday. Demand for loans to purchase a home also fell, albeit on a smaller scale. Nevertheless, a continuation of this trend would not bode well for the [...]
New-home buyers responded to the tough times in 2009 by opting for smaller houses, driving down the average size of a house built in the U.S. for the first time in 27 years.
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As housing experts continue to debate when or whether housing will finally turn around for good in 2010, the one thing most agree upon is that foreclosures will continue or even outpace last year.
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That’s right, the event that’s supposed to distract all the world from harsh economic realities and lift the spirits of millions may itself be a victim of these brutal times. The Whistler ski resort in Vancouver, where the XXI Winter Olympics will be held next month, slipped into foreclosure after parentIntrawest missed a $524 million debt payment [...]
The springtime spurt in home buying may hit before the snow melts this year as buyers scramble to meet an April 30 tax credit deadline.
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The Federal Housing Administration said Wednesday that it would raise down-payment requirements, boost its mortgage-insurance premiums and tighten its loan underwriting practices in a bid to strengthen its capital reserves and remain solvent in the face of rising foreclosures and delinquencies.
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US banks and thrifts must go through the painful process of recognizing losses associated with commercial real estate loans, a leading regulator said on Wednesday.
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New U.S. housing starts unexpectedly fell in December, pulled down by a drop in construction activity for single-family dwellings, a government report showed on Wednesday. The Commerce Department said housing starts fell 4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 557,000 units.
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Mortgage application volumes increased a seasonally adjusted 9.1% last week from the week before, mainly reflecting an uptick in refinancing activity, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported on Wednesday. Refinancing filings rose 10.7% for the week ended Jan. 15, according to MBA’s latest survey. Applications for mortgages to buy homes were also up, increasing a seasonally [...]
US home builder sentiment unexpectedly fell in January to the lowest level since June on concerns over the weak labor market and high foreclosure volume, according to a survey on Tuesday that pointed to a patchy recovery in the housing sector.
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Shopping for a mortgage got easier this year with new, simple-to-understand good-faith estimate forms that all lenders are now required to use — making it less of a hassle for consumers to compare loan costs. Closing agents are also required to provide borrowers with a new settlement statement that clearly compares borrowers’ final and estimated [...]
After plunging by about 75% from the lofty levels during the housing bubble, new home construction has finally stopped falling. But, despite massive healing efforts by the government and the industry, home building hasn’t shown any real improvement since bottoming early last year.
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Our investigation into allegations of short sale fraud by some of the nation’s major lenders certainly struck a nerve in the lending community, but it also served to show me just how uneducated many in that same community still are, even today. It’s clear from the dozens and dozens of comments on the blog page that [...]
