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Showing posts from August, 2012

New Help on Short Sales | Waccabuc NY Real Estate

- August 31, 2012

NAR President Moe Veissi praises new help for struggling homeowners. The Federal Housing Finance Agency on Tuesday announced measures to make “short sales” of underwater homes easier for homeowners, including extending help to people who have financial difficulties but haven’t missed mortgage payments. Tagged with: Moe Veissi via voicesofrealestate.blogs.realtor.org

More Home Owners Cut Mortgage Debt | South Salem Real Estate

- August 31, 2012

Mortgage debt is on the decline, according to a new report by the New York Federal Reserve Bank. The New York Fed credits the decrease, as well as the fact that fewer Americans are late on their mortgage payments, to an increase in home owners who have refinanced into ultra-low mortgage rates. "The continuing decrease in delinquency rates suggests that consumers are managing their debts better," says Wilbert van Der Klaauw, an economist at the New York Fed. "As they continue to pay down debt and take advantage of low interest rates, Americans are moving forward with rebalancing their household finances." While Americans are getting a better grip over their mortgages, they are doing worse in keeping up with their debts on student loans and home equity lines of credit. Student loan delinquencies grew to 8.9 percent and HELOC delinquencies increased to 4.9 percent in the second quarter. Meanwhile, delinquencies on auto loans and credit cards dropped in the se...

Chicago-area housing market improves; home buyer anxiety | Katonah NY Real Estate

- August 31, 2012

If it wasn't the two failed offers or the missed opportunities, it was a tape measure that convinced potential homebuyers Brian McCord and Jamie Blondin that they just weren't moving fast enough. When they went to see a two-flat in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood earlier this summer, they liked everything they saw, except for the other potential buyers also looking at the house. "Not only were they looking, they had a measuring tape," McCord said. "And that made us much more nervous," Blondin added. The couple promptly offered $626,000 for the $649,000 house, 96 percent of the asking price. This time, they were successful. The transaction closed earlier this month. The circumstances that McCord and Blondin encountered — shorter marketing times, multiple offers and bidding wars — are popping up with increasing frequency in the Chicago area and creating a new class of anxious home shoppers forced out of their comfort zones. Buyers still have the ...

Distressed Home Prices Jump With Inventory Shrinking: Mortgages | Bedford Hills NY Homes

- August 31, 2012

Demand for distressed properties is driving up prices for the first time in two years as investors from Blackstone Group LP to Colony Capital LLC chase shrinking inventory. The average sales price on homes in the process of foreclosure or already owned by banks rose 7 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the biggest annual increase since 2006, RealtyTrac Inc. reported today. The number of those deals dropped 22 percent, the most since 2010, the Irvine, California-based data provider said in a statement. “There’s virtually no supply in a lot of markets right now,” Michael Krein , president of the National REO Brokers Association said in a telephone interview. “What we’re finding nationally is that 50 percent of all purchasers are investors because they can outbid the owner occupant buyers. Investors are bidding up anywhere from 5 to 25 percent over the list prices.” Investors are taking advantage of home prices that are about 31 percent below the 2...

Fortunately for Homeowners Without Flood Insurance, Little Water Damage Reported | North Salem Real Estate

- August 31, 2012

Despite widespread flooding in western Palm Beach County during Tropical Storm Isaac, a relatively small number of homes sustained water damage — which is fortunate, because few homes in the hardest-hit areas are insured for flood losses. Streets, parking lots, driveways and docks were under water, but in most cases, the waters didn’t rise enough to enter houses. County officials said Wednesday morning that they received reports of only 62 homes that were flooded. Officials in Wellington — which was inundated with 18 inches of rain — said Wednesday afternoon that they know of no homes that were flooded. If those numbers hold, homeowners in western communities dodged potentially devastating damage. That’s because only a fraction of property owners in Wellington, Royal Palm Beach and Greenacres buy federal flood insurance. Standard homeowners insurance policies have excluded flood damage for years. The only carrier to cover losses caused by rising waters is Uncle Sam, through the ...

Big banks give mortgage relief | Bedford NY Real Estate

- August 31, 2012

Five of the biggest U.S. lenders have provided $10.6 billion in relief under a landmark settlement over foreclosure abuses, including reducing struggling homeowners' loan balances by $1.3 billion. The monitor overseeing the $25 billion settlement says the banks provided the relief in the first four months of the three-year program. In his first progress report, Joseph Smith Jr. disclosed Wednesday that $8.7 billion of the $10.6 billion in relief was in the form of short sales, in which lenders agree to accept less than what the seller owes on the mortgage. Lenders are increasingly favoring short sales rather than waiting for troubled loans to go through the foreclosure process. In Michigan, according to the report, homeowners have received $185 million in all types of relief so far, covering 4,355 cases. That includes 1,805 short sales that averaged savings of $68,950 per homeowner. Michigan residents are expected to receive about $785 million in benefits from the settlement, inc...

Home Economics: Making sure you have insurance coverage for big storms | Bedford Corners Homes

- August 31, 2012

This week's images of Hurricane Isaac's rampage along the Gulf Coast are a reminder that measures taken to prepare for big storms can reduce the damage they cause. Just a year ago, Hurricane Irene demonstrated that this region is hardly exempt from nature's wrath. (Hurricane Kirk is forming in the Atlantic now, heading northwest.) So this column is the first of two, with an emphasis on getting ready for a storm. Next week, we'll tackle cleaning up after a storm. Even so, there are too many topics to be covered. An excellent source for information is http://www.ready.gov/hurricanes , created by the National Hurricane Center of the National Weather Service. Are you covered? Severe storms have the potential to destroy your financial well-being, so knowing what you're insured for is essential. Check your homeowners' insurance policy to determine your hurricane-coverage deductible. Many insurers require one, depending on the location of the insured propert...

UK: Nationwide Housing Prices decline slows down in August | Chappaqua NY Homes

- August 31, 2012

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - UK Nationwide Housing Prices n.s.a. slid for the sixth running month by 0.7% in August, following -2.6% in July, Nationwide reported on Friday. Market consensus pointed to a 2.2% decline. On a monthly basis UK Nationwide House Prices s.a. edged up 1.3%, after falling 0.8% and against forecasts of remaining unchanged. via community.nasdaq.com

Hong Kong to Boost Home Sales, Favor Locals as Prices Surge | Armonk NY Homes

- August 31, 2012

Hong Kong will boost the supply of homes and give preference to local buyers as it seeks to cool housing prices that have surged to the world’s most expensive, fueled by record-low interest rates and Chinese investment. Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced a 10-point package yesterday that included speeding up the approval of permits for private project sales, selling public units that were originally intended for rent, and drafting policies that will give preference to local buyers. The measures are the toughest since the government in June last year increased down-payment requirements, and the strongest move yet to quell concerns about a surge in non-local purchases, particularly by mainland investors that account for a third of new home buying in the city and helped drive prices up 85 percent since the beginning of 2009. The measures don’t go far enough, said Wong Leung-sing, associate research director at Centaline Property Agency Ltd. “It’s a nice gesture, but ...