Housing Markets That Will Be Strongest by 2014
August 10, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
By Venessa Wong, Bloomberg Businessweek Aug 4, 2010 Where will prices rebound most by state? A housing market rebound seems tenuous following the expiration of the home buyer tax credit, and consumer confidence remains weak due to lackluster employment, but David Stiff, chief economist at Fiserv, says the bottom is near. Home prices in the U.S. have declined 29.5 percent over the past four years, according to the Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes. Stiff says prices should form a trough early next year, when median prices will be down an estimated 32.9 percent from the 2006 peak. By early 2014, they will have climbed about 7.2 percent from 2010 levels, according to the indexes. Fiserv and Moody’s Economy.com base the housing forecast on factors that include income growth, demographic trends, unemployment rates, foreclosure rates, and construction costs. Of 384 places surveyed, the Bremerton-Silverdale area in Washington State had the highest four-year growth forecast, with prices...
60 Minutes Episode: Mortgages Walking Away
It’s estimated that one million Americans walked away from homes “underwater” or worth less than their mortgages even though they could afford the payments. Morley Safer reports on this trend, called strategic default, that threatens the economic recovery. Extra: Are Mortgage Walkaways Going Viral? Extra: YouWalkAway.com Extra: The Case For Walking Away From Your Mortgage Extra: Walking Away From A Mortgage
Bank offers mortgage relief
March 27, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Plan is part of Countrywide settlement BY IEVA M. AUGSTUMS ASSOCIATED PRESS CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bank of America is giving some of its most troubled mortgage borrowers relief from the threat of foreclosure. The bank, the largest mortgage servicer in the country, said Wednesday it will forgive up to 30% of some customers’ total mortgage balance. The homeowners must be at least 60 days delinquent on their loans and owe more than 120% of their homes‘ value. The plan is part of an agreement the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank reached 18 months ago with state attorneys general to settle charges over high-risk loans made by Countrywide Financial. The loans were made before Bank of America acquired the mortgage lender in mid-2008. Bank of America has since stopped making those loans. Although the motivation for Bank of America’s announcement was to resolve legal problems, it has the potential of setting a precedent for other banks to also start forgiving principal...
U.S. to increase housing loans
$14 billion to help jobless owners refinance via FHA BY GRETA GUEST FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER The Obama administration said Friday that it would widen the reach of its home loan modification program, which could help thousands of unemployed and underwater Michigan homeowners. The Home Affordable Modification Program, criticized for its slow pace and low number of modifications, would put $14 billion toward the program by helping those who owe more on their homes than they’re worth get new loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. Unemployed people would get a temporary break, with lowered mortgage payments for three to six months. The FHA refinancing program would be available to those with credit scores as low as 500, said Vince Parlove, president of First Preferred Mortgage in Bingham Farms. The programs are expected to be available in the fall. Drew Sygit, a certified mortgage planning specialist who leads the Lending Edge Team at First Michigan Bank in...
End of US Housing Slump Likely to Be Long, Painful
March 29, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Like spring flowers, the “For Sale” signs are sprouting in front yards all over the country. But anxious sellers are facing the most brutal environment in decades, with a slumping economy, falling home prices and rising mortgage foreclosures. And even the faint promise of better days ahead might not come true, given all the headwinds the housing industry is facing at the moment. “This is going to be another difficult spring,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “I think we are at the beginning of the end of the housing downturn, but it is going to be a long and painful end.” The devastation is certainly a far cry from the boom years from 2001 to 2005 when sales of new and existing homes were setting records for five straight years. During that time, home prices were soaring, luring thousands of investors into the market, hoping to buy homes and flip them for quick profit. But since 2006, the country has been mired in a housing...
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