Real Estate – National News « HomeBuyerPower®

The New American Dream: Rent, Don’t Buy?

What a way to start the New Year, but apparently it is on the minds of the Federal Reserve also. A recent recommendation floated by the Fed suggests having Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac convert more REO’s to rentals.

“The Fiscal Times had an interesting article on the subject that is worth a look:

Call [...]

NAR Revises 2007-2011 Sales Data Lower – Housing Bust to Look Worse With Sales Revised

The Wall Street Journal is reporting in 2 separate articles recently that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revised their last 5 years of sales data downward to reflect, apparently, reality.

Imagine that.

The net effect is that the housing bust we have experienced so far is much worse than the NAR had originally reported:

“A [...]

The Great $26 Billion Real Estate Tax Credit Swindle?

The Wall Street Journal had an article on Tuesday worth considering. It revisits the subject of the tax credits to home purchasers offered by the Government back in 2009 and 2010 and analyzes how that all worked out.

Apparently, for many, not too well:

“Zillow.com, the real estate information company, says the average price [...]

Major Revamp Of The Home Affordable Refinance Program Announced

This could be very big news, and probably is, and will certainly lead to a major uptick in residential mortgage refinancing. As reported everywhere yesterday:

“Seeking to breathe new life into a sagging economy, President Obama announced Monday he will attempt an executive branch rescue of homeowners trying to refinance underwater mortgages, with a [...]

Baltimore-Area ‘Shadow Inventory’ Reported At 50,000 Homes

An article in the Baltimore Sun reported that, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting, Baltimore’s “Shadow Inventory” of homes may be in the 50,000 range:

“Thousands of homes are on the market in the Baltimore region. But as the commercials say, wait — there’s more.

Tens of thousands of Baltimore-area homeowners are [...]

Bye, Bye To The American Dream? No Way!

Trulia had an interesting article on the attitudes of Americans, generally, and young Americans in particular, about homeownership. Apparently, notwithstanding what has happened to housing during the last 10 years or so (bubble, bubble bursting, bust, continuing bust…), Americans are still bullish on owning their own home:

“What our survey told us is that [...]

Surge In All-Cash Buying Signals The Demise Of The ‘Normal’ Housing Market

Business Insider has an excellent article, with strong analysis, commenting on the unprecedented cash buying trend we have seen since 2008. Just look at this stat:

“In July, Inside Mortgage Finance (or IMF) reported in its monthly Housing Pulse Survey report that 75% of investor purchases nationwide in June were all-cash transactions. These investors [...]

Housing Time Bomb Goes Tick Tock Tick Tock

An interesting and very detailed analysis was posted yesterday on the Wall Street Examiner Web Site regarding the state of the U.S. housing market. A few snippets:

“The actual, not seasonally adjusted, data suggests that the momentum of declining sales has leveled off. However, in order for the oversupply in distressed markets to be [...]

Investors Outdo Banks Offloading Distressed Properties

DSNews.com and ForeclosureRadar are reporting what many “on the ground” have observed for some time:

“Third-party investors are much faster at reselling foreclosures than banks…

‘Our statistics clearly show that real estate investors continue to far outperform banks in dealing with distressed properties,’ said Sean O’Toole, CEO and founder of ForeclosureRadar.”

“Outperform”?

As buyer agents [...]

Homes Built For Families May Not Make The Buyer’s Cut

Smaller homes may be a better idea for home buyers — so says John Burns Consulting on Housing Wire:

“A staggering 39.2 million American households consist of people living alone or with nonfamily members, changing the outlook for real estate professionals who want to design and sell homes to this demographic…”

So according to the [...]

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