Underwater Mortgages Continue to Trouble Housing Market

From 4% in 2006 to more than 23% in the first quarter of the current year, the steep increase in the number of ‘underwater’ mortgages has underscored the slowdown in the housing market.

After years of easy mortgage loans and soft terms of repayment led to thousands of Americans opting for these loans to buy homes, the downturn brought with it a dramatic decline in the market. A huge percentage of the borrowers who had taken advantage of easy terms ended up unable to pay back the loans and were forced to foreclose on their homes. [Read more…]

Homebuilders Stocks Outperform but Analysts Say Sector Not Out of Trouble Yet

Homebuilders stocks have gone up again and the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF now stands at a year-on-year increase of 30%. The rise came on news that the housing market is stabilizing and sales and prices of new homes are improving. [Read more…]

Is This the Right Time to Buy a House When the Economy is Down?

The subdued activity in the housing market continues to give nightmares to economists and policy makers, but it actually presents you with a good investment opportunity for your retirement or big future expenses like your children’s education. The time seems right for investing in a home, because the prices are still low following the crash in the housing market. [Read more…]

How to Fetch a Good Price for Your House in a Down Market

Selling a house for a great price is never an easy job and it gets even tougher when the market is down. However, through careful planning for the sale, you can ensure that your house gets the best possible price. Here are some ideas you can use to boost your property’s value if it is up for sale. [Read more…]

Housing Begins Its Comeback March Data Shows Improvement

The housing market is finally showing signs of a turn around after a long period of recession. Although other segments of the economy have been steadily improving for a while now, the lack of any significant improvement in housing statistics was rather disconcerting. [Read more…]

Housing Crash Has Not Reduced Desire for a Home Fannie Mae

Although the housing sector has not really regained its balance after the recession left borrowers struggling to keep their heads above water, Americans still appear to view buying a house as an essential expense. But the volatility in the market has taken its toll and potential home owners and investors are using extreme caution when actually finalizing a home deal. [Read more…]

Manhattan Housing Market Shows Signs of Recovery

After almost two years of deep cuts in both sales and prices, there are signs that the housing market in Manhattan is finally stabilizing. The sales numbers are much higher as compared to what they were a year ago, and the increasing demand is ensuring that the price remains stable. [Read more…]

Analysts Fear Housing Market Still Unstable

As the Federal Reserve finally pulls out its continued support to the housing markets, the sector is poised to witness major changes in the near future.

While the announcement by the Fed to stop further purchases of mortgage loans to shore up the sector is not exactly a bolt out of the blue, the actual event is still likely to leave a trace of uncertainty and fear in the minds of investors. However, so far the market has not shown any drastic changes following the news of the Fed pullout. [Read more…]

Housing Activity Slowdown Continues to Plague US Markets

Despite President Obama’s housing and mortgage programs to help the distressed, the activity in the sector continues to witness a slowdown in recent weeks. The first time homebuyer credit program launched earlier in the year to help the housing sector out of the recession was expected to increase the investment activity. Significant tax advantages were offered under this program to home buyers. However, the program has not delivered results as per the expectations. [Read more…]

Tips on Closing a Good Deal in the Current Housing Market

Many analysts agree that this is the right time to buy a house as property prices have fallen significantly and interest rates are close to their all time lows. The enormous ups and downs of the last few years in the real estate sector have now given way to a quieter market, which means you can take your time to assess a deal and have greater control over your choice. This benefit was almost completely absent a while ago as you had to move fast to close a good deal. [Read more…]

Unemployment Claims Drop for the Third Time in the Last Month

Although there is still no major dent in the unemployment numbers, there seems to be a slow but steady improvement in the situation. The latest weekly jobless data shows that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits had fallen for the third time in the last one month. [Read more…]

Mixed Reaction to Bank of America’s Debt Reduction Offer

Bank of America announced on Wednesday that it would start offering debt reduction for homeowners who have an underwater mortgage. However, the offer has got a mixed reaction from industry analysts.

Bank of America has said that it would reach out to homeowners who are struggling to keep up with their mortgage payments and are likely to see a foreclosure of their property if no help is offered. The offer would be valid only when the mortgage balance exceeds the value of the property by at least 20%. The bank would choose about 45,000 homeowners to whom it would extend the offer of reducing their debt by a maximum of 30% in the next few years. [Read more…]

Buying a House is Not Always a Good Idea

Many people rush to buy a house the moment they have sufficient savings to make the down payment. The reason given is that paying rent is like throwing away money when you can instead make mortgage payments and create a big asset. But an often ignored fact is that there are a lot of costs involved when you are buying a house other than the cost of the house itself. [Read more…]

Multi Generational Housing on the Rise

With recession hurting consumer spending and housing remaining unaffordable for families across the country, the trend of buying multi generational housing is on the rise. This kind of housing allows people to share the cost of the house with their parents or adult children. [Read more…]

California Housing Market Shows Upswing

Figures collated in February show a small but significant improvement in the housing market in Southern California. As compared to February 2009, prices have risen by about 10%. The positive turn is not limited to sale prices alone. Fewer foreclosures were recorded last month, showing that the local homeowners are in better financial situation than they were last year. [Read more…]

Rise in Mortgage Applications Hints at Housing Market Recovery

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has reported a rise in mortgage applications in the US for the second straight week. Real estate analysts believe this could be a sign that the housing market demand is beginning to recover from the lows that it has hit since the subprime crisis. [Read more…]