According to the Moody’s/REAL Commercial Property Price Index, U.S. commercial real estate values rose in April for the first time in three months. Economic growth in the second half of 2009 and first quarter of this year have helped lift prices for offices, warehouses and stores from an October low. Property sales jumped 50 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier.  ...
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©Reuters 2010 A broad rewrite of financial rules will make it tougher to get a mortgage, but Congress may not be going far enough to crack down on the easy home loans at the heart of the financial meltdown. Lawmakers negotiating final changes to a sweeping overhaul of Wall Street's rules last week melded housing-related provisions from competing financial reform bills from the Senate and the House of Representatives, taking one more step to finalizing stricter rules for home loans. Read more.   ...
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State Farm has decided to cease participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) citing the number of recent disruptions in the federal plan. Read more. ...
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The Federal Housing Agency’s decision Wednesday to remove shares of Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) from the New York Stock Exchange and have them trade on an electronic bulletin board is a clear message, for anyone still in doubt, that Fannie and Freddie are government tools for fixing the housing market, no longer independent companies that can be traded for their worth.   The delisting of the shares is a formality due to both companies trading around $1 for more than 30 days. But by withdrawing the shares from trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the government has essentially ruled out the option of either agency resuming its former status as large, publicl ...
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The Senate has approved the bill to extend the closing date to Sept. 30 for homebuyer tax credits! The extension gives buyers, who signed a sales contract by Apr. 30, an extra three months to close on their house. The House still has to approve the plan. ...
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Although commercial real estate, a lagging indicator of the overall economy, is looking at a slow recovery, there isn’t as much panic anymore that the industry will create a catastrophe for the rest of the economy. Read more. ...
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has confirmed that National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policies will cover property damage caused by oil in flood waters. This is good news for consumers who have purchased flood insurance for hurricane season, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).   FEMA’s clarification comes after rising concerns over whether flood insurance policies would cover damage to homes and businesses if oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill mixes with flood waters, comes ashore during a storm and causes pollution damage to NFIP-covered buildings and their contents.  Damage by flooding, including storm surge, is not covered by st ...
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Folks wanting to get a new flood insurance policy for their homes in Oklahoma are left high and dry, for now.Monday's flooding in Oklahoma City sheds light on homeowners who need or want flood insurance.As of May 31st, the National Flood Insurance Program has stopped issuing new coverage. The FEMA administrated program is the only way a homeowner can get their home insured against rising flood waters. It wasn't re-authorized in time by Congress. Read more. ...
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©2010 Stateline.orgByline: Christine Vestal  Of all the programs funded by the federal economic stimulus law, one of the most criticized has been the boost given to weatherizing homes. Taxpayer groups and critical members of Congress said the $4.7 billion set aside for installing insulation, plugging air leaks and putting in energy-efficient furnaces and air conditioning systems would result in wasteful spending. Other critics questioned whether tiny local authorities that do this sort of work could gear up to spend the avalanche of new funding in time to meet tight stimulus deadlines.  For a while, the skepticism seemed justified. The program was paralyzed for the first year ...
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Congress is considering an extension for would-be home buyers who are racing to close home sales in order to receive a federal tax credit. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said he would back a measure to extend the June 30 closing date to Sept. 30 for buyers who had met the April contract deadline.  Congress last fall extended an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and added a smaller $6,500 credit for current homeowners who were buying a primary residence. To qualify for the credit, buyers had to sign purchase contracts by April 30 and must close on the transaction by June 30. But there are so many transactions in the pipeline that the companies res ...
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