The National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) Inc., conducted an online survey in May that asked consumers about their ability to meet the down-payment requirements associated with buying a home in today’s market.  Of the more than 2,000 respondents, almost half (49 percent) admitted that they’d never be able to save enough money for a down-payment on a home.  Read more. ...
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©The Atlantic 2010Byline:  Daniel IndiviglioWho caused the disastrous housing bubble in the U.S.? This question has been asked countless times over the past few years. The right generally blames government-sponsored entities Fannie and Freddie while the left generally blames Wall Street. They're both right.  In fact, there were a number of factors leading to the housing bubble, and those listed above are just two. You could add unscrupulous mortgage brokers, clueless borrowers, etc. On his NY Times blog today, economist Paul Krugman argues ag ...
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Tomorrow, Maine will answer the question of whether a state can overhaul its income and sales tax structure to better withstand the volatility of the economy. Maine voters will be asked in the June 8 primary election to give their consent to a law approved last year that would create a single, lower income tax rate for most residents. The measure also would expand the 5 percent sales tax base to include previously exempt services such as movies, dry cleaning, jewelry repair, bookkeeping, and more. Read more. ...
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Commercial real estate exchange traded funds (ETFs) and the sector they track may have bottomed. Recent data suggest that property values are stabilizing and many big real estate borrowers have gotten banks to refinance and avoid outright defaults. Many experts suggest an allocation to real estate as an inflation hedge, a diversifier and volatility cushion (although this wasn’t the case when the markets collapsed in 2008). ...
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©2010 Inman NewsByline: Glenn Roberts Jr. Continuing foreclosures and an "overhang" in housing inventory will likely prolong the housing slump for several more years, said economists who spoke Friday during an annual meeting of the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Read more. ...
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Bank of America has unveiled new programs aimed at helping underwater borrowers who have subprime and other nonconventional loans. The program will reduce loan principal for borrowers who are underwater by 20 percent or more and are at least two months past due. The program announced today does not offer help to borrowers who are current on their mortgages and have traditional loans.  The U.S. banking giant is sending letters to borrowers who qualify for the program and hopes to start modifying more mortgages this summer. Banks have been faulted for being slow or unwilling to modify distressed loans in hard-hit housing markets such as Phoenix.More >>

© Washington Post 2010 Byline: Kenneth R. Harney  One of the key attractions of FHA mortgage financing is going, going -- but not quite gone. Sellers and buyers who move fast can still make the most of it. Sometime this summer, the Federal Housing Administration plans to slash maximum "seller concessions" from 6 percent of the home price to 3 percent.   Seller concession rules allow buyers to look to the property seller to pay for some services and taxes connected with the transaction -- loan origination and local transfer fees, app ...
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© WSJ.com 2010  Real estate website Trulia.com has looked at major real estate markets across the country and asked: Is it cheaper to buy, or to rent?  Rent in Manhattan: Home prices there are way too high, says Trulia. (Ditto San Francisco.) Buy in Miami. And Phoenix. And Las Vegas. And most of the other places that have been flattened by the crash. Homes there are cheap compared to rents. Read more. ...
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A rush of homebuyers aiming to meet a deadline to qualify for a federal tax credit pushed the number of signed sales contracts to the highest level since October 2009.  The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes rose 6 percent in April from a month earlier to a reading of 110.9. March's reading was revised upward to 104.6. The rise marked the third consecutive month of increases, all of them aided by federal tax credits of up to $8,000.But the tax credits expired on April 30. Many analysts expect sales to drop in the coming months. ...
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A 4.7 acre parcel of state trust land in Scottsdale has sold to a Seattle company. The parcel, located northeast of Loop 101 and Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, sold for the minimum bid of $2.15 million or $451,681 per acre. Builders had backed off buying or leasing state land the past two years because of the recession but State Land Commissioner Maria Baier noted that developers are showing renewed interest in state trust lands.    ...
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