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From the monthly archives:

March 2010

FHA Head: Don’t Raise Down Payments

by John TayebMarch 13, 2010 Housing Market News Update

Now is not the time to raise the downpayment requirement on a Federal Housing Administration loan, warns FHA Commissioner David Stevens. Stevens, testifying before a committee of the U.S. House, said his agency would probably insure 300,000 fewer home loans per year if the mandatory down payment was raised from 3.5 percent to 5 percent [...]

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House Hunting Via Real Estate Apps

by John TayebMarch 12, 2010 Housing Market News Update

Smart phone apps are becoming increasingly popular among home buyers, sellers, and the real estate professionals who serve them. Zillow.com, which has a free app, says people are using it to look up 2 million properties a month. Other popular apps include those offered by ZipRealty, Coldwell Banker, Better Homes and Gardens, and Corcoran Group. [...]

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Financial Overhaul Gets Another Push

by Tayeb Realty GroupMarch 11, 2010 commercial real estate

U.S. Assistant Treasury Secretary for Financial Institutions Michael Barr reports that the Obama Administration is ramping up efforts to push Congress to adopt financial regulatory reform, including tighter regulations for derivatives trading. While the administration is “redoubling” its efforts, Barr said the administration would not comment on the Senate’s bill until the actual proposal is [...]

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Lower Delinquency in Commercial Loans

by John TayebMarch 11, 2010 commercial real estate

The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that commercial mortgages were among the best-performing loans and leases held by banks and thrifts in the last three months of 2009. Commercial and industrial loans had delinquency rates of 4.39 percent, followed by commercial mortgages at 5.06 percent. Construction loans posted the highest delinquency rate at 18.56 percent, followed [...]

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Recent Uptick in Mortgage Applications

by Tayeb Realty GroupMarch 11, 2010 Housing Market News Update

The number of mortgage applications for home purchases increased 5.7 percent last week compared to the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis and was up 7.2 percent on an unadjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey. Overall, mortgage applications rose only 0.5 percent last week. But applications to refinance declined 1.5 [...]

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Mortgage Rates to Stay Low, Goldman Predicts

by John TayebMarch 10, 2010 Foreclosures

Investment bank Goldman Sachs recently predicted that mortgage rates won’t rise much when the Federal Reserve ends its purchases of mortgage-backed securities at the end of March. Part of the reason is that demand for mortgages is low, says Goldman analyst Sven Jari Stehn. What would drive up mortgage rates, he says, is a decision [...]

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Federal Program to Encourage Short Sales

by Tayeb Realty GroupMarch 10, 2010 Real Estate | General Info

Beginning April 5, the Obama administration will encourage delinquent borrowers to avoid foreclosure and instead give up their homes in short sales by streamlining the process. The program will offer a cash payment to the home owner, as well as to the servicer and second-lien holder; and protect borrowers from future lender lawsuits for the [...]

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HOAs Seek Association Fees from Banks

by John TayebMarch 9, 2010 Foreclosures

Condominium and home owners associations desperate for money are experimenting with a tactic called “reverse foreclosure” to force banks to pay association fees. The process works like this: When a borrower stops paying the mortgage, banks often delay taking the property into foreclosure. When banks delay, neither the former home owner nor the bank is [...]

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Home Owners Fight Property Tax Increases

by Tayeb Realty GroupMarch 9, 2010 Housing Market News Update

Taxpayers in high property-tax states all over the country are fighting back, including packing up and moving to states where the property tax burdens are lower. They find it particularly galling that tax bills continue to rise as home values decline, a common phenomenon. A recent survey by the National League of Cities reported that [...]

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When Tenants Don’t Pay the Rent

by John TayebMarch 2, 2010 Housing Market News Update

Q. I leased my duplex apartment in Queens to two tenants who paid me the first month’s rent and one month as security. When the next month’s rent was due, they gave me a check that bounced. When I called them, they told me they did not have the money and would no longer be [...]

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