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Reasons Vacant Homes Are a Tough Sell

by John TayebApril 14, 2010 Housing Market News Update

The argument for staging a house to get it ready for sale is largely based on what are perceived as the shortcomings of vacant, or unstaged, properties. For one, advocates of the staging process say a vacant home distracts would-be buyers from focusing on the actual real estate. Instead, they allow themselves to speculate on [...]

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Bankers Say Writing Down Principal Is Risky

by Tayeb Realty GroupApril 14, 2010 Foreclosures

Executives from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and J.P. Morgan Chase argued before the House Financial Services Committee that reducing mortgage principal only makes sense for a few borrowers with high-risk loans. Otherwise, reducing principal will only lead to many other borrowers demanding the same treatment. More than 11 million households are underwater, estimates First [...]

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Housing Inventory Is Rising Again

by John TayebApril 13, 2010 Housing Market News Update

Housing inventory is rising again, increasing the odds that prices will take another dip, says real estate data company Altos Research. Housing inventory fell steadily beginning in April 2009 until the end of the year. In January 2010, it began rising in the 10 cities that Altos tracks: Boston, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San [...]

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Interest in Owning a Home Remains Strong

by Tayeb Realty GroupApril 13, 2010 Housing Market News Update

Interest in purchasing a home as an investment has more than tripled in the last year, according to a survey released today by Move Inc., which operates Move.com and REALTOR.com. More than 17 percent of potential home buyers say they plan to purchase a home in the near future as an investment, compared to just [...]

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More Wealthy Home Owners Face Foreclosure

by John TayebApril 12, 2010 Foreclosures

Houses costing more than $5 million will be part of the next foreclosure boom, according to a study by RealtyTrac for The Wall Street Journal. In 2009, 1,312 homes costing more than $5 million faced foreclosure auctions. In February 2010 alone, 352 homes were on the auction block. First American CoreLogic tracks 1,700 homes nationwide [...]

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Owners Who Refinanced May Owe IRS

by John TayebApril 12, 2010 Foreclosures

People who cashed out refinances, or had part of their mortgage debt forgiven when they sold their homes through short sales, will probably owe the IRS a big payback. In 2007, Congress passed the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Act, but that doesn’t let everyone off the hook. Here are exceptions to the rule: • Anyone who [...]

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Distressed Sales Gain Greater Market Share

by Tayeb Realty GroupApril 11, 2010 Foreclosures

First American CoreLogic reports that distressed properties accounted for 29 percent of all U.S. home sales in January. Also, real estate-owned sales rose to 22 percent of homes sales from 19 percent in December, and short sales rose to 8 percent from 7 percent. Average sale prices in January were $161,600 for distressed homes, compared [...]

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Fed: Low Rates Likely Through 2010

by John TayebApril 11, 2010 Real Estate in New York

Interest rates are likely to remain low into 2011, Federal Reserve policymakers hinted this week in at least two presentations. These indications came one week after the Fed shut down its program to buy mortgage-backed securities, which had kept rates at or near record lows in recent months. In a speech Thursday, Fed Governor Daniel [...]

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30-Year Mortgage Rates Jump

by Tayeb Realty GroupApril 11, 2010 Foreclosures

Freddie Mac reports a jump in 30-year fixed mortgage interest to 5.21 percent for the week of April 8 from 5.08 percent the prior week. Rates are climbing now that the Federal Reserve has ended its campaign to lower borrowing costs and the economy is starting to pick up. Here’s how other rates fared: • [...]

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Builders Say Green Features Are Undervalued

by Tayeb Realty GroupApril 11, 2010 commercial real estate

Home builders are complaining that the appraisers and lenders aren’t willing to recognize the value of green building features. “What we’re finding is that the appraisal process, the lending process, the underwriting process for loans still hasn’t caught up with the market interest in green building,” says Kevin Morrow, senior program manager for the National [...]

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