Homebuyer Tax Credit Extended for Service Members The House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill that calls for a one-year extension of the first time homebuyer tax credit for service members serving overseas. The bill passed 416-0, and is now in the Senate for consideration. The bill comes as many in the housing industry are […]

FHA Delays New Rules The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has delayed the implementation of rules that could make life more difficult for condo buyers across the country. The delay should be especially helpful for those hoping to qualify for the first-time buyer tax credit that expires after Nov. 30. The new FHA rules, which were […]

New Home Sales Rise Slightly Following four months of solid gains, sales of newly built, single-family homes edged up by less than one percent in August 2009 as the window for an important buyer incentive began to close. According to data recently released by the U.S. Commerce Department, sales posted a meager 0.7% gain to […]

Foreign Buyers Avoiding U.S. Homes Despite record U.S. home price affordability, international buyers have been unable to take advantage because of the worldwide recession and credit crunch. According to a report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), home sales to foreign clients dropped 9.4% in the year ended in May to 154,000. Among international […]

Home Sales Increase for 6th Straight Month More Americans signed sales contracts to buy homes in July than in June, marking the longest streak of monthly increases on record. The pending home sales index from the National Association of Realtors rose 3.2% in July after rising by 3.6% in June. That’s 12% higher than July […]

Home Prices Fall a Record 15.6% Median home prices fell a record 15.6% during the three months ended June 30, compared to the same period in 2008. There is some good news though: According to a survey from the National Association of Realtors, the median home price rose 4% compared to the first quarter of […]

98% Of Mortgages Have Truth in Lending Violations The Consumer Mortgage Audit Center (CMAC) warns consumers of mortgage violations.  According to CMAC, the vast majority of mortgage violations tend to be in the form of: 1)  Missing documents 2)  Bad Good Faith Estimates 3)  Bad Truth in Lending Documents 4)  Hidden or misrepresented payments and […]

Residential Construction Shows Signs of a Bottom Spending on U.S. construction projects unexpectedly rose in June, led by an improvement in residential real estate and gains in government projects. Residential construction is showing signs of bottoming. Housing starts unexpectedly rose in June as construction of single-family dwellings jumped by the most since 2004, Commerce figures […]

Has the Housing Market Really Hit Bottom? A rash of positive housing data has given some analysts hope that the housing market has bottomed and an economic recovery is underway. But the soaring unemployment and rising mortgage rates could lead to a double-dip plunge for the housing market. Home prices rose on a monthly basis […]

Pending Home Sales Up for 5th Straight Month Pending home sales are up for the fifth consecutive month, the first time in six years for such a streak, according to the National Association of Realtors®. The Pending Home Sales Index a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in June, rose 3.6 percent to 94.6 from […]