From HW: The Obama administration will begin working on new strategies for how to better sell previously foreclosed homes held by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration, which may include renting more REO. The Federal Housing Finance Agency,...
When the mainstream media starts talking to people who are actually participating in the marketplace, then we'll have a consistent and accurate view of what's happening. Until then, we'll have guessers like these who come off as experts, but are really just grasping...
Hat tip to JP for sending this along, from USAToday.com: In the aftermath of the nation's housing-market collapse and recession, more than 500 midsize and large cities have seen a rise in the share of homes that are rented rather than owned, according to a USA TODAY...
Hat tip to Mr. T for sending this along, from CNNMoney.com: Move.com, which runs the Realtor.com website, has identified the 10 top metro areas where it thinks housing markets have started down the road to recovery. Move.com, with a database of homes for sale all over...
From N.A.R. As you may know, there is a proposal before regulators to require a minimum of 20 percent down on all residential transactions. If allowed to take effect, the rule would put home ownership out of reach for middle-income Americans. It would take the average...
From the U-T: Larry Summers, one-time director of President Barack Obama's National Economic Council, believes the economy is recovering, albeit not as fast in some areas as desired, but enough to forestall a double dip. “There is no longer any talk of a depression,"...
From HW: Home sales in Southern California grew between February and March, but remain 5.2% below year-ago levels, data firm DataQuick said Wednesday. The La Jolla, Calif.-based research firm said home sales grew 35.1% on a month-to-month basis in March, but signs in...
From Diana Olick at cnbc.com: Home prices fell 6.7 percent in February year over year, according to a new report from CoreLogic. That numbers includes distressed sales, that is, sales of foreclosed properties or short sales, where the bank agrees to let the homeowner...
From Alejandro Laso at the latimes.com: Major banks may be forced to let severely delinquent homeowners sell their houses for less than the loan amounts owed as part of a broad settlement of federal and state investigations into botched foreclosure paperwork,...
Hat tip to Ross and Local Boy, who sent this in from CNN/Money.com: NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Renters beware: Double-digit rent hikes may be coming soon. Already, rental vacancy rates have dipped below the 10% mark, where they had been lodged for most of the past three...
