NAR Collaborates with U.S. Treasury on Short Sale ‘Help for Homeowners’

A new National Association of REALTORS® collaboration with the U.S. Department of the Treasury will help REALTORS® better assist homeowners who are struggling to sell their homes in a short sale. REALTORS® More »

Housing Bright Spot: Pending Home Sales Rise, Market on Uptrend

Pending home sales are on an upward trend, which has been uneven but meaningful since reaching a cyclical low last April, and are well above a year ago, according to the National More »

More Previous Homeowners are Looking to Rent in 2012

Increasingly more people are looking to renting as an affordable, flexible lifestyle option, causing apartment vacancies to fall to their lowest point in 10 years. Reis reported that the apartment vacancy rate More »

NAR Collaborates with U.S. Treasury on Short Sale ‘Help for Homeowners’

February 28, 2012   local   No comments

A new National Association of REALTORS® collaboration with the U.S. Department of the Treasury will help REALTORS® better assist homeowners who are struggling to sell their homes in a short sale. REALTORS® who attend upcoming Making Home Affordable “Help for Homeowners” outreach events, sponsored by the Treasury Department, will learn insights to help them navigate [...]
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Housing Bright Spot: Pending Home Sales Rise, Market on Uptrend

February 28, 2012   local   No comments

Pending home sales are on an upward trend, which has been uneven but meaningful since reaching a cyclical low last April, and are well above a year ago, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 2.0 percent to 97.0 in January from [...]
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More Previous Homeowners are Looking to Rent in 2012

February 27, 2012   local   No comments

Increasingly more people are looking to renting as an affordable, flexible lifestyle option, causing apartment vacancies to fall to their lowest point in 10 years. Reis reported that the apartment vacancy rate dropped to 5.2 percent in Q4 of 2011, down from their reports of 5.6 percent in Q3 of 2011. This higher demand for [...]
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Existing-Home Sales Rise Again in January, Inventory Down

February 23, 2012   local   No comments

Existing-home sales rose in January, marking three gains in the past four months, while inventories continued to improve, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 4.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million in January from [...]
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Deadline to Request Mortgage Review Extended to July 31

February 23, 2012   local   No comments

People seeking a review of their mortgage foreclosures under the Federal banking agencies’ Independent Foreclosure Review now have until July 31, 2012, to submit their requests. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) announced yesterday that the deadline for submitting requests [...]
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CAP Proposes Plan to Put Americans Back to Work

February 22, 2012   local   No comments

Recently, as lawmakers continue to debate infrastructure bills, a new report released by the Center for American Progress proposes a plan to enable significant progress in bringing America’s infrastructure up to par. In addition to proposing a new level of federal investment and how to pay for it, the report outlines a set of critical [...]
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The Real Estate Book Releases Android App to Reach More Home Shoppers On the Go

February 22, 2012   local   No comments

Finding a new place to live just became easier for consumers—who can now browse homes on their smartphones. The Real Estate Book recently launched an additional mobile tool—a free Android app to make looking through photos, maps, and more information a better experience for home shoppers. Consumers may download the app for free from the [...]
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Housing Expected to Add to GDP for First Time in 7 Years

February 22, 2012   local   No comments

The 2012 outlook is improving modestly from a disappointing 2011. Economic growth picked up in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 2.8 percent and is expected to come in at 2.3 percent for 2012, up from 1.6 percent growth for all of last year, according to Fannie Mae’s (FNMA/OTC) Economic & Strategic Research Group. However, [...]
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Mortgages Improve, Delinquencies Rise

February 21, 2012   local   No comments

While delinquencies and defaults slowly improve in the housing economy as a whole, FHA’s portfolio has not shared the same good fortune, creating increased pressure on the agency to reduce risk and increase costs to its borrowers, most of whom are first-time buyers. In December, about one out of every 10 FHA mortgages, 9.73 percent, [...]
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Home Remodelers Betting on a Rebound

February 21, 2012   local   No comments

(MCT)—Residential contractors are hoping that tight-fisted consumers will decide they need a new bathroom. Or maybe it’s time for those old kitchen counters to go. Perhaps it would be better to add another bedroom than move? After three years of slumping business, builders anticipate that the home remodeling and improvement sector will pick up in [...]
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