As the housing market malaise continues, the American Dream of homeownership is facing a more realistic economic paradigm shift. More and more Americans are separating the emotional aspects of home ownership from harsh economic reality and jumping into rentals instead. And many real estate professionals are taking note. Here is an interesting post from a… CONTINUE
More Walking
From last Friday’s Wall Street Journal Real Time Economics blog: More homeowners are willing to walk away from their homes voluntarily, according to new research released by the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. About 31% of foreclosures in March were considered “strategic defaults,” in which homeowners walk away when the value of a mortgage… CONTINUE
Strategic Mortgage Defaults Now 12% of Total
A report by Morgan Stanley analysts says that 12 percent of all mortgage defaults in February were “strategic defaults” – where homeowners decided to walk away from their mortgages. This is up from 4 percent in 2007. From the story in the San Francisco Chronicle: Borrowers are more likely to stop paying their mortgages the… CONTINUE
That New C.A.R. Smell
C.A.R. kicked off a new consumer advertising campaign as well last week with a theme of “Your Piece of California. Your Peace of Mind.” The campaign includes TV and radio ads and a new consumer website: www.yourpieceofcalifornia.com (a Spanish language version is also up at www.lallavedetutranquilidad.com). The new websites feature current real estate news, median… CONTINUE
California Not Cool
Hanley Wood Market Intelligence’s Builder Market Health Index was released earlier this month, ranking the 100 largest housing markets by health. The index was formulated using projections for employment, household formation, income and home values. The good news is that no California market was ranked in the Bottom 10 Coolest Housing Markets, which included: Pittsburgh,… CONTINUE
Fannie Gets Paddled in Capitol Hearing
Two former senior executives with Fannie Mae appeared at a hearing before the Congressional Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission earlier this month and used an argument well-known to naughty children everywhere trying to explain away bad behavior: everyone else was doing it. From the USA Today coverage of the hearing: Just before the housing bust, executives… CONTINUE
The Long and Winding Road
An analysis released last week by financial services technology provider Fiserv, Inc. says that residential real estate markets in California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida won’t be back for another 15 years or later. For Sacramento, make that 29+ years. Fiserv says that Sacramento home prices peaked in the fourth quarter of 2005 and are expected… CONTINUE
Foreclosure Freedom Owners Lose Theirs
The owners of Foreclosure Freedom, a loan relief company in Fresno and Orange County, have been sentenced to a year in jail and four years of probation after pleading guilty to grand theft, conspiracy and unlawful foreclosure consulting. The two women – Marianne Curtis of Costa Mesa and Mary Alice Yraceburu of Riverside — must… CONTINUE
Median Home Prices Jump in Bay Area
The median price of a home in the Bay Area was up 31% in March from the same month one year ago, and now stands at $380,000. According to a report by MDA DataQuick, Bay area home sales also saw a spike in March, up over 40% from last month and 10% from March 2009…. CONTINUE
1st Quarter Foreclosures Climb
And you thought April 15 couldn’t get any worse…add RealtyTrac’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report out last Thursday that shows a 7% increase in foreclosure filings for the first quarter of 2010. March filings were up almost 19% over the previous month and up 8% from March of 2009. Nevada, Arizona and Florida were the top… CONTINUE
Here Chick, Chick, Chick…
Talk about chickens coming home to roost…. On Friday, Goldman Sachs – the most profitable Wall Street firm in history — was charged with fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the structuring and marketing of a debt product tied to subprime mortgages. The SEC complaint named Goldman VP Fabrice Touree as the… CONTINUE
Bittersweet Victory
California state lawmakers passed SB 401 this week, which exempts homeowners who have lost their homes to short sales or foreclosure, or who have received loan modifications, from having to pay state tax. From the Sacramento Bee report: The bill extends the state ban from 2009 through the end of 2012. It also bans state… CONTINUE
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