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Are the Home Buyer Tax Credits Working?
Tweet Share on Facebook March 19, 2009 Comment (3)In an effort to increase demand for housing, the federal government recently enacted a tax credit of as much as $8,000 for first time home buyers. On top of that, the state of California is now offering a similar credit worth as much as $10,000 for those who buy newly constructed homes.
[Check out New Home Buyer Tax Credit: 7 Things You Need to Know]
So what impact have these incentives had on the housing market so far? In a post Wednesday, Lansner on Real Estate offered some interesting anecdotal evidence suggesting that the tax credits may have led to an uptick in sales--at least for one California home builder:
Newport Beach-based William Lyon Homes says new federal and state tax credits may be responsible for a “phenomenal 39 new home sales in just three weeks” at its developments in Orange County and elsewhere in Southern California.
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Mortgage Rates Drop Below 5%, Poised to Head Lower
Tweet Share on Facebook March 19, 2009 Comment (3)Mortgage Rates dipped back below 5 percent this week, according to Freddie Mac, and they should head sharply lower from here. That's because the data Freddie used in its survey was collected before the Fed unveiled its plans yesterday to purchase more than $1 trillion in assets--a move that should pull rates downward significantly.
[See Mortgage Rates to Fall Further: 7 Things to Know]
Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist for IHS Global Insight, told me yesterday that the Fed's actions could drag 30-year fixed mortgage rates as low as 4.5 percent.
From The Associated Press:
Rates on 30-year mortgages plunged this week to the lowest level since January, and are poised to fall further after the Federal Reserve launched a new effort to prop up the flailing housing market.
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The Fed's Big Move and Mortgage Rates
Tweet Share on Facebook March 18, 2009 Comment (1)Here's a story I wrote today on the impact of the Fed's big announcement.
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Housing Starts Increase More than Expected
Tweet Share on Facebook March 17, 2009 Comment (7)Economists got a jolt Tuesday, when February housing starts came in much stronger than expected:
Privately-owned housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000. This is 22.2 percent (±13.8%) above the revised January estimate of 477,000, but is 47.3 percent (±5.3%) below the revised February 2008 rate of 1,107,000.
But don't get too excited, say economists at Goldman Sachs:
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The Top 10 States for Mortgage Fraud
Tweet Share on Facebook March 17, 2009 Comment (6)In a report released Monday, the Mortgage Asset Research Institute outlined the top ten states for mortgage fraud in 2008:
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Tim Geithner May Take Loss on Home Sale
Tweet Share on Facebook March 16, 2009 Comment (85)Talk about lousy timing. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner apparently bought his New York home in 2004 and is trying to sell it now--right into the teeth of the real estate crash. According to this AP article, the Treasury Secretary could face a loss even if the property sells at its asking price. But in a market like this, getting an asking price is a tall order.
From The Associated Press (Via Zillow Blog):
Geithner, now living in Washington, is trying to sell his five-bedroom Tudor home in the New York City suburbs, and it looks like he'll be taking a loss even if he gets his asking price.
The house, which has a Larchmont mailing address but is just outside that village in the town of Mamaroneck, is listed at $1.635 million. Records show Geithner and his wife, Carole Sonnenfeld Geithner, paid a little less than that when they bought it in 2004 _ $1.602 million.
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Locksmith Changing Foreclosure's Locks Gets Shot
Tweet Share on Facebook March 16, 2009 Comment (6)Who knew being a locksmith was so dangerous?
From azfamily.com:
The Valley foreclosure problem turns violent when police say a man shot a person who was sent by the bank to change the locks.
The man living in the home was renting and authorities say the owner did not tell him the home was under foreclosure…Several bullet holes can be seen buried into the front door from where he supposedly opened fire on the person coming to change the locks on the foreclosed home.
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Ben Bernanke on '60 Minutes'
Tweet Share on Facebook March 16, 2009 Comment (2)Check out the video here.
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The Top 10 Foreclosure States as of February
Tweet Share on Facebook March 12, 2009 Comment (4)From RealtyTrac:
RealtyTrac has released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for February:
Foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 290,631 U.S. properties during the month, an increase of nearly 6 percent from the previous month and an increase of nearly 30 percent from February 2008. The report also shows one in every 440 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in February.
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Homer Simpson's Housing Crisis
Tweet Share on Facebook March 12, 2009 Comment (1)Adjustable-rate mortgages are causing problems in Springfield too: (via patrick.net)
