Tax Lien Sales: The ‘Other’ Foreclosure Problem Plaguing Homeowners
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Homeowners with an outstanding water bill or high property taxes are increasingly discovering why some are more than eager to sell their home to property-hungry investors.Called the “other” foreclosure crisis, proper…
Mortgage Rates Hit Another Record Low
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The average fixed mortgage rates reached all-time record lows again following June’s poor unemployment report.
Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 3.56 percent for the week ending Jul…
Housing Revival: Fewer Homes Underwater
Creatas/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — For the first time since the deep slump began more than five years ago, a new report from the business information and analytics firm Core Logic says fewer Americans have negative equity in their homes.In the first three…
Foreclosure Crisis Remains Despite Housing Market Gains
Stockbyte/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — In what may be the closest thing yet to an official pronouncement that the housing market has finally started to get better, economists are increasingly saying that despite a slow down in the foreclosure recovery, the …
Mass. Man Pays Off Mortgage with Pennies
Photodisc/Thinkstock(MILFORD, Mass.) — A Milford, Mass., man saved his pennies to pay off his mortgage — literally. He carted more than 62,000 pennies to the bank to make his last payment.”Thirty-five years ago when my wife and I took out our mortgag…
Apartment Rents Rising; Vacancies at 10-Year Low
Hemera Technologies/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Across the country, rental prices have begun to spike as vacancy rates reach a low not seen in a decade, according to Reis, which tracks commercial real estate performance.Nationwide, vacancy rates have falle…
Report: Countrywide Gave Discounted Home Loans to Capitol Hill Insiders
Digital Vision/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — A House committee report on the now-defunct subprime lender Countrywide Financial Corporation shows the company tried to win and influence friends in Washington by arranging discounted home loans for some member…
Report: Countrywide Gave Discounted Home Loans to Capitol Hill Insiders
Digital Vision/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — A House committee report on the now-defunct subprime lender Countrywide Financial Corporation shows the company tried to win and influence friends in Washington by arranging discounted home loans for some member…
Mortgage Rates: Another Record Low
Zoonar/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Average fixed mortgage rates continued to fall to all-time record lows amid stalled consumer spending and manufacturing activity, government-sponsored Freddie Mac reported today.The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged …
Mortgage Delinquencies Are Falling
iStockPhoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — According to a new report from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, fewer mortgages were delinquent in the first quarter of 2012 than at any time since the first quarter of 2008.The OCC Mortgage Metrics Rep…
Markets Slump with Slowing Factory Activity; Gas Prices Down
Hemera/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) – The markets were steady at the open Monday, but by the end of the session, investors grew nervous about the dragging manufacturing sector. Stocks turned negative after new data showed U.S. manufacturing shrank in Ju…
Pennsylvania Company Tells Condo Owners: Pay Rent or Leave
Hemera Technologies/Thinkstock(READING, Pa.) — Condominium owners assume they will be able to settle down in their homes if they stay on top of monthly payments, follow homeowner association rules and maintain the property. But 11 condo owners i…
FHA Gave Mortgage Help to Thousands of Tax Deadbeats
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Several thousand homeowners who got federal help to avoid defaulting on their mortgages were tax deadbeats who owed the government more than $77 million in back taxes, a new report has determined. Despite owing the…
Housing Data Gives Stocks a Boost
Hemera/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The markets made up some of the ground lost on Monday after data released today showed favorable signs for home prices. The Dow managed to close up 61 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P gained 21 points and 8.6 poi…
Home Prices Rise in Nearly All Cities
Stockbyte/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The trend is now clear: The worst of the housing slump is over in many parts of the country.Home prices rose in nearly all major U.S. cities in April, according to the latest Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller hom…
New Home Sales Hit Two-Year High
Phillip Spears/Digital Vision(WASHINGTON) — The housing market -– where the current financial mess started -– is now a bit of a bright spot in the struggling economy. Sales of newly built homes in the U.S. hit the highest level in mo…
Nationwide Mortgage Rates Fall
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — According to Freddie Mac, the average 30-year fixed mortgage is at the lowest ever rate for the seventh time in eight weeks.
The rate is now 3.66 percent down from 3.71 percent last week. The average rate on 15-year …
Existing Home Sales Drop 1.5% in May
Stockbyte/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — In yet another sign that the housing market is still struggling, existing home sales dropped last month by 1.5 percent, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors.Sales were down to a se…
Walmart Stores Push Nearby Home Prices Up, Economists Find
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, has been chastised for skimping on workers’ wages and health care perks, but critics now may have a silver lining as the giant retailer positivelty affects housin…
Walmart Stores Push Nearby Home Prices Up, Economists Find
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, has been chastised for skimping on workers’ wages and health care perks, but critics now may have a silver lining as the giant retailer positivelty affects housin…