A weekly national survey of large lenders by Bankrate.com indicates that mortgage rates retreated on speculation that consistent interest rate increases were winding down. The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage dropped from 6.39% to 6.34% and the average 15-year fixed mortgage rate decreased from 5.95% to 5.92%. The Federal Open Market Committee’s post-meeting statement suggested [...]
Don’t despair if you are still house hunting for a true bargain. While many real estate markets remain overheated and overpriced, there are quite a few communities where homeowners can still find a deal. From the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, National Association of Realtors, local Realtors associations: City/Median Home Price Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ: $169,400 [...]
According to the Insurance Services Office, Inc., U.S. property and casualty insurers have been expected to pay almost $50.3 billion for insured losses. Almost $45.2 billion, or 90%, of those losses are attributable to hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. Even though the hurricane season officially ended in November, 2005 losses from catastrophes are likely to [...]
Rep. Bob Nye believes that mortgage aid for victims of the Gulf Coast hurricanes should extend to people in all areas affected by natural disasters, and believes the Federal Housing Administration should make a nationwide policy change to that effect. Currently, the Federal Housing Administration’s program has agreed to pay the mortgages of up to [...]
First time homeowners who purchased a home during the housing boom of the past few years may find it difficult to manage their monthly mortgage payments in the near future. Certain types of higher-risk or “exotic” mortgages that have exploded in popularity among first-time buyers are scheduled to reset to new interest rates for many [...]
This week, the National Association of Realtors launched an advertising campaign warning that home values could drop significantly if the recommendations of a federal tax reform panel to drastically reduce the mortgage interest deduction were implemented. Recent recommendations by President Bush’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform included converting the mortgage interest deduction to a [...]
Coldwell Banker recently issued its first Global Metropolitan Home Price Comparison study which ranks residential real estate prices in major cities worldwide. Reaffirming what many New Yorkers already know, New York tops the list as the most expensive metropolitan city surveyed. The average condo apartment price of $1,448,000 was both literally and figuratively a world [...]
For the first time in three years, California foreclosure activity is up. Lower appreciation rates and riskier loans are being cited as the primary reasons. From July to September alone, lending institutions sent default notices to 12,568 California homeowners. This represented an increase of 0.8%. However, there is room for optimism in that only approximately [...]
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo concluded that Indianapolis, Indiana has claimed the title of most affordable housing market among major metro areas with populations over 500,000 for the third quarter of 2005. Other top affordable cities included: Youngstown-Warren and Boardman, Ohio-Pennsylvania; as well as Detroit-Litonia-Dearborn, Michigan; Buffalo-Niagara Falls, New York and Oklahoma City, [...]
For most local and state governments, property taxes are the single largest source of revenue. Nationally, in 2003, over $297 billion was collected in property taxes. While property taxes can be good business for governments, it’s definitely not the case for the majority of homeowners. For homeowners, property taxes represent the single largest home-related expense [...]