Last month, federal regulators issued new guidelines for marketing and underwriting interest-only mortgages and adjustable-rate mortgages with payment options. The more detailed and specific guidelines were designed to ensure that more borrowers fully understand just how costly these types of loans can become in the long run.
In July, the popularity of these particular loan […]
With Orange County, CA home sales at their lowest level in a decade and buyers overwhelmed by listings, real estate agents are pulling out all the stops.
Agents are doing everything from hiring a marachi band to offering incentives such as fancy dinners and open houses featuring progressive lunches, with a different course […]
The nation’s biggest mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial Corp, saw a decline in adjustable rate mortgages for September. Additionally, mortgage loans for September dropped $11 billion dollars from a year ago.
Countrywide also reported that pay-option-ARM loan funding for September was $4.3 million, a 57% decline from the $9.9 billion loaned last September. […]
Like everywhere else in the U.S., Arizona is also feeling the effects of a slowing real estate market. For example, in the Mesa/East Valley area, home resales are at their lowest monthly level since February 2003. According to the Arizona Real Estate Center resales last month totaled 4,875, down sharply from 9,815 […]
A recently released U.S. census report found that central Floridians do not like to stay in one place for any length of time. The report showed that more than 60 percent of central Floridian residents have changed their addresses since 2000. More than 460,000 residents moved into an apartment or a home […]
A couple of local Florida realtors have come up with an new matchmaking service. While they may not be able to find you a date, they can help you hook up with someone who is interested in a property exchange.
Betty Greenspan and Nessa Adelson call themselves the “Swap Team,” and have […]
Loans applications have risen on the heels of falling interest rates. That’s according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The association reported that loan application volume, rose 11.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted 633.9 from a week earlier.
Refinancing applications are also rising as more people are taking advantage of the lower interest rates to […]
Moody’s economy.com has released a report called “Housing at the Tipping Point,” which suggests that by this time next year, real estate prices in more than 100 of the nation’s 379 metropolitan will show a “significant probability of decline”. Furthermore, that the median home price in the U.S. will decline approximately 3.6 percent. […]
According to a survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, more and more American families are paying an increasingly large portion of their incomes on housing. This in turn, is putting the squeeze on their finances. The American Community Survey found that in 2005, 34.5% of homeowners with a mortgage were paying 30% […]
Several Florida real estate agents are turning to overseas investors with the idea that Europeans should be investing in southwest Florida property. They are trying to sell them on the warm climates and white sandy beaches, but Europeans are wise to the potential pitfalls such as high property taxes and rising insurance rates. […]