Many experts and economists often take issue with the forecasts and comments David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors makes. Rex Nutting with MarketWatch recently pointed out what he perceived to be the two universal truths as defined by Lereah. Those being that: 1) It’s always a good time to […]
The Detroit News is reporting that for the second year in a row, most metro-Detroit area homeowners are facing higher tax assessments while their home values have dropped. That also translates into possible higher property tax bills as well. Needless to say, most homeowners are not happy and are likely to be […]
Sunday, the LA Times ran an interesting article on how the U.S. mortgage systems compares to other countries. While the U.S. system comprised of mostly fixed-rate loans funded at relatively low rates is widely envied, it is rarely “copied” in other countries.
The article talks about the following countries and their mortgage systems:
Canada: […]
This week, the National Association of Realtors announced that home sales in 2006 dropped at its fastest rate in 17 years. Sales dropped 8.4% in 2006, and .08% in the month of December. Additionally, the inventory of unsold existing homes was 23.3% above the year-ago period. While sales in 2006 were the […]
Several coastal communities in North and South Carolina are experiencing a significant drop in condo sales. In Myrtle Beach alone, new and existing condo sales dropped 37 percent in the third quarter over the previous year. Along South Carolina’s Grand Strand, 10,000 condos sit on the market, which is several […]
For the first time in almost thirteen years, the Massachusettes housing market experienced its worse housing market in more than ten years. According to an article in the Eagle-Tribune, the Warren Group is reporting that sales and the median price for single-family homes dropped to levels not seen since the mid-1990s.
The report found […]
Hovnanian, one of the nation’s largest home builders believes that the residential housing market will begin to turnaround in 2007. The CEO of Hovnanian, Ara Hovanian, expects cancellation rates by homebuyers backing out of sales contracts and forfeiting their down payments to remain high during the first quarter of 2007, but later improve.
Hovanian is […]
While defined as only a small percentage of the housing market, residential foreclosures in San Diego County were up–significantly. Data Quick is report that there were 1,612 foreclosures in 2006, compared with 212 in 2005. That’s a jump of 660%. Data Quick is quick to point out that the […]
Nationally approximately $3 trillion worth of ARMs will adjust their rates to much higher levels this year and next. Even if the Federal Reserve doesn’t raise interest rates again, all these ARMs will still adjust upwards from their low initial teaser rate to the current interest rate.
One potential side-effect may be yet another spike […]
Home sales dropped in Santa Fe in the fourth quarter of 2006, but the median sale price remained steady. According to the Santa Fe Association of Realtors, 221 homes sold — a 25% drop from the same period of 2005. The median sales price was $375,000, which was close to the $379,500 in […]