Short Sales of U.S. Homes on Track to Exceed Foreclosure Deals
By John Gittelsohn - 2012-05-31T04:01:00Z Short sales of U.S. homes rose to a three-year high in the first quarter as banks agreed to let more borrowers unload property at a loss, putting the transactions on pace to surpass deals for foreclosures, RealtyTrac Inc....
Getting the Best Refinancing Deal
The Wallstreet Journal By RUTH SIMON There has never been a better time to refinance your mortgage. Rates are at record lows. The government is devising new programs to help homeowners. The economy and job market are improving, albeit slowly. In theory, those factors...
Negative Equity Rates: How Does Your Neighborhood Fare?
Today Zillow made waves by becoming the most broad and accurate public source of negative equity information. We’re now able to tell, down to the ZIP code level, what the rate of negative equity is, how far underwater homeowners are, and the delinquency rate of...
Most Underwater Homeowners Still Paying Mortgages
Nearly a third of homeowners with mortgages, or roughly 16 million borrowers, remained underwater on their home loans in the first three months of this year, an analysis from the real estate site Zillow finds. Underwater borrowers owe more on their mortgages than the...
HUD STUDIES SHOW HOUSING COUNSELING HELPS FAMILIES PREPARE
HUD No. 12-085 Lemar Wooley (202) 708-0685 FOR RELEASE Wednesday May 16, 2012 HUD STUDIES SHOW HOUSING COUNSELING HELPS FAMILIES PREPARE FOR HOMEOWNERSHIP AND KEEP THE HOMES THEY HAVE WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today...
Tax Code Overhaul Must Be Made a U.S Priority
Tax Code Overhaul Must Be Made a U.S Priority, Camp Says By Richard Rubin - May 17, 2012 The U.S. Congress and President Barack Obama should endorse a fast-track approach leading to a rewrite of the tax code in 2013, Representative Dave Camp, the top House tax writer,...
FHFA Releases Draft Strategic Plan for Public Comment
FHFA Releases Draft Strategic Plan for Public Comment Washington, DC – Federal Housing Finance Agency Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco today released for public comment the Agency’s draft Strategic Plan: Fiscal Years 2013- 2017. FHFA is updating its plan in order...
HFAs, NCSHA, and Other Stakeholders Discuss Affordable Homeownership Programs at HUD Roundtable
May 09, 2012 HFA representatives from several states, NCSHA’s Garth Rieman, lenders, nonprofits, and HUD staff participated in an Affordable Homeownership Roundtable sponsored by HUD May 8 in Washington DC to discuss FHA’s mortgage insurance policies on affordable...
Twelve Facts That May Surprise You About the Housing Bust.
What if the conventional wisdom about the mortgage crisis is all wrong? That’s the implication of a new paper from economists at the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Boston that’s bound to spark debate because, if their premises are correct, it sharply undercuts...
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac asks government for $19M; posts $1.2B loss in Q1
Washington Post By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, May 3, 9:46 AM WASHINGTON — Government-controlled mortgage giant Freddie Mac is requesting $19 million in additional federal aid after posting a loss for the first quarter of this year. The requested amount is...
Plot Thickens on Mortgage Write-Down Debate.
Fannie Mae conducted small tests to forgive debts of homeowners who owed more on their mortgages than the properties were worth in 2010. But the mortgage-finance company didn’t expand the pilot programs after concluding the programs were difficult to operate and the...
IRS Publishes MRB Purchase Price Safe Harbors
The IRS has published Rev. Proc. 2012-25, which provides the nationwide average purchase price limits and the average area purchase price safe harbors for the Mortgage Revenue Bond and Mortgage Credit Certificate programs. The Revenue Procedure sets the national...