Home Sales Up in July; Market Glut Begins to Ease

Countrywide, WaMu got $35M as they upped risky loans

(NEWSER) - Rick Perry handed mortgage lenders millions to draw them to Texas—right when their risky lending practices surged. The governor gave Countrywide $20 million and Washington Mutual $15 million in what he called an exemplary job-creation move; in effect, that $35 million subsidized dangerous subprime lending, an AP analysis of data and records finds. And when some began to fear the impending mortgage crisis, Perry's rep shrugged off their concerns as “slightly alarmist.” More»

Washington DC, San Fran, Atlanta see biggest gains

(AP) - Home prices in major US cities have risen for the first time in eight months, boosted by an annual flurry of spring buyers. Prices rose in 13 of the 20 cities tracked by the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index, according to the April report released today. Washington, DC, saw the biggest price increases, followed by San Francisco, Atlanta, and Seattle. The index, which covers metro areas that include about 50% of US households, rose 0.7%. It marked the first increase since July. The index measures sales of select homes in those cities compared with prices in January 2000 and provides a three-month average price. The April data is the latest available. More»

But regulatory agency disagrees, and nothing has yet been filed

(NEWSER) - The SEC is making moves toward charging current and former Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives, sources tell the Washington Post , but the Federal Housing Finance Agency disagrees with the move. The SEC has sent notices to at least four senior executives over the past eight weeks warning them they may face civil charges, although nothing has been formally filed and the SEC could still change its mind. The executives would be charged with violations related to the housing market collapse, including a failure to provide investors with necessary information about the companies' mortgage holdings. More»

Unloading homes quickly while maintaining value, Fannie walks tightrope

(NEWSER) - It’s no secret that for US homeowners, it’s not a seller’s market. But imagine having 65,000 properties to sell. That’s the task ahead of Fannie Mae, NPR reports, as its volume of repossessed homes grows by the day. The guarantor of a third of all loans, Fannie is charged with foreclosing, renovating, valuing, and unloading this massive inventory into the worst housing market in decades. More»

(NEWSER) - If you’ve been waiting for a housing recovery, keep waiting. This March-June, the season when most homes are typically bought and sold, promises to be the worst since the bubble burst in 2006, the New York Times reports. Some 19 million homes—nearly one of every seven nationwide—are vacant, but only 6 million are currently for sale, meaning prices, already down 50% in recent years, are in for a crushing wave of supply. More»