Fannie Mae's Task: Sell 65K Homes in Buyer's Market

(NEWSER) - Another wave of foreclosures is on the way, possibly as early as this summer, threatening to upend a housing market that had begun to stabilize, the LA Times reports. Though loan defaults are up sharply, banks have been delaying foreclosures lately thanks to the Obama administration’s home-stability plan. Now with many government and self-imposed foreclosure moratoriums set to expire, big lenders have signaled that they’ll be cleaning house. More»

Red tape and bureaucracy hinder efforts to buy repo'd properties

(NEWSER) - Bargain hunters are turning to foreclosed homes for deals, but many are finding that buying repossessed properties from banks is a bureaucratic nightmare, the Washington Post reports. Though the housing market cannot stabilize until the unprecedented volume of foreclosures is sold off, banks are sluggish to act and fraught with red tape—and would-be homebuyers are giving up in frustration. More»

Criteria keep many who need help from refinancing under the plan

(NEWSER) - A large swath of Americans will see no help under the Obama administration’s housing rescue plan, the New York Times reports. While designed to prevent 3 million to 4 million foreclosures through loan modifications, the plan doesn't cover those whose loans aren’t backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or those who owe more than their home’s value on loans more than $729,750 through other lenders. More»

Median US price was $175,400 in December, off 15.3%

(NEWSER) - US home prices took an unprecedented dive in December, Bloomberg reports, with prices of existing units dropping 15.3% over the same month last year—the biggest drop on record, and probably the biggest since the Great Depression. Sales, however, unexpectedly ticked up 6.5% in December, the National Association of Realtors announced. “I don’t think it’s a clear sign of a revival in the housing market,” one analyst said. More»

Everyone was really surprised

(NEWSER) - The housing market had another staggering setback in November, with sales of new and existing homes tumbling while prices took their biggest hit on record, the Wall Street Journal reports. Existing-home sales fell a worse-than-expected 8.6%, while the national median price fell 13.2% to $181,300, the steepest slide since record-keeping began in 1968 and probably since the Great Depression, according to the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist. More»