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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: housing crisis

housing crisis stories: 149 news summaries

1 - 20 of 149 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 ... 8 Next >>

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analysis

 Banks Yanking 
 Homeowners' 
 Last Hope: 
 Short Sales 

Healthier lenders no longer anxious to cut deals

Oct 3, 09 2:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - As banks get healthier, they're getting stingier with one of the few remaining lifelines for underwater homeowners—short sales. To keep home sales moving in leaner times—and to get bad loans off their ledgers—lenders would forgive the difference between the outstanding mortgage balance and the purchase price. Such... More »

MORE ABOUT:
mortgage • credit crisis • homeowners • housing crisis • banking industry • short sales

investigation

Mortgage Scammers Prey
on Strapped Homeowners

So-called rescue firms promise to negotiate lower rates, then take money and run

Sep 24, 09 7:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Mortgage brokers who made a mint during the housing boom setting up homeowners in toxic loans are now profiting from a different sort of shady deal. So-called foreclosure rescue firms are proliferating across the US, taking money upfront and promising to negotiate with homeowners’ banks for better interest rates. Instead,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
foreclosure • mortgage • scam • mortgage debt • homeowners • housing crisis • interest rates • Federal Trade Commission

 Troubled Securities 
 Threaten to Drown Banks 

Feds set to seize Texas' Guaranty

Aug 21, 09 10:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Bad loans have been killing off banks at the fastest rate in 17 years—but now, securities purchased from other banks are a mounting threat, the Wall Street Journal reports. Thousands of banks nabbed securities dependent on mortgages and the financial industry. “Under most scenarios, they were good and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
bank • securities • mortgage backed securities • financial institutions • housing crisis • bank failure

ANALYSIS

How Board Games Screwed Up Your Fiscal Sense

Games teach excessive lending, scarce saving

Jun 16, 09 3:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - It’s really no wonder Americans fouled up the financial system—fiscal irresponsibility was instilled in us at an early age by board games, observes Caitlin McDevitt for the Big Money. Among the poor lessons imparted by money games:
  • In Monopoly, the game’s bank can never go bust—
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social responsibility • list • finance • board games • housing crisis • Monopoly • financial crisis • The Game of Life • PayDay • Mall Madness

(Newser) - As foreclosure sales begin to lure buyers back to the housing market in some parts of the country, realtors in New York are finding the market crisis has come home to roost, Reuters reports. Things are bad and could soon be much worse. Condo sales in Manhattan have plummeted 71%... More »

MORE ABOUT:
New York City • Manhattan • housing market • home sales • housing crisis • luxury condo • Hamptons

Cure for Dead Lawns at Foreclosures: Green Paint

Recession has left entire neighborhoods in need of quick spray

May 2, 09 11:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - California’s Riverside County is looking a little greener these days—just don't look too closely. The area has been so racked by foreclosures and unsold homes that parts of it look like a ghost town, complete with very dead grass. That’s where Insta-Green comes in. The start-up has... More »

MORE ABOUT:
foreclosure • recession • housing crisis

 Foreclosures Rose 
 24% in First Quarter 

Rate expected to rise through the summer

Apr 16, 09 8:31 AM CDT
(AP) - The number of American households threatened with losing their homes grew 24% in the first 3 months of this year and is poised to rise further as major lenders restart foreclosures after a temporary moratorium, figures out today show. Though the Obama administration has invested $75 billion to help up... More »

MORE ABOUT:
foreclosure • refinanced mortgages • housing crisis • mortgage delinquency • Obama administration • financial crisis • refinancing

Foreclosures Draw Eager Buyers, but Banks Drag Feet

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

Apr 13, 09 8:00 AM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
housing market • foreclosure • bureaucracy • housing crisis • repossessions • bureaucratic blunders • financial crisis

(AP) - Freddie Mac said today it will ask the government for nearly $31 billion in additional aid after posting a gargantuan loss of more than $50 billion last year as the US housing market worsened. The mortgage finance company posted a loss of $23.9 billion, or $7.37 per share,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
mortgage • Fannie Mae • credit crisis • housing crisis

ANALYSIS

Most Foreclosures Come From a Few Counties

Crisis affects former boom areas the most

Mar 6, 09 12:05 PM CST
(Newser) - The majority of US home foreclosures last year happened in just 35 counties, USA Today reports. Though the effects of the mortgage crisis have been felt nationwide, foreclosures have been from the start clustered in formerly booming areas in Florida, California, Nevada, Arizona, and around Washington DC. The 35 most-affected... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Florida • California • Las Vegas • foreclosure • default • housing crisis • mortgage defaults

Citi Offers Jobless Lower Mortgage Payments

Recently unemployed can drop payments to average of $500

Mar 3, 09 7:25 AM CST
(Newser) - Citigroup is announcing a new program easing mortgage payments to an average of $500 a month for homeowners who have lost their jobs and fallen behind on their debts, reports the Wall Street Journal. Borrowers will be allowed to make the lower payments for 3 months and will pay no... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Citigroup • mortgage • mortgage loans • housing crisis • mortgage delinquency

Gap Narrows Between Mortgage Payments, Rents

Housing slump prompts shift

Feb 25, 09 8:22 AM CST
(Newser) - During the housing boom, mortgage payments held steady, consistently topping rent levels; now, with the market cratering, they’re returning to historical levels, the Wall Street Journal reports. After-tax mortgage payments averaged about 26% more than rent over the past 18 years; during the boom that figure surged to 66%.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
housing market • mortgage • rent • home prices • housing crisis • financial crisis

ANALYSIS

Mortgage Plan Relies on Incentives, Lacks Muscle

Proposal does does little to address securitized mortgages

Feb 19, 09 9:14 AM CST
(Newser) - The Obama administration’s foreclosure-prevention plan contains more carrots than sticks, relying heavily on incentives designed to prod mortgage servicers to modify at-risk loans, the Wall Street Journal reports. The plan offers monetary rewards to mortgage companies that lower interest rates on delinquent mortgages, and reduces principal for borrowers who... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • foreclosure • mortgage backed securities • housing crisis • mortgage defaults • mortgage delinquency • Obama administration • financial crisis • President Obama

(Newser) - Details are emerging on the Obama administration's plan to help homeowners: One idea is to give strapped borrowers a lower interest rate, then have the federal government chip in to defray the lenders' loss, the Washington Post reports. The Treasury Department is expected to outline its overall plan in the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
foreclosure • mortgage • homeowners • housing crisis • Obama administration • President Obama

McMansions, Like Everything Else, Are Shrinking

Average home size declines in what analysts call 'right-sizing'

Jan 27, 09 11:14 AM CST
(Newser) - Confirming what industry professionals have long suspected, builders and buyers alike are foregoing super-sized “McMansions” for smaller, more economical homes, the Wall Street Journal reports. The average home started in 2008’s third quarter was 2,438 square feet, down from 2,629 in the second quarter. The median... More »

MORE ABOUT:
housing market • housing • housing crisis • new housing starts • McMansion • financial crisis

ANALYSIS

All Options on Table in Fight to Halt Foreclosure

Obama considering moratorium, gov't-sponsored refinancing

Jan 26, 09 8:54 AM CST
(Newser) - The Obama administration is considering plans to stem the tide of foreclosures ranging from doubling the mortgage interest deduction to a six-month foreclosure moratorium to government-sponsored refinancing, reports the Los Angeles Times. But a strategy is still at least several weeks away and, regardless of what bandages are applied, “... More »

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foreclosure • mortgage • credit crisis • housing crisis • Obama administration • financial crisis • refinancing • President Obama

GLOSSIES

Realtors Friend Facebook for Boost in Rough Market

Networking site is useful way reach out to friends—and to buy and sell properties

Jan 8, 09 12:11 PM CST
(Newser) - Facebook has been reviving more than long-lost friendships—it’s proving a useful tool for struggling real-estate agents, Daniel McGinn writes for Newsweek. Agents are increasingly using the site to promote themselves, pitch listings and keep track of potential clients. “I’m trying everything in a market like this,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
social networking • real estate • marketing • Facebook • housing crisis

Chicago Real Estate Mogul Kills Himself

High-profile exec
led expansion
of Good family firm

Jan 7, 09 2:32 PM CST
(Newser) - A Chicago-area real estate mogul has been found dead after shooting himself in a wildlife preserve, CNN reports. Police say they don't know why 52-year-old Steven L. Good took his life; a rep said the local sheriff's department had no "concrete evidence if this had anything to do with... More »

MORE ABOUT:
suicide • real estate • Chicago • housing crisis • Steven L Good





 McMansion Era 
 May Be Over 

Strapped Americans now prefer cozier homes

Jan 6, 09 5:33 PM CST
(Newser) - As strapped Americans develop a conscience and, er, sense of taste about living, the practice of razing existing homes to make way for super-size replacements is slowing, reports the Christian Science Monitor. Languid McMansion sales have brought quiet back to historic neighborhoods, drowned out for years by bulldozers and upset... More »

MORE ABOUT:
housing • urban revitalization • housing crisis • preservation • McMansion • urban development • neighborhood

Glossies

 Don't Blame Fannie for Mess 



Wall Street, banks, and government also at fault

Jan 5, 09 9:11 AM CST
(Newser) - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the "toxic twin" housing financing behemoths blamed for setting the world on fire, were not operating any differently than the entire financial sector, Bethany McLean writes in Vanity Fair. McLean documents Fannie Mae's history starting from conception in FDR's New Deal, when it was... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • takeover • Freddie Mac • Fannie Mae • housing crisis • subprime crisis • financial crisis • Federal Housing Finance Agency

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