housing market

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Foreclosures on Pricey Properties Pick Up

Well-to-do buyers weren't immune to wacky loans, and they're coming due

(Newser) - The country's most expensive homes are now making up a larger segment of foreclosures in the most recent spike of mortgage defaults. An analysis of recent data shows that 30% of June foreclosures involved homes valued in the top third based on location; that’s up from just 16% at...

Watchdog: Feds Need to Expand Foreclosure Plan

$50B plan proving ineffective as more mortgage holders lose their jobs

(Newser) - The Treasury's $50 billion loan-modification program is in danger of being swamped as the foreclosure crisis accelerates, the Congressional Oversight Panel said in a report yesterday. The Home Affordable Modification Program has met its target of 500,000 trial mortgage modifications started by November 1, but the watchdog warned that...

Vacancy Rate Hits 23-Year High as Renters Fade

So now's the time to get that place in NYC

(Newser) - Apartment vacancies have hit a 23-year high, as rampant unemployment continues to drive down demand, according to a New York real-estate research firm. That’s brought rents down an average 2.7% compared to last year—and the 7.8% vacancy rate is expected to climb. “The experience was...

Home Prices Rise for 3rd Month
 Home Prices Rise for 3rd Month 
Sep 29, 2009 8:48 AM CDT

Home Prices Rise for 3rd Month

Case-Shiller index shows modest 1.6% increase in June

(Newser) - In another sign the housing market is stabilizing, home prices climbed 1.6% in July, the third consecutive month they have risen, according to the S&P Case-Shiller home-price index of 20 major cities. Though they're down 13.3% compared with this time last year, the year-over-year declines still beat...

Housing Industry Pushes to Extend, Boost $8K Tax Credit

Real-estate industry wants program expanded; critics say let it die

(Newser) - The real estate industry has loved the federal government’s $8,000 rebate for first-time home buyers, and some economists agree. But the policy is under scrutiny as some call for it to be extended beyond its Nov. 30 cutoff—at which point it’s projected to have cost the...

Builders Are Building Again, Despite Risk
 Builders Are Building 
 Again, Despite Risk 
ANALYSIS
Aug 11, 2009 1:08 PM CDT

Builders Are Building Again, Despite Risk

(Newser) - A decrease in vacant housing inventory and an uptick in sales have home builders ramping up construction for the first time in months, Time reports. Currently, the number of new homes on the market would take an estimated 8.8 months to sell—a far cry from the standard of...

Churches Put Faith in Housing Biz
Churches
Put Faith
in Housing Biz
Aug 8, 2009 10:39 AM CDT

Churches Put Faith in Housing Biz

More launch own programs to provide affordable homes

(Newser) - Churches that have long called for an increase in affordable housing have started taking matters into their own hands, the Washington Post reports: A growing number of them have launched their own housing projects, partnering with developers to build whole communities. Their weekly flow of donations allows them to qualify...

By 2011, 48% of Mortgages Will Be Underwater

(Newser) - Nearly half of US homeowners will owe more than their house is worth by 2011, Deutsche Bank analysts said yesterday, predicting that the number of such “underwater” mortgages would nearly double from today’s 26% to 48%. Their report stated that home prices will fall another 14% between now...

Dow Cools, Still Rises 34
 Dow Cools, Still Rises 34
MARKETS
Aug 4, 2009 3:17 PM CDT

Dow Cools, Still Rises 34

(Newser) - Yesterday’s rally segued into a regular day today as markets remained mostly flat on mixed economic data, the Wall Street Journal reports. Home sales were up, but incomes down, and an expected report on rising US oil reserves hurt energy stocks. “It's a day of consolidation after we've...

As Slump Eases, High-End Homes Linger on Market

(Newser) - It’s a tale of two housing markets out there. While low and mid-priced homes are enjoying a resurgence, high-priced residences are languishing unsold, their prices falling rapidly, the Wall Street Journal reports. “We’re extremely oversupplied,” says a real estate agent in an affluent Illinois town, where...

May Home Prices Post 1st Gain in 3 Years

(Newser) - May home prices rose month-over-month for the first time in almost three years, according to the S&P Case-Shiller Index, edging up 0.4% from April. That still left them 17% lower than they were a year ago, however, the Wall Street Journal reports, with home prices at around 2003...

Home Sales Take Biggest Jump in 8 Years

(Newser) - New home sales jumped 11% in June, the biggest gain in eight years, the Commerce Department announced today, as the supply fell to its lowest level in more than a decade. With mortgage rates and prices staggeringly low—the median home price fell 12%—buyers came out of the woodwork....

Home Sales Send Dow Over 9,000
 Home Sales Send Dow 
 Over 9,000 
MARKETs
Jul 23, 2009 10:22 AM CDT

Home Sales Send Dow Over 9,000

(Newser) - The Dow Jones industrials are back above 9,000 today for the first time since the beginning of January. A report of a jump in home sales eased investors' worries about one of the economy's biggest trouble spots. They responded by buying stocks across the market, lifting the major indexes...

White House Foreclosure Plan a $50B Bust

(Newser) - The Obama administration's plan to help millions of homeowners avoid foreclosure has so far been a major failure, Politico reports. It's reached just 160,000 of the 3 to 4 million homeowners it was supposed to protect, and another 2 million homes are expected to be foreclosed upon before the...

Creditworthy Shunned Under Tight New Mortage Rules

(Newser) - Would-be homeowners with good credit are finding themselves shut out of the mortgage market by stiff restrictions from wary lenders, the New York Times reports. Many believe that in an effort to move away from the laxness blamed for the financial crisis, lenders have gone too far the other way...

Get Ready for New Wave of Foreclosures

(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...

Recession Will End This Year
 Recession Will 
 End This Year 
OECD report
Jun 24, 2009 6:53 AM CDT

Recession Will End This Year

But growth will be sluggish through 2010, says Paris development group

(Newser) - The US recession will end this year, but fragile financial markets and sapped consumer wealth will keep the pace of recovery sluggish, an influential Paris-based economic prognosticator said today. The OECD—Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development—predicted that the US economy will shrink by 2.8% this year and...

Tough Times Threaten New England's Triple-Deckers

Foreclosures, neglect thin the ranks of distinctive homes

(Newser) - The distinctive three-decker homes found throughout urban New England are swiftly becoming an endangered species, the New York Times reports. The homes—mostly built around a century ago to accommodate new immigrants—were snapped up by investors in boom times who rented them out without doing any maintenance. They are...

Home Construction Leaps 17%
 Home Construction Leaps 17% 
Jun 16, 2009 8:13 AM CDT

Home Construction Leaps 17%

(Newser) - Homebuilders were busy in May, as housing starts took an unexpected 17% leap, Bloomberg reports. Lower prices and tax incentives were enough to bring in the buyers, bumping the annual rate to 532,000 homes, up from 454,000 in April. Building permits were also up more than forecast. “...

Manhattan Teeters on Brink of Housing Crash

(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%...

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