Rust Belt city envisions smaller future

Rust Belt city envisions smaller future
Inman News

Thinking small isn't easy -- not when growth is the politically hip thing to do.

For struggling Rust Belt cities like Cleveland and Detroit, civic leaders need to buy into the idea that it's hip to be square and transform their communities into smaller, greener and healthier metropolises, experts say.

Housing Starts Fell Sharply In March
The Washington Post

New-home construction tumbled 11 percent in March, according to government data released yesterday, dashing hopes that the troubled housing market had begun to improve.

The drop was bigger than analysts had expected and was a reversal from the surprise 20 percent jump in new-home construction in February, which had stoked hopes of a market rebound. Most of the drop came in the market for multi-family housing such as condominiums and apartment buildings with five or more units, which tumbled 42.6 percent.

Report sees growth in pre-owned home sales
Inman News

Analysts at PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. think sales of existing homes probably hit bottom in the first three months of the year, and are projecting sales will increase every quarter for the remainder of this year and next.

Increased sales of foreclosed and distressed properties will push sales of existing homes from an annual rate of 4.6 million homes during the first quarter -- the worst quarter so far in the current downturn -- to an annual pace of 5.2 million during the last three months of the year, PMI projects.

Mortgage Cram-Down Stalls in Senate, May Be Revised
Bloomberg

Senate Democrats are scaling back legislation that would let bankruptcy judges alter mortgage terms because lawmakers don’t have enough votes for passage, a spokesman for Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin said.

The main “sticking point” is whether the measure, which passed the House of Representatives in March, should be limited to certain loans or a specific timeframe, Max Gleischman, a spokesman for Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said today.

Cook County foreclosure backlog prompts delays in mortgage default calls
Chicago Tribune

Cook County Circuit Court is delaying foreclosure actions against some homeowners as it tries to work through a growing backlog of cases.

Chancery Division Presiding Judge Dorothy Kirie Kinnaird notified judges and attorneys April 1 that all mortgage default calls—those first court appearances made by a lender when a borrower has not responded to a foreclosure action—would be canceled for July and August.