Bottom-scraping prices for foreclosed-upon and bank-owned homes mean bargains for savvy buyers
Bottom-scraping prices for foreclosed-upon and bank-owned homes mean bargains for savvy buyers
Las Vegas Review-Journal
How low can it go?
Some real-estate market watchers predict Las Vegas will reach bottom when home prices match those in Detroit, one of the nation's hardest-hit cities for foreclosures and unemployment.
Allison Testifies for More Foreclosure Aid
DSnews
Herb Allison, the Treasury’s new assistant secretary for financial stability and former CEO of Fannie Mae, told lawmakers at a Senate Banking Committee hearing last week that the administration is considering another housing proposal that would require lenders to allow previous homeowners to stay in their foreclosed homes as renters.
Officials say that besides providing a residence option for former homeowners, the plan would also address the glut of vacant properties plaguing neighborhoods across the country and pulling down home values.
Freddie Offers Warranties on REO Homes
DSnews
Purchasers of single-family foreclosed homes offered through Freddie Mac’s HomeSteps division will receive a comprehensive two-year home warranty paid for by Freddie Mac, the company announced Monday. In addition, for a limited time, the McLean, Virginia-based mortgage financier said it will pay up to 3.5 percent of the sales price in closing costs, potentially saving buyers of HomeSteps homes thousands of dollars in transaction costs.
The new warranty incentive is part of a HomeSteps' SmartBuy sales promotion, which began on July 17 and is scheduled to run through October 30, 2009. HomeSteps, the REO disposition and sales unit of Freddie Mac, markets a nationwide selection of Freddie Mac-owned homes.
Bill would extend higher loan limits
Inman News
A spending bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee would extend the temporary $729,750 loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration in high-cost housing markets through September 2010.
Congress first raised the limits last year after the secondary market for mortgages collapsed in the late summer of 2007, allowing Fannie, Freddie and FHA to to buy or guarantee loans of up to 125 percent of the median home price in high-cost areas.
Pace of Decline Seems to Have Slowed, Fed Chief Says
The New York Times
The pace of economic decline appears to have slowed, but the labor market remains weak and, in response, the Federal Reserve is likely to maintain interest rates at “exceptionally low levels for extended periods,” Ben S. Bernanke, the Fed’s chairman, told lawmakers on Tuesday.
Testifying before the House Committee on Financial Services, Mr. Bernanke said in his prepared comments that despite positive signs of an improvement in the economy, “the job loss rate remains high and the unemployment rate continues its steep rise.” The weak job market, coupled with falling home prices and tight credit, he said, are putting downward pressure on households, undermining “the recent stabilization in household spending.”