Realtors Lower 2007-2010 Home-Sales Estimates by 14 Percent
Realtors Lower 2007-2010 Home-Sales Estimates by 14 Percent
By Alan Zibel and Jeff Bater, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 21, 2011
U.S. home sales from 2007 through 2010 were about 14 percent lower than first reported, according to the National Association of Realtors, a sharp revision showing the housing bust was far worse than initially thought. The NAR revised downward its sales figures since 2007, using annual Census survey data to recalculate how many homes were sold. The revised figures came as the real estate trade group said sales of previously occupied homes in the U.S. rose 4.0 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.42 million. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a 2.0 percent monthly increase.
California Suing Fannie and Freddie
By Nick Timiraos and Ruth Simon, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 21, 2011
California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris filed suit against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Tuesday, seeking to force the firms to answer a detailed list of questions after the firms' federal regulator sought to block an open-ended inquiry by the state. The lawsuits, filed in San Francisco County Superior Court, are the latest salvo by Ms. Harris against the mortgage-finance giants and their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
U.S. Watchdog Eyes Zero Interest Mortgage Plan
By JoAnne Allen, Reuters, Dec. 20, 2011
The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is actively considering a proposal that would allow for a reduction in the outstanding mortgage debt of homeowners in Chapter 13 bankruptcy, Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Foreclosure Sales Still Pummeling Home Prices
By Les Christie, CNNMoney, Dec. 21, 2011
Nearly five years into the crisis, foreclosures are still weighing heavily on home prices. A whopping 46 percent of homes sold in November were either short sales or REOs — as homes repossessed by lenders are called, according to a survey by Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance.
New Mortgage Tool Can Help Avoid Pain, Cost of Rejection
By Teke Wiggin, AOL Real Estate, Dec. 21, 2011
If there's one thing lenders have learned from the housing meltdown, it's that making high-risk loans entails, well, a lot of risk. As a result, banks have severely tightened lending standards and increased paperwork requirements. That's made the application process quite a doozy for aspiring homeowners. But a new mortgage qualification tool could help borrowers avoid this scenario. Perhaps the most sophisticated of its kind, the tool assesses a borrower's loan qualifications based on various factors and determines, lickety-split, what options he or she has to choose from.