News

From RealTrends.com: Nationwide housing starts inched up 1.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 546,000 units in July from a downwardly revised figure in the previous month, according to U.S. Commerce Department figures released today. The gain occurred entirely on the multi-family side, with single-family housing production falling 4.2 percent to 432,000 units.
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 Mortgage rates fell in the past week to the latest in a series of record lows amid concerns about the state of the U.S. economy, according to a survey released on Thursday by Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. mortgage finance company.

Rock-bottom rates should continue to spur demand for home loan refinancing, putting extra cash into consumers’ hands that they can save, use to pay off existing debt or funnel into the economy through extra spending.
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From RealTrends.com: The trend in firming home prices solidified in the second quarter with more metropolitan areas showing increases from a year ago, aided by a surge in home sales driven by the home buyer tax credit, according to the latest survey by the National Association of REALTORS®.

In the second quarter, 100 out of 155 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) had higher median existing single-family home prices in comparison with the second quarter of 2009, including 14 with double-digit increases; two were unchanged and 53 metros showed price declines. In the first quarter of this year 91 areas had higher prices, while only 26 MSAs experienced annual price gains in second quarter of 2009.

Source: NAR

From RealTrends.com: In the second quarter of 2010, 22 percent of homeowners who refinanced their first-lien home mortgage lowered their principal balance by paying in additional money at the closing table. This ties the record for the third highest cash-in share since Freddie Mac began keeping records on refinancing patterns in 1985. The revised cash-in share in the first quarter was 19 percent.
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From RealTrends.com: In the first quarter of 2010, U.S. single-family home prices rose an average of 2 percent over the year-ago quarter, the first year-over-year national gain since 2006, according to Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes. Despite the gain in the national average, prices were actually lower in 303 of the 384 metro areas compared to the 2009 first quarter. The overall increase was driven by strong price increases in markets such as the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, D.C. However, prices in many markets continued to plummet, with double-digit drops in Detroit, Las Vegas and many small Florida markets.

Detailed information on the Indexes can be found at the Fiserv Case-Shiller website, click here.

From RealTrends.com: Home prices in the United States increased in May, the fourth-consecutive month showing a year-over-year increase, according to CoreLogic’s Home Price Index. According to the Index, national home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 2.9 percent in May 2010 compared to May 2009 and increased by 3.5 percent in April 2010 compared to April 2009. Excluding distressed sales, year-over-year prices only increased by 0.9 percent in May, and April’s non-distressed HPI increased by 0.4 percent.
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The real estate downturn has turned some very popular retirement destinations into bargains.

To determine where the prices are most attractive, U.S. News & World Report examined price-to-income data for 384 metropolitan statistical areas. This expresses the relationship between owner income and home values.

Here are 10 retirement havens where homes are most affordable by this measure:

1. Bend, Ore.
2. Napa, Calif.
3. Fort Meyers, Fla.
4. Fayetteville, Ark.
5. Las Vegas
6. Sante Fe, N.M.
7. Punta Gorda, Fla.
8. Phoenix
9. Santa Cruz, Calif.
10. Burlington, Vt.

From RealTrends.com: International homebuyers are increasingly attracted to property in the United States, according to the National Association of Realtors®’ 2010 Profile of International Home Buying Activity. Several factors, including the strength of the dollar, the value and desirability of U.S. real estate, and the emerging economic recovery, continue to drive international interest in owning a home in this country.
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From RealTrends.com: Loan modifications and refinancings by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac increased significantly in the first quarter as the volume of permanent modifications under the Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) tripled, and refinancings steadily grew under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). Loans 60-plus-days delinquent also declined for the first time in two years, according to the FHFA’s First Quarter 2010 Foreclosure Prevention & Refinance report:
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From RealTrends.com: May housing sales up for 9th month in a row as closed units up 19.8 percent over May 2009 while prices climbed 6.9 percent in same period.  All regions were up strongly in both units closed and average prices.  Continued impact of tax credit and low interest rates are main reasons.
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