Hinting at another small victory for the housing market, Denver-based Integrated Asset Services, LLC (IAS) has reported a gain in national home prices of 1.6 percent during the month of May. The company released its IAS360 House Price Index (HPI) recently, which showed an increase in property values in all four U.S. census regions.
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Santa Fe Honored Again
Travel and Leisure Magazine just named Santa Fe the #5 best city in the United States and Canada for travel experience. Rounding out the top five are:
Housing Market Report Shows Promise
From REALTrends.com
JUNE 2009 CLOSINGS ALMOST DEAD EVEN WITH JUNE 2008 REPRESENTING FIRST MONTH IN OVER 3 YEARS WITHOUT MEASURABLE DECLINE
Santa Fe International Folk Art Market
TICKETS NOW ON SALE
2009 Market dates: Saturday & Sunday, July 11-12, 2009 9am – 5pm daily
Signs of Life in Jumbo Lending
Big banks compete with credit unions, community banks
Jumbo lending is staging a comeback of sorts, with major lenders once again buying the oversize mortgages from other lenders or allowing independent mortgage brokers to originate loans for them.
Pending Home Sales Up For 4th Straight Month
Home sales continued their modest upward swing in May, according to a closely watched industry report that rose for the fourth straight month for the first time in nearly 5 years. The Pending Home Sales Index, reported Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), rose 0.1% during the month. The index was up 6.7% … Read more
Retire, and Be Happy – The 7 Keys to a Successful Retirement
By Robert Powell Print Article
RISMEDIA, June 29, 2009-(MCT)-Dead is the new retirement. OK, that doesn’t sound appealing, but working till you drop is a heck of a lot better than playing crappy golf at the country club, eating chicken salad sandwiches for lunch, and complaining about your gall bladder.
Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey
RISMEDIA, June 25, 2009-The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 19, 2009. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 548.2, an increase of 6.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis from 514.4 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 6.0% compared with the previous week and increased 17.2% compared with the same week one year earlier.
May Existing-Home Sales Continue Rising Trend
RISMEDIA, June 24, 2009-Sales of existing homes showed another gain in May, benefiting from favorable affordability conditions and a first-time buyer tax credit, according to the National Association of Realtors®. May’s increase was the first back-to-back monthly gain since September 2005.
Tax Credit for Home Purchase Could Rise
Lawmakers and businesses are calling for expansion of a tax credit for first-time homebuyers that has helped spark home sales in an otherwise dismal real estate market. With the tax credit scheduled to expire in the fall, some business groups say the amount of the credit, now capped at $8,000, should be raised to $15,000 and applied to anyone who buys a home.