LeadToRealty News Syndication System http://news.leadtorealty.com Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:32:49 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://news.leadtorealty.com/index.php/Latest/Government-effort-to-boost-the-market-has-a-positive-effect-on-mortgage-rates.html According to Freddie Mac, fixed rates for 30-year mortgages, were at an average of 5.47% for the week, ending Dec. 11. The previous week´s figure was 5.53% and the rate for this same time last year was a a high 6.11%. The decrease started after Nov. 25th, when the government made a declaration that they would try a second time to boost the credit market in regards to consumer/mortgage lending,... Fri, 12 Dec 2008 04:50:29 +0100 http://news.leadtorealty.com/index.php/For-you-the-buyer-or-seller/Plans-in-action-to-boost-buying-in-the-market.html A little over a week ago, the Federal Reserve announced a $600 billion plan to try and lower mortgage rates, and now the Treasury Department is debating to lower it even more, at 4.5% for home buyers. Both organizations are trying to pump up buying activity in the market. Previously, the majority of effort aimed at boosting the market, was more geared towards home owners not buyers. There... Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:36:19 +0100 http://news.leadtorealty.com/index.php/Latest/Refinancing-index-shows-a-major-increase.html Due to several government bailouts, mortgage applications doubled as refinancing was made more appealing. The Federal Reserve had recently announced that they would buy debt and mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Orawin Velz, the associate vice president of economic forecasting, said that as a result, Many of those on the sidelines decided to quickly jump in and take advantage of lower rates before they began to... Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:22:28 +0100 http://news.leadtorealty.com/index.php/Latest/Freddie-faces-NYSE-delisting-warning.html Freddie Mac recently received a notice from the New York Stock Exchange, advising them that they may lose their listing in NYSE, as they do not meet the requirements needed. To meet NYSE requirements, a stock´s average closing price needs to be above $1 per share for more then a 30-day time frame, which Freddie Mac has not been meeting. Freddie Mac has said that they will be working with... Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:12:25 +0100 http://news.leadtorealty.com/index.php/Latest/Foreclosures-damage-regular-selling.html Regular home sellers are facing a losing battle. According to market data, there are over one million repossessed homes on the market, otherwise known a REOs. An REO is a real estate property being sold by lenders, as the homeowners have defaulted on their loans. As the lenders are left holding properties instead of solid funds, they are looking to sell ASAP. For every month their home sits there... Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:57:52 +0100 http://news.leadtorealty.com/index.php/Latest/Analyzing-the-October-market-results.html The October statistics are in and at an unfortunate low on both the buying and selling side of the market. According to the National Association of Realtors, homeowner sales in October fell 3.1% from September, going from 5.14 million to 4.98. This was unexpected by economists, according to a survey given by Briefing.com, they had expected sales to decline to only 5.05 million. Based on a year to year... Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:14:22 +0100 http://news.leadtorealty.com/index.php/Latest/Fannie-and-Freddie-announce-a-holiday-halt-on-foreclosures.html Last Thursday, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced that they will be halting almost 16,000 pending foreclosures during Nov. 26 through Jan. 9th for the holiday season. During this time frame, they will be evaluating each household to see if they can qualify for the new loan modification program that was recently presented. According to Fannie, around 10,000 households will be temporarily saved by the halt, while... Mon, 24 Nov 2008 05:41:14 +0100 http://news.leadtorealty.com/index.php/Latest/Unemployment-makes-foreclosure-prevention-difficult.html While HUD and the government are working to try and prevent foreclosures with programs such as HOPE now, they will be useless to those who truly cannot afford any payment, however low it is modified. Many homeowners in the face of this economic crisis are becoming jobless. More and more layoffs are being announced, and at the moment the nation´s unemployment rate is at 6.5%, which is the highest level... Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:09:43 +0100 http://news.leadtorealty.com/index.php/Latest/HUD-works-to-provide-more-HOPE-for-struggling-homeowners.html The Hope for Homeowners program, which was launched October 1st, to try and help struggling homeowners, has had a rocky start. To date, only a few mortgages have been able to be modified and HUD, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is working on making the program more accessible to a greater amount of troubled homeowners. The secretary for HUD, Steve Pretson, commented on these latest developments saying,... Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:33:05 +0100 http://news.leadtorealty.com/index.php/Latest/Builder-confidence-locked-in-a-downward-spiral.html The outlook for home builders is looking grim. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo housing index for November, hit the lowest level recorded since the index was started in 1985. The figure totaled for November is at an all time low level of 9, a lot lower then the figure estimated by economists, who had hoped it would stay at 14, which was the low set in October.... Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:05:16 +0100 http://news.leadtorealty.com/index.php/Latest/FDIC-opens-up-on-their-foreclosure-prevention-plan.html Last Friday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, officially announced their plan to help prevent foreclosure. They want to use over $24 billion in government aid to assist an estimated 1.5 million Americans that are facing foreclosure. They want to use the $24 billion from the $700 billion already set aside for the financial market. However, the Treasury Department is strongly against this. The assistant secretary for the Treasury, Neel Kashkari,... Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:21:53 +0100 http://news.leadtorealty.com/index.php/Latest/Government-plan-does-not-address-private-investor-loans.html Last Tuesday, a government plan was introduced to try and help modify distressed loans, thus preventing mass streams of foreclosures. With the plan, homeowners who have loans owned/backed by mortgage finance companies, and that are 90 days or more behind on their payments, could qualify for lower interest rates or longer repayment terms, at 38% or less then their monthly household income. Also, while payment on the loan principal wont... Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:13:41 +0100 http://news.leadtorealty.com/index.php/Latest/Citigroup-gears-up-to-prevent-foreclosures.html Joining the ranks of IndyMac and JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup recently announced that they are going to try and double their measures to prevent foreclosure, assisting 130,000 distressed borrowers with over $20 billion tied up in home mortgages. The pressure is on for banks to up their level of assistance as many tax dollars are being put aside for these measures. Citi´s plan of action, is called the Citi Homeownership... Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:54:20 +0100 http://news.leadtorealty.com/index.php/Latest/The-market-takes-another-dive-In-September-buyers-remained-cautious-with-buying-many-holding-back.html In September, buyers remained cautious with buying, many holding back, unsure as to where the market was going. Having previously rose 7.4% in August, the Pending Homes Sales Index, dropped 4.6% in September, leveling out at 89.2. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) says this was due to a drastic price decline, which dropped 9% from September of the previous year to September 2008. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist... Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:02:37 +0100 http://news.leadtorealty.com/index.php/Latest/Market-view-on-Obama.html A new president with new possibilities for the housing market, is right around the bend, but can Barack Obama fix it? According to many marketing expects, proposals outlined by Obama during his campaign, are not sufficient. Within his plan is a 10% mortgage tax credit for all homeowners who do not itemize their taxes. There is also a planned change in bankruptcy law to provide judges with the authority to... Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:22:20 +0100