RECENT BLOG POSTS
In an op-ed written for the Washington Post, former treasury secretary Hank Paulson says government policies promoting homeownership fueled the housing crisis and, once the market has stabilized, should be dramatically reformed. Specifically, he recommends scaling back both Fannie Mae and Freddie...
08/02/2010
What a great summary of where our country is headed. This is a dangerous time for our industry and our country.According to an article I read on HousingWatch.com, Obama and his Administration are tackling the housing market with the intent to discourage homeownership and encourage affordable ren...
07/30/2010
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We are gaining ground slowly. The upcoming financial reform legislation will play a BIG role in how quickly or slowly we do recover. The implementation will be tricky. Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co., says the only way to fix the imbalances in the housing market ...
07/30/2010
Foreclosure activity rose in 75 percent of the nation's top metro areas during the first half of the year compared to 2009. RealtyTrac's Midyear 2010 Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report shows 154 of the 206 metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more posting year-over-year increase...
07/29/2010
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According to The Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, demand for purchase loans was up 2.0 percent last week. But despite the highest Purchase Index in a month, the Refinance Index fell 5.9 percent, bringing the measure of total application volume down 4.4 percent. Refinance...
07/28/2010
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Following a record low in May, new home sales surged 23.6 percent in June, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The better than expected recovery is misleading, however. Year-over-year numbers were down 16.7 percent and the sales ...
07/27/2010
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According to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, prices rose 1.3 percent in May from April and 4.6 percent from 2009. But despite the improvement, David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's, warned that a broader look at price levels over the past year s...
07/27/2010
Drew Kessler, managing director of Rand Mortgage, believes interest rates won't fall much further than they have already and feels prices will stabilize through the end of the year. CLICK BELOW FOR THE VIDEO LINK OF HIS INTERVIEW: http://michaelpond.wordpress.com/2010/07/23/mortgage-rates-prices-...
07/23/2010
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Sales of existing homes fell less than economists expected in June, according to a report from The National Association of Realtors. Sales were down 5.1 percent but, despite the downturn, up 9.8 percent from the year before. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said the market is undergoing under...
07/22/2010
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According to The Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.59 percent last week from 4.69 percent the week before. The 0.10 percent drop brought rates to their lowest level since the survey began in 199...
07/21/2010