2010 First-Time Home Buyers’ Guide – US News and World Report.
Recent indications that demand for housing is lagging, Calculated Risk writes, are “no surprise and suggests that the extension and expansion of the home buyer tax credit will probably cost taxpayers over $100,000 for each additional home sold.
Just about every economist opposed the tax credit as expensive and ineffective. Here are some quotes from a [...]
Most California homesellers — a whopping 67% – who sold their homes last year couldn’t pay their mortgages, a survey by the California Association of Realtors shows.
“For the most part, the bottom line was, ‘I’m being squeezed out of my home because I couldn’t make my mortgage payments,’ ” said Leslie Appleton-Young, the association’s chief economist.
In response to another question on specific [...]
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Sales of new homes plunged in January to the lowest level on record, government figures showed Wednesday.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of new home sales plummeted 11.2% to 309,000 last month, compared with a revised rate of 348,000 in December, the Census Bureau said. That’s a decline 6.1% from January 2009.
It [...]
10 Cities for Real Estate Steals – US News and World Report.
10 Rookie Home Buyer Mistakes to Avoid – US News and World Report.
Home foreclosure filings declined steadily from August through November 2009, but were still significantly higher than they were a year ago, according to RealtyTrac, a leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties.
Home foreclosure filings For November 2009 — including default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions — numbered 306,627, a decrease of nearly 8 percent [...]
Citigroup Inc. plans to let homeowners on the verge of foreclosure stay in their homes for six months — if they turn over the deed to their property.
Citi said Thursday it is launching the pilot program, dubbed “Foreclosure Alternatives,” this week in Texas, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and Ohio. Initially, about 1,000 homeowners are [...]
Americans want smaller houses and they are willing to strip some of yesterday’s most popular rooms — such as home theaters — from them in order to accommodate changing lifestyles, consumer experts told audiences at the International Builders Show here this week.
“This is a traumatic time in this country and the future isn’t something we’re [...]
The past few years have certainly challenged the idea that real estate prices only go in one direction. But the downside of the “American Dream” is even more pronounced, says James Altucher of Formula Capital.
Owning a home has “never been a great investment,” Altucher says, noting housing went up a dismal 0.4% annually vs. 8% [...]