August 2011 Entries
Now it is cheaper to buy a two-bedroom home than to rent one in
most major U.S. cities. According to real estate web site Trulia,
buying was cheaper than renting in 74% of the country's 50
largest cities in July. In just 12% of the cities, including New
York, Seattle and San Francisco, renting was cheaper. In the
remaining 14% of cities, renting was less expensive but close to
the cost of buying. In addition to a continuing decline in home
prices, rock-bottom interest rates have added a lot of weight to
the buy side of the scale. The overnight average rate for a
30-year fixed was just 4.19%...
Banks dealing with lengthy, complicated and frequently messy
foreclosures are starting to see "short sales" as a quicker and
cheaper way of getting bad loans off their books. The nation's
biggest mortgage servicers- Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and
Wells Fargo - are beginning to step up their efforts to ease the
short sale process for borrowers who are unsuccessful in getting
loan modifications and face the threat of foreclosure. Servicers
are attempting to reach out to borrowers and are paying out more
incentives to those suffering financial hardship to help proceed
with a short sale. They are also cutting down the time taken to
approve short sales, although realtors...
I wrote a blog post about this story on June 6, 2011. If you would like to see the full story along with news footage of the actual incident click here.
Jon Stewart also filed a report yesterday where one of his correspondents interviews the couple and the attorney and pokes a little fun at the whole situation.
Check out the video:
The Daily Show - The Forecloser
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook
A study released by Clear Capital Thursday reveals home prices
continue to correct from winter’s extended declines, edging up
thanks to the seasonal increase in sales activity that comes with
warmer weather. The California-based valuation company says its
gauge of US home prices increased 4.1% when comparing the most
recent rolling quarter to the previous one. [Note: Clear
Capital’s patent-pending rolling quarter intervals compare the
most recent four months of home pricing data to the previous
three month.] But even recent gains off the record low
experienced earlier this year have not been enough to change the
broader housing picture, Clear Capital says. Its latest reading
of national home prices shows...