Florida Home Sales Bumps Up 3rd Month in a Row

Florida Association of Realtors reports that existing home sales in Florida rose for the third month in a row in November. Fort Lauderdale enjoyed a 26 percent increase over the number of homes sold during November of 2007. However, like other States that have experienced sales volume increases, median home sales price fell 34 percent. Fort Lauderdale’s condo sales for November 2008 grew 3 percent from sales in 2007.

Mortgage Aps Flood Lenders in December

Paulson Calls For Massive Loan Modifications

The Hope Now Alliance, a group created at the behest of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson last year, expects to modify about 2 million mortgages next year, according to a report to be released today in Washington. The group, which includes JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp., also plans a new campaign to boost participation in the program.

Hope Now projects 950,000 loan modifications for 2008, including 208,000 for the month of November. Including repayment plans and other assistance, the group estimates that about 2.2 million foreclosures will have been prevented this year, bringing to 3 million the total averted since the program began in 2007. Bloomberg.com

To stay on Congress to support housing go here.

Survey finds things lookin’ up

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® “Housing Beat” survey :

• 9 % of member brokers are seeing an increase in closings, 26 percent are experiencing more pending sales (homes under contract but not yet closed), although many of those contracts are for foreclosure properties
• 1/3  of brokers are seeing more open house and Web site activity, and 54 % are seeing much more flexibility from banks in responding to short-sale inquiries
• 90 % are experiencing more activity with first-time buyers
• 22 % reporting the same for move-up buyers
• 14 % for high-end buyers
• 72 %  believe that the original allocation of government funds to provide credit relief to banks was necessary, although most qualified their responses with a strong tone of frustration by noting that the disposition of the funds has been poorly managed with minimal favorable impact on local markets.

hile all we hear is about market declines these prices have gone up. Your positive real estate has found by way of Zillow that 30 of the 163 metropolitan statistical areas covered, either showed gains in the median value of homes in the area or values stabilized.

Here are the 10 areas where values increased:
* Ithaca, N.Y., 5.6%
* State College, Pa., 4%
* Jacksonville, N.C., 3.9%
* Winston-Salem, N.C., 3.4%
* Bay City, Mi., 3.2%
* Rochester, N.Y. 3.1%
* Greenville, S. C., 2.8%
* Anderson, S.C. 2.7%
* Burlington, N.C., 2.6%
* Spartanburg, S.C., 2.0%

Papers on Both Coasts Say Time To Buy Real Estate Now

It May Be Time to Think About Buying a House
Five or 10 years from now, when the financial crisis has ended and housing prices are up smartly once more, we will look in the rearview mirror and realize that we missed a golden age for first-time home buyers.

We’ve pretty much blown through the first couple of stages of grief with regard to the Southern California housing bust.

There’s no room left for denial now that home prices in the Southland are down 44% from their peak in 2007, and there’s not much use for anger.

Lennar Gives Reasons to Buy Now

Tony Robbins Giving Away Free Videos on Dealing With Recession

Pretty good stuff from today’s premier positivity guru. Besides of course from the other guru: 

Inspiration From The Movies

Loan Modifications to Help Struggling Homeowners

Faced with a dramatic surge in defaults, both Freddie and its sibling company, Fannie Mae, are stepping up efforts to prevent foreclosures by increasing loan modifications.The federal agency that regulates the two companies anticipates they will modify about 75,000 troubled loans next year, up from about 60,000 this year. The program applies only to borrowers who have missed three months of payments and have not filed for bankruptcy and still live in their homes.

Most of the increase is expected to result from a mass loan modification program for loans owned by Fannie or Freddie that was launched this week. Loan servicing companies, which collect mortgage payments for Fannie and Freddie, are expected to send out thousands of letters to eligible borrowers in the coming weeks.

But for borrowers who are current on their mortgages, they can take advantage lower interest rates, refinance and save money.

Mortgages Are at a 37 Year Low!

  Rates on 30-year-fixed rate mortgages dropped this week to their lowest levels in at least 37 years, as the Fed pledged to pour money into the mortgage market in an effort to spur the moribund U.S. housing market. Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that average rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 5.19 percent, down from the year’s previous low of 5.47 percent, set last week.  

“It’s a call to action for homeowners looking to get out of adjustable-rate mortgages,” said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com.   The Federal Reserve, aiming to free up lending and jolt the economy back to life, on Tuesday cut the federal funds rate from 1 percent to a target range of zero to 0.25 percent and pledged to keep funneling money into the market for mortgage investments.

Mortgage brokers are already reporting a surge of calls from borrowers trying to take advantage of the Federal Reserve’s extraordinary actions.

Next Page »