After much fanfare the home buyer and home owner tax credit is in place. This new law extends the first time home buyer tax credit for property under contract by April 30, 2010 and closing by June 30, 2010. Under the same bill unemployment benefits are extended by 14 weeks and there are provisions to […]
Last Days of the $8,000 Federal Tax Credit
Could it be the end of the $8,000 Federal tax credit for first time home-buyers? The one thing we know with certainty is the program is currently set to expire on November 30th. Without action from Washington, time is of the essence in order to successfully complete a purchase transaction before the deadline. Given the […]
$8,000 Federal Tax Credit deadline approaching
The Tax Credit Program expires at midnight on November 30th and provides that only purchases that have CLOSED by that time are eligible for the program. With the current HVCC appraisal regulations and mortgage environment it currently takes between 45 and 60 days from contract to closing on average. The effect on the average first […]
Buying Power for First-Time Homebuyers
If you are in the market or considering a purchasing your first home you should consider the economic factors and market conditions. Forecasters are telling us that mortgage rates will continue to fall slightly before stabilizing. We hear regularly that the housing market is at or near the bottom and a turn around is likely […]
Don’t Fear Falling Prices
Daily Real Estate News | February 22, 2008 Source: Reuters News, Lynn Adler (02/21/08) Yale Professor Robert Shiller, whose Case-Shiller 20-city home price index has become an industry standard, says people shouldn’t fear gradually falling home prices. “There’s nothing troubling about a gradual correction of home prices. If we keep our incomes at the current […]
Not All Markets Are Equal
by Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist Copyright National Association of REALTORS®, Reprinted from REALTOR.org with permission Though the national headlines have been pounding out the news of a housing market meltdown, implosion, and collapse, all markets are not equal. In NAR’s latest metro price survey, roughly half of the country experienced a price increase. Upstate […]
The truth about whether a home is a good investment.
From Blanche Evans Realty Times 2008. It’s high time we told buyers (and sellers, for that matter) the truth about whether a home is a good investment. Despite what Wall Street wants you to believe, owning a home isn’t the same kind of investment as stocks or bonds. What you get is a USE asset […]
Housing Stocks Become Hot Item
Investors who bought housing stocks at the beginning of the year after two and a half years of steep declines are being rewarded for their prescience. As the Federal Reserve started cutting interest rates, the stocks of home builders Toll Brothers, Lennar, and Hovnanian rose 40 percent, 52 percent, and 96 percent respectively. Some analysts […]
States, Insurers at Odds Over Rising Rates
Florida’s persistent battle with insurers over rates and coverage is spreading to other states and could have an affect on insurance customers nationwide. New York, which prevented insurers from forcing residents to buy car and homeowners insurance from the same company in order to avoid cancellation, now wants to order insurers to set aside their […]
House Committee Passes Mortgage Reform Bill
The U.S. House Financial Services Committee approved legislation on Tuesday creating new consumer protection standards in the mortgage industry. The bill drafted by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) would: Ban lenders from making loans that borrowers don’t have the ability to repay. Prohibit lenders from steering home owners into refinanced mortgages that don’t provide any benefit. […]