AOL Real Estate - Blog http://realestate.aol.com/blog AOL Real Estate - Blog http://realestate.aol.com/blog/media/feedlogo.gif AOL Real Estate - Blog http://realestate.aol.com/blog en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Mortgage Rates Reach Record Lows for 3rd Straight Weekhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/18/surprise-surprise-mortgage-rates-hit-another-record-low/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/18/surprise-surprise-mortgage-rates-hit-another-record-low/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/18/surprise-surprise-mortgage-rates-hit-another-record-low/#commentsFiled under:

WASHINGTON -- Average U.S. rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages fell to record lows for the third straight week. The steady decline has made homebuying and refinancing more affordable than ever for those who can qualify.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the rate on the 30-year loan dipped to 3.79 percent. That's down from 3.83 percent last week and the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.

The 15-year mortgage, a popular option for refinancing, declined to 3.04 percent. That's down from last week's previous record of 3.05 percent.

Rates on the 30-year loan have been below 4 percent since early December. But so far, those cheap rates haven't been enough to ignite home sales.

While sales of previously occupied homes picked up in January and February, they fell again in March and remain well below healthy levels.

Boost in Confidence

Low mortgage rates have helped boost builder confidence, which rose in May to a five-year high. And home construction has improved in the past six months, a reflection of that increase in confidence.

Builders broke ground in April at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 717,000 homes, the government reported Wednesday. That nearly matches January's pace, the best since October 2008.

Construction rose for both single-family homes and apartments. And builders requested more permits to build single-family homes, a sign that they expect more demand in the coming months.

Still, many would-be buyers can't qualify for loans or afford higher down payments required by banks. Home prices in many cities continue to fall. That has made those who can afford to buy uneasy about entering the market. And for those who are willing to brave the troubled market, many have already taken advantage of lower rates -- mortgage rates have been below 5 percent for more than a year now.

The Treasury-Note Connection

Mortgage rates are lower because they tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Slower U.S. job growth and uncertainty about how Europe will resolve its debt crisis have led investors to buy more Treasurys, which are considered safe investments. As demand for Treasurys increases, the yield falls.

To calculate the average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week.

The average rage does not include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.

The average fee for 30-year loans was 0.7 last week, unchanged from the previous week. The fee on 15-year loans also was 0.7, the same as the previous week.

The average one-year adjustable rate was 2.78 percent last week, up from 2.73 percent the previous week. The fee on one-year adjustable rate mortgages was unchanged at 0.5.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

See also:
Mortgage Points: When It's Smart to Pay More
Buying a Home Won't Get Much Cheaper
6 Cities Where Rents Are Skyrocketing

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Personal Finance Terms 101: Fixed-Rate Mortgage

 

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]]>mortgage rate recordmortgage ratesmortgage rates droppingmortgage rates lowThe Associated Press2012-05-18T10:00:00 00:00Mortgage Rates Hit Lowest Point Ever, Againhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/11/mortgage-rates-hit-lowest-point-ever-again/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/11/mortgage-rates-hit-lowest-point-ever-again/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/11/mortgage-rates-hit-lowest-point-ever-again/#commentsFiled under:

WASHINGTON -- Average U.S. rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages fell to fresh record lows this week. Cheap mortgage rates have made home-buying and refinancing more affordable than ever for those who can qualify.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan ticked down to 3.83 percent. That's the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s. And it's below the previous record rate of 3.84 percent reached last week.

The 15-year mortgage, a popular option for refinancing, dropped to 3.05 percent, also a record. That's down from last week's previous record of 3.07 percent.

Low mortgage rates haven't done much to boost home sales. Rates have been below 4 percent for all but one week since early December. Yet sales of both previously occupied homes and new homes fell in March.

Why Loans Are Still Out of Reach

There have been some positive signs in recent months. January and February made up the best winter for sales of previously occupied homes in five years. And builders are laying plans to construct more homes in 2012 than at any other point in past 3½ years. That suggests some see the housing market slowly starting to turn around.

Still, many would-be buyers can't qualify for loans or afford the higher down payments required by banks. Home prices in many cities continue to fall. That has made those who can afford to buy uneasy about entering the market. And for those who are willing to brave the troubled market, many have already taken advantage of lower rates -- mortgage rates have been below 5 percent for more than a year now.

Mortgage rates are lower because they tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Slower U.S. job growth and uncertainty about how Europe will resolve its debt crisis have led investors to buy more Treasurys, which are considered safe investments. As demand for Treasurys increases, the yield falls.

To calculate the average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week.

Some Fees Drop Too

The average rage does not include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.

The average fee for 30-year loans was 0.7 last week, down from 0.8 the previous week. The fee on 15-year loans also was 0.7, unchanged from the previous week.

The average on one-year adjustable rate was 2.73 percent last week, down from 2.7 percent the previous week. The fee on one-year adjustable rate mortgages was 0.5, down from 0.6.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

See also:
Avoiding Foreclosure: More and Better Options Available Now
Foreclosure Rehab: Ramping Up the Battle Against Blight

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Types Of Mortgages

 

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]]>The Associated Press2012-05-11T11:20:00 00:00BofA Mailing Principal Reduction Offers to 200,000 Borrowershttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/09/bofa-begins-mailing-principal-reduction-offers-to-200-000-borrow/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/09/bofa-begins-mailing-principal-reduction-offers-to-200-000-borrow/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/09/bofa-begins-mailing-principal-reduction-offers-to-200-000-borrow/#commentsFiled under:

bank of america; principal reductionLOS ANGELES -- Homeowners with a Bank of America mortgage have good reason to check their mailbox.

The lender said Tuesday that it has begun mailing out letters to customers who may qualify to have their home loans reduced as part of a multistate settlement over alleged foreclosure abuses.

The Charlotte, N.C.,-based company estimates that more than 200,000 of its customers could potentially be in line for a reduction in the principal balance on their mortgage.

Some customers could receive letters from the bank as early as this week that invite them to provide financial information as part of a review process for the program. The bank plans to have mailed out most of the letters by the end of the third quarter.

Bank of America estimates that customers who end up receiving the loan modifications will save, on average, 30 percent a month on their mortgage payments.Among the criteria to qualify, borrowers must owe more on their mortgage than the property is worth, and be at least 60 days behind on payments as of Jan. 31.

Bank of America will reduce the amount owed by the homeowners by as much as $100,000 in some cases. And only mortgages that are currently owned by Bank of America will qualify. Those that are owned by government entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, or backed by the Federal Housing Administration, will not be eligible.

The lender said it began reducing the principal balance on mortgages in March, focusing initially on homeowners who already had a loan modification bid under review.

Under this initiative, the bank said it has mailed 5,000 trial modification offers, representing potentially more than $700 million in forgiven principal balances.

Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Ally Financial Inc. agreed to a $25 billion settlement with 49 state attorneys general and federal officials in February.

Most of the settlement is earmarked for reducing loans for about 1 million U.S. households that owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.

About 11 million American households are "underwater" on their mortgages, meaning they owe more than their homes are worth. The broader settlement is expected reduce loans for only about 1 million of those Americans and send checks to others who were improperly foreclosed upon.

Of the five major lenders, Bank of America's penalties were the highest: $11.8 billion.

The settlement ended a painful chapter of the financial crisis, when home values sank and millions edged toward foreclosure. Lender abuses exacerbated the crisis. Many companies processed foreclosures without verifying documents. Some employees signed papers they hadn't read or used fake signatures to speed foreclosures, a practice known as robo-signing.

In the fall of 2010, Bank of America along with other large lenders temporarily halted foreclosures after a furor over robo-signed documents.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

See also:
Avoiding Foreclosure: More and Better Options Available Now
Foreclosure Rehab: Ramping Up the Battle Against Blight

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Bank of America Gives a Chance to Knock Down Mortgage Debt

 

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]]>Bank of AmericaBank of America CorpFederal Housing AdministrationFederal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae)FinanceFreddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp)home loan modificationHome loansmortgagemortgage reductionThe Associated PressThe Associated Press2012-05-09T11:30:00 00:00Freddie Mac Asks for More Federal Aid After Another Losshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/03/freddie-mac-asks-for-more-federal-aid-after-another-loss/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/03/freddie-mac-asks-for-more-federal-aid-after-another-loss/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/03/freddie-mac-asks-for-more-federal-aid-after-another-loss/#commentsBy Marcy Gordon

WASHINGTON -- Government-controlled mortgage giant Freddie Mac is requesting $19 million in additional federal aid after posting a loss for the first quarter of this year.

The requested amount is less than the $146 million that Freddie received from the government for the fourth quarter of 2011. The company received $7.6 billion for all of 2011 and $13 billion for all of 2010.

McLean, Va.-based Freddie Mac said Thursday that its net loss attributable to common stockholders was $1.2 billion, or 38 cents a share, in the January-March period. That compares with a net loss of $929 million, or 29 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2011.

The government rescued Freddie and larger sibling Fannie Mae in September 2008 after massive losses on risky mortgages threatened to topple them. Taxpayers have spent roughly $170 billion to rescue Fannie and Freddie, the costliest bailout of the 2008 financial crisis. It could cost about $200 billion more to support the companies through 2014 after subtracting dividend payments, according to the government.

The first-quarter net loss takes into account $1.8 billion in dividend payments that Freddie made to the government, its primary shareholder.

Fannie and Freddie are required to pay 10 percent dividends on the government money they receive.

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In some past quarters, Freddie hasn't asked for any government aid. But the $19 million it is requesting for the first quarter is the smallest request it has ever made. Freddie has paid more to the government in dividends than it has taken in aid in the last five quarters, the company said.

About a third of the company's holdings are home loans issued between 2005 and 2008, which accounted for 88 percent of its losses in the first quarter. Freddie said those loans are becoming a smaller proportion of its portfolio, and that over time that should have a positive impact on its finances.

Freddie and Washington-based Fannie own or guarantee about half of all U.S. mortgages, or nearly 31 million home loans, which are worth more than $5 trillion. Along with other federal agencies, they backed nearly 90 percent of new mortgages over the past year.

Freddie CEO Charles E. Haldeman Jr. noted that an effort is underway to streamline the company.

"We have also stayed focused on maintaining the flow of funds to the market and preventing foreclosures," Haldeman said in a statement. "In the first quarter, we helped over 577,000 families own or rent their home, adding more quality loans to our portfolio."

The housing market has slowly begun to improve, but has a long way to go before it's healthy. Many homeowners are still defaulting on their mortgages. Unemployment remains high at 8.2 percent.

Fannie and Freddie buy home loans from banks and other lenders, package them into bonds with a guarantee against default, and then sell them to investors around the world. When property values drop, more homeowners default, either because they are unable to afford the payments or because they owe more than the property is worth. Because of the guarantees, Fannie and Freddie must cover the losses.

Pressure continues on the government to eliminate Fannie and Freddie and reduce taxpayers' exposure to risk. The Treasury Department put forward a plan last year to slowly dissolve the companies, though that process could take years. Abolishing Fannie and Freddie would transform how homes are bought and redefine who can afford them.

Executives Depart

Word came Monday that a top Freddie executive is leaving the company about a year after he was promoted to oversee its single-family mortgage business. Anthony Renzi resigned to accept a job with another financial company. Renzi's departure as executive vice president of single-family business and operations and technology takes effect this month.

The move is the latest in a series of departures of top executives from Freddie and Fannie. Freddie CEO Haldeman and Fannie CEO Michael J. Williams both plan to step down this year.

The government said recently it will cap pay for Freddie and Fannie chief executives at $500,000 per year and eliminate annual bonuses for all employees. Those changes came after Congress pressured the government to stop big payouts at the bailed-out companies.

The federal agency that oversees Freddie and Fannie also said it would cut pay for about 50 other executives at the two companies. Those employees are still eligible to earn salaries above the cap.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

See also:
Avoiding Foreclosure: More and Better Options Available Now
Home Sales See Best 1st Quarter in 5 Years, Realtors Report


$1.7 Billion Savings For Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

 

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]]>19 million in additional federal aidAnthony RenziFannie and FreddieFannie MaeFreddie Macgovernment bailoutmortgagesThe Associated Press2012-05-03T15:30:00 00:00Mortgage Rates Hit Another Record Lowhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/03/mortgage-rates-hit-another-record-low/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/03/mortgage-rates-hit-another-record-low/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/03/mortgage-rates-hit-another-record-low/#commentsFiled under: ,

By Martin Crutsinger

WASHINGTON -- Average U.S. rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages fell to fresh record lows this week, offering more incentive for Americans to buy or refinance homes.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan fell to 3.84 percent, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s. That's below the previous record rate of 3.87 percent reached in February.

The 15-year mortgage, a popular option for refinancing, dropped to 3.07 percent, also a record. The previous record of 3.11 percent was hit three weeks ago.

Cheaper mortgage rates haven't done much to boost home sales. Rates have been below 4 percent for all but one week since early December. Yet sales of both previously occupied homes and new homes fell in March.

Analysts suspect some of that weakness reflected a warm winter, which pulled sales that would normally occur during the spring buying season into January and February.

Still, many potential buyers can't qualify for loans or afford higher down payments required by banks. Home prices in many cities continue to fall, making those that can afford to buy uneasy about entering the market. And many who can afford to buy or refinance have already taken advantage of lower rates.

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Mortgage rates are lower because they tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Mixed news on the U.S. economy and Europe's debt crisis have led investors to buy more Treasurys, which are considered safe investments. As demand for Treasurys increases, the yield falls.

To calculate the average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week.

The average rage does not include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.

The average fee for 30-year loans was 0.8 last week, up from 0.7 the previous week. The fee on 15-year loans was 0.7, the same as last week.

The average on one-year adjustable rate loans also dropped to a record low of 2.7 percent last week, down from 2.74 percent last week. The fee on one-year adjustable rate mortgages was 0.6, unchanged from last week.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

See also:
Home Sales See Best 1st Quarter in 5 Years, Realtors Report
Buying a Home Won't Get Much Cheaper
Avoiding Foreclosure: More and Better Options Available Now

To Buy or Not to Buy a Home Now

 

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]]>15 year fixed rate mortgage30 year fixed rate mortgagehome financinghome loansmortgage ratesrecord home loansrecord low interest ratesrecord low mortgage ratesThe Associated Press2012-05-03T14:50:00 00:00Donald Trump Demands Scotland Dump Wind-Farm Planshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/25/donald-trump-demands-scotland-nix-wind-turbines/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/25/donald-trump-demands-scotland-nix-wind-turbines/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/25/donald-trump-demands-scotland-nix-wind-turbines/#commentsFiled under:



EDINBURGH, Scotland -- He came, he saw, he blustered.

Donald Trump on Wednesday swept into Scotland's parliament to demand the country end plans for an offshore wind farm that he fears will spoil the view at his exclusive new $750 million pound ($1.2 billion) golf resort.

In a typically blunt display, the New York property tycoon told an inquiry into renewable energy to stop the wind power efforts in the country's north.

"Scotland, if you pursue this policy of these monstrous turbines, Scotland will go broke," he said. "They are ugly, they are noisy and they are dangerous. If Scotland does this, Scotland will be in serious trouble and will lose tourism to places like Ireland, and they are laughing at us."

Members of the committee are looking at how achievable the Scottish government's green targets for 2020 are. The plans for 11 200-foot (60-meter) tall wind turbines are part of the government's goal of positioning itself as a leader in renewable energy.

When challenged to produce hard evidence about his claims on the negative impact of turbines, Trump said: "I am the evidence, I am a world class expert in tourism."

The public gallery burst into laughter.

Trump (pictured at left as he left Parliament) claimed that Scotland's leader, Alex Salmond, and his predecessor, Jack McConnell, gave him verbal assurances that a wind farm would not be built off the coast of his resort.

"They wanted my money," Trump said. "I was lured into buying the site, after I had spent my money they came and announced the plan. At the time I bought the land I felt confident the wind farm was not going to happen."

The inquiry heard that Trump paid 4.5 million pounds for the majority of the land eight miles north of Aberdeen in January 2006. The resort is due to open on July 10.

There was an irony to Trump's complaints: When Salmond backed Trump's plans for the result, the head of the Scottish government was hailed a "great man" by the tycoon.

But Trump turned on Salmond over plans to put the wind turbine farm off the coast and within view of the golf course. Trump claims that the turbines will ruin the environment and will be bad for tourism.

The course was built on sand dunes, despite protests from locals and environmentalists. The dunes, which were home to rare wading birds, were bulldozed to make way for the fairways in 2009 and 2010.

Scotland's tourism agency said its own research shows that 83 percent of visitors to Britain will not be turned off by turbines.

"We are both reassured and encouraged by the findings of our survey which suggest that, at the current time, the overwhelming majority of consumers do not feel wind farms spoil the look of the countryside," said VisitScotland chief Malcolm Roughead.


Trump Attacks Scottish Wind Farm



















See also:
Melania Trump's Golden Penthouse
Golf Course Estate Leaves Trump in the Rough

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]]>Alex Salmondcelebrity real estatedonald trumpgolf resortparliamentscotlandScotland wind farmTrump golf course Scotlandwind farmwind farmswind turbinesThe Associated Press2012-04-25T12:50:00 00:00Multigenerational Homes Rebound as Economy Foundershttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/23/multigenerational-homes-rebound-as-economy-founders/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/23/multigenerational-homes-rebound-as-economy-founders/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/23/multigenerational-homes-rebound-as-economy-founders/#comments

By Amy Taxin

LOS ANGELES -- It's a home within a home -- and it could be coming soon to a home near you.

Builders across the country are revamping home designs to meet the needs of a growing number of Americans who are now living with extended family.

The number of so-called multigenerational households -- where adults are living with their elderly parents or grown children -- has jumped since the Great Recession forced Americans to rethink living on their own. Demographic experts say it's poised to rise further as baby boomers age, so-called "boomerang kids" walloped by the weak job market stay home longer, and ethnic groups such as Asians and Hispanics, who are more likely to live with extended family, continue to grow.

The housing industry is trying to keep up with the changes by adding self-contained suites to single-family homes from North Carolina to California, to enable families to stay close while retaining a greater degree of independence.

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"It's not the nuclear family, the American dream family that we see all the time," said Jerry Messman, a partner in national design firm BSB Design. "The builders are starting to respond to it."



After World War II, Americans were encouraged to move out of their parents' house when they reached adulthood and achieve independence at an earlier age. Over the next few decades, young families ventured out to live on their own, separately from their parents, in traditional single-family homes.

Since 1980, however, the number of families living in multigenerational households has steadily climbed, buoyed by a wave of immigration and delayed marriages. After the onset of the Great Recession, the number jumped even higher -- rising 10.5 percent in a two-year period so that nearly 17 percent of Americans lived in multigenerational households by 2009, according to a report by the Pew Research Center.

Home Design Adapts

During the last year, builders and home designers have started to respond to the trend by rolling out layouts for single-family houses that include a semi-independent suite with a separate entry, bathroom and kitchenette. Some suites even include their own laundry areas and outdoor patios for additional privacy, though they maintain a connection to the main house through an inside door.

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Reanna Cox, 33, bought a new home earlier this year in San Bernardino with a suite that connects to her kitchen through a hallway. Initially, Cox and her husband planned to have his aging parents live there. But when her sister lost her job, Cox invited her to move into the suite with her young daughter.

"It's somewhere they can live to get themselves back on their feet," said Cox, who moved to the tan, five-bedroom house with caramel-colored shutters to shorten her daily commute.

Lennar Corp., based in Miami, is offering 3,400-square-foot homes in Las Vegas that include a roughly 700-square-foot suite. Standard Pacific Homes of Irvine is offering a self-contained "casita" attached to the main house as an option on its new designs.

Both companies say the plans have been popular since they were rolled out last year.

But it isn't clear what share of homebuyers will buy these homes -- especially since immigrant families from Asia and Latin America who have traditionally lived together have long found ways to do so without this option, said Gary Painter, research director at the University of Southern California's Lusk Center for Real Estate.

"There certainly is a demand to be close," Painter said. "We just don't have enough in the market to make a definitive statement about whether this sort of kitchenette living or guesthouse nearby will become a next wave."

But in higher-end markets, Painter said it's more likely that such plans could prosper, including among well-to-do immigrant families.

'Next Gen' Housing

New-home sales have struggled as builders face competition from foreclosures and short sales. While sales of previously occupied homes have risen more than 13 percent since July, U.S. sales of new homes fell in February for the second straight month and remain well below levels that economists consider healthy.

Lennar is offering its so-called "Next Gen" designs in states ranging from California to Texas to Florida. Sales of these multigenerational homes account for a very small percentage of the company's sales but are growing quickly, said Jeff Roos, Lennar's western regional president.

Multigenerational homes are expected to account for roughly 30 to 40 percent of new homes in communities where the floor plans are being offered, Roos said.

The Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based New Home Company is rolling out a range of options for multi-generational living in the affluent Orange County city of Irvine, where the Asian population has nearly doubled in the last decade.

The company's floor plans include a self-contained suite attached to a main house or separate homes that share a common yard and pool. The company has reached out to Asian buyers by offering touches, such as specially designed wok kitchens and dedicated music rooms, but the homes are also drawing buyers from other ethnic backgrounds, said Joan Marcus-Colvin, the company's vice president of sales, marketing and design.

"Although extremely popular within the Asian culture, (multigenerational living) is also something a lot of other people are having to deal with," she said.

Jim Park, vice chair of the Asian Real Estate Association of America, said he thinks multigenerational designs are a smart move, especially in light of Asian Americans' preference for new construction and the community's rising purchasing power.

"In my experience, people do move toward home products that are going to meet their needs better," said Park, who owns a real estate firm in San Diego.

Builders say the tendency to live together longer comes down to a matter of economics, as families of varied ethnic backgrounds cope with the wake of the recession and the needs of aging parents, who may have seen their retirement savings depleted in the downturn.

"We see so many families that are living like this," said Jeremy Parness, Lennar's division president in Las Vegas. "There's so many different reasons, all driven mostly by economics."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

See also:
Housing Market Unprepared for Aging Gay Community
The Minor Threat: Age-Restricted Communities Evicting Children
Happy End of the Road for RVers: Assisted Living on Wheels


Considering Multigenerational Living

 

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]]>Aliso ViejoCalif.-based New Home Companyextended families housinghomes for extended familiesLennar Homesmultigenerational homesMultigenerational Housingnext gen designnext gen housingnext generation homesThe Associated Press2012-04-23T16:00:00 00:00Home Sales Sputter in March, Along With Hiringhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/20/home-sales-sputter-along-with-hiring/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/20/home-sales-sputter-along-with-hiring/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/20/home-sales-sputter-along-with-hiring/#comments By Christopher S. Rugaber and Derek Kravitz

WASHINGTON -- Momentum in U.S. hiring and home sales appears to be slowing, according to fresh data.

The average number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits over the past month is at a three-month high. And fewer Americans bought previously owned homes in March after mild weather boosted sales in the previous two months. A possible weakening in two critical elements of the U.S. economy suggests growth could stay modest this year.

"We are in for a few more quarters of moderate growth before stronger gains might appear," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. More hiring is needed to drive up wages and salaries and fuel the recovery, he added.

The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications dipped last week by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 386,000. But that was only after the department revised up the previous week's data to show 8,000 more people applied for benefits than first estimated.

The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose last week by 5,500, to 374,750. That's the highest level in three months, although it is still 9 percent lower than the level from September.

Unemployment benefit applications have started to tick up in recent weeks after months of steady declines. When applications fall below 375,000, it generally suggests hiring will be strong enough to lower the unemployment rate.

Economists said temporary layoffs stemming from the spring holidays may have inflated the figures. Many school employees are laid off during spring break and are eligible to file for benefits.



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Still, the recent rise in unemployment aid applications follows a report that hiring weakened in March after three stronger months of job growth.

The unemployment benefits report "suggests job growth is slowing," said Jennifer Lee, an economist at BMO Capital Markets. "Still growing, mind you, but at a slower pace."

Home sales have also lost some vitality from the start of the year.

The National Association of Realtors said sales of previously owned homes fell 2.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.48 million. That's down from a revised 4.6 million sold in February. In healthier markets, sales typically are closer to 6 million.

Not Seeing a Strong Spring Season

A mild winter may have encouraged more people to buy in January and February, essentially stealing sales from March

"We are most certainly not set to declare that the housing recovery is over but a strong start to the spring selling season is simply not in the data," said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG in New York.

There were some positive signs in the home-buying report. First-time buyers, who are critical to a housing recovery, rose slightly. Foreclosures declined. And the supply of homes for sale fell.

A smaller supply typically encourages more people to put their homes up for sale. That generally improves the overall quality of the homes on the market, which drives prices higher.

Many economists have downplayed the weak March hiring figures, noting that a warmer winter may have also led to some earlier hiring in January and February. They have noted that the economy has added an average of 212,000 jobs per month in the January-March quarter, well ahead of last year's pace.

Awaiting the April Data

Most are waiting to see the April jobs report before concluding the market has stalled. That will be released on May 4.

Deutsche Bank forecasts that employers will add 175,000 jobs this month. That's down from its earlier projection of 200,000 but better than March.

Two other reports Thursday suggest modest growth in the coming months.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said that manufacturing output in the mid-Atlantic region slowed a bit from the previous month. Still, a measure of employment in the report rose to its highest level in almost a year.

And the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators rose for the sixth straight month, suggesting the economy could pick up later this year. The index is designed to anticipate economic conditions in three to six months. Most of its components have been previously released.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

See also:
For 1st-Time Homebuyers: 3 Essential House-Hunting Guides
NAHB Housing Market Index Shows Drop in Builder Confidence
Consumer Watchdog Agency Eyes Discriminatory Lending


Home Renovation Tips for Home Sellers



 

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]]>March economic dataMarch home sales fallMarch housing dataMarch real estate marketMarch real estate salesspring housing dataspring real estate marketThe Associated Press2012-04-20T13:29:00 00:00Home Sales Fell in March; Has Market Stalled?http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/19/home-sales-fall-in-march-has-market-stalled/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/19/home-sales-fall-in-march-has-market-stalled/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/19/home-sales-fall-in-march-has-market-stalled/#commentsBy Derek Kravitz

WASHINGTON -- Americans bought fewer previously owned homes in March, a reminder that the housing market remains weak.

The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that home sales fell 2.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.48 million. That followed a revised 4.6 million sold in February.

A mild winter may have encouraged more people to buy earlier, essentially stealing sales from March.

More purchases in January and February made this the best winter for sales in five years. The increase offered some encouragement ahead of the spring-buying season.

Even with the gains, sales remain far below the 6 million per year that economists equate with healthy markets. And the weaker March figures suggest any momentum from the winter has stalled, said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG in New York.

"We are most certainly not set to declare that the housing recovery is over but a strong start to the spring selling season is simply not in the data," said Greenhaus.

There were some signs of modest improvement.

First-time buyers, who are critical to a housing recovery, rose to 33 percent of all purchases last month. In healthy markets, they make up at least 40 percent.

The supply of homes on the market fell 1.3 percent last month to 2.37 million. A decline in the supply typically encourages more people to put homes up for sale. That generally improves the overall quality of the homes on the market, which drives prices higher.

And the number of homes at risk of foreclosures declined, making up 29 percent of sales. That's down from 34 percent in February but still high. In healthier markets, foreclosures typically make up less than 10 percent of sales.

Hopeful Signs Remain

There have been other signs in recent months that the housing market is slowly improving.

Builders are laying plans to construct more homes in 2012 than at any other point in the past 3 1Ž2 years. More jobs and a better outlook among buyers could also make 2012 the first year since 2008 that construction adds to the U.S. economy.

The unemployment rate has fallen from 9.1 percent in August to 8.2 percent last month. Employers added an average of 212,000 jobs a month from January through March.

Mortgage rates are hovering just above record lows. And the median sales price of homes rose for the second straight month in March, to $163,800.

Yet many can't qualify for loans or meet higher down-payment requirements. Even those with excellent credit and stable jobs are holding off because they fear that home prices will keep falling.

Sales are measured when buyers close on homes. Some deals have been scuttled before the closing after banks declined mortgage applications, home inspectors found problems, appraisals showed a home was worth less than the bid or a buyer lost a job.

Sales fell across most of the country. They were unchanged on a seasonal basis in the Midwest but fell by 1.1 percent in the South, 1.7 percent in the Northeast and 7.4 percent in the West.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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See also:
Homebuying: 5 Key Steps to Your 1st Real Estate Purchase
Fair Housing Group Sues U.S. Bank Over Foreclosures
NAHB Housing Market Index Shows Drop in Builder Confidence

 

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]]>March home sales fallMarch housing dataMarch housing salesmild winter home salesNAR housing reportNational Association of Realtorsspring home buying seasonThe Associated Press2012-04-19T11:30:00 00:00Cardboard Cathedral Planned in New Zealandhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/17/cardboard-cathedral-planned-in-new-zealand/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/17/cardboard-cathedral-planned-in-new-zealand/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/17/cardboard-cathedral-planned-in-new-zealand/#commentsFiled under:

ChristChurch Cathedral

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- A cathedral made from cardboard.

The idea may sound flimsy, particularly given that cathedrals tend to be known for their solid presence: the flying buttresses, the soaring domes, the Gothic grandeur. But in the earthquake-devastated city of Christchurch, Anglican leaders believe it will deliver both a temporary solution and a statement about the city's recovery.

On Monday, they announced plans to build a 25-meter (82-foot) high cathedral constructed with 104 tubes of cardboard. The structure will be a temporary replacement for the iconic stone ChristChurch Cathedral, which was ruined last year in an earthquake that killed 185 people and destroyed much of the downtown.

The Rev. Craig Dixon, a church spokesman, said the temporary cathedral would seat 700 people, cost up to 5 million New Zealand dollars ($4.1 million), and would be used for 10 years while a permanent replacement is designed and built.

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The Japanese architect, Shigeru Ban, has used cardboard as a material for other temporary buildings, including a "paper church" used as a community center after the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan.

Dixon said he hopes construction can begin within about six weeks and be completed by the end of the year.

"I think this building has the potential to become an icon in its own right," he said. "I think it will be greatly loved for a long time."

Dixon said the structure would be weatherproof and fire-resistant. He said the plan is to use traditional materials like concrete, steel and wood to provide structural support to the A-frame-style cathedral and an attached annex. Up to two dozen shipping containers inside would provide space for offices, a kitchen and storage, he added, while the roof would be made of an opaque polycarbonate material.

Richard Gray, the chairman of a church group that has been driving the project, said the cathedral will make a statement that Christchurch is moving forward, and that people are finding solutions that are not only innovative but also environmentally friendly -- after all, he points out, the cathedral would be recyclable.

Anglican leaders in Christchurch have chosen a site in Latimer Square, about 300 meters from the ruins of the current cathedral and near where 115 people died when the Canterbury Television building collapsed.

"It's very symbolic that it's across the road from the CTV building. It's very poignant," Gray said.

Anglican leaders have yet to submit their final plans to city officials, who would need to approve them before construction could begin. City officials did not respond to requests for comment Monday, although Gray said he's confident that the church has done its due diligence and the project will be approved.

See also:
Living on a Prayer: Church Foreclosures Skyrocket
Habitats: 'Earthships' Take Off in New Mexico Desert
Does Your Insurance Cover Hurricanes and Earthquakes?

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]]>architecturecardboard cathedralchristchurchchristchurch earthquakeJapanese architectnew zealandNew Zealand earthquakeShigeru BanThe Associated Press2012-04-17T16:45:00 00:00Housing Starts Lag but Permits Highest Since 2008http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/17/housing-starts-lag-but-permits-highest-since-2008/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/17/housing-starts-lag-but-permits-highest-since-2008/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/17/housing-starts-lag-but-permits-highest-since-2008/#comments By Derek Kravitz

WASHINGTON -- U.S. builders requested the most permits in March for single-family homes and apartments in 3½ years, suggesting that many expect the housing market to improve over the next year.

The Commerce Department said Tuesday that permits, a gauge of future construction, rose 4.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 747,000 in March. That's the highest level since September 2008.

The rise in permits helped offset a slower month of construction.

Jonathan Basile, director of economics at Credit Suisse, said more permits is a "good sign for broader economic activity" and should lead to increase in construction in the coming months.

Builders broke ground at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 654,000 homes last month. That's down 5.8 percent from February. Apartment construction, which can fluctuate sharply from month to month, fell nearly 20 percent. Single-family homebuilding was mostly unchanged.

Yet the rate of construction and the level of permits requested remain only about half the pace considered healthy. Economists say that construction activity is still depressed and the housing market has a long way to go before it is back to full health.

Confidence Builds

Since the fall, builders had slowly grown more confident in the market after seeing more people express interest in buying a home. But that interest has yet to materialize into many sales. As a result, builder confidence fell this month for the first time since September.

Part of the reason for the previous optimism was that a mild winter allowed builders to keep working in most parts of the country. And an improving job market has many slightly more optimistic about home sales this year.

January and February were the best for sales of previously occupied homes in five years. And an average of 212,000 jobs was created each month from January through March. Unemployment has sunk from 9.1 percent in August to 8.2 percent last month.

Housing's Hurdles

Though new homes represent just 20 percent of the overall home market, they have an outsize impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

There are some hurdles to a smooth recovery: Builders are struggling to compete with deeply discounted foreclosures and short sales -- when lenders allow homes to be sold for less than what's owed on the mortgage.

After previous recessions, housing accounted for at least 15 percent of U.S. economic growth. Since the recession officially ended in June 2009, it has contributed just 4 percent.

Another reason that sales have fallen is that previously occupied homes have become a better deal than new homes. The median price of a new home is about 30 percent higher than the median price for a re-sale. That's nearly twice the markup typical in a healthy housing market.

 

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]]>The Associated Press2012-04-17T13:30:00 00:0030-Year Mortgage Rate Again Nears Record Lowhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/13/30-year-mortgage-again-nears-record-low/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/13/30-year-mortgage-again-nears-record-low/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/13/30-year-mortgage-again-nears-record-low/#commentsFiled under: ,,

WASHINGTON -- The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage dropped near its all-time low this week, making homebuying and refinancing a bargain for those who can qualify. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan fell to 3.88 percent from 3.98 percent. That's just above the rate of 3.87 percent reached in February, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.

The 15-year mortgage, a popular option for refinancing, plunged to a fresh low of 3.11 percent from 3.21 percent last week. The previous record of 3.13 percent was hit last month.

Mortgage rates are lower because they tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Last week's disappointing report on March job growth led more investors to sell stocks and buy Treasurys, which are considered safer investments. As demand for Treasurys increases, the yield falls.

Yet the low rates are unlikely to draw in many more people looking to buy a home or to refinance their mortgage.

Waiting, As Home Prices Keep Falling

Some would-be buyers are still skeptical about purchasing a home with prices still falling. Home appraisals that are higher or lower than the sales price have scuttled a rising number of home contracts. Many Americans are struggling with damaged credit and unstable finances.

And mortgage rates have been below 4 percent for all but one week since early December, leaving some potential buyers and refinancers unimpressed by new record lows.

"The rates have been very attractive for some time," said Bill Armstrong, vice president of Mackintosh Realtors in Damascus, Md. "Rates going a little higher or lower is not going to have much of an impact."

Still, the mild winter has helped lift expectations for the housing market after four years of sluggish sales.

January and February made up the best winter for re-sales in five years, when the housing crisis began. And builders in February requested the most permits to construct homes in more than three years.

Fewer Apply

Applications for new mortgages have fallen over the past month, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. But there has been a sharp rise in the average mortgage size, suggesting an appetite for bigger loans. The average size of mortgage applications has increased by $20,000 since December, to about $235,000 last month.

Home prices continue to fall. Prices tend to lag sales and millions of foreclosures and short sales -- when a lender accepts less than what is owed on a mortgage - remain on the market. And the housing crisis and recession have also persuaded many Americans to rent instead of buy, which has led to a drop in homeownership.

To calculate the average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on just Monday through Wednesday of each week.

The average rates don't include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.

The average fees for the 30-year and 15-year fixed loans were unchanged at 0.7.

For the five-year adjustable loan, the average rate fell to 2.85 percent from 2.86 percent, and the average fee fell to 0.7 from 0.8.

The average on the one-year adjustable loan rose to 2.80 percent from 2.78 percent, and the average fee was unchanged at 0.6.<

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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See also:
Homebuying: 5 Key Steps to Your 1st Real Estate Purchase
Banks Neglect REO Homes in Minority Areas, Study Says
Home Costs: 4 Crucial Questions Reveal Hidden Expenses

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Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
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The Mortgage Process

 

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]]>30 year mortgage ratefreddie maclower mortgage ratesnewsrecord 15 year mortgage raterecord low mortgage ratesrefinancing 15 year mortgageThe Associated Press2012-04-13T11:59:00 00:00Homeowners Association Could Be Sued in Trayvon Martin Casehttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/10/h/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/10/h/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/10/h/#commentsFiled under:

SANFORD, Fla. -- If Trayvon Martin's family sues over his death, they might not target George Zimmerman but instead the homeowners association of the neighborhood where the shooting happened and Zimmerman lived.

That's because if Zimmerman's claim that he shot the unarmed 17-year-old in self-defense is upheld by prosecutors, a judge or a jury, Florida's so-called "stand your ground" law would protect him from a lawsuit. But his clearance or acquittal wouldn't stop Martin's parents from suing The Retreat at Twin Lakes Homeowners Association -- and its insurance policies and assets would make it a much more lucrative target than Zimmerman, even if he is eventually convicted of a crime.

Plus, lawyers say, Exhibit A would be a newsletter sent by the association to residents in February, the same month as the shooting. It said Zimmerman was the go-to person for residents who had been the victims of a crime.

Under the heading "Neighborhood Watch," the newsletter's message recommended that residents first call police and then "please contact our Captain, George Zimmerman ... so he can be aware and help address the issue with other residents."

That seeming endorsement of Zimmerman exposes the 7-year-old association to possible legal action by Martin's parents, homeowners association attorneys said.

"It's almost like if you give your son the keys to a brand new Corvette when he turns 16" and he gets in an accident, said Roberto Blanch, a South Florida attorney who specializes in homeowners associations. "You may be seen as enabling the occurrence or the loss."

Atty.: Civil Lawsuit Likely in Martin Shooting



















Zimmerman has admitted to fatally shooting Martin during a confrontation Feb. 26 but has said it was in self-defense. Zimmerman spotted Martin from his truck as the teen was returning to the house of his father's fiancee from a convenience store. It was dusk on a rainy evening.

"This guy looks like he is up to no good," Zimmerman told a police dispatcher before the confrontation.

When Zimmerman got out of his truck and started following him, the dispatcher told him, "OK. We don't need you to do that."

Moments later, residents of The Retreat at Twin Lakes heard screaming and at least one gunshot. Police officers arriving at the gated community found Martin shot dead in the chest.

By designating Zimmerman the neighborhood watch captain in its newsletter, the homeowners association "is stuck" if it's sued, said Justin Clark, an attorney based in Longwood, Fla., whose practice includes real estate law.

"So, if you're going to send out a newsletter saying, 'Hey, he is the captain. Whatever he says goes,' You have now basically rented a free police officer for your neighborhood," Clark said. "He certainly took on that role with the homeowners association, and it seems to me that they recognized that."

One of the Martin family's attorneys, Daryl Parks, indicated last month that a civil lawsuit against the homeowners' association was likely.

"They mention George Zimmerman by name as the captain for the neighborhood watch, and they tell you if you see something suspicious, call the Sanford Police Department and call George Zimmerman," Parks told board members of the National Association of Black Journalists last month. "So the close nature of the working relationship is as clear as it can be."

Don O'Brien, an officer with The Retreat at Twin Lakes Homeowners Association, said, "No," and closed the door on a reporter who contacted him at his home. No one answered the door at the homes of two other association officers, Jenna Lauer and Cynthia Wibker. All live inside the complex of more than 250 townhomes.

A woman who answered the telephone at the association's management company, Leland Management, said no one would comment. She declined to give her name.

Zimmerman told Sanford police detectives that he had lost track of Martin and was returning to his vehicle when Martin attacked him from behind.

Then-Police Chief Bill Lee said detectives were unable to arrest Zimmerman because of Florida's self-defense law, which gives wide leeway to use deadly force and eliminates a person's duty to retreat in the face of danger.

The decision not to arrest Zimmerman has provoked an international outcry, prompting Lee to step down temporarily and the state attorney who normally handles cases out of Sanford to recuse himself. Gov. Rick Scott appointed a special prosecutor to investigate and decide whether to file charges.

Zimmerman had developed a reputation for monitoring the neighborhood. He was well known to local police dispatchers, having made 46 calls to them since 2004, according to department records. Some of those records list the caller familiarly as just "George." The neighborhood had experienced a recent rash of burglaries, and some neighbors welcomed Zimmerman's efforts.

A PowerPoint presentation put out by the Sanford Police Department for neighborhood watch groups, however, makes it clear that Zimmerman's role had limits. The presentation warns volunteers not to try to be police themselves but to "work with the police."

If Zimmerman were to be convicted of a crime, the door would likely be wide open to a lawsuit -- Florida courts have held that homeowners associations can be held liable in wrongful-death cases.

A state appellate court in South Florida ruled seven years ago that a Miami homeowners association was partially at fault in the death of a visitor whose estranged husband entered the gated community and killed her.

Who would pay in the event of such a lawsuit would probably be determined by the type of insurance coverage the association has, Clark said. Some policies may be wide enough to cover Zimmerman's actions. If there is no policy or the policy in place is very narrow in its coverage, homeowners likely would have to pay out of their own pockets through higher monthly assessment fees because most associations don't have very deep reserves, he said. He noted that policies typically cover about $1 million.

"I almost guarantee you there are going to be checks written," Clark said.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

See also:
Mezuzah Lawsuit Ends as Condo Association Caves
Las Vegas Homeowners Association Scandal Claims 4th Victim
Most Controversial HOA Moves of the Year

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]]>George Zimmerman lawsuitHOA lawsuitsHOAsRetreat at Twin Lakes Homeowners AssociationRetreat at Twin Lakes Homeowners Association lawsuitSanford Fla homeowners associationTrayvon MartinTrayvon Martin homeowners associationThe Associated Press2012-04-10T12:00:00 00:00Mortgage Rates Drop Slightly, Hover Above Record Lowshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/05/mortgage-rates-edge-down-to-3-98-percent-flirting-with-record-l/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/05/mortgage-rates-edge-down-to-3-98-percent-flirting-with-record-l/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/05/mortgage-rates-edge-down-to-3-98-percent-flirting-with-record-l/#commentsFiled under:

WASHINGTON -- The average U.S. rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage was mostly unchanged this week, as the cost of home-buying and refinancing stayed near record lows.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan fell slightly to 3.98 percent from 3.99 percent last week. In February, the rate touched 3.87 percent, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.

The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage also fell, to 3.21 percent from 3.23 percent. That's above the record low of 3.13 percent hit last month.

Mortgage rates have been below 4 percent for all but one week since early December. That's helped lift the outlook for housing after four sluggish years of home sales. Still, most economists expect only modest gains.

January and February made up the best winter for re-sales in five years, when the housing crisis began. And builders are more confident about the market. In February, they requested the most permits to build single-family homes and apartments in more than three years.

Applications for new mortgages rose in March, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, and there was a sharp rise in the average loan size, suggesting a bigger appetite for home loans. The average size of mortgage applications has increased by $20,000 since December, to about $235,000 last month.

A Boost From the Job Market

An improved job market is driving the modest increase in home sales. Employers have added an average 245,000 net jobs per month from December through February. The unemployment rate has dropped from 9.1 percent in August to 8.3 percent in February, the lowest level in nearly three years.

Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, said rates were little changed this week amid mixed signals on the health of the U.S. economy.

He pointed to minutes from the Federal Reserve's mid-March meeting, which showed officials were less inclined to take further action to stimulate the economy. The Fed noted that the job market has strengthened, although it cautioned that the housing market remains depressed.

Home prices continue to fall. Prices tend to lag sales and millions of foreclosures and short sales -- when a lender accepts less than what is owed on a mortgage -- remain on the market. And the housing crisis and recession have also persuaded many Americans to rent instead of buy, which has led to a drop in homeownership.

Mortgage rates tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. An improved economic outlook has led investors to shift money from U.S. Treasury bonds to stocks. That pushes up Treasury yields, which move in the opposite direction of the price.

To calculate the average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on just Monday through Wednesday of each week.

The average rates don't include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.

The average fee for the 30-year fixed loan was 0.7. For the 15-year fixed loan, the average fell to 0.7 from 0.8.

For the five-year adjustable loan, the average rate fell to 2.86 percent from 2.90 percent, and the average fee was unchanged at 0.8.

The average on the one-year adjustable loan was unchanged at 2.78 percent, and the average fee was unchanged at 0.6.Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

See also:
First-Time Homebuyer's Guide
How to Shop for Your First Home
How to Price a Home to Sell Fast

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The Great Mortgage Debate

 

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]]>30 year fixed rate mortgage30 year mortgage rategetting low mortgage ratemortgage rate dropmortgage ratesmortgage rates downmortgage rates recordThe Associated Press2012-04-05T12:20:00 00:00Housing Bust Puts Brakes on Decades of Suburban Sprawlhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/05/housing-bust-puts-the-brakes-on-decades-of-suburban-sprawl/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/05/housing-bust-puts-the-brakes-on-decades-of-suburban-sprawl/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/05/housing-bust-puts-the-brakes-on-decades-of-suburban-sprawl/#commentsFiled under:



WASHINGTON -- Stung by high gasoline costs, outlying suburbs that sprouted in the heady 2000s are now seeing their growth fizzle to historic lows, halting American city dwellers' decades-long exodus to sprawling homes in distant towns.

New census estimates as of July 2011 highlight a shift in population trends, following an extended housing bust and renewed spike in oil prices. Two years after the recession technically ended, and despite faint signs of a rebound, Americans again are shunning moves at record levels and staying put in big cities.

That is posing longer-term consequences for residential "exurbs" on the edge of metropolitan areas.

Construction of gleaming new schools and mega-malls built in anticipation of a continued population boom is abating. Spacious McMansions offering the promise of homeownership to middle-class families sit abandoned or half-built. Once an escape from urban problems, suburban regions hit by foreclosures are posting bigger jumps in poverty than cities.

The result: The annual rate of growth in American cities and surrounding urban areas has now surpassed that of exurbs for the first time in at least 20 years, spanning the modern era of sprawling suburban development.

"The heyday of exurbs may well be behind us," Yale University economist Robert J. Shiller said. Shiller, co-creator of a Standard & Poor's housing index, is perhaps best known for identifying the risks of a U.S. housing bubble before it actually burst in 2006-2007. Examining the current market, Shiller believes America is now at a turning point, shifting away from faraway suburbs in the long term amid persistently high gasoline prices.

Demographic changes also play a role: They include young singles increasingly delaying marriage and childbirth and thus more apt to rent and a graying population that in its golden years may prefer closer-in, walkable urban centers.

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"Suburban housing prices may not recover in our lifetime," Shiller said, calling the development of suburbs since 1950 "unusual" and enabled only by the rise of the automobile and the nation's highway system. "With the bursting of the bubble, we may be discovering the pleasures of the city and the advantages of renting, investing our money not in a single house but in a diversified portfolio."

The signs of longer-term bust are evident in places such as Kendall County, Ill., an outlying suburb of 116,000 people located about 50 miles southwest of Chicago. The nation's No. 1 fastest-growing county from 2000 to 2010, Kendall was part of an exurban wave that more than doubled Kendall's population and helped lift GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush to victory in 2004, offering Republicans the hope of a new era of conservative voters sprouting on the rural-urban edge.

By the late 2000s, however, Kendall County's growth began to wane amid recession and rising gasoline costs. The county, like many other exurbs, eventually turned to Illinois Democrat Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential race for economic answers. By 2011, Kendall County's annual growth had stalled further at 1 percent, dropping its county growth-rate rank to 236th.

Things were especially turbulent over the past 10 years for real estate agent George Richter, who has worked in Kendall County for more than two decades.

"New home construction couldn't be built fast enough," he said. "A lot of us in the industry were very, very nervous about how fast and large the annual growth rate and property value were. We knew there's no way that something could continue on." Now, he said, there's little new construction.

The Signs of Slowdown

Jeff Wehrli, a longtime Kendall County board member who runs an excavating company, said the signs of the slowdown are most apparent from devalued homes, foreclosures and a general uncertainty among residents.

"It's going to take a while," he said, speaking of a local recovery that he acknowledges will never reach the same levels as last decade. "Our economy has got to get back to the point where people can confidently sign off on a 40-year mortgage."

About 10.6 million Americans reside in the nation's exurbs, just 5 percent of the number in large metropolitan areas. That number represents annual growth of just 0.4 percent from 2010, smaller than the 0.8 percent growth rate for cities and their surrounding urban areas. It also represents the largest one-year growth drop for exurbs in at least 20 years.

By comparison, in 2006 exurban communities grew at an annual rate of 2.1 percent, compared with a population loss of 0.2 percent for inner cities.

In all, 99 of the 100 fastest-growing exurbs and outer suburbs saw slower or no growth in 2011 compared with the mid-decade housing peak -- the exception being Spotsylvania County, Va., located on the outskirts of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, which has boomed even in the downturn. Nearly three-fourths of the top 100 outer suburban areas also saw slower growth compared with 2010, hurt by $3-a-gallon gasoline last year that has since climbed $1 higher.

Other areas showing big slowdowns are Pinal County outside Phoenix; Barrow, Paulding and Pike counties near Atlanta; Union and York counties outside Charlotte, N.C.; and Sandoval County near Albuquerque, N.M.

"The sting of this experience may very well put the damper on the long-held view among young families and new immigrants that building a home in the outer suburbs is a quick way to achieve the American dream," said William H. Frey, a Brookings Institution demographer who analyzed the census data.

Home to the Poor

Over the past decade, the number of poor people living in the suburbs of major metro areas grew 53 percent, compared with 23 percent in cities. Suburbs were also home to roughly one-third of the nation's poor population, outranking cities and rural areas.

The latest census data come amid an overall U.S. growth rate in 2011 of 0.9 percent, the lowest since the mid-1940s, due to fewer births and less immigration following the recent recession.

Fewer people are also moving around within the nation's borders -- just 11.6 percent of the nation's population moved to a new home, the lowest since the government began tracking such information in 1948. That means fewer Americans are migrating to residential hot spots in the suburbs or Sun Belt metro areas such as Las Vegas, Phoenix and Atlanta, upending several of the population trends of the 2000s.

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Metro areas showing renewed growth or slower losses last year included Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle and Detroit, where steep population drops in the downturn have largely bottomed out.

Other findings:

o. Rural counties just beyond the edge of metropolitan areas saw growth drop sharply last year, hurt by the slowing of outward sprawl. From 2010-2011, these counties increased by 30,000 people on average, compared with annual growth of 174,000 in the 2000-2010 period, according to Kenneth Johnson, sociology professor at the University of New Hampshire.

As a whole, non-metropolitan areas last year grew 0.1 percent, compared with 0.9 percent for large metro areas and 0.6 percent for small metropolitan areas.

o. Charlton, Ga., led the nation last year as the fastest-growing county, followed by St. Bernard Parish, La., both increasing more than 10 percent. That is in contrast to the 2010 census, when St. Bernard Parish ranked last in percentage growth, due primarily to the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

o. Texas had four of the nation's fastest-growing large metropolitan areas: Austin, San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston.

o. Los Angeles was the most populous county, with 9.9 million residents.

The census estimates used local records of births and deaths, Internal Revenue Service records of people moving within the United States and census statistics on immigrants. The estimates were for both counties and metropolitan areas, which include cities and surrounding suburbs.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

See also:
First-Time Homebuyer's Guide
How to Shop for Your First Home
How to Price a Home to Sell Fast



Mitchell Joachim on the Future of Suburbia

 

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]]>city growthhome city growthhousing busthousing bust suburbansuburban sprawlsuburban sprawl declineThe Associated Press2012-04-05T12:15:00 00:00Home Prices Fell in January in Most U.S. Citieshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/27/home-prices-fell-in-january-in-most-u-s-cities/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/27/home-prices-fell-in-january-in-most-u-s-cities/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/27/home-prices-fell-in-january-in-most-u-s-cities/#commentsFiled under: ,

WASHINGTON -- The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index released Tuesday showed that prices dropped in January from December in 16 of 19 cities tracked.

The steepest declines were in San Francisco, Atlanta and Portland. Prices increased in Miami, Phoenix and Washington. Price information for Charlotte was delayed and therefore not included in the report.

The declines partly reflect typical offseason sales. The month-over-month data are not adjusted for seasonal factors.

Still, prices fell in 17 of the 20 cities in January compared to the same month in 2011. The group's nationwide index of prices has fallen 34 percent since the housing bust and is now at 2002 levels.

The continued drop in prices suggests the housing market remains weak, even after the best winter for home sales in five years and steady improvement in the job market.

"Despite some positive economic signs, home prices continued to drop," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index committee.

Eight cities -- Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Las Vegas, New York, Portland, Seattle and Tampa, Fla. -- are now back at 2000 levels or earlier. Only Denver, Detroit and Phoenix posted year-over-year increases.

Analysts were quick to note that prices are expected to rise modestly throughout much of 2012.

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"It's going to be tempting to look at home price declines and see a still-faltering housing recovery, but that's just not the case," said Stan Humphries, chief economist for housing website Zillow.com. "The reality is that home prices and home sales will be moving" higher.

The Case-Shiller monthly index covers half of all U.S. homes. It measures prices compared with those in January 2000 and creates a three-month moving average. The January data are the latest available.

Some economists say sales increases could stop prices from falling further by early spring. Home prices tend to follow sales by about six months. When sales rise, prices rise, too, and an increase in prices would likely create a positive cycle.

Homes are the most affordable they've been in decades. And mortgage rates are just above record lows.

The job market is also getting stronger. The economy has added an average of 245,000 jobs per month from December through February. The unemployment rate has fallen to 8.3 percent, the lowest in three years.

Conditions are improving for those in position to buy a home. Still, many people can't afford to buy or are unable to qualify for mortgage. Some people in position to buy are holding off, worried that prices could fall even further.

The biggest reason why prices are still falling is foreclosures, which are still high across the country. Foreclosures and short sales -- when a lender accepts less for a home than what is owed on a mortgage -- are selling at an average discount of 20 percent.

Foreclosure activity surged in February across half of U.S. states. The pace of foreclosures is increasing after all 50 U.S. states reached a $25 billion settlement last month with the nation's five biggest mortgage lenders over foreclosure abuses. Many foreclosures had been stuck in limbo as the 16-month government investigation into foreclosure paperwork problems dragged on.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

See also:
First-Time Homebuyer's Guide
How to Shop for Your First Home
How to Price a Home to Sell Fas

More on AOL Real Estate:
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find homes for sale in your area.
Find foreclosures in your area.
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U.S Home Prices Hit All New Shocking Low

 

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]]>home priceshome prices declinehome prices fall januaryhome prices fellhome prices us citieshousing pricesreal estate pricesThe Associated Press2012-03-27T12:50:00 00:00Bank of America Launches 'Mortgage to Lease Program'http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/23/bank-of-america-launches-mortgage-to-lease-program/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/23/bank-of-america-launches-mortgage-to-lease-program/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/23/bank-of-america-launches-mortgage-to-lease-program/#commentsFiled under:

NEW YORK -- Bank of America says it has begun a pilot program offering some of its mortgage customers who are facing foreclosure a chance to stay in their homes by becoming renters instead of owners.

The "Mortgage to Lease" program, which was launched this week, will be available to fewer than 1,000 BofA customers selected by the bank in test markets in Arizona, Nevada and New York.

Participants will transfer their home's title to the bank, which will then forgive the outstanding mortgage debt. In exchange, they will be able to lease their home for up to three years at or below the rental market rate. The rent will be less than the participants' current mortgage payments and customers will not have to pay property taxes or homeowners insurance, the bank said.

"This pilot will help determine whether conversion from homeownership to rental is something our customers, the community and investors will support," Ron Sturzenegger, legacy asset servicing executive of Bank of America, said in a statement.

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Among requirements to qualify for the program, homeowners must have a BofA loan, be behind at least 60 days on payments and be "underwater," owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.

The bank based in Charlotte, N.C., said it will at first own the homes, then sell them to investors. If the program is successful, it could be expanded to include real-estate investors who buy qualifying properties and keep the occupants on as tenants.

"If this evolves from a pilot into a more broadly based program, we also see potential benefits from helping to stabilize housing prices in the surrounding community and curtail neighborhood blight by keeping a portion of distressed properties off the market," Sturzenegger said.

Foreclosure tracking firm RealtyTrac says foreclosure activity has picked up in some states, as banks deal with a backlog of homes with mortgages that had gone unpaid yet remained in limbo due to delays stemming from foreclosure-abuse claims.

Nevada has the nation's highest foreclosure rate as of last month, with one in every 278 households in the state receiving a foreclosure-related filing, twice the national average, according to RealtyTrac. Arizona ranks third behind California, while New York has not been as hard hit, with one in every 4,604 households receiving a foreclosure-related filing.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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See also:
Strategic Default: Would Half of Homeowners Walk Away?
Foreclosure Starts and Sales Spiked in January, Report Says
Millionaire Foreclosures on the Rise

Why We Need to Rehabilitate Bankers not Banks

 

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]]>bank of america mortgage to leasebank of america rental foreclosurebank of america rental programforeclosure reliefforeclosure rescuemortgage to leasemortgage to lease programThe Associated Press2012-03-23T12:00:00 00:00Kensington Palace Reopens to Public After a Royal Makeoverhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/23/kensington-palace-home-of-queen-victoria-and-princess-diana-op/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/23/kensington-palace-home-of-queen-victoria-and-princess-diana-op/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/23/kensington-palace-home-of-queen-victoria-and-princess-diana-op/#commentsFiled under:



LONDON -- It's the past home of Queen Victoria and Princess Diana, the future residence of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge -- and, it's hoped, a stop on tourists' London itineraries.

Kensington Palace -- part museum, part royal abode -- is reopening to the public after a two-year, 12-million-pound ($19-million) makeover designed to give visitors a sense of what it is like to live in a centuries-old building that has witnessed both affairs of state and affairs of the heart.

Senior curator Joanna Marschner said she hopes the renovated building will shake up preconceptions about royal palaces, offering both the "big, glorious, golden rooms" that people expect, and a trove of more personal, revealing items -- from Queen Victoria's baby shoes to Princess Diana's little black dress.

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"I hope what we have done will engage people who have always thought 'a royal palace is not for me,'" Marschner said Tuesday. "And for them to realize that these remarkable buildings -- part of the DNA of the city -- are for them."

Tucked into Kensington Gardens, a public park in central London, Kensington Palace is a warm red-brick contrast to gray Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II's London home.

It was home to six British monarchs, including Victoria, who spent her childhood here, and now contains several royal "apartments" -- actually Georgian houses, one of which William and Kate will move into next year.

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It also has dozens of rooms that are open to the public. The public side of the palace reopens Monday, in time for a busy tourist season that includes the queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in June and the Summer Olympics.

Project manager Jo Thwaites, who oversaw the renovation, said the changes involved "peeling back the layers of Kensington Palace in order to reveal much more for visitors to enjoy."

Formerly shielded by hedges and fences that made its public entrance hard to find, the palace is now much more welcoming.

The entrance from the park lies beside a lovely ornamental garden surrounded by manicured lawns on which visitors are encouraged to dawdle. It comes as a surprise to find the signs posted there do not say "keep off the grass," but merely warn people to take care on steep slopes.

Many visitors will head straight for a ground-floor display of dresses belonging to the palace's most famous recent occupant, Princess Diana. She lived here for 16 years after her marriage to Prince Charles in 1981. After her death in a Paris car crash in 1997, thousands of mourners came to leave flowers outside the palace gates.

Display cases hold garments including a black silk taffeta gown by Emanuel, a Versace cocktail dress and a fuchsia Catherine Walker gown, alongside sketches of the garments and photographs -- all revealing, according to curator Deirdre Murphy, "Diana's evolving style and the important role fashion played in creating her public image."

Upstairs is an exhibition devoted to Victoria, the only British monarch before the current queen to reach 60 years on the throne.

It includes the room where she was born and the room where in 1837 she was informed, at age 18, that her uncle William IV had died and she was queen.

Personal items range from her first pair of baby shoes to a pair of the royal stockings -- along with Victoria's delighted description of how her husband, Prince Albert, helped her put them on.

Their marriage is traced from romantic start to tragic finish, with displays including Victoria's ivory silk wedding gown and the black dress she wore in mourning after Albert's death in 1861.

Further on are the grand state apartments originally inhabited by King William III and Queen Mary II, husband-and-wife monarchs who sat on the throne beginning in 1689. It was they, Marschner said, who hired architect Christopher Wren to transform "a modest-ish 17th-century house into a baby palace."

The rooms are grand, with Old Masters and gilded statues aplenty -- but they also tell a moving human story.

With no children of their own, William and Mary pinned the succession hopes of their Stuart dynasty on Prince William, son of Mary's sister Anne. The only child of Anne's 18 pregnancies to survive infancy, he was a lively but delicate boy who died after falling ill while dancing at his 11th birthday party.

His death sparked both family mourning and a constitutional crisis. With no obvious successor, Parliament weighed the claims of 43 possible heirs before settling on a German cousin, Sophia of Hanover. She died before she could take the throne and her son became Britain's King George I.

"In these rooms William and Mary debated what to do," Marschner said. "Here they played with their little nephew, willing him to live.

"That is an extraordinary, compelling story."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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See also:
Strategic Default: Would Half of Homeowners Walk Away?
Foreclosure Starts and Sales Spiked in January, Report Says
Millionaire Foreclosures on the Rise

Visit the Kensington Palace in London, the United Kingdom

 

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]]>duchess cambridge kensington palacekensington palacekensington palace makeoverkensington palace princess dianakensington palace queen victoriakensington palace remodelkensington+palace+reopenskensingtonpalacereopensprincess diana kensington palacequeen victoria kensington palaceThe Associated Press2012-03-23T10:40:00 00:00Mortgage Rates Finally Top 4 Percent as Economy Gains Steamhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/22/mortgage-rates-finally-top-4-percent-as-economy-gains-steam/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/22/mortgage-rates-finally-top-4-percent-as-economy-gains-steam/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/22/mortgage-rates-finally-top-4-percent-as-economy-gains-steam/#commentsWASHINGTON -- The average U.S. rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose above 4 percent for the first time in five months. The sharp increase suggests the window to buy or refinance a home at historically low rates is closing.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan jumped to 4.08 percent, up from 3.92 percent the previous week. A month ago, it touched 3.87 percent, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.

The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 3.30 percent, up from 3.16 percent last week and a record low of 3.13 percent two weeks ago.

Mortgage rates are rising because they tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. The economic outlook has improved in recent weeks, leading investors to shift money out of long-term U.S. Treasury bonds and into stocks. That has driven Treasury yields higher.

"With the economy getting stronger, the markets are beginning to recognize that rates are too low," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. "That means mortgage rates should rise."

The average rate on the 30-year mortgage had been at or below 4 percent since last October.

Higher mortgage rates could spur more sales, especially if home prices begin to rise. Potential buyers will likely move quickly to avoid paying higher rates down the line.

"As we move through the year, buyer reaction could be very strong," Naroff said.

The lowest mortgage rates on record have helped lift the housing market in recent months.

January and February made up the best winter for sales of previously occupied homes in five years, when the housing crisis began.

Builders have grown more confident over the past six months after seeing more people express interest in buying a home. They have responded by requesting the most permits to build single-family homes and apartments since October 2008.

Optimism is also rising because the job market has strengthened. Employers have added an average 244,600 jobs per month from December through February. That has helped lower the unemployment rate to 8.3 percent, the lowest level in nearly three years.

Even with the improvement, the housing market is still weak. Millions of foreclosures and short sales - when a lender accepts less than what is owed on a mortgage - remain on the market. And the housing crisis and recession have also persuaded many Americans to rent instead of buy, which has led to a drop in homeownership.

Economists say housing is years away from returning to full health.

To calculate the average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week.

The average rates don't include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.

The average fees for the 30-year and 15-year fixed loans were 0.8, unchanged from 0.8 last week.

For the five-year adjustable loan, the average rate rose to 2.96 percent from 2.83 percent, and the average fee edged down to 0.7 from 0.8.

The average on the one-year adjustable loan rose to 2.84 percent from 2.79 percent, and the average fee was unchanged at 0.6.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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See also:
Strategic Default: Would Half of Homeowners Walk Away?
Foreclosure Starts and Sales Spiked in January, Report Says
Millionaire Foreclosures on the Rise


More on AOL Real Estate:
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find homes for sale in your area.
Find foreclosures in your area.
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U.S. Mortgage Rates Rise With Improving Job Market

 

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]]>4 percent mortgage4 percent mortgage ratesmortgage ratesThe Associated Press2012-03-22T18:00:00 00:00Homebuilders Survey: More Confidence About Housing Saleshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/19/nahb-market-index-builder-confidence-remains-at-five-year-high/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/19/nahb-market-index-builder-confidence-remains-at-five-year-high/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/19/nahb-market-index-builder-confidence-remains-at-five-year-high/#commentsFiled under:

WASHINGTON -- Homebuilders' feelings about the current housing market haven't changed from February. But many are growing more optimistic that sales could pick up in the coming months.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo said Monday that its builder sentiment index stayed at 28, the highest level since June 2007. The flat reading followed five straight increases.

Builders expressed more confidence in sales over the next six months. A separate gauge measuring that outlook rose in March for the sixth straight month, from 34 to 36.

Even with the brighter outlook, the industry has a long way to go. Any reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment about the housing market. The index hasn't reached 50 since April 2006, the peak of the housing boom.

A key reason that homebuilders are more optimistic is that they have seen more people express interest in buying a home. And growing interest has occurred alongside other improvements that suggest the troubled housing market could pick up after four weak years.

Sales of previously occupied homes rose in January to its highest level since May 2010. Mortgage rates have never been lower. And home construction has picked up.

Still, home prices continue to fall. Builders keep slashing their prices to stay competitive. Last year was the worst for new-home sales on records dating back to 1963.

Builders are struggling to compete with foreclosures, which have forced down prices of previously occupied homes. And many people are finding it hard to qualify for loans or meet higher required down payments.

Low appraisals are scuttling some deals after contracts have been signed. As a result, some people who want to buy a new house are holding off because they can't sell their home.

Those in a position to buy are benefiting from lower prices and mortgage rates. The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage is hovering near record lows below 4 percent.

Builders have pointed to some regional pockets of strength. New Orleans, Pittsburgh and other smaller areas of Texas, in particular, have reported increased buying.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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See also:
Strategic Default: Would Half of Homeowners Walk Away?
Foreclosure Starts and Sales Spiked in January, Report Says
Millionaire Foreclosures on the Rise


More on AOL Real Estate:
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find homes for sale in your area.
Find foreclosures in your area.
See celebrity real estate.


Moving from a Small Starter Home to a Larger Starter Home

 

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]]>builder confidence highbuilder confidence upbuilder optimisticbuilders confidencebuilders confidence indexhomebuilder confidence indexNAHB confidenceNAHB indexNAHB market indexThe Associated Press2012-03-19T14:30:00 00:00