Category Archives: housing market

Builder Confidence Soaring

The Mortgage Corner The National Association of Home Builders just announced that home builder confidence soared to the highest level since 2006, the height of the housing bubble.  This can only mean more new-home construction to fill the pent up … Continue reading

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Shadow Inventory of Bad Loans Still Too High

Financial FAQs The shadow inventory of troubled homes fell to about 2 million in April, down 18 percent from the same period in the prior year, and down 34 percent from a peak of 3 million in early 2010. But … Continue reading

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Mortgage Delinquencies Continue Decline

The Mortgage Corner Mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures continue to decline. According to Lender Processing Services (LPS), 6.08 percent of mortgages were delinquent in May, down from 6.21 percent in April, while 3.05 percent of mortgages were in the foreclosure process, … Continue reading

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Pending Home Sales Soaring As Well

The Mortgage Corner Watch out, homebuyers! There may be few homes left on the market if the National Association of Realtors’ May Pending Home Sales Index is any predictor of future sales. This is even though mortgage rates have risen … Continue reading

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New-Home Sales Up, Delinquencies Down

The Mortgage Corner Lots of news today. New-home sales are surging, while mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures continue to drop. Consumer sentiment is also up sharply, maybe because housing prices are soaring according to both the S&P Case-Shiller and FHFA (for … Continue reading

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Did Bernanke Change His Tune?

Financial FAQs As we all know by now, Fed Chairman Bernanke seems to have abruptly switched sides in the stimulus debate. He said the purchases of $85 billion in bonds and mortgage securities could begin to be ‘tapered’ by the … Continue reading

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Housing Construction Key to Economic Recovery

The Mortgage Corner Any doubts that housing is leading the economic recovery should be dispelled by now. Existing-home sales are projected to top 5 million units per year, as the so-called shadow inventory of distressed homes continues to fall due … Continue reading

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Housing Recovery Is For Real

The Mortgage Corner Those who doubt the real estate recovery aren’t paying attention to the latest sales’ data. We reported last week the Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 0.3 percent to 106.0 in … Continue reading

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Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Dilemma Won’t End Soon

Popular Economics Weekly The U.S. Treasury is in a bind. Everyone seems to agree that Fannie and Freddie, wards of the government should be downsized, but how to do it without damaging the housing recovery? Extreme conservatives even want to … Continue reading

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Pending Home Sales, Prices Continue to Rise

The Mortgage Corner Those who doubt the real estate recovery aren’t paying attention to the latest sales’ data. We reported last week the Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 0.3 percent to 106.0 in … Continue reading

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