NewsCloud.com Housing News

Treasury Weighs Action on Mortgage Rates

Two months too late, not a moment too soon: The Treasury Department is strongly considering a plan to intervene directly in the mortgage industry to dramatically force down rates and stimulate the moribund housing market, according to sources familiar with the proposal.

County Level IAS360 House Price Index Data Shows Promise Amid Worsening Housing Market in September

Integrated Asset Services, LLC (IAS, www.iasreo.com) monthly report, which includes the most current and granular data available in the industry, showed a 2.1% decline in house prices on a national level in September, with an annual decline of 13.3%. However, the data also shows bright spots at the individual county level with 75 of the 360 counties showing month to month improvement in September

A Town Drowns in Debt as Home Values Plunge

This town, 59 feet above sea level, is the most underwater community in America.Because of plunging home values, almost 90 percent of homeowners here owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth, according to figures released Monday. That is the highest percentage in the country. The average homeowner in Mountain House is "underwater," as it is known, by $122,000.

Buy a Home in San Diego, Get Another One Free - Heck of a Deal

A San Diego developer who is desperate to clear inventory, is offering perspective home buyers a 'buy one - get one free scheme to move properties. With the housing market in the tank, it is taking some creative measures to move real estate.

Domestic abuse increases chance of trouble finding homes, study says - Examiner.com

Disclosing victim status could mean being denied that housing is even available. Women strong enough to flee their homes and their abusive situations were more likely to be denied housing outright, something that did not happen to people not disclosing. In the study, 65 percent of domestic violence victims were subjected to at least one form of discriminatory treatment.

Progress in Ballard

A homeowner who didn't sell ends up being built around. This is progress in Seattle. Bizarre.

UW study: Rules add $200,000 to Seattle house price

Interesting article on sprawl vs. preserving community and nature. Housing may be cheaper in Houston or Atlanta...must I would never want to live in those cities.

The social toll of the US home mortgage crisis

Home foreclosures in the US have reached near-epidemic scope and scale. In Detroit, there was one foreclosure filing for every 97 households in July alone, according to RealtyTrac.com, the largest database of foreclosed properties.

The bear turns global

The fallout from the US mortgage mess continues to hurt the US market and beyond. Clearly, issues once specific to the US are now flowing through to other markets as banks force borrowers to sell assets and investors scramble away from risk. And it will get worse.

The Subprime Bait and Switch

The hope for subprime boosters was that such loans would allow the mortgage industry to continue business as usual while at the same time meeting government mandates for fair and affordable housing.

Subprime fallout: the bears are out

The fallout from the subprime meltdown will affect everyone, not just those silly enough to have inveted their money in US housing.

Housing takes toll on US economy

The slowdown in the US housing market will hit the country's economy harder than previously thought, according to an economic group.

Across Nation, Housing Costs Rise as Burden

The burden of housing costs in nearly every part of the country grew sharply from 2000 to 2005, according to new Census Bureau data being made public today. The numbers vividly illustrate the impact, often distributed unevenly, of the crushing combination of escalating real estate prices and largely stagnant incomes.

Reading Between the For-Sale Signs

Ruminations on a real-estate slowdown.

The Housing Crisis Goes Suburban

Great look at the crisis of affordable housing, and why it's a middle class issue these days.