Mark Greene, chief executive officer at FICO, told attendees at a loan processing conference in Orlando that it would be 50 months before the foreclosure problem in this country “goes away, and that’s assuming there are no more foreclosures.” Minneapolis-based FICO provides lender analytics and measures consumer credit risk. Among its products is the FICO […]
First-time homebuyers are critical to the housing industry. Once they get in the door, this enables the former first-timer to move up, etc. In a nutshell, first-time buyers help to keep the housing ladder moving. What has skewed this traditional ladder is the number of distressed homes on the market. There are more homes than […]
Seattle-based Zillow, which introduced automated home valuations known as “Zestimates” several years ago, said it has improved and expanded they way it evaluates homes, its third major overhaul since 2006. According to Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist, the company’s third algorithm allows the company to evaluate 97 million homes (up from 72 million) while being […]
Remodeling a kitchen, bathroom, or other room to increase a home’s value can be a good idea, but homeowners need to be careful when undergoing a remodeling task to ensure they don’t fall for some of the common traps. Realtor Magazine highlighted a few such common mistakes: 1. Being too trendy. The home will look […]
Three major banks have lost federal mortgage modification incentives in delivering a foreclosure relief program until they make big changes to improve their practices, according to the Los Angeles Times.
If you are looking for another online portal to check the landscape around your neighborhood, Washington state has enhanced its Internet mapping tools and library. The Washington State Department of Information Services launched the Washington State Geospatial Portal. This government site (and others like it) which supply much of the information for Google Earth and […]
The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions has issued a warning to consumers regarding another unlicensed loan modification operation promoted by a California law firm, Kramer & Kaslow, and a professional corporation called “Consolidated Litigation Group.” In late 2010, these affiliated companies sent mailings to Washington consumers for loan modification services. In early 2011, the […]
The National Association of Home Builders’ quarterly Multifamily Production Index (MPI) recorded its third consecutive quarterly increase in the first three months of 2011 indicating continuing improvement in the multifamily housing market. The MPI, which tracks multifamily housing industry sentiment about the strength of the market on a scale of 0 to 100, increased from […]
Nearly 17 percent off all Washington State borrowers with home mortgages owe more than their home is worth, according to negative equity data released today by CoreLogic, a provider of consumer, financial and property analytics. Of the 1,412,110 loans in Washington, 238,476 are “underwater” by an average amount of about $60,000, CoreLogic found. An additional […]
Tom Watson, King County EcoConsumer, has developed a six-step program to help residents “cleanse” their home of toxic chemicals. The regimen is designed to help residents detoxify their home in ways that protect their family’s health and protect the environment. Along with offering advice on how to properly dispose of toxic products, the detox program […]
Despite the ups and downs of the housing market, homeowners and non-owners alike consider owning a home worth the risk. That was among the findings of a national survey of 2,000 consumers likely to vote in 2012 political elections conducted May 3-9 by Public Opinion Strategies of Alexandria, Va., and Lake Research Partners of Washington, […]
The National Association of Realtors’ 2011 Profile of International Home Buying Activity reports that foreigners view U.S. properties as a secure investment, one that provides rental and long-term appreciation possibilities. According to the study, foreigners have found homes in this country are less expensive than comparable foreign properties. The total U.S. Existing Home Sales market […]
Both the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and mortgage investor Fannie Mae recently launched startups in the energy conservation arena. FHA’s program, “PowerSaver,” allows eligible owners to borrow up to $25,000 at fixed rates between 5 and 7 percent for as long as 20 years to finance high-efficiency windows and doors, heating and ventilating systems, solar […]
Northwest Multiple Listing Service members reported a 43 percent increase in pending sales of single family homes and condominiums during May compared to the same month a year ago. Sellers accepted offers from 7,509 buyers last month, up from the year-ago total of 5,242 pending sales. “We’re seeing a definite shift in the market – […]
A U.S. District Court has vacated the nonjudicial foreclosure of an Oregon borrower in another dispute over the use of the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, a procedure related to “robo-signing.” Robo-signing is a practice whereby banks approve foreclosures without proper reviews. U.S. District Judge Owen Panner ruled that Bank of America, MERS Inc. and Northwest […]
Homeowners facing foreclosure will soon have access to housing counselors to assist them in the process when the Foreclosure Fairness Act of 2011 takes effect on July 22. The act encourages homeowners to use the skills and professional judgment of housing counselors as early as possible in the foreclosure process. According to NWREporter, other key […]
Rental vacancy rates are declining, rents are increasing and low cost rental units are disappearing from the nation’s housing stock. These are among the findings of The State of the Nation’s Housing: 2011, a report released today by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. The annual State of the Nation’s Housing report […]
Younger consumers are changing many retail markets and real estate is no exception. In the past few years, the age of first-time buyers has slid as home-buying affordability opened the market. The Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers revealed that the typical age of first-time buyers is now 30, down from 32 in 2006. The […]
A Tampa Bay area real estate agent is facing charges on trying to sell 22 condo units that were not for sale, according to Realtor Magazine. Barbara D. Lockett faces charges of scheming to defraud. Police say that Lockett used her position as president of a condo association to sell 22 development units. Eleven of […]
Crime Maps, a crime mapping technology that allows consumers to view, explore, compare, interact and comment on crime data across the U.S. was introduced today by Trulia, a San Francisco-based website for homebuyers, sellers and renters. Crime Maps uses geodata from multiple partners, including CrimeReports.com, EveryBlock.com and SpotCrime.com, who work with police agencies, crime feeds […]
Mortgage delinquencies increased by 2.4 percent in April but they still remain well below the levels of January of this year and more than 25 percent lower than the peak seen in January 2010, according to the April Mortgage Monitor report released by Lender Processing Services, Inc. The April data shows that new problem loans, […]
Home prices in the U.S. increased on a month-to-month basis by 0.7 percent between March and April, the first such increase since the home-buyer tax credit expired in mid-2010, according to CoreLogic’s April Home Price Index (HPI). “While the economic recovery is still fragile and one data point is not a trend, the month-over-month increase […]
Russ Cofano, former vice president and general counsel for John L. Scott Real Estate, has been named CEO of the Missouri Association of Realtors. He starts his new role June 15. Prior to joining John L. Scott, Cofano practiced real estate law for two decades, managed the Washington Realtors Legal Hotline and served as an […]
If five of the nation’s largest banks can’t reach a settlement with state and federal regulators over shoddy foreclosure practices soon, they stand to face at least $17 billion in civil lawsuits, The Wall Street Journal reports. The banks’ liability could be even more. Banks also owe billions of dollars in possible claims to federal […]
