home mortgage defaults
The government has spent BILLIONS to lenders, loan serveries, and salaries of administrative staff in an effort to help troubled homeowners. Actually, it seems like a new or modified government real estate assistance program for ‘under-water’ homeowners is announced every month. So, what has all the effort and money gotten us?
The sad fact is the re-default rate within a year is likely to be 65% to 75% under the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, according to a report to be released Wednesday by Fitch, a New York-based credit-rating firm. read more…
California housing market
California’s unemployment rate, currently at 12.4 percent, will not return to single-digit levels until 2012 and the state’s inland areas will continue to be impaired by excess housing inventory and state budget cuts, according to a recent forecast by UCLA’s Anderson School of Business. read more…
May’s housing numbers were a shock for many, but does the drop in housing mean we are headed into a double-dip for housing … or, is this an excellent time to pick up a real estate bargain at a historic low interest rate?
Government home buyer tax credit program
A report by Treasury Department showed that more than 14,100 taxpayers wrongly received home buyer tax credits. The report estimates that at least $26.7 million in tax credits went to people who did not qualify.
Also, the Treasury Department showed that 1,295 inmates filed fraudulent home tax credit claims totaling $9.1 million. In an example of fraudulent home tax credit claims, one home was used by 67 taxpayers to claim credits, according to the report.
Carlsbad real estate
home sales
New home sales fell by 32.7% in May. The plunge was worse than the consensus expectation for a drop in new home sales, though short of the most worst forecast.
The year over year plunge in new homes sales was 18%.
Also, reported yesterday, sales of previously occupied homes dipped in May, even though buyers could receive government tax credits. And nearly a third of sales in May were from foreclosures or other distressed properties. The National Association of Realtors said last month’s sales fell 2.2 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.66 million.
Clairemont real estate
home values
According to real estate analytics firm CoreLogic, negative equity continues to be a massive and corrosive problem. During the first quarter of this year, 11.2 million homeowners across the country owed more on their mortgages than the market values of their properties. read more…
