11/4/2011
Home Short Sales on Rise - May Help Push Housing Prices Up
U.S. home prices may get a boost from an unlikely source: a pickup in sales of properties in default before they reach the stage where they are repossessed by the bank and sold. There has been a “dramatic shift” in banks’ willingness to sell a property for less than the mortgage balance to avoid foreclosing, said Ron Peltier, chairman and chief executive officer of HomeServices of America Inc., the second-biggest U.S. residential brokerage. The transactions, known as short sales, typically change hands at a discount of about 20 percent to homes not in financial distress, compared with a 40 percent price cut for bank-owned homes, according to RealtyTrac Inc. Short sales jumped 19 percent in the second quarter from the prior three months while foreclosure sales were flat, the data seller said.
For full article click here - Short Sales May Push Housing Prices Up
Rise in Homebuilder Sentiment Tops Forecast
Homebuilders in the U.S. were less pessimistic than forecast in October as near record-low borrowing costs and price decreases raised hopes the market will turn for the better over the next six months. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index climbed to 18, the highest level since May 2010, from 14 in the prior month, data from the Washington-based group showed today. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected the measure would rise to 15, according to the median forecast. Readings below 50 mean more respondents said conditions were poor.
For full article click here - Builders Forecasting a Better Housing Market
Home Buying Tax Credit Link
http://www.federalhousingcredit.com/
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