Financial mogul Sam Zell, beleaguered owner of the Tribune Co. that declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, told an Israeli business conference Sunday that the U.S. real estate market will be in recovery by spring 2009. Zell pointed out that the U.S. population is...

NEW YORK – Dec. 19, 2008 – Fannie Mae said Monday it’s finalizing a plan to help renters stay in their homes even if their landlord enters foreclosure. The mortgage giant said it’s working on a national policy to allow renters living in foreclosed properties - and who...

WASHINGTON (AP) – Dec. 19, 2008 – Struggling U.S. homebuilders cut back even more than expected last month, sending the construction of new homes plummeting in November by the largest amount in almost a quarter-century. New home starts fell to a seasonally adjusted...

WASHINGTON – Dec. 18, 2008 – Financial industry lobbyists are urging the Treasury Department to take steps to lower mortgage rates and help stabilize the battered U.S. housing market. Under one proposal, Treasury would seek to lower the rate on a 30-year mortgage to...

Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages interest rates fell to their lowest level on record, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market survey released Dec. 18. The national average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 5.19 percent for the week ending...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Dec. 3, 2008 – Florida’s bankers and credit unions announced Monday that they’d suspend foreclosing on homeowners for the next 45 days. Gov. Charlie Crist called a press conference to announce the halt in foreclosures, but neither he nor the...

WASHINGTON – Dec. 3, 2008 – For the second year in a row, Realtors® report that exterior remodeling projects return the most money as a percentage of cost, as detailed in the 2008 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report. On a national level, wood deck additions and all types...

WASHINGTON – Dec. 1, 2008 – Rates on 30-year mortgages sank for a fourth straight week, falling below 6 percent for the first time since early October, and are heading lower due to the government’s massive new effort to aid the U.S. housing market. Further drops are...

WASHINGTON (AP) – Nov. 14, 2008 – Mortgage rates dropped for a second straight week, reflecting the impact the weakening economy is having on financial markets. Freddie Mac, the mortgage giant, reported Thursday that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged...

WASHINGTON – Nov. 19, 2008 – With home prices decreasing and interest rates holding at historically low levels, the number of potential homebuyers nationwide who can afford to buy new and existing homes has reached the highest level in more than four years, according...

WASHINGTON – Nov. 17, 2008 – Freddie Mac is asking for an initial injection of $13.8 billion in government aid after posting a massive quarterly loss. The mortgage finance company is making the first request to tap the $200 billion promised by the Treasury Department...

WASHINGTON – Nov. 13, 2008 – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Steve Preston today announced the new Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage loan limits for single-family homes as prescribed by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act...

TAMPA, Fla. – Nov. 13, 2008 – The housing market may have bust, but many homeowners are still living in a bubble. Despite dismal housing headlines and reports showing falling prices nationwide, owners in some once-hot areas still believe their home is gaining value or...

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 13, 2008 – Sales of existing single-family homes in Florida rose 5% in third quarter 2008 compared to the same period last year, according to the latest housing statistics from the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR). A total of 33,203 existing...

WASHINGTON – Nov. 12, 2008 – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Steve Preston today announced the new Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage loan limits for single-family homes as prescribed by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act...

WASHINGTON - The government and the mortgage industry are launching the most sweeping effort yet to help troubled homeowners by speeding up the process for renegotiating hundreds of thousands of delinquent loans held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Federal Housing...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - An amendment creating property tax exemptions for residential hurricane-proofing and energy efficiency improvements is going into the Florida Constitution without a recount. The Elections Canvassing Commission headed by Gov. Charlie Crist declined...

ORLANDO, Fla. – Nov. 11, 2008 – The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) released its latest consumer survey of home buyers and sellers. A key finding: First-time buyers have risen in market share, and they plan to own their homes longer than buyers in the past....

ORLANDO, Fla. – Nov. 11, 2008 – Saying it will target borrowers in markets likely to face extreme economic distress and further declines in home prices, Citigroup, one of the nation’s largest banks, will expand its foreclosure prevention efforts to include borrowers...

ORLANDO, Fla. – Nov. 10, 2008 – Pending home sales slipped 4.6 percent nationwide in September from August but remained 1.6 percent higher than a year earlier, a sign that the battered housing market is “still in a broad period of stabilization,” the National...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Nov. 10, 2008 – To provide immediate assistance to Florida homeowners searching for federal housing assistance, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and her Financial Action Team (FACT Team) announced the launch of “Florida Housing Help,” a new Web...

NEW YORK (AP) – Nov. 7, 2008 – Billions of federal bailout dollars are flooding the financial system, credit markets are loosening and many banks say they are ready to lend. But a crucial piece needed to solve the credit crisis is still missing: borrowers. With the...

ORLANDO, Fla. – Nov. 7, 2008 – Pending home sales fell on the heels of a strong gain a month earlier as credit tightened and economic conditions deteriorated, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking...

Homebuyers who have trouble saving for a downpayment now have another option - homebuyer layaway plans. With the demise of seller-funded downpayment assistance programs, residential builders are considering other options, and many are rolling out downpayment layaway...

NEW YORK – Nov. 6, 2008 – President-elect Barack Obama is inheriting the worst housing recession in a generation, and the proposals he outlined on the campaign trail won’t fix it, so there will be many tough decisions ahead. His plan includes a 10 percent mortgage tax...

Homeowners facing foreclosure need information, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development offers a one-stop shop online that can help. "The Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure is an easy-to-use site allowing users to quickly search information specific to...

NEW YORK – Oct. 31, 2008 – Plunging real-estate values have made it an opportune time for older homeowners to give property to their children, while realizing big savings on gift and estate taxes. They can do this by moving the home out of their estate with a...

WASHINGTON – Oct. 31, 2008 – Rates on 30-year mortgages spiked this week as the tumult in financial markets continued to be felt in housing finance. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.46% this week, up from 6.04%...

OCALA, Fla. – Oct. 30, 2008 – After looking at five houses in the past several months, Matt and Carrie Geiger made an offer on a home in the Ashton neighborhood in Gainesville a day after it came on the market. They were motivated to buy in the neighborhood near...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Oct. 30, 2008 – Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson is reminding consumers whose homes contain a polybutylene pipe system that time is running out to file a claim in a nationwide class-action settlement. Many...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Oct. 30, 2008 – Three recent home buyers who moved to Florida from other states will appeal a judge’s ruling that dismissed their challenge to property tax breaks offered by two state constitutional amendments, one of their lawyers said...

Mortgage rates fell this week as consumers cut their spending amid an economic downturn and a major slump in the labor market. Mortgage finance firm Freddie Mac reported Nov. 6 that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.2 percent this week. That’s down from 6.46...

Despite weakening second home purchases in 2008, the long-term demand looks favorable for the second-home market because there are large numbers of people in the prime years for buying a second home. Currently, 39.2 million people in the United States are ages 50 to...

To move the country out of this economic crisis, Congress and the next administration must place significant emphasis on restoring confidence in the housing market, Charles McMillan, the National Association of Realtors® president, testified to the House Financial...

WASHINGTON – Oct. 27, 2008 – U.S. mortgage lenders are showing more willingness to rewrite loans for troubled homeowners, a trade organization said. “There’s really no reluctance anymore,” said Chairman-elect of the Mortgage Bankers Association David Kittle. “Lenders...

WASHINGTON (AP) – Oct. 27, 2008 – Sales of new homes recorded an unexpected increase in September as median home prices dropped to the lowest level in four years. The Commerce Department reported Monday that sales of new single-family homes rose by 2.7% last month to...

WASHINGTON – Oct. 17, 2008 – Rates on 30-year mortgages jumped to the highest level in eight weeks, squeezing some potential homebuyers out of the market, and reflecting how nervous lenders remain despite the massive global intervention in the credit markets. Mortgage...

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 24, 2008 – For the first time in almost three years, Florida’s existing home sales rose in September, noting a 24 percent increase in activity in the year-to-year comparison; last month’s sales of existing condos statewide increased 11 percent in...

Florida saw a drop in monthly foreclosures in October, but Orange County saw in an increase in pre-foreclosures, according to Foreclosures.com. Orange County reported 4,877 pre-foreclosure filings in October, 11 percent higher than the 4,387 filed a month prior,...

WASHINGTON – Oct. 24, 2008 – Federal regulators told Congress Thursday they're working on a plan that could help many distressed homeowners escape foreclosure in a global financial crisis that Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned will get worse before it...

Travelers looking for alternatives to hotels have helped grow the vacation rental market to a $24.3 billion industry, according to a new study. Sherman, Conn.-based travel research group PhocusWright Inc. conducted the study, which forecasts that online vacation...

WASHINGTON (AP) – Oct. 24, 2008 – Rates on 30-year U.S. mortgages dropped sharply this week, falling to the lowest level in five weeks. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.04% this week, down from 6.46% last week....

LOS ANGELES – Oct. 22, 2008 – Maribel Carrillo is one of the new, happy-ending stories for bank regulators who hope to stem the foreclosure pandemic by modifying delinquent mortgages in bulk. Carrillo, 32, lost her $150,000-a-year job managing a record label in Los...

Existing single-family homes outsold new homes sales in fourth-quarter 2008, according to a new joint report by the Orlando Regional Realtor Association and Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund. A total of 4,026 existing single-family homes sold in the fourth quarter,...

WASHINGTON – Oct. 13, 2008 – Veterans across America now have expanded homeownership opportunities, thanks to the Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008 signed by President George W. Bush on Friday. The bill includes housing provisions for veterans who are already...

If your birthday wish is to visit one of the local Disney theme parks, then Walt Disney Parks & Resorts has an offer for you: a free ticket for anyone who shows up on their birthday with a valid ID, including proof of birth date. The birthday offer is part of the...

WASHINGTON – Oct. 15, 2008 – Can filing for bankruptcy help homeowners facing foreclosure? For most people, trying to negotiate changes in their loan with help from a housing counselor or lawyer is a far better option. While bankruptcy judges can reduce or eliminate...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Oct. 9, 2008 – Real estate ads these days include listing after listing of bargain-basement prices. But those who buy a home in a foreclosure or a pre-foreclosure sale should know that future property bills may be no bargain. Just because someone...

WASHINGTON – Oct. 8, 2008 – Pending home sales activity surged as buyers took advantage of low home prices and affordable interest rates, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator based...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Oct. 6, 2008 – Facing a lawsuit over deceptive mortgage practices, Bank of America Corp. (who now owns Countrywide Financial Corp.) has agreed to modify tens of thousands of loans to keep people in 11 states from losing their homes, the Illinois...