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Housing Recovery By Spring

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...

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Fannie To Help Renters Stay in Forclosed Homes

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...

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US Housing Starts Fall More Than Expected

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...

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Financial Industry Pushes for Lower Mortgage Rates

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...

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Mortgage rates fall to 37 year low Dec 18 2008

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...

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NAR Reports Curb Appeal Matters More Than Ever

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...

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Mortgage Rates Dip for Fourth Straight Week

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...

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Mortgage Rates Drop For Second Week November 2008

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...

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Freddie Seeks Government Aid After $25.3 Billion Loss

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...

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HUD Announced New Permanent FHA Mortgage Loan Limits

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...

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Homeowners Cling to False Optimism About Own Home

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...

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HUD Announces New Permanent FHA Mortgage Loan Limits

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...

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Government Launches Sweeping New Loan Aid Effort

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...

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Amendment 3 Passes Without Recount in Florida

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...

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Housing Market Shows Signs of a Rebound

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...

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Borrowers Wanted: Banks Have Cash But Few Clients

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...

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Layaway Program

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...

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Obama’s Housing Plan Requires Tough Decisions

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...

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Foreclosures – An Online Guide

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...

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Gifting Your House And Living in it Too

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...

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Housing Shows Signs of a Comeback

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...

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Challenge to Florida Property Tax Breaks Dismissed

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...

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Thirty Year Mortgages Fall to 6.2 Percent

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...

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NAR Reports Outlook Favorable for Second Home Market

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...

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NAR Re-iterates Plan to Jumpstart Housing Market

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...

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Mortgage Lenders More Flexible?

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...

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September 2008 New Home Sales Rise By 2.7 Percent

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...

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Thirty Year Mortgage Rates Rise to Eight Week High

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...

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Area Foreclosures Among Top 10 In State

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,...

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U.S. Working On Plan To Help Homeowners Refinance

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...

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Study: Vacation Rental Market Worth $24 Billion

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...

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Thirty Year Mortgage Rates Drop To Five Week Low

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....

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IndyMac Plan Could Be Model For Mortgage Relief

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...

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NAR: VA Law Will Serve Those Who Serve Our Country

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...

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Disney Guests to Get In Free On Their Birthday

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...

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Meltdown 101: Bankruptcy Won’t Help Borrowers Much

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...

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Shocking Property Taxes For Buyers in Troubled Market

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...

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NAR: Pending Home Sales Surged 7.4% in August

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...

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Bank of America Settles Lawsuit Over Bad Mortgages

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...

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