St Louis Real Estate NewsDaily St. Louis real estate news, market analysis, home prices, and mortgage rate updates from local industry professionals. |
First-time home buyers receive a forgivable 3% cash assistance loan for down payment and closing costs.
Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) provides a competitive interest rate on a safe 30-year fixed rate 1st mortgage. Your 3% advance loan is treated as a 2nd mortgage completely forgivable after five years of continuous occupancy. New, Constant Funding means MHDC will have the monies available for the borrowers regardless of bond issuance.
Today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in March were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 5.1 million units which is an increase of 3.7 percent from the month before and is a decrease of 6.3 percent from a year ago.
Lee Bentley Farkas, the former chairman of a private mortgage lending company, Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW), was convicted today for his role in a more than $2.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of Colonial Bank, one of the 25 largest banks in the United States in 2009, and TBW, one of the largest privately held mortgage lending companies in the United States in 2009.
The Mortgage Fraud Index from MortgageDaily.com has fallen 69 percent over the past year to the lowest level since early 2008. For the fourth quarter of 2010 the Mortgage Fraud Index was 814, which is down from 2634 the year before and is the lowest level the index has been at since the first quarter of 2008 when it was 713.
Over the past year or so there have been dozens, if not hundreds, of stories questioning the manner in which lenders were handling the servicing of their loans, particularly those of underwater borrowers, as well as the foreclosure practices of many including “robo-signing” of foreclosure affidavits. Next came the lawsuits and now, this week, the Federal Reserve Board announced formal enforcement actions requiring 10 banking organizations to address “a pattern of misconduct and negligence related to deficient practices in residential mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing.”
The VA loan program was designed to make home ownership more obtainable for eligible veterans. Home purchases with VA loans must be the veteran’s primary residence. There is no down payment required; no mortgage insurance requirement and VA loans do not incur a pre-payment penalty.
Fannie Mae announced today that people purchasing a Fannie Mae-owned HomePath property will receive up to 3.5 percent in closing cost assistance. The initial offer must be submitted on or after April 11, 2011; and the sale must close on or before June 30, 2011 to be eligible for the incentive. Additionally, buyers must reside in the home as their primary residence (sorry, nothing for investors).
Forty three years ago today, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968 which included Title VIII, the Fair Housing Act which, as described on HUD’s website, “prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18), and handicap (disability).“
UPDATE Jan, 2013 – Congress approved extending the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 through the end of 2013.
I first wrote an article on this topic a little over two years ago as the foreclosure rate was rising and borrowers were concerned about where they stood with the IRS with regard to “mortgage forgiveness”. Well, here we are today with the same issues looming over many people, so I thought I would do an update.
Yesterday, four fair housing organizations released their findings of a year-long undercover investigation of 80 loan modification companies, which reveal an industry rife with corrupt practices. The National Fair Housing Alliance, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia, Inc., and the Miami Valley Fair Housing Center issued a report entitled, “Have I Got a Deal for You! An Undercover Investigation of Mortgage Loan Modification Scams,” which documents the tactics mortgage modification scammers use to take money from vulnerable homeowners.
My guess is you read the headline, chuckled and said to yourself “no way”. After all, the idea of sending people that could not pay their debts to prison went away over a century ago in the U.S., right? Yes and no….In 1833 the United States abolished Federal imprisonment for unpaid debts and most states did as well around the same time. However, Missouri Representative Gary L. Cross, representing the Kansas City area, has introduced legislation that would subject tenants that do not pay their rent to a criminal charge, a Class A Misdemeanor to be exact.
For those fence sitters who are thinking about buying or refinancing a home, be advised that FHA will be raising the annual mortgage insurance premium (MIP) by a quarter of a percentage point (.25) on all 30- and 15-year loans.
Dennis Norman
The St. Louis foreclosure rate increased 1.7 percent in January to 1.79 percent, according to a report published by CoreLogic. On a positive note, the report shows that the rate of serious mortgage delinquencies in St. Louis (90+ days delinquent) decreased slightly to 5.14 percent in December from 5.18 percent the month before.
Most Americans are opposed to the idea according to recent survey
There have been several stories published on this site concerning borrowers that are “underwater” (owe more on their home than it is currently worth) and whether they should simply “walk-away” or do a “strategic default” in order to get out from under their problem. We have published views from both sides of this argument and both sides have made good points in support of their position. However, according to a survey conducted by FindLaw.com, it is clear that the majority of Americans, 60 percent to be exact, believe it Continue Reading →
More than half a million vacation homes were purchased last year, fueled by low real estate prices, attractive mortgage rates and the potential for price appreciation according to research done by the National Association of REALTORS for HomeAway.
In this tighter credit environment, FHA remains to be a great alternative for buyers with limited resources for a down payment and closing costs or past credit problems. Underwriting guidelines are more lenient than conventional guidelines.
A report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, shows that while mortgage delinquencies continue to decline, an enormous backlog of foreclosures still exists and is expected to continue for some time. As of the end of February, foreclosure inventory levels stand at more than 30 times the monthly foreclosure sales volume.
RPX Composite Home Price Fell to Lowest Level since April 2003
Radar Logic published it’s Housing Market Report for January showing that it’s “RPX Composite Price” fell 3.8 percent from December and 3.4 percent from the year before.
WHAT IS A CREDIT SCORE?
Simply stated, credit scores are a statistically-based tool to assess the future performance of a borrower. Scores are derived from the history of a borrower as it is reported to the credit repositories from any creditor. Credit scores are a proven indicator of the likelihood to repay a loan or credit obligation. The lower the score; the more risk from a borrower to repay a loan, on time and in full. Scores range from 400 to 850.
This process was started by Fair, Isaac and Co., which is why credit scores are also Continue Reading →
Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for February 2011 showing a decrease of 16.9 percent from the month before, and a decrease of 28.0 percent from a year ago.
The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for February was 250,000 homes. The supply of new homes on the market increased from an adjusted 7.4 month supply the month before to a 8.9 month supply in February. The median new home price decreased for the month to $202,100, a 13.9 percent decrease from a revised median price of $234,800 the Continue Reading →
Dennis Norman
The St. Louis foreclosure rate increased 4.8 percent in December to 1.76 percent, according to a report published by CoreLogic. On a positive note, the report shows that the rate of serious mortgage delinquencies in St. Louis (90+ days delinquent) decreased slightly to 5.14 percent in December from 5.18 percent the month before.
Nearly nine out of 10 homeowners say they would buy their homes again.
Despite the financial blood-shed the real estate market downturn has caused many homeowners, Americans still have a deep-rooted attachment to home ownership according to the Allstate-National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll. The poll, funded by Allstate Corporation revealed that nearly nine out of 10 homeowners surveyed said they would buy their homes again. The amazing thing is that this percentage held true even for those homeowners who said their homes had lost value since they purchased it. Seven out of 10 Americans say they would advise a friend Continue Reading →
Why rent when you can own?
Over the past couple of years there has been much talk about home ownership losing it’s luster and asking the question if it is better to rent than own a home at this point. Today, I want to share with you 11 reasons to own a home:
HUD just released it’s “2010 Overview of U.S. Housing Market Conditions which gave a recap of the housing market for 2010. I’ve previously reported on most of the data and information that HUD included in the report however I thought this report did a good job of giving a complete and concise look at the market for the year so I wanted to share it.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced it has extended the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) to June 30, 2012. The HARP program was scheduled to end June 30, 2011.
This program is designed to help homeowners whose homes have lost value. Through 2010 there have been 621,803 HARP refinances with loan amounts from 80 percent of value up to 125 percent of value.
For more information, or to see if you are eligible for HARP, click here.
There have been many changes in the mortgage banking industry in the last couple of years. New regulations and laws now stipulate exact procedures, timetables and specific lending requirements to obtain a home mortgage. Mortgage bankers must obtain a federal license and state licenses for every state in which they originate loans.
These changes in lending policies are designed to protect and aid borrowers when making mortgage decisions to purchase or refinance a new home.
A report released this morning by CoreLogic shows negative equity, after decreasing for the three prior quarters, increased in the fourth quarter of 2010 for residential properties. The CoreLogic reports that 11.1 million, or 23.1 percent, of all residential properties with mortgages were in negative equity at the end of the fourth quarter of 2010, up from 10.8 million and 22.5 percent in the prior quarter.
A report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, shows that the rate of serious mortgage delinquency (90+ days) in January was 8.90 percent, a slight increase from 8.83 percent in December and a 18.8 percent decrease from a year ago.
Seller concessions can be any negotiation where the seller, builder, developer or any interested party gives something up to the buyer…The concession can help lower or eliminate the amount a borrower is required to bring to the closing table. In some cases, a seller-paid concession can mean the difference between closing a home sale and losing one.
The Fannie Mae Fourth Quarter National Housing Survey polled homeowners and renters alike to assess their confidence in homeownership as an investment as well as their views on housing finance and the overall economy. The survey revealed that Americans are more confident about the stability of home prices than they were at the beginning of 2010, although they aren’t so confident about the strength of the overall US economy.