By News Desk, on November 21st, 2011
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced that Roger Harris, Hediger Enterprises Inc., Carroll Management Group, Forum Manor Associates L.P. and Forum Manor LLC have agreed to pay $295,000 in monetary damages and civil penalties to resolve a Fair Housing Act lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, race and sex discrimination, retaliation and intimidation at Forum Manor Apartments, a federally-subsidized apartment complex in Rolla, Missouri. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 21st, 2011
Today’s metro area home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows St. Louis metro area home sales in October increased 7.8 percent from a year ago while St. Louis home prices declined in October 0.8 percent from the year before. I took a little closer look at the St. Louis real estate market, focusing on what I call the five “core” counties; St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson, Franklin and the City of St Louis, and found that home sales increased in October 13.5 percent from a year ago, and home prices declined 2.1 percent from the year before. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 18th, 2011
The U.S. mortgage loan delinquency rate was 7.93 percent of all home loans in October, down 2.0 percent from the month before and down a whopping 14.6 percent from a year ago, according to the “First-Look” report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data. The foreclosure rate, on the other hand, was 4.29 percent in October, a 2.5 percent increase from the month before and a 9.4 percent increase from a year ago. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 18th, 2011
Weekly I produce a short video update on the St. Louis Real Estate Market that is published on various web sites. I do a quick recap of the news in the St Louis real estate market for the week, then an overview of the St Louis housing market itself. The update includes charts with up to the date data on the St Louis housing market including St Louis home prices, average time to sell a home in the St Louis area as well as other data and charts to show where the St Louis real estate market is and where it is headed Continue Reading →
By Bob Sargent, on November 18th, 2011
Over the past few years many people that had never faced financial trouble found themselves in foreclosure, doing a short-sale or deed in lieu or filing bankruptcy as a result of the burst of the housing bubble, record unemployment and a weak economy in general. People in this situation, many of whom were homeowners for years, were forced to lived with relatives or friends, or rent until they were able to get through their financial crisis. Now, many of these folks have been able to get back on their feet and want to buy a home again but don’t know when, or if they will be able to get a home loan again due to their past. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 17th, 2011
The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for October 2011 showing an increase in single-family home building permits from the month before of 5.1percent and a 3.9 percent increase in new home starts compared to the month before. Continue Reading →
By Robert Fishel, on November 16th, 2011
Conventional loans are traditional home mortgages, not backed by any government program of insurance or guarantee. There are standard underwriting guidelines for conventional conforming loans up to $417,000. These loans can carry fixed or variable (ARM) rates and a variety of repayment terms can be tailored to your individual needs. Buyers will need cash reserves/savings to cover two months of payments and generally, there is not a penalty for prepayment. Continue Reading →
By Wendy R. Cromer, on November 15th, 2011
As a member of the title industry, I often see buyers decline to purchase a survey on their new home in an effort to save money. This decision may be penny wise but pound foolish! Buyers should understand that unless they purchase a boundary survey (also referred to as a stake survey) they are not receiving coverage from the title company that the house and its improvements are sitting within the boundaries of the property they are purchasing. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on November 11th, 2011
Candidate positions on housing will be important considerations to nearly seven of 10 Americans (69.6%) in the 2012 presidential and congressional elections, according to a new national survey on housing released today by Move, Inc. This is especially true for Millennials(1) (70.7%), the next generation of homebuyers and the segment expected to play as important a role in the 2012 elections as they did in 2008. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 11th, 2011
Weekly I produce a short video update on the St. Louis Real Estate Market that is published on various web sites. I do a quick recap of the news in the St Louis real estate market for the week, then an overview of the St Louis housing market itself. The update includes charts with up to the date data on the St Louis housing market including St Louis home prices, average time to sell a home in the St Louis area as well as other data and charts to show where the St Louis real estate market is and where it is headed Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 10th, 2011
St. Louis foreclosure activity decreased during October by 9.27 percent from the prior month and decreased by 40.41 percent from October 2010, according to RealtyTrac’s foreclosure market report that was just released. As the chart below depicts, of the sixteen counties in the St. Louis metro area that had foreclosure activity during the month, eight saw an increase from the month before, 7 a decrease and one remained the same. Ten of the counties saw a decrease from the year before with only five seeing an increase from the year before. Continue Reading →
By Robert Fishel, on November 9th, 2011
As the mortgage industry continues to adjust to new financial regulations, it is more important than ever to ensure that the financing of your new home goes smoothly. Your loan approval is subject to the financial information you provide at the time of your loan approval. Any subsequent changes in your financial situation before the actual date of closing could jeopardize your loan approval and delay your closing. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 9th, 2011
The median St. Louis metro home price in third quarter was $131,700, up 2.0 percent from 2nd quarter, but down 2.7 percent from a year ago, according to a report by the National Association of REALTORS. Home prices in the St. Louis metro area fared better during 3rd quarter than the U.S. as a whole which saw prices increase only .2 percent from the prior quarter and were down 4.7 percent from a year ago. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 8th, 2011
This morning, Trans Union released a report showing the national mortgage delinquency rate (the rate of borrowers 60 or more days past due) increased to 5.88 percent (from 5.82 percent in the 2nd quarter) during the third quarter of 2011, after falling in the previous quarter by the largest rate in two years. This is the first time mortgage delinquency rates have increased since the end of 2009. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 7th, 2011
St. Louis home prices have declined at a higher rate in September than the U.S. average. A report released this morning by CoreLogic, one of the nations leading providers of property information shows that U.S. home prices in September declined 4.4 percent from the year before and by 1.1 percent from the month before however, St. Louis home prices (the five-county “core” of St Louis City, St Louis County, St. Charles County, Franklin County and Jefferson County) declined 7.3 percent in September from the month before and were down 8.1 percent from the year before. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 4th, 2011
Weekly I produce a short video update on the St. Louis Real Estate Market that is published on various web sites. I do a quick recap of the news in the St Louis real estate market for the week, then an overview of the St Louis housing market itself. The update includes charts with up to the date data on the St Louis housing market including St Louis home prices, average time to sell a home in the St Louis area as well as other data and charts to show where the St Louis real estate market is and where Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 3rd, 2011
Despite massive loss of value over the last few years, the U.S. housing market has outperformed the stock market since 2000. A report released recently by RadarLogic showed that, over the past decade, the housing market, in spite of all of it’s recent troubles, has still performed better in terms of an investment than other typical investments such as the stock market. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 2nd, 2011
With the challenging economy we’ve faced over the past few years, not everyone has perfect credit. People have been putting more of their debt on credit cards, which in turn affects your credit rating. If you have less than perfect credit, you can make it better with a little effort on paying down your cards. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 1st, 2011
The Fannie Mae National Housing Survey for September shows consumers in the U.S. remain someone pessimistic about home prices, however over two-thirds (68 percent) of American’s surveyed said they thought now was a good time to buy a home and 63 percent said if they were going to move now they would buy a home. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 31st, 2011
You would think after what we have seen happen in the housing market during the past 5 years, especially in the area of falling home prices, that home buyers today would not have lofty expectations about a home they buy appreciating, but apparently many do. According to a recent survey Zillow, 42 percent of prospective home buyers believe home prices typically appreciate by 7 percent a year. Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on October 29th, 2011
A Clayton developer pled guilty in U.S. District Court on October 27, 2011, for his role in the failed Bowman Estates construction project, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Harold Rosen, age 80, was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 21, 2011, for attempting to obtain more than $1.9 million of public financing under false pretenses. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 28th, 2011
Weekly I produce a short video update on the St. Louis Real Estate Market that is published on various web sites. I do a quick recap of the news in the St Louis real estate market for the week, then an overview of the St Louis housing market itself. The update includes charts with up to the date data on the St Louis housing market including St Louis home prices, average time to sell a home in the St Louis area as well as other data and charts to show where the St Louis real estate market is and where it is headed. Continue Reading →
By Robert Fishel, on October 28th, 2011
A common complaint that consumers have regarding today’s mortgage loan origination process has to do with all of the hoops they have to jump through in order to get a loan. Personally, as a loan officer, I try to be as thorough as possible going into the application as possible to avoid the last minute chase. After each deal closed, I review the process and question whether I prepared my clients for all that they needed to have or do in order to get the loan approved and closed. I will be the first to admit, I am not perfect. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 27th, 2011
The St Louis foreclosure rates was 1.67 percent for August 2011, up from 1.64 percent the month before and up from August 2010 when the rate was 1.53 percent, according to a newly released data from CoreLogic. As usual, the St Louis foreclosure rate is significantly lower than the national foreclosure rate, which was 3.43 percent for July 2011. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 27th, 2011
The National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index for September shows a decrease of 4.6 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and a 6.4 percent increase from a year ago. This is the third consecutive month the index has decreased from the month before and, and the year over year numbers continue to show decline in the rate of improvement from last year. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 26th, 2011
Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for September 2011 showing an increase of 5.7 percent from the month before, and a decrease of 0.9 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for September was 313,000 homes, up from an adjusted rate of 296,000 the month before. Unfortunately, even with the increase in the rate of new home sales, the current rate of new home sales is still on track to make 2011 new home sales the lowest since the Commerce Department began keeping track of sales in 1963. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 25th, 2011
This morning, the S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for August was released showing US home prices increased for the fifth consecutive month. Both the 20-city composite and 10-city composite home price index increased by 0.2 percent from the month before. The 10 city composite home price index was down 3.5 percent from a year ago and the 20-city composite was down 3.8 percent from a year ago. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 24th, 2011
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced it eased the requirements as well as extended the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) to December 31, 2013 from the current expiration date for the program of June 30, 2012. According to FHFA, as of August 31, 2011, nearly 894,000 borrowers have been refinanced through HARP and they (FHFA) feel easing the requirements will make it possible for many additional borrowers to refinance as well. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 22nd, 2011
The “first-look” report from Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, shows mortgage delinquencies decreased 0.5 percent in September from the month before and decreased 12.7 percent from the year before. On the other hand, and perhaps part of the reason for the decline in the delinquency rate, the foreclosure rate increased in September by 1.7 percent from the prior month and was up 8.9 percent from the year before. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 21st, 2011
Between interest rates falling to record lows and home prices falling back to levels from 8 years ago, the housing market is starting to look like a very attractive investment opportunity. Continue Reading →
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