St Louis Real Estate News - Page 96 of 107 - Daily St. Louis real estate news, market analysis, home prices, and mortgage rate updates from local industry professionals.

HUD Announces Plans to Make Reverse Mortgages More Affordable

By Dennis Norman, on August 28th, 2010

Dennis Norman

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced this week that it intends to make modifications to its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), a reverse mortgage loan insured by the federal government, to make it more attractive and cost effective for older home owners seeking to tap their home equity.

A HECM is a reverse mortgage that is insured by the FHA. It is designed to enable elderly homeowners (62 years or older) to borrow against the equity in their home without having to make monthly payments as is required with a traditional mortgage or home equity loan.

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New Rules for Mortgage Transfers

By Dennis Norman, on August 27th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Home mortgages are often sold or assigned, sometimes even right after the origination of the loan and, as a result, borrowers find themselves not knowing who their current lender is or how to contact their lender. This issue was addressed back in May 2009, as part of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, lenders that purchased home mortgages were required to provide disclosures in writing to the borrower within 30 days.

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Six Important Steps on How to Buy a Home; St Louis Mortgage Watch

By Robert Fishel, on August 26th, 2010

STEP 1 Get pre-qualified for a loan: talk with your mortgage banker.

Determine your “mortgage goals.” Review your credit history and sources of income. Do you have money set aside for a down payment? Do you have an “ideal payment range” you would be comfortable with? What are your expectations.

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Homeowners with negative equity declines for second consecutive quarter

By Dennis Norman, on August 26th, 2010

Dennis Norman

After a couple of days of writing about bad reports on the housing market (existing home sales and new home sales to name two) I’m excited that I actually get to write something today that is positive! According to newly released data from CoreLogic, the percentage of homeowners in the U.S. with negative equity in their homes declined slightly at the end of the second quarter of 2010 making it the second consecutive month of declines.

According to the CoreLogic report, 11 million, or 23 percent, of all residential properties with mortgages were in negative equity Continue Reading →

7 Key Questions To Ask Your Lender When Getting a Mortgage

By Dennis Norman, on August 26th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Before you decide on a mortgage make sure you fully understand all the terms of the loan and make sure you know what you are getting yourself in for. Some home mortgages have features that may be risky and make it difficult for you to make your payments in the future. Be sure that you understand the loan terms, the risks and all the costs of the loan you are getting. To help you, below are 7 key questions to ask your lender about your mortgage BEFORE you accept a loan.

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New Home Sales In July Drop to All-Time Low

By Dennis Norman, on August 25th, 2010

Dennis Norman

The good news is May’s new home sales rate of 267,000, which was the lowest sales rate on record, was revised upward to 281,000. The bad news is June’s sales rate of 330,000 was revised downward to 315,000 and now new home sales for July were reported at 276,000 the new lowest rate on record. Due to the dismal sales, the inventory of new homes on the market increased from an 8 month supply in June to a 9.1 month supply in July.

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New Rules Announced to Protect Mortgage Borrowers

By Dennis Norman, on August 25th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Over the past couple of years lawsuits have been filed against several lenders over “yield spread premiums” that were paid by the lenders to mortgage brokers originating loans on their behalf. These suits brought a lot of attention to a common practice in the mortgage industry which was to compensate the companies (or loan officers) originating loans based upon the rate and points charged to the borrower. There have been numerous debates on the topic and I’m staying out of it, however, last week the Federal Reserve announced new rules that will go in effect on Continue Reading →

Home Sales Plummet in July to Record Low

By Dennis Norman, on August 24th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Beginning last November I have written several articles about the “sugar-rush” effect of tax credits and other stimulus on the housing market and voicing my concern that these things are short lived (like a sugar rush on a child) and after the sugar wears off there is a crash….Well, as expected, here it is…

Today’s existing home sales report from theNational Association of REALTORS(R) shows existing home sales in St. Louis for July decreased 36.1 percent from a year ago. For the US as a whole, existing home sales in July were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual Continue Reading →

Help for unemployed homeowners facing foreclosure

By Dennis Norman, on August 24th, 2010

Dennis Norman

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced yet another new plan to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. This plan targets homeowners that are struggling with unemployment and offers two foreclosure-prevention programs to help them.

The first program will be through the existing Housing Finance Agency (HFA) Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets (the Hardest Hit Fund). Through this program the U.S. Department of the Treasury will make $2 billion of additional assistance available for HFA programs for homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments due to unemployment.

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Homeowners becoming more pessimistic about housing market

By Dennis Norman, on August 23rd, 2010

Dennis Norman

1 in 3 Think Worst Is Yet to Come, While 38% Think Local Home Values Have Reached Bottom

According to the second quarter 2010 Zillow Homeowner Confidence Survey, one-third (33 percent) of homeowners feel home values in their local market have not reached bottom, while 38 percent believe their market has in fact hit bottom.

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Is the housing market headed toward a ‘double-dip’?

By Dennis Norman, on August 20th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Just as we are talking more about home prices “stabilizing” there is yet another cause for concern as to just where the market is headed. Last week Celia Chen, senior director of the Moody’s Economy.com research staff, issued a report stating that the odds of a near-term “double-dip recession” have increased from about one in five to closer to in in four.

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Missouri is Ninth Least Expensive State to Close on a Home

By Dennis Norman, on August 19th, 2010

Dennis Norman

A new study released by Bankrate, Inc. shows that the costs associated with buying a home are on the rise. Bankrate’s 2010 Closing Costs Survey states the average origination and title fees on a $200,000 mortgage this year totaled $3,741, up 37 percent from $2,732 in 2009.

The good news for us Missourians is that our state had the ninth LOWEST costs associated with buying a home. Missouri’s average cost is $3,356 which is over 10 percent below the national average. New York, with average costs of $5,623, had the highest costs in the nation.

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Mortgage Delinquencies Fall for Second Consecutive Quarter

By Dennis Norman, on August 19th, 2010

Dennis Norman

For some time now I’ve been saying the precursor to the housing market recovering is for the mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates to fall from the present, near-record levels, down to closer to historical norms. The current mortgage loan delinquency report from TransUnion shows that, for the second consecutive quarter, things are headed the right direction. Granted the decline in loans that are 60 or more days past due declined only 1.48 percent to 6.67 percent but at least it is going the right diretion. The loan delinquency rate for the 2nd quarter of 6.67 percent Continue Reading →

HVCC, AMC’s and the Appraisal Industry; a view from the inside

By Paul Collins, on August 18th, 2010

Editor’s note – Last month we published an article about HVCC which drew quite a few comments and responses….one such response was from veteran appraiser Paul Collins in which he shares his frustration with the state of the industry and the impact of lenders and legislation on his industry. Our thanks to Paul for allowing us to publish his thoughts..

The good ole days of direct communication and the new day we are “living” both have the same problem. Appraisers are not a valued part of the process because there are no consequences for bad lending decisions. The last Continue Reading →

Zweifel calls for $127 million housing package for Missourians suffering from mental illness

By News Desk, on August 18th, 2010

State Treasurer Clint Zweifel today called on the Missouri Housing Development Commission to pass a multi-million dollar package to provide housing for Missourians suffering from a mental illness at its meeting on August 20 in Jefferson City. According to information from Treasurer Zweifel’s office, this plan would not require new spending, it would instead re-allocate $127 million (33 percent) of affordable housing resources for fiscal year 2011 to create housing that addresses mental illness and chronic homelessness issues.

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Which refinancing option is best for you?; St. Louis Mortgage Watch

By Robert Fishel, on August 18th, 2010

Every borrower’s situation is different. My goal is to provide various options/loan programs that are available to meet the borrower’s needs. When considering a refinance, the following are typical situations borrowers face:

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New Home Permits and Construction Drop in July; Still outpacing new home sales though

By Dennis Norman, on August 17th, 2010

The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for July 2010 showing a decrease in single-family home building permits and a decrease in new home starts from June.

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St Louis Home Prices Increase in June; Rate of increase slows

By Dennis Norman, on August 16th, 2010

Dennis Norman

According to a report issued today by CoreLogic, home prices in St. Louis increased in June by 1.4 percent over June 2009. This ends the four-month streak of increasing year-over-year home prices which for May was 3.49 percent.

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Leader of $200 Million Real Estate Investment Scam Arrested for Fraud

By News Desk, on August 14th, 2010

For Immediate Release August 12, 2010 United States Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey Contact: (973) 645-2888

Alleged Schemes Defrauded Investors in Multiple States and Abroad

NEWARK, NJ—Eliyahu Weinstein, aka “Eli Weinstein,” was arrested at his home this morning by federal agents on charges that he ran an investment fraud scheme causing losses of at least $200 million, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Weinstein, 35, of Lakewood, N.J., was charged with one count of bank fraud and one count of wire fraud in connection with the alleged scheme. Vladimir Siforov, 43, of Manalapan, N.J., was also charged with Continue Reading →

Foreclosure Activity Increases In July; Down from a year ago

By Dennis Norman, on August 13th, 2010

Dennis Norman

I remember, not that long ago, when 300,000 foreclosures in a month would have seemed unreal. However, July now marks the 17th consecutive month that there have been foreclosure filings exceeding 300,000 for the month.

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Private Transfer Fee Covenants Draw Fire From FHFA

By Dennis Norman, on August 12th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Today the Federal Housing Finance Agency announce proposed guidance that would prohibit Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks from investing in mortgages with private transfer fee covenants. Considering that covers the lenders that originate, invest in or, or insure over 90 percent of the homes in the U.S. that pretty much puts the kibosh on financing a home with such a transfer fee.

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Why do Some Homes Sell for More Than Others?

By Jim Carr, on August 12th, 2010

Ever wonder why one home will sell for more than a similar home in the same neighborhood? You’ll hear all sorts of reasons. One house has this feature or that feature while the other one doesn’t. That’s part of it but certainly not all.

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FHA Expected to Announce Further Policy Changes to Address Risk and Strengthen Finances; St. Louis Mortgage Watch

By Robert Fishel, on August 11th, 2010

In the next few days, look for FHA to implement further changes to strengthen its financial situation. An audit in late 2009 showed that the capital ratio of its Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMIF) had fallen below its statutorily mandated threshold. Over the past few months, FHA has raised premiums on its FHA insurance, prohibited seller-financed down payment assistance, stepped up enforcement of its regulations, tightened appraisal rules, banned several lenders from writing FHA guaranteed loans and brought suit against others.

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Report Shows Fraud in Short-Sales Cost Lenders $310 Million Annually

By Dennis Norman, on August 10th, 2010

Dennis Norman

A report just released by CoreLogic estimate the financial impact of short-sale fraud to be $310 million annually. It is estimated there is fraud in one in every 53 short sale transactions resulting in an unnecessary loss to the lender of $41,000 per transaction on average.

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U.S. Home Values Fall In 2nd Quarter; Negative Equity Declines Though

By Dennis Norman, on August 9th, 2010

Dennis Norman

A report just issued by Zillow shows that home values in the United States continued to decline in the second quarter of 2010, with the Zillow Home Value Index falling 3.2 percent year-over-year and 0.6 percent from the first quarter to $182,500. The national rate of decline decelerated from the first quarter, marking the second consecutive quarter of slowing declines.

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Countrywide VIP Loans To Fannie Mae Execs Are Under Investigation

By Dennis Norman, on August 6th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Fannie Mae, after losing $59.8 Billion in 2008 and then $74.4 Billion in 2009, reported yesterday that things are looking up and they lost only $1.2 Billion in the 2nd quarter of this year. This “good” news comes on the heels of documents being released two weeks ago showing that Countrywide made, what appears to be, some “below-market” mortgages to employees of Fannie Mae under a VIP loan program. There have been allegations that perhaps this was done in exchange for favors.

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The Latest Data on the Home Affordable Modification Program

By Ted Gayer, on August 5th, 2010

Ted Gayer, Co-Director of Economic Studies, Brookings Institute

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development released June data for the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). HAMP is the foreclosure prevention program targeted at borrowers who are delinquent in their mortgage payment or facing imminent risk of default on their mortgage.

It has always been an open question whether HAMP would prevent foreclosures or whether it would just delay inevitable foreclosures. While those who qualify for HAMP receive reduced mortgage

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Mortgage Tips From a Pro; St. Louis Mortgage Watch

By Robert Fishel, on August 4th, 2010

A home mortgage is the largest debt of most consumers and is nothing to take lightly or approach without diligence and care.

Here are some tips to help guide you and help you avoid the pitfalls that are out there:

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Missouri REALTORS Face Setback but Vow to Keep Fighting Double Taxation

By Dennis Norman, on August 3rd, 2010

Dennis Norman

Previously I have written about an effort supported by the Missouri Association of REALTORS (MAR) to protect Missouri homeowners from facing double taxation through a real estate transfer tax by backing an effort to amend the Missouri Constitution to prohibit such a tax. Unfortunately, after Missouri citizens supported this initiative in overwhelming numbers, the effort was dealt a blow today when effort by the Missouri Secretary of State’s office announced its conclusion that the Vote “YES” To Stop Double Taxation amendment did not receive enough signatures of registered voters to qualify for the ballot.

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Pending Home Sales Hit a new Record-Low in June

By Dennis Norman, on August 3rd, 2010

Dennis Norman

NAR Pending Home Sales Index at Lowest Level Since Index Began in 2001

At dropping 30 percent in May as a result of the rush to buy a home before the April 30th tax credit deadline, the National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index for June shows a further decline of 2.6 percent in the index in June (seasonally adjusted) which is 18.6 percent below June 2009. While the decrease in home sales was expected, I’m a little surprised we are running so far behind last year (which, might I remind you, wasn’t that great of Continue Reading →