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Kiss These 10 Once-Popular Home Features Goodbye
Times are tough in the home-building industry, meaning the 500,000 or so new single-family homes expected to be built this year are going to include more practical and value-conscious features and fewer wish-list items…
Homebuilder optimism up for 5th straight month
For the fifth consecutive month, homebuilders are feeling upbeat about prospects for the market in single-family homes, offering another positive signal for the depressed housing industry.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose to 29 from 25 in February, hitting the highest level in four years, the National Association of Home Builders said on Wednesday.
The index has climbed 15 points since September and is now at its highest level since May 2007…
…“Builder confidence has doubled since September as measured by the HMI,” said NAHB Chairman Barry Rutenberg, a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. “Given the recent improvements in new home starts and the increasing number of markets included in the NAHB/First American Improving Markets Index, this consistency suggests that the housing market is moving toward more sustainable growth.”
Some more good news for Washington!
Foreclosure activity down in state, up nationally in January
Banks took back more U.S. homes in January than in the previous month, the latest sign that foreclosures are accelerating after slowing sharply last year while lenders sorted out foreclosure-abuse claims.
Foreclosures rose 8 percent nationally from December, but were down 15 percent from a year earlier, foreclosure-listing firm RealtyTrac reported…
…Foreclosures in Washington state in January, however, fell 18 percent from December and 58 percent from January 2011.
Read Full Story on The Seattle Times…
Are you a struggling homeowner? Check out our Avoiding Foreclosure section for resources and tips.
Don’t despair: You can still sell your home in a down market
T
he home next door is in foreclosure. The neighbors down the street just put their house up for sale at a ridiculous discount. And “For Sale” signs litter lawns all over town.
Welcome to the toughest selling conditions in years.
The bright side of selling a home in a down market is you get to seek your own bargain if you’re going to buy after you’re done. Closing a sale, however, can be teeth-grindingly slow if you don’t do everything right — and maybe even if you do.
What the mortgage settlement means to you
If you are underwater on your home or struggling to pay your mortgage, you are probably wondering whether you can expect relief under a $25 billion settlement reached by state and federal officials with the nation’s biggest banks.
The short answer is, you probably won’t know right away.
According to details laid out on a new “National Mortgage Settlement” website, the payments and other relief will be made over a three-year period and “borrowers will not immediately know” whether they are eligible.
Are you a struggling homeowner? Check out our Avoiding Foreclosure section for resources and tips.
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