Archive for the ‘Real Estate Topics’ Category.
February 10, 2012, 2:15 am
New mortgage standards for major lenders are due to take effect starting January 2012, Marketwatch reports.
The new rules have been in effect for months, but only on a voluntary basis. Starting in 2012, these regulations will be mandatory.
The new standards are known as the servicer alignment initiative and will be applicable to all mortgages backed by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Federal Housing Administration, reports the news source.
Under the new rules and regulations, servicers will be required to provide guidance on foreclosure alternatives for borrowers who are 30 days delinquent. Continue reading post…
January 21, 2012, 4:40 pm
International buyers spurred Miami-area home sales to a new record in 2011, even exceeding sales volume during the height of the real estate boom in 2005, according to figures released Friday.
Broward County results were mixed, although inventory across both counties showed widespread depletions.
A total of 24,929 condominiums and homes were sold in Miami-Dade County, up 46 percent from 2010 and up 4 percent compared to 2005, according to the Miami Association of Realtors and the Southeast Florida Multiple Listing Service. Condominiums sales surged 54 percent, to 15,009 in 2011, and home sales rose 36 percent to 9,920.
Were on the verge of a real estate boom, said Miami Association of Realtors Residential President Patricia Delinois, citing an array of properties from the Design District and Brickell to Miami Beach.
Continue reading post…
January 15, 2012, 7:09 am
In recent years, many people have turned to individual agencies, housing counselors and lenders to avoid foreclosure – but many found themselves paying scammers who took money and failed to protect them.
In a new information campaign, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is telling homeowners that anyone at risk of foreclosure can receive free counseling from HUD’s nationwide network of approved counseling agencies.
Available services
Although each agency offers specific services, each generally offers the following types of help:
• General counseling in matters related to housing
• An evaluation of a homeowner’s specific situation
• Counseling on ways to avoid foreclosure
• Help with refinancing through HUD’s various programs or with lender negotiations
HUD-approved agencies cannot charge for their foreclosure counseling services. However, they c Continue reading post…
January 8, 2012, 4:59 am
Imagine a pipeline carrying oil from northern Canada all the way through the United States down to the Gulf Coast Refinery Hub in Texas. Sounds like a particularly boring science-fiction? Well, it‘s not. Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper has recently announced the government’s decision to build a huge transnational pipeline exporting raw bitumen to a petrochemical plant in the south of the U.S. Here, the unprocessed material will be turned into finished fuel, chemicals, or plastics.
The whole plan is presented as an ethical alternative of solving the growing American dependency on oil from unstable and often undemocratic regions. Furthermore, domestic resources within the U.S. are running out, and neither declining imports from Venezuela nor Mexico help to alleviate the U.S. eco
Continue reading post…
January 4, 2012, 4:28 pm
Data from a recent report shows sales in the Houston real estate market have risen for the fourth consecutive month, finds the Houston Association of Realtors.
The sales of single-family homes has risen 16.9 percent from September 2010. The price of Houston homes has also increased to an all time high, while the month’s inventory fell to its lowest level since May 2010. Pending sales rates rose and the number of active listings in the market place declined.
Houston’s overall housing market yielded positive results in all sales categories compared to September 2010. Continue reading post…