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Tuesday, February 02, 2010
 First-timers are fastest-growing segment
By MATT CARTER First-time homebuyers not only account for the largest share of home sales in many markets, but represent the fastest-growing segment of home sales in nearly half of those markets, brokers surveyed by Inman News report. Second homes and move-up homes, on the other hand, are the most rapidly shrinking segment of their business, brokers responding to the survey said. Homes sold to first-time buyers made up the largest share of home sales for 37 percent of brokers surveyed by Inman News from Oct. 16, 2009, to Jan. 12, 2010. More »
FHA: Pay less upfront, more later?
If Congress goes along, the Obama administration proposes to slash upfront premiums on FHA mortgage insurance to 1 percent, down from 1.75 percent today, but would offset that reduction with a 70 percent increase in annual premiums. With FHA's capital reserve ratio falling below the 2 percent minimum set by Congress, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last month announced several steps to cut the mortgage insurance program's losses and raise revenue. More »
Pending home sales higher in December
Pending home sales in December showed signs of recovering from a slump the month before, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors released Tuesday. The association also adjusted its economic outlook for 2010 and 2011, and projects that existing-home sales will rise from 5.19 million in 2009 to 5.66 million in 2010 and 5.7 million in 2011. More »
Former mortgage exec gets 13 years
The former president of Hesperia, Calif.-based Mortgage One Corp. has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison and ordered to pay nearly $30 million in restitution for what prosecutors said was his central role in a mortgage fraud scheme involving 905 FHA-backed loans. John Richard Varner, 56, is among 15 defendants convicted to date in a mortgage fraud scheme involving U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved Direct Endorsement Lenders Mortgage One Corp. in Hesperia and M-1 Capital Corp. in Riverside and Rancho Cucamonga. More »
Jumping on the REO wagon
NEW YORK CITY -- Major residential brokerages may still snub their noses at the listings, but a growing number of firms, particularly in the outer boroughs, are fighting for a share of the foreclosed homes market. Lenders took back thousands of homes in New York state last year and thousands more face foreclosure this year. More »
A page-turner for home sellers
Homebuyers have all the fun. Well, at least they get the vast majority of the how-to books. Maybe it's the fact that sellers have already gone through at least one real estate transaction that makes them seem inherently more sophisticated and less needy of basic instruction. Fact is, these days it takes at least as much careful planning and strategy to be a smart seller as it does to be a smart buyer -- sometimes more. More » |
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