Mortgage Rates Fall To 4.8%
Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed U.S. home loans fell for the second consecutive week, pushing borrowing costs to near record lows.
The average U.S. 30-year rate dropped to 4.87 percent from 4.94 percent last week. The 15-year rate was 4.33 percent, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac of McLean, Virginia, said today in a [...]
New law Makes Mortgage Fraud A Felony. $200 Million Fund To Prosecute Real Estate Fraud
New national legislation calls for setting up a $200 million fund to help states prosecute mortgage and real estate fraud cases.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is teaming with Charles Schumer (D-NY) to back the Fighting Real Estate Fraud Act of 2009, which [...]
Meritage Homes buys 1,300 Maricopa AZ lots
Scottsdale-based Meritage Homes Corp. has purchased the undeveloped portion of a large, age-restricted community in the city of Maricopa, about 40 miles south of Phoenix.
Meritage said Monday that it had purchased about 1,300 vacant lots inside Province, a master-planned “active-adult community” originally developed by Engle Homes and Phoenix-based Sunbelt [...]
US Housing Market Report
Some clouds in housing report gain. Overall increase in starts is tempered by downturn in single-family component
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — New home building increased overall in August, a government report said Thursday, but the gain was clouded by a dip in new construction of single-family homes.
The Census Bureau reported Thursday that builders [...]
The Healthiest Housing Markets for 2009Builder, in conjunction with Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, debuts its metric for determining markets with the best and least potential.By: Boyce Thompson
With most economists and builders expecting a national market decline this year, this may not seem like the best time to be selecting the “healthiest” markets in the country. [...]
‘Realistic’ approach is needed in weak marketby Ellen James Martin-Universal Press Syndicate
Those who sell real estate recall those heady days just a few years ago, when competition over the best homes on the market – known as “showcase properties” – was robust. Multiple bids were common, and eager buyers submitted contract offers stripped of all [...]