“Tuesday’s latest home-price reading shows that momentum slowed at the end of 2009 for the housing market, adding to the confusion about where prices are headed from here.

The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index in December fell 0.2% from November, but after adjusting for seasonal factors, home prices were up 0.3%. That was the same change that the index showed in November.

Fifteen of 20 markets tracked by the index showed monthly declines, though the battered Southwest fared well. Las Vegas had its first monthly gain in more than three years (and today’s story helps to explain why conditions there have improved), while Los Angeles led the nation with a 1% monthly increase…”

Read the full article: http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2010/02/23/case-shiller-adds-to-confusion-on-housing-market/

“For the 12th straight quarter, home values declined year-over-year, according to property search and valuation site Zillow. The site released its fourth-quarter 2009 real estate market report Wednesday.

Home values declined 5 percent between fourth-quarter 2008 and fourth-quarter 2009, and 0.5 percent from the third quarter of 2009 to the fourth, to a median valuation of $186,200. More than 1 in 5 mortgaged single-family homes, 21 percent, were “underwater,” meaning the owners owed more on the house that it was worth. That negative equity rate remained virtually unchanged quarter-over-quarter.

In a sign of an impending “double dip” in the housing market, 20 percent (29 out of 143) of metropolitan areas Zillow studied had flat or decreasing home values after at least five straight months of increases during 2009. Zillow defined a market experiencing a double dip as one that saw decreasing monthly home values of at least 1 percent for at least five consecutive months, followed by a similar increase in monthly home values, followed by a similar decrease…”

Read the full article: http://www.inman.com/news/2010/02/10/zillow-signs-a-double-dip?page=0%2C0

“The share of borrowers who are falling seriously behind on loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration jumped by more than a third in the past year, foreshadowing a crush of foreclosures that could further buffet an agency vital to the housing market’s recovery.

About 9.1 percent of FHA borrowers had missed at least three payments as of December, up from 6.5 percent a year ago, the agency’s figures show.

Although the FHA’s default rate has been climbing for months and eating into the agency’s cash, the latest figures show that the FHA’s woes are getting worse even as the housing market shows signs of improvement. The problems are rooted in FHA mortgages made in 2007 and 2008. Those loans are now maturing into their worst years because failures most often occur two to three years after a mortgage is made.

If the trend continues and the FHA’s cash reserves are exhausted, the federal government would automatically use taxpayer money to cover the losses — a first for the agency, which has always used the fees it charges borrowers to pay for its losses…”

Read the full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020103527_pf.html

“A new survey reveals that savvy consumers cashing in on the new and improved homebuyer tax credit are helping fuel economic recovery.

The vast majority of current homeowners say they would spend the expanded version of the homebuyer tax credit on repaying existing debts, home improvements, savings and investments and household expenses, according to a Coldwell Banker survey of 1,000 homeowners…”

Read the full article: http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20100128_taxcred.htm

“The Obama administration is trying to simplify the paperwork for people seeking lower home-mortgage payments in an effort to avert more foreclosures.

The Treasury outlined new guidelines Thursday aimed at streamlining requirements for mortgage relief under the administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program launched a year ago.

The guidelines specify that borrowers must provide three items to loan servicers, the companies that collect mortgage payments: a form requesting a loan modification, authorization for the servicer to seek tax information from the Internal Revenue Service and evidence of income, such as two recent pay stubs. Previously, some servicers have asked borrowers to fax in copies of their tax returns. Borrowers sometimes couldn’t find the needed tax forms or complained that servicers repeatedly lost material faxed to them…”

Read the full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704878904575031321628902414.html

“For more than a year, the government pulled out the stops to revive home buying by driving down mortgage rates.

Now, whether the housing market is ready or not, the government is pulling out.

The wind-down of federal support for mortgage rates, set to end in two months, is a momentous test of whether the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve have succeeded in jump-starting the housing market and ensuring it can hold its own. The stakes for the economy are massive: If the market again falls into a tailspin, homeowners could face another wave of trouble, and it would deal a body blow to President Obama’s efforts to get the economy on track…”

Read the full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/24/AR2010012402996.html

“Just as regulators, lawmakers and all forms of financial oversight boards are talking about new regulations to guard against mortgage fraud and another mortgage meltdown, there appears to be yet a new mortgage fraud out there today, allegedly perpetuated by agents of, yes, the big banks.

I was first alerted to this by Jeremy Brandt, the CEO of several companies that bring short sale agents, investors and sellers together.

His companies include 1800CashOffer, HomeFlux.com and FastHomeOffer.com. Brandt has a huge network of short sale real estate agents, and over the past several months he’s been receiving all kinds of questions and complaints about trouble with second lien holders…”

Read the full article: http://www.cnbc.com/id/34877347

“Four years after the collapse of the U.S. housing bubble, flipping homes is back in fashion.

Jon Mirmelli, a Phoenix real-estate investor, learned late in the morning of Sept. 28 that a never-occupied custom house on the northern fringes of this Phoenix suburb was going up for auction around noon the same day. The six-bedroom home, built on a three-acre desert plot, has a kitchen with two dishwashers, four ovens, “antibacterial” copper sinks, and a master “spa” bathroom with space for a flat-screen TV visible from the tub.

The minimum bid, as set by a unit of Citigroup Inc., which had a $1.3 million mortgage on the home, was $379,900. After several minutes of bidding among investors and their representatives, some wearing shorts and flip-flops, Mr. Mirmelli won the home for $486,300. A week later, he agreed to sell it for $690,000 to a woman who moved in this month.

During the housing boom, millions of Americans tried to make money by buying and then quickly reselling new houses and condominiums. That kind of flipping stopped several years ago as home sales stalled amid a surge in foreclosures and curtailed lending.

Now, a different breed of flipper is proliferating: one who seeks bargains at foreclosure auctions. Unlike the boom-time flippers, the latest generation needs cold cash, lots of local-market knowledge and strong nerves…”

Read the full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126022588878780861.html?mod=wsj_share_twitter

“The U.S. Federal Housing Administration said on Tuesday it will raise the minimum down payment required to secure an FHA-backed mortgage for less creditworthy borrowers as part of a series of steps to shore up the agency’s finances.

The FHA said borrowers with credit rating scores below 580 would be required to make a down payment of at least 10 percent, while the rate for higher-ranked borrowers would stay at 3.5 percent.

It also said it would increase the up-front mortgage insurance premium, which is paid by the borrower when the loan is made, to 2.25 percent from 1.75 percent.

The moves will raise the cost of mortgages at a time the housing sector is trying to find its feet, but the agency said it was a prudent step to ensure its financial health and carry on its mission of supporting home ownership…”

Read the full article: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1910413620100120

“Most troubled homeowners view President Obama’s foreclosure rescue plan as a way out of their financial troubles.

But many don’t realize that entering a trial mortgage modification can actually hurt their credit.

CNNMoney recently received a flood of e-mails from readers complaining about the impact of trial modifications on their credit reports.

To be sure, many people who apply for the president’s plan are already delinquent in their mortgage payments, which wrecks their credit backgrounds. And obtaining a trial modification should affect borrowers’ scores because it shows they cannot meet their original obligation, experts said…”

Read the full article: http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/28/news/economy/loan_modifications_credit_history/index.htm