Housing settlement details due out this week

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) — Final details are due out this week in the $26 billion settlement to help struggling homeowners and settle charges of abusive and negligent foreclosure practices, according to President Obama’s housing chief. The Obama administration made a big announcement nearly three weeks ago, touting that 49 states had agreed on a deal with the five [...]

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FHA to hike premiums on mortgages

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — In an effort to bolster its capital reserves, the Federal Housing Administration is planning to hike the insurance premiums it charges borrowers. Beginning April 1, the agency, which is the largest insurer of low-down payment mortgages, will raise the up-front insurance premium it charges borrowers by 75 basis points to 1.75% [...]

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Why the Federal Reserve can’t fix housing

  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Housing is still one of the biggest drags on U.S. economic growth, but don’t look to the Federal Reserve for help. The central bank may have few tools left to fix it. That’s the basic hypothesis of a paper top economists presented to a room full of monetary policy elites [...]

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New home sales exceed expectations

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — New home sales exceeded forecasts in the latest government readings Friday, another sign of a long-awaited recovery in the battered housing market. The Census Bureau reported that the pace of new home sales hit a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 321,000 in January, up from the previous reading for December and better [...]

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30-year mortgage rate rises above record low

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose for the first time in four weeks, relinquishing its all-time record low amid news that the housing market is showing some signs of improvement. Rates on 30-year fixed loans rose to an average of 3.95% from the record 3.87% last week, according to Freddie Mac [...]

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Home prices at lowest point in more than 10 years

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Home prices fell to their lowest point in more than a decade in January, which helped to lift the pace of home sales, according to a report from an industry trade group. The National Association of Realtors reported that the median home price in January fell 2% from December to $154,700. [...]

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The other foreclosure settlement: Millions of homeowners eligible

  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Millions of borrowers who suffered financial losses because their mortgage lenders played fast and loose while processing their foreclosures now have two ways of getting a payback. They can tap the $26 billion settlement between the state attorneys general and the nation’s five biggest banks that was inked two weeks ago. But [...]

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Mortgage delinquencies decline

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The mortgage meltdown that began five years ago appears to be reversing course as the percentage of loans that fell into delinquency slowly returned to normal rates and fewer loans fell into foreclosure. On a seasonally adjusted basis, 7.58% of mortgage borrowers were late on their loan payments during the last [...]

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New home construction starts strong in 2012

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — New home construction got off to a strong start for the year, with housing starts and building permits rising in January on a monthly and annual basis — another sign that the U.S. housing market and broader economy are headed in the right direction. The Census Bureau reported that housing starts [...]

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Mortgage delinquencies decline

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The mortgage meltdown that began five years ago appears to be reversing course as the percentage of loans that fell into delinquency slowly returned to normal rates and fewer loans fell into foreclosure. On a seasonally adjusted basis, 7.58% of mortgage borrowers were late on their loan payments during the last [...]

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