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 than economists’ forecasts. Census also revised the December figure higher to a rate of 324,000, meaning that the pace of sales was about 6% stronger that month than the original estimate.

The supply of new homes for sale once again fell, the 11th straight month the inventory of new homes on the market has been at a record low level. The continued decline in supply comes even as other government readings have shown an increase in housing starts by home builders in recent months.

The tight supply, which was at 151,000 new homes in January, helped to lift prices, as the median price of a new home sold in the month rose slightly to $217,100, up $600 from December.

There are other signs that the long-suffering housing market is finally improving. The pace of sales of existing homes in January was at the highest point since the end of an $8,000 home buyers’ tax credit in 2010. Mortgage rates have been at record lows until a slight increase this week.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/24/real_estate/home_sales/index.htm?section=money_realestate&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_realestate+%28Real+Estate%29

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 (FMCC, Fortune 500). Meanwhile, the rate on 15-year fixed loans inched slightly higher to 3.19%after sticking at 3.16% for two weeks in a row.

The rise in rates is a vote of confidence for the housing market, which continues to show signs of gradual improvement, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

Adding to the cautious optimism about the housing industry are recent reports that showed a decline in the percentage of borrowers who were seriously delinquent on their loans, an increase in new home construction and a stronger pace of existing home sales.

Home prices at lowest point in 10 years

Mortgage rates have mostly been on a slow downward trend since last year, when the 30-year rate averaged 4.95% and the 15-year averaged 4.22%, according to Freddie.

The recent increases, said Keith Gumbinger of HSH Associates, could be the beginning of a gentle rate climb over the next few months, making borrowing to buy a house a tad more expensive.

However, the current difference between this week’s average and the record low that was initially set three weeks ago would only add about $4.50 for every $100,000 to a borrower’s monthly mortgage payment.

Although rates could go higher if the economy continues to gain strength. “It’s premature to make any strong claims right now,” he said.

But with investors feeling better about parking their money in stocks these days — the S&P 500 (SPX) is up more than 8% year-to-date — yields on fixed-income investment like Treasuries are likely to make some gains.

Economy in recovery? Not so fast

“With the economy better, you don’t have to stick your money in those safe havens,” said Gumbinger.

Bond yields will have to rise to attract buyers and, since mortgage rates closely track those bond yields, mortgage rates will likely go up, too, he said.

Although they will probably climb more slowly than Treasuries will. That’s because the spread — the difference between mortgage rates and bond yields — often shrinks when bond yields rise, according to Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com.

The difference between the two usually runs about 1.7 percentage points, said Gumbinger, but it has been hovering around 2 points since last July. As the mortgage rates lag the growth in bond yields, that spread will narrow. 

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/23/real_estate/mortgage_rates/index.htm?section=money_realestate&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_realestate+%28Real+Estate%29

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. That’s the lowest price reading since November 2001, before the run-up in home prices that became known as the housing bubble.

The median price is the point at which half of homes are sold for a higher price, and half are sold at a lower price. (Multi-million dollar foreclosures)

Serving as a drag on existing home prices is a large inventory of homes in foreclosure. Distressed home sales, which includes homes in foreclosure and so-called short sales in which the home is sold for less than what is owed on the mortgage, made up 35% of sales in January.

“Prices will continue to fall through the first half of 2012 due to the high share of distressed sales,” said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist with PNC Financial. “The recent agreement between the big mortgage servicers, state attorneys general and the Obama administration will also result in more homes going to foreclosure over the next few months, adding to downward pressure on prices.”

But the pace of sales rose to the highest level since May of 2010, helped by the low prices and rock-bottom mortgage rates. The seasonally-adjusted annual sales pace of 4.57 million homes was up slightly from the revised 4.38 million in December. The last time homes sold at that pace, buyers were rushing to qualify for an $8,000 homebuyer’s tax credit that was about to expire. The latest reading was roughly in line with the expectations of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

“The uptrend in home sales is in line with all of the underlying fundamentals — pent-up household formation, record-low mortgage interest rates, bargain home prices, sustained job creation and rising rents,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors.

The housing market has been showing signs of recovery in recent months. The combination of low mortgage rates and a decline in home prices means homes are more affordable than they’ve been in decades. PNC’s Hoffman agreed that the report is a further sign of recovery in the market, although he cautioned “it will remain a long process.”

The supply of existing homes on the market tightened slightly in the Realtors’ latest report, slipping 0.4% to 2.3 million homes, roughly a 6 month supply. That is down 20% from the supply of homes a year ago.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/22/real_estate/home_sales/index.htm?section=money_realestate&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_realestate+%28Real+Estate%29

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 there is also an earlier settlement that has been nearly forgotten — and that could lead to an even bigger payoff, in some cases.

As part of an enforcement actionby federal authorities last April, 14 mortgage servicers, including Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), Citibank (C, Fortune 500), HSBC (HBC), MetLife Bank (MET,Fortune 500), PNC Mortgage (PNC, Fortune 500) and Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500), agreed to hire independent consultants to investigate foreclosure abuses and compensate those who suffered financial harm.

As a result of the program, up to 4.3 million mortgage borrowers who were foreclosed on in 2009 and 2010 will have a chance to request an independent review of how their foreclosure was handled.

So far, only 90,000 eligible homeowners have submitted claims, prompting the feds to extend the deadline for applications by three months to July 31.

The exact amount of money borrowers will receive has yet to be determined. But if a review finds that “financial injury” occurred — say a bank charged inappropriate fees or it went forward with a foreclosure without a valid claim to the property — a homeowner could be repaid in full for their losses.

Borrowers who were improperly charged even just a single fee could be repaid for it, according to Bryan Hubbard, a spokesman for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, one of the federal regulatory agencies that negotiated the agreement.

And borrowers who suffered much larger losses could be in line for much bigger repayments than promised by the AG’s settlement, which will pay up to $2,000 to the estimated 750,000 who lost their homes to foreclosure between 2008 and 2011.

The compensation could even repay the cost of regaining a wrongfully lost home if warranted by the facts of the case, according to Hubbard.

The Independent Foreclosure Review was sparked by the robo-signing scandal that exposed the bank’s treatment of borrowers in the foreclosure process. The lenders lost documents and recreated them, had low-level employees with no knowledge of what they were attesting to sign legal papers and bent the rules requiring them to halt foreclosures if borrowers sought mortgage modifications.

What the $26B foreclosure settlement means for you

Unlike the $26 billion settlement with the state attorneys general, borrowers didn’t have to lose their homes in order to receive compensation, according to Hubbard.

“It could be anyone who suffered financial loss because of errors made in the foreclosure process,” he said.

Since the settlements are completely independent of one another, claimants can double-dip, filing for compensation under both settlements. (To seek compensation under the state attorneys general settlement, contact your lender or servicer and ask them to review your case).

To make a claim for the Independent Foreclosure Review, borrowers have to fill out a five-page form that identifies some examples of situations that may have led to financial injury. Borrowers do not have to provide documentation. That will be handled by an independent agency.

No reviews have been completed yet, according to Hubbard. And individual cases may take months to come to decision.

For more information on the forms, go to the website set up by the servicers. And for a full list of the mortgage services involved in the Independent Foreclosure Review, go to the Federal Reserve website 

Source:http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/20/real_estate/foreclosure_review/index.htm?section=money_realestate&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_realestate+%28Real+Estate%29

On a seasonally adjusted basis, 7.58% of mortgage borrowers were late on their loan payments during the last three months of 2011, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That was down 0.67 percentage points from 12 months earlier and 2.5 percentage points from the peak set in the first quarter of 2010.

“That’s a pretty substantial decline,” said Mike Fratantoni, the MBA’s Vice President for Single-Family Research and Policy. “We’re about halfway back from the peak.”

The improved mortgage performance reflected continued improvements on the jobs front and in the broader economy, according to Jay Brinkmann, chief economist at the MBA.

Home buying: Most affordable in decades

He also said the the 0.28 percentage-point decline in loans on which foreclosure actions were started during the fourth quarter is a good predictor of fewer future bank repossessions. During the quarter, foreclosure starts dropped to below 1%, a healthy decline from the 1.4% peak logged in the third quarter of 2009 and significantly closer to the long-term average of slightly under 0.5%, he said.

The delinquency numbers could have been even better except for forces that kept mortgages in the default process longer. As a result of the robo-signing scandal, banks taken greater pains to make sure their paperwork is in order. That has meant that many loans have gotten stuck in the foreclosure pipeline longer, boosting delinquency rates.

The delays have been especially long in states, like Florida and New York, where the courts are involved in the foreclosure process.

In such judicial foreclosure states, the percentage of loans stuck in foreclosure inventory is at 6.8% and growing. Meanwhile, in non-judicial states, only 2.8% of loans are stuck in the pipeline and that percentage is shrinking.

What the $26B foreclosure settlement means for you

The $26 billion foreclosure settlement between major mortgage lenders and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and attorneys general from 49 states and the District of Columbia should bring greater clarity and speed to the foreclosure process.

That could reduce delinquency rates substantially, according to Fratantoni, and bring them even closer to long-term, historical rates.

One category that failed to show improvement during the quarter were delinquencies on mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration. The percentage of FHA loans that were past due rose to 12.36% from 12.09% a quarter earlier and from 12.27% 12 months earlier. Seriously delinquent FHA loans increased to 9.02% from 8.39% and 8.46%.

Brinkmann attributed the increase to the fact that a much larger percentage of the FHA’s loan portfolio has been issued during the past few years and those loans are now entering into the dangerous years for mortgages, the three or four years after issue when delinquency rates start to peak.

Just two years, 2008 and 2009, account for 53% of the seriously delinquent loans in the FHA’s portfolio. Brinkmann expects delinquency rates for loans issued during those years to continue to rise.

“The key question, though, is: What did the FHA plan for? and our understanding is that the delinquency rate is below what the FHA was expecting,” he said. 

Source:http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/16/real_estate/mortgage_market/index.htm?section=money_realestate&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_realestate+%28Real+Estate%29

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 rose to an annual rate of 699,000, up 1.5% from December. Compared to a year ago, housing starts were almost 10% higher.

Building permits, which are less affected by weather than starts, came in at a 676,000 annual rate in January, up 0.7% from the prior month and 19% from a year earlier.

Results were also better than industry expectations. A consensus of industry experts from Briefing.com had forecast starts of 671,000 and permits of 675,000.

Housing completions fell to an annual rate of 530,000 in January, however, a drop of 12% compared to December, but up more than 4% from a year earlier.

“Along with the overall positive tides seen recently in the economy, it looks as if residential building is starting to follow suit,” said Mike Lubansky, senior financial analyst at Sageworks. “Although residential building still has a steep hill to climb in order to achieve a full recovery to pre-2007 levels, it does look to be on the right trajectory.”

For a full-blown recovery, experts say good news needs to continue out of the job market. So far, the unemployment rate has dropped for five straight months, and now stands at 8.3%, the lowest since February 2009.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits have also been falling. On Thursday, a government report showed that the number of Americans filing for jobless claims plunged to the lowest level in nearly four years.

“Today’s data are further proof that the recovery solidified in late 2011, and that momentum has carried forward into 2012,” said Gus Faucher, senior economist at PNC Financial Services Group. “More importantly, the likelihood of an even stronger recovery is growing.”

He added that a continued pick-up in job growth this year could support faster consumer spending growth and a stronger rebound in housing. But, he added, the financial crisis in Europe remains the largest downside risk.  

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/16/real_estate/housing_starts/index.htm?section=money_realestate&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_realestate+%28Real+Estate%29

On a seasonally adjusted basis, 7.58% of mortgage borrowers were late on their loan payments during the last three months of 2011, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That was down 0.67 percentage points from 12 months earlier and 2.5 percentage points from the peak set in the first quarter of 2010.

“That’s a pretty substantial decline,” said Mike Fratantoni, the MBA’s Vice President for Single-Family Research and Policy. “We’re about halfway back from the peak.”

The improved mortgage performance reflected continued improvements on the jobs front and in the broader economy, according to Jay Brinkmann, chief economist at the MBA.

Home buying: Most affordable in decades

He also said the the 0.28 percentage-point decline in loans on which foreclosure actions were started during the fourth quarter is a good predictor of fewer future bank repossessions. During the quarter, foreclosure starts dropped to below 1%, a healthy decline from the 1.4% peak logged in the third quarter of 2009 and significantly closer to the long-term average of slightly under 0.5%, he said.

The delinquency numbers could have been even better except for forces that kept mortgages in the default process longer. As a result of the robo-signing scandal, banks taken greater pains to make sure their paperwork is in order. That has meant that many loans have gotten stuck in the foreclosure pipeline longer, boosting delinquency rates.

The delays have been especially long in states, like Florida and New York, where the courts are involved in the foreclosure process.

In such judicial foreclosure states, the percentage of loans stuck in foreclosure inventory is at 6.8% and growing. Meanwhile, in non-judicial states, only 2.8% of loans are stuck in the pipeline and that percentage is shrinking.

What the $26B foreclosure settlement means for you

The $26 billion foreclosure settlement between major mortgage lenders and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and attorneys general from 49 states and the District of Columbia should bring greater clarity and speed to the foreclosure process.

That could reduce delinquency rates substantially, according to Fratantoni, and bring them even closer to long-term, historical rates.

One category that failed to show improvement during the quarter were delinquencies on mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration. The percentage of FHA loans that were past due rose to 12.36% from 12.09% a quarter earlier and from 12.27% 12 months earlier. Seriously delinquent FHA loans increased to 9.02% from 8.39% and 8.46%.

Brinkmann attributed the increase to the fact that a much larger percentage of the FHA’s loan portfolio has been issued during the past few years and those loans are now entering into the dangerous years for mortgages, the three or four years after issue when delinquency rates start to peak.

Just two years, 2008 and 2009, account for 53% of the seriously delinquent loans in the FHA’s portfolio. Brinkmann expects delinquency rates for loans issued during those years to continue to rise.

“The key question, though, is: What did the FHA plan for? and our understanding is that the delinquency rate is below what the FHA was expecting,” he said. 

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/16/real_estate/mortgage_market/index.htm?section=money_realestate&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_realestate+%28Real+Estate%29

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Citigroup will pay $158 million to settle charges that its mortgage unit defrauded the Federal Housing Administration by inaccurately claiming that certain mortgages were eligible for government insurance, government officials announced Wednesday.

Under the FHA’s Direct Endorsement Lender program, lenders like Citi’s CitiMortgage division can submit certain loans for government insurance in case a borrower defaults. Lenders are required to maintain their own quality-control programs to ensure that loans submitted for such insurance have been prepared properly and without any evidence of fraud.

Citi, however, repeatedly obscured or downplayed problems with loans submitted for insurance over the past decade, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office said Wednesday. The firm ignored roughly 1,000 cases of potential fraud and failed to verify information on borrowers’ ability to make payments, according to the complaint in the case.

Of the 30,000 mortgages Citi (C, Fortune 500) has endorsed for FHA insurance since 2004, more than 30% have defaulted, including 47% of those originated in 2006 and 2007. The government has already paid out nearly $200 million in claims on these loans, a “substantial percentage” of which should never have been eligible for insurance, the complaint says.

Federal officials brought similar cases in relation to the FHA insurance program last year against Deutsche Bank (DB) and Allied Home Mortgage Corporation.

“This settlement demonstrates that lenders are held accountable to strict underwriting standards,” David Montoya, inspector general for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said in a statement.

“We are committed to aggressively pursuing those whose misconduct contributed to the housing crisis and those who flagrantly continue to do so.”

The case is distinct from the nationwide settlement announced last week in which Citi and four other large lenders committed $26 billion to help underwater homeowners and compensate those who lost their homes due to improper foreclosure practices. Also involved in that settlement were Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), JPMorgan Chase (JPM,Fortune 500), Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) and Ally Financial.

“We are pleased to resolve this matter in conjunction with the National Mortgage Settlement reached last week,” Citi spokesman Mark Rodgers said in an email. “We take our quality assurance processes seriously and have pro-actively undertaken process improvements to ensure that they are as robust as possible.”

Citi admitted responsibility for failing to comply with the insurance program as part of the settlement, which was approved by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero on Wednesday. 

Source:http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/15/news/companies/citi_mortgage_settlement/index.htm

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — When it comes to dating, homeownership can be the ultimate aphrodisiac.

In a survey of 1,000 single people, more than a third of women and 18% of men said they would much rather date a homeowner than a renter.

Only 2% of women said they preferred to date a man who rents, while only 3% of men said they would choose a woman who rents over one that owns her home, according to the survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive for real estate site Trulia.

Both sexes also clearly prefer it when there’s no roommate in the picture; 62% of survey respondents, men and women, prefer to date singles who live alone.

I’m home! Adult children move back in with parents

And there was bad news for the growing number of boomerang kids — the young adults who went off to college, graduated and then wound up back in their old bedrooms. It’s going to be hard to find love, except (perhaps) from your parents. Less than 5% of all singles surveyed said they would date someone living in their childhood homes.

“That’s a real deal-breaker,” said Michael Corbett, a spokesman for Trulia. “If you’re still living with your folks, you’re dead-on-arrival for dating.”

Trulia also asked which home features are the biggest turn-ons. Number one turned out to be a master bath. Men (64%) love that private sanctum almost as much as women (75%) do.

Cool and unusual homes for sale

Walk-in closets were cited by 55% of men and 72% of women and gourmet kitchens got 51% of the male vote and 62% of the female. Hardwood floors, outdoor decks and home theaters also came in high on the list.

Interestingly enough, hot tubs got a lot less love from respondents. Only 26% of men and 22% of women cited the old standby in the science of seduction as an amenity they would truly want.  

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/14/real_estate/dating_homeownership/index.htm?section=money_realestate&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_realestate+%28Real+Estate%29

Yet the day of love has come again, It’s Valentines Day! It is a day flourished by courtly love in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, sending greeting cards and of course lots of kisses. The cutie hearts symbolizes the love which you can find as well on the tip of Cupid’s arrow. Cupid is the cutest cherubin most likely believed to be blamed why we fall in love. “The Matchmaker”..Once we are tamed by his arrow everything is history, It was the time we meet ou MATCH..

“Life without Love is dull and empty”.love fills the emptiness of your whole existence with sweet illusions and dreams and makes it somewhat meaningful for you.

Red Roses became the flower of choice for lovers  not only carries the deepest meaning among all rose color but it is the strongest symbol of love and affection. This tradition still lives on to the present day. It is by far the romantic gift a man can give to a woman.

We all have our own ways of celebrating Valentines Day weather it will be with your loved ones, family or friends. The most important part is that we share the essence of Love with everyone.

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!