Real Estate News

Will Congress Extend the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit?
By Nick Timiraos
Wall Street Journal
August 24, 2009

One big question looming over Congress when it returns from its summer recess next month: what to do about that $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers?

Housing crisis set to enter new stage
By Anthony Mirhaydari
August 21, 2009

The march of good news continues for housing. Existing home sales jumped 7.2% between June and July -- the largest increase in over a decade and the fastest pace in nearly two years -- according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Prices are down 15% compared to last year.

Reappraising Home Appraisers
By James R. Hagerty
Wall Street Journal
August 18, 2009

After being blamed for helping to inflate home values during the housing boom, the appraisal business is again coming under fire.

Squeezed by a drop in fees, some appraisers are compensating by driving long distances to handle more assignments. Their wanderings are raising questions about whether they know enough about the neighborhoods to accurately assess the value of homes—which has implications for both home buyers and owners.

Real estate rebound? Existing-home sales inch upward in Chicago region
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
Chicago Tribune
August 18, 2009

July sales of existing homes in the Chicago region posted the first year-over-year gain in at least two years, a sign that the local housing market may have, from a sales volume standpoint, bottomed out.

The same cannot be said of prices, which, while showing improvement on a monthly basis, remain far below year-ago levels.

Homes still affordable - really affordable
The bright side of the housing bust: Homebuying has not been this affordable in a generation.
By Les Christie
August 19, 2009

Homes continue to be more affordable than they have been in nearly two decades.

The typical American family, making the nation's median income of $64,000 a year, could afford to buy 72.3% of all homes sold in the United States during the second quarter, according a quarterly report from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500).

One In Three Chance You'll Soon Owe More Than Your House Is Worth
By Henry Blodget
August 20, 2009

Foreclosure rates in the U.S. remain near record highs. More than 13% of American homeowners with a mortgage are either behind on their payments or in foreclosure. The latest report from the Mortgage Bankers Association, released today, shows the percentage of loans that entered the foreclosure process dipped slightly to 1.36%, down from an all-time high of 1.37% in the first quarter.

New appraisal rules cause chaos
By Marcie Geffner
of Bankrate.com

The new "code of conduct" that was supposed to protect lenders and borrowers from faulty appraisals has caused higher costs, delays and considerable chaos in home sales and loan refinances.

The New American Dream: Renting
It's time to accept that home ownership is not a realistic goal for many people and to curtail the enormous government programs fueling this ambition.
By Thomas J. Sugrue
Wall Street Journal
August 15, 2009

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Local new-home sales show another positive sign
By Eddie Baeb
Crain's Chicago Business
August 10, 2009

The local market is growing a little less bleak for homebuilders.

For the second straight quarter, sales of new homes climbed higher on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis, as activity was buoyed by major price cuts and the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers that expires Dec. 1.