Market Trends and Condition

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http://www.nationalreihomes.com/real-estate-news-blog.html

When I was driving my neighborhoods this weekend looking for the FSBO (For Sale By Owner) signs to call I noticed a few things. In the lower income or middle income neighborhoods the houses are still selling, albeit slow, they have signs in the yards to sell the homes. The homes are selling sometimes in as little as 30 days and these are good starter homes. However, when I drove... Read more below

http://nationalreihomes.com/real-estate-news-blog.html

This is a tale that should give all investors pause. Though it’s extreme, and it’s unlikely that many will run into a situation this bizarre, we should all note that it does happen.

A real estate investor purchased a four-plex in St. Paul in 2008, and she’s still in court trying to get back some of her money. She knew it needed work, but not the extent, and there is no indication that she had it inspected. She paid $47,621 for the property, purchased from an investment trust represented by the Bank of New York.

Here is a little story about celebrity homes and the price they finally sold.

Anderson Cooper just bought a home for $1.7 million that was originally listed for $2.95 million.

Regis Philbin finally sold his $5.9 million listed home for.................$3.0 million

No property is immune to deep discounts, except when you do tactics like Joan Rivers. Read the story here:

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/22/10191288-celeb-real-est...

Fannie Mae CEO to Resign

Michael Williams, CEO of Fannie Mae, has announced that he is resigning from his multi-million dollar compensated position as soon as a replacement is located. Williams took the job in 2009, and has presided over increasing losses since at Fannie Mae. Former Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd was charged by the SEC in December with securities fraud for misrepresenting the financial condition of the mortgage giant during his tenure.

Jingle Mail on the Rise

Jingle Mail, or strategic default, is the practice of homeowners walking away from mortgages they can afford and mailing in their keys. They’re walking away because they’ve seen their equity disappear, and they’re now in the hole, owing more than their homes are worth.

When banks were foreclosing on many homes after the mortgage meltdown, Robo-signing was the practice of bank employees signing thousands of documents and affidavits without verifying the information contained in the document or affidavit, as well as, some other questionable foreclosure practices. Some reports have revealed that one bank official signed off on almost 10,000 documents in one month alone. The practice calls into question the validity... (see more at http://www.nationalreihomes.com/real-estate-news-blog.html

The White House, in conjunction with federal regulators are putting forth the idea of a pilot program early in 2012 to sell off foreclosures in bulk to investors. The program would sell off foreclosed homes owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in bulk for conversion to rentals.

There is pressure for the government to do more, especially when many see a surge in foreclosures in 2012 due to banks getting their procedures back on track after the robo-signing scandal. Inventories are already very high, and a new surge will further pressure prices downward. This trend is one that many fear will increase the number of “strategic defaults,” or those walking away from homes they can afford because they’re far underwater on their mortgages.

http://nationalreihomes.com/real-estate-news-blog.html

At the end of 2011, foreclosure inventories had fallen to their lowest level since the beginning of the housing crash in 2007. Default notices and bank repossessions were down by 33% for the year to 2.7 million.

One in every 69 homes had at least one foreclosure filing during the year. 804,000 homes were repossessed. More than 4 million homes have been lost to foreclosure over the past five years. While reading this far, one would begin to feel better about the housing situation, it’s really only a dip in the rising foreclosure numbers.