Blog

Uncle Sam continues pushing hard to make home ownership achievable for more Americans. Government-insured loans, called FHA, now account for approximately 36% of recent mortgage applications, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The appeal, of course, is that with an FHA loan, the buyer only needs a 3.5% down payment. So, for first time home buyers looking to acquire a $250,000 home, they only need a down payment of $8,750 – not much more than the first-time-buyer’s tax credit they will get back after buying that home. (…)

Despite intervention by the multiple levels of government, the foreclosure crisis continued to grow in the first half of 2009, affecting more than 1.5 million homes, according to RealtyTrac, Inc. The states most affected were 1) Nevada; 2) Arizona; 3) Florida; 4) California, and; 5) Utah (as a percentage of total homes). States with the highest actual numbers of foreclosures are 1) California; 2) Florida; 3) Arizona; 4) Illinois, and; 5) Nevada.

The report cites a nine percent (9%) increase in total properties in foreclosure compared to the previous six month period. This represents a nearly 15% increase over the same period of 2008. The report also states that 1.19 percent of all U.S. households (one in 84) received at least one foreclosure filing in the first half of the year. (…)

Pending home sales show a sustained uptrend, rising for four consecutive months with very favorable housing affordability and a first-time buyer tax credit boosting activity, according to the latest survey. The Pending Home Sales Index increased 0.1 percent to 90.7 from an upwardly revised reading of 90.6 in April, and is 6.7 percent higher than May 2008 when it was 85.0. The last time there were four consecutive monthly gains was in October 2004. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, cautions that there could be delays in the number of contracts that go to closing. “Closed existing-home sales have improved but are coming in lower than expected because some contracts are delayed or falling through from the application of new appraisal rules for many transactions,” he said. “Rises in contract activity show buyers are becoming more active even as they face much more stringent loan underwriting standards. Speedy clarification of the appraisal rules could smooth a housing market recovery and support the overall economy.”