Homes and Dreams

Real Estate News Updates Week Ending 10/29/2011:

Obama Refi Plan Is Not Housing Stimulus | CNBC

House Republican To Unveil Housing Reform Sans Fannie, Freddie | HousingWire

S&P/Case-Shiller August 10 City, 20 City Indices Up 0.2% | HousingWire

FHFA: Home Prices Down 0.1% From Prior Month | HousingWire

Investors Show Interest In Foreclosure Plan | CNBC

Pending Home Sales Up 6% From Last Year | HousingWire

Exit Announced, Freddie Mac CEO Suggests Mortgage Finance Future | HousingWire

Mortgage Probe May Open Path For Housing Relief | CNBC

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Real Estate News Updates Week Ending 10/22/2011:

Bill Would Remove Penalty For Tapping 401(k) To Avoid Foreclosure | Los Angeles Times

Home Builder Sentiment Posts Biggest Gain In Over A Year | CNBC

Buyer Can’t Sue After Bad Foreclosure Sale | Bloomberg

Housing Starts Jump 15%; Inflation Presents Mixed Bag | CNBC

Buy A U.S. Home, Get A Visa–But There’s A Catch | CNBC

Existing Home Sales Fall 3% In September | HousingWire

Senate Votes To Extend Jumbo Conforming Loan Limits | HousingWire

HUD Announces $27 Million In Sweat Equity Grants | HUD

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Real Estate News Updates Week Ending 10/15/2011:

Fannie Survey Shows Americans Expect More Declines In Home Prices | HousingWire

Senators Press For Mass Mortgage Refi Plan | HousingWire

RealtyTrac CEO Signals Start Of Foreclosure Comeback | HousingWire

Radar Logic To Launch Housing Futures | HousingWire

Freddie To Link Employee Pay With Customer Satisfaction | HousingWire

Harvard Economist Sees Mortgage Debt Hurting Housing Market For Some Time | HousingWire

Republican Jobs Bill Aims To Repeal Dodd-Frank | HousingWire

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Despite some pessimism pertaining to the global and domestic economies, the U.S. housing sector continues to show promising signs of stability and growth. Low levels of new home construction and gaining sales volume fueled by an inventory of affordable housing since Richard Nixon was president have reduced the number of homes on the market. This means home prices may begin to appreciate again.

While there are many factors that can be barriers to buying a home, such as the tightening of mortgage lending rules by banks, consumer confidence in the job market is among one of the top obstacles to home ownership. In the 2011 Housing Pulse Survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors, 80% of respondents cited job security as their primary concern when deciding to buy.

For only the fourth time since the beginning of 2010, home sales in August were up both year-over-year and month-over-month, posting an 18.6% gain from last year, with first-time home buyers accounting for nearly a third of all homes purchased. These indications of strength in the housing market may help to add to consumer confidence, which is an integral part of sustained growth. Even though there is still a long road to recovery ahead of us, there are opportunities to be had for both home buyers and sellers.

Home ownership became even more affordable, with the average rate for 30-year fixed mortgages falling to 4.01% the last week in September. This drop came as a result of the Federal Reserve extending the average maturity of its holdings as a part of the Maturity Extension Program, an effort designed to put downward pressure on interest rates and yields on treasury bonds in order to stimulate the economy. It is hoped that this action will encourage banks to loosen lending conditions, as it becomes more attractive to loan money to home buyers, rather than invest in treasury bonds.

Sources: National Association Of Realtors, Freddie Mac
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