Homes and Dreams

Most Interesting Real Estate News ~ Week Ending 2/25/2012:

FHFA Submits Plan To Build New Secondary Mortgage Market | HousingWire

Fannie Mae Says Housing To Boost GDP For Fisrt Time In Seven Years | HousingWire

Existing Hom Sales Jump 4.3% In January, Inventory Levels Dip | HousingWire

What HARP 2.0 Means For Homeowners | Fox Business News

FHFA 4Q Home Prices Down 2.4% | HousingWire

Bank Of America Stops Selling Mortgages To Fannie Mae | HousingWire

New Home Sales Remain Mostly Flat In January | HousingWire

Proposed Bill Would Allow Principal Write-Downs In Bankruptcy | HousingWire
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Most Interesting Real Estate News ~ Week Ending 2/18/2012:

CFPB Sees 10 Million Borrowers At Risk Of Credit Default | HousingWire

Housing Starts Climb More Than Expected In January | CNBC

Foreclosures On The Rise Again | CNBC

Home Prices Fall, But Inventory Levels Improve | HousingWire

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Most Interesting Real Estate News ~ Week Ending 2/11/2012:

Freddie Mac To Increase Short Sale Incentives | HousingWire

Foreclosures Decrease 24% From One Year Ago | CoreLogic

$26B Mortgage Settlement Good For Banks Not For Homeowners | Yahoo! Finance

Senate Bill Gives Principal Write-Downs Through Shared Apreciation Plan | HousingWire

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2012 is off to a promising start. Mortgage rates continue to drop and have remained under 4% for nearly two months. Home sales are strengthening and pending home sales, a measure to gauge future sales, are at their highest levels since March 2010.

Job growth has been increasing for most of 2011, with unemployment dropping to 8.4%. As more people are getting jobs, consumer confidence has also been increasing. However, underemployment continues to be a problem for a stronger recovery. The underemployment rate is 18.1%, and there are still a significant number of people working part time, who would like to have full-time work.

Even with substantial national improvements, this continues to be a “one neighborhood at a time” recovery. Payroll jobs were up in 25 states, but down in 24, demonstrating the delicate state of the U.S. economy. Global factors such as the European debt crisis are also complicating a more robust recovery. Strong guidance is needed from local and global leaders to continue this growth, as well as allow for business to maintain momentum toward building and expanding upon the opportunities that exist.

Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Association of Realtors

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