Cost of Renting,Owning Unaffordable 'Many Workers'

Cost of Renting,Owning Unaffordable 'Many Workers'

Across the U.S: With the home price recovery moving along faster than income growth, many workers across the country are finding hard work is not enough to pay the bills, according to the 2013 Paycheck to Paycheck report from the Center for Housing Policy.

“One of the most overlooked aspects of this recovery is that for many workers, incomes are not rebounding in step with local housing markets,” said CHP. “Even in a strong sector like travel and tourism, wages have not kept pace with the rising costs of renting or homeownership and  ”Is there a stigma with 'short sales'? Home buyers once saw short sales as big bargains.

Ogden-Clearfield has topped affordability chart

Ogden-Clearfield has topped affordability chart For the past four quarters: 
While rising home prices across the nation may be good news as they imply recovering markets, the trend may dampen housing affordability. 

Having been historically high for the past few years, affordability dipped somewhat in the second quarter of this year, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity index.

At the same time, affordability fell from 73.7 percent in this year’s first quarter to 69.3 percent—meaning 69.3 percent of Americans earning the national median income could afford a home sold during the quarter. 
Nationally, the median home price rose from $185,000 in Q2 2012 

Backbone of Housing Recovery

Backbone of Housing Recovery

Repeat Buyers: The growing ranks of repeat home buyers are helping to drive the housing recovery, making up for the dwindling numbers of first-time buyers. 

Repeat home buyers accounted for 54 percent of existing-home sales in June, up from 49 percent just one year prior, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. 

Meanwhile, first-time buyers — who usually account for 40 percent of the market share — shrank to 29 percent in June. A lack of lower-priced homes and strict lending requirements are edging more first-time buyers out of the market.“What we’re seeing are these buyers who’ve waited around and who have finally realized this is a good time to move,” Slowdown in Home Prices No Reason to Panic?  Prices are still going to rise

Moody's: Privatizing Mortgage Finance

Moody's: Privatizing Mortgage Finance

Will Cost Borrowers: If Congress shuts down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, borrowers likely will end up paying slightly higher mortgage rates.  Proposed House and Senate bills would wind down the two firms over five years and scale back the government intervention in guaranteeing mortgage securities. 

The House GOP bill would virtually privatize the mortgage market, while the Senate's bipartisan plan would limit Washington's role in insuring mortgage securities and retain the federal government as an insurer of last resort.  Both plans are meant to shift more mortgage financing risk from the government to the private sector in order to prevent future taxpayer-funded bailouts. 

FHFA to Cities: Don't Abuse Eminent Domain 

Solving the Wrong Problem

Solving the Wrong Problem
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported a $5 billion net income for the second quarter of this year — the second-largest profit in its history — and says it will pay a dividend of $4.4 billion to the U.S. Treasury. So far, Freddie Mac has paid back $41 billion of what it owes to taxpayers.

It still owes $30 billion more, and company officials say it hopes to continue paying that down this year

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Freddie Mac came under federal conservatorship in 2008 during the financial crisis. 

Just like the man looking for his keys, President Obama is trying to solve the wrong problem by calling, as he did in his speech in Phoenix, for the end of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as we know it.Read the story of a Good Samaritan walking down the street one evening spotting a man on his hands and knees patting the ground.

Foreclosure Fears Less Haunting

Foreclosure Fears Less Haunting

Fears over a large overhang of potential foreclosures that could threaten the housing recovery have failed to materialize — and aren’t likely to do so — according to the Mortgage Bankers 
The number of home owners behind on their mortgage payments or facing foreclosure dropped to a five-year low in the second quarter,according to a report released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association.  At the end of June, nearly 6 percent of home mortgages were 90 days or longer past due or in the foreclosure process. That’s down from a 9.7 percent high set in late 2009, and down from 7.3 percent last year at this time.

 “At a national level, all of the indicators are good. The numbers are down where they should be down. In the 6-minute video Why ‘PATH’ Approach to Fannie, Freddie Phase-out is Troubling 

Americans Upbeat on Housing

Americans Upbeat on Housing

Despite Rates: Survey shows Americans are increasingly optimistic about the housing market, despite the threat of a continued rise in mortgage rates, a new survey shows. 

Fifty-three percent of Americans expect home prices to increase by an average of 3.9 percent over the next 12 months, according to Fannie Mae’s July National Housing Survey of 1,000 home owners.

Only 6 percent expect prices to fall, a new low in the survey's three-year history. 

“Expectations for continued improvement in housing persist, and sentiment toward the current buying and selling environment is back on track from its dip last month Learn more about Fannie Mae..