Can you afford the yuppie dream house?
The upper-middle class lifestyle has many trappings, including the house. Here’s what 4-bedroom, 2-bath homes in good neighborhoods cost across the country, according to Coldwell Banker’s annual index.
22% of private mortgage mods redefault
Banks have been ramping up their mortgage modifications, helping out troubled borrowers who can’t qualify for President Obama’s foreclosure-prevention program. Too bad these homeowners redefault at more than twice the rate.
New home sales remain near record lows, coming in unchanged in August.
Home Depot remodels its business
The home-improvement giant is moving to get its house in order.
America’s most overvalued cities
Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Foreclosures: How bad is your state?
No mortgage mods for many of the jobless
Unemployed homeowners cannot count jobless benefits as income when applying for mortgage modifications if they have loans backed by Fannie Mae. That could greatly limit their ability to get a long-term reduction in their monthly payments.
Existing home sales bounce back in August
Existing home sales bounced back in August after plunging in the previous month.
For sale: Jerry Garcia’s crash pad
The last home of the Grateful Dead’s lead singer is on the market. The expansive Mediterranean, found in the hills north of San Francisco, is going for a cool $4 million.
The housing recession isn’t over
The worst is over for the housing market — at least according to Wall Street.
The foreclosure crisis has entered a new phase: The number of properties entering the foreclosure process has dropped, and now nearly matches the number of repossessions.
California shows signs of rebound
The national housing market is shrouded in uncertainty. But in California, there are glimmers of stability.
Homebuyer tax credit: 950,000 must repay
Nearly half of all Americans who claimed the first-time homebuyer tax credit on their 2009 tax returns will have to repay the government.
Housing quagmire: Is it time to remove relief?
For the growing number of struggling homeowners in this country, more help is on the way. Additional aid from the federal government will begin making its way to them next month — one program would help qualified homeowners refinance their mortgages after seeing their property values fall below the amount they owe, and the other includes another round of funding to help the unemployed or underemployed with their payments.
A reward for responsible homeowners
The government has bailed out Wall Street firms, giant banks, creditors of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — and is trying to bail out people who’ve defaulted or are about to default on their mortgages. But let’s say you’re a hardworking family that has done nothing wrong except buy a home when the housing bubble was at its peak a few years ago. Your mortgage is now way underwater, but you’re still making payments because you want to stay in your home — and you’re actually honorable. You’re paying for everyone else’s bailout, but because you have no equity in your house, you can’t refinance to take advantage of the ultra-low mortgage rates that Uncle Sam’s bailout strategy has produced. To use the technical term, you’re being screwed.
