Yet another round of speculation about foreclosures is making real estate market news, as housing industry trend watchers seek explanations or the mixed map of foreclosures -- the number of foreclosed properties hitting the market in some states has dropped...
Mortgage Problems Continue to Affect the Housing Recovery
ventes aux encheres en ligne p>One indicator of the overall health of the economy is a robust housing market. While by many standards the US housing industry appears to be on a slow road to recovery, mortgage issues – some dating back to the great housing collapse of...
Your Credit Score is Your Financial Lifeline
Here’s the official word from the FTC: The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months....
Baby Boomers: Economic Boom or Bust?
It’s estimated that nationwide a thousand or more members of the post World War II baby boom turn 65 each year. And since the Baby Boom “generation” is typically calculated as 19 years – spanning the nearly two decades between 1946 and 1964 – financial experts and...
Foreclosures: A Ripple Effect?
The repeated waves of housing foreclosures that followed the housing collapse of 2008 – and which are still trickling onto the market – have an economic impact far beyond the immediate consequences for the homeowners affected. From whole neighborhoods and the people...
Defense Cuts: What Do They Mean for Investors?
A major concern in the recent wrangling over the budget deal dubbed the "fiscal cliff” was cuts in the defense budget – cuts that would have affected not just military personnel, but thousands of civilian employees, contractors and the areas in which they live and...
Do Mortgage Lenders Profit from Low Interest Rates?
Since the mortgage meltdown of a few years ago the mortgage industry has come under greater scrutiny, with settlements and promises to clean up fraudulent practices. But amid indications that major lenders have reformed and mortgage applications are picking up again...
The Medicare Tax: Not About Healthcare
A number of the new and amended tax laws that rang in the New Year as part of the last minute budget deal are tied to income, assessing new, or higher taxes on income and holdings of those whose earnings exceed a certain threshold. Although in general the new code has...
International Investing Changes the Real Estate Landscape
Foreign investments in US real estate rose sharply in 2012, increasing 24 percent just since the previous year. That translates to about $16 billion worth of purchases in single-family homes alone. And while this influx of purchasing power from outside the country may...
After the Election: Changing Trends in Housing?
The recent Presidential election may have changed the political landscape in major ways, even though housing wasn’t a particularly hot topic during the campaign. Still, real estate industry-watchers see some factors emerging in Barack Obama’s second term that may have...