by nate on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 | Business, News | No Comments

A new report from Zillow.com finds home values stabilized in the third quarter of this year, as sales of new and existing homes grew.

“While 116 metropolitan areas experienced Q3 year-over-year declines in home values, only nine metropolitan areas saw accelerating year-over year home value declines,” according to the report.

Home prices have stabilized and in some regions begun to rise a bit, but foreclosures, unemployment and still weak consumer confidence are warning signals that they could dip yet again.

So with the real estate market on the mend, what are the country’s best performing zip codes this year?

1. Fayetteville, N.C. (28306)
Year-over-Year Price Growth: 20.6%
Zillow Home Value Index: $142,768

2. Philadelphia, Pa. (19145)
Year-over-Year Price Growth: 19.1%
Zillow Home Value Index: $144,558

3. Philadelphia, Pa. (19148)
Year-over-Year Price Growth: 16.9%
Zillow Home Value Index: $164,661

4. Cleveland, Ohio (44110)
Year-over-Year Price Growth: 16.7%
Zillow Home Value Index: $93,077

5. Atlanta, Ga. (30331)
Year-over-Year Price Growth: 16.3%
Zillow Home Value Index: $149,426

6. Rochester, N.Y. (14620)
Year-over-Year Price Growth: 16.3%
Zillow Home Value Index: $123,381

7. New Orleans, La. (70117)
Year-over-Year Price Growth: 16.3%
Zillow Home Value Index: $76,868

8. Newark, Ohio (43055)
Year-over-Year Price Growth: 16.2%
Zillow Home Value Index: $108,258

9. Piqua, Ohio (45356)
Year-over-Year Price Growth: 15.5%
Zillow Home Value Index: $97,162

10. Rochester, N.Y. (14621)
Year-over-Year Price Growth: 15.5%
Zillow Home Value Index: $52,867

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Tags: home, Home Values, hot investment, hottest area, house pricing, Mortgage, Real Estate, US economy, Zillow

by wildcherry on Friday, November 6th, 2009 | Business, News | No Comments

Fannie Mae rental program will allow one-time homeowners that have allowed their house to go into foreclosure to actually rent the very same house back at “market value” in something called a “Deed for Lease” program. Taxpayer cost is not yet clear.

To qualify, homeowners have to live in the home as the primary residence and prove that they can afford the market rent, which will be established by the management company running the program. Rents are based on current market rates.

The plan is expected to be particularly attractive in places like Phoenix or Orange County, Calif., where homeowners are stuck paying large mortgage bills on properties that are now worth far less than they originally paid. At the same time, rents have been falling in those areas. So by renting the same house, former homeowners could wind up paying far less every month.

Fannie Mae execs believe it is a good solution to the thousands of bad loans littering neighborhoods and causing blight as homes sit vacant and begin to deteriorate.

The Wall Street Journal reports: “The “Deed for Lease” Program lets borrowers who don’t qualify for loan modifications transfer their property to Fannie Mae in exchange for a lease. Borrowers-turned-tenants will pay market rents, which in most cases are lower than the cost of mortgage payments, and might be offered extensions when their leases expire.”

***

The program helps “eliminate some of the uncertainty of foreclosure, keeps families and tenants in their homes during a transitional period, and helps to stabilize neighborhoods and communities,” Jay Ryan, a Fannie Mae vice president, said in a statement.

AOL News notes, “Fannie Mae’s sibling company, Freddie Mac , launched a similar effort in March. That policy, however, requires the foreclosure to be completed and only allows month-to-month leases.”

The new plan for dealing with the aftermath of the real estate crisis, called the “Deed for Lease” plan (since “this for that” themed plans apparently work really well for fixing the economy) So if you can’t qualify for a home loan under the new regulations, but want to try and keep your home, you will now get a one year rental period from Fannie Mae, that gives additional time and opportunity to work towards keeping your home that you’ve invested so much in.

Freddie Mac has had a similar deal in place for some time as well, with somewhat different regulations on how the home can be rented after it is fully foreclosed. Hopefully more such compromises can be found, so that the many hard working families caught up in this crisis will not have their lives turned upside down.

Tags: "Deed for Lease", Fannie mae, Fannie Mae rental program, Fannie Rent, foreclosed home, Foreclosure, Freddie Mac, Home Prices, Housing Crisis, Mortgage Crisis, Real Estate, rent foreclosed home

by wildcherry on Friday, October 30th, 2009 | Life, Tips | No Comments

Here’s some info to get the first time homebuyer tax credit:

• A first time home buyer is that person who has not owned a home for the past three years preceding the purchase of a home. This applies to married couples as well. This is to say that if your spouse has owned a home previously in the past three years, then you do not qualify as a first-time home buyer.
• The amount for which a first time home buyer can qualify is simply 10% of the value of the home to be bought and it does not exceed $8000. There are also some other criteria that are put into consideration to determine whether one will be approved for the tax income. This is the income level. Single persons must not be earning more than $75,000 while the limit for married persons is $150,000.
• You have to be intending to live in the house you buy to qualify for this credit and have to buy said residence between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009.
• There are income limits to this tax credit. If you earn more than 75,000 a year for singles or 150,000 a year for couples, you cannot qualify for the full credit. There is some leeway of 20,000 for people who earn a bit more than the above amounts and you may qualify for
• The credit must be paid back, but you have 15 years to do so. In the meantime, it will not be accruing any interest charges or late fees.  a partial credit if this is your case.
• To apply for the tax credit, you should fill out an IRS form 5405. The amount you qualify for will then be determined and you can claim for it on line 69, which is part and parcel of the tax form. This is the only form you will be required to fill and as you do so, you must be sure that the purchase is complete, otherwise you will be disqualified.

Tags: First Home Buyer, First Time Home Buyer, First Time Home Buyer Programs, first time home buyers, First time homebuyer tax credit, home buying, Home Buying Incentives, home buying tax credit, Homebuyer Tax Credit, homes for sale, house to lease, How to Get the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit, lease options, Real Estate, real estate investments, Tax Credit, Tax Incentive, Taxes

by wildcherry on Monday, October 12th, 2009 | Business, News | No Comments

About 30% of foreclosures in June involved homes in the top third of local housing values, up from 16% when the foreclosure crisis began three years ago, according to new data from real-estate Web site Zillow.com.

The report shows that foreclosures, after declining earlier this year, began to accelerate in the late spring and that more expensive homes have more recently accounted for a growing share of all foreclosures. “The slope of that curve in recent months is much sharper than it was recently,” said Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow. Rising foreclosures among more-expensive homes could create added pressure for a housing market that has shown signs of stabilizing in recent months as sales of lower-priced homes pick up.

The Zillow research compared homes against the median values for their local market and broke each market into three tiers by value. Zillow then looked at the share of monthly foreclosures in each tier over the past decade.

Foreclosures are rising in more expensive markets as home values in those areas fall, leaving more homeowners with mortgages that exceed the value of their properties. Prime loans accounted for 58% of foreclosure starts in the second quarter, up from 44% last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Subprime mortgages accounted for one-third of foreclosure starts, down from one-half last year.

The prime category includes so-called exotic mortgages that were increasingly used to buy more expensive homes, including interest-only mortgages that allowed borrowers to defer principal payments during an initial period. Borrowers often aren’t able to refinance out of these products because the drop in home values has left them with little equity in their homes.

Default rates are particularly high and expected to rise on option adjustable-rate mortgages, which allow borrowers to make minimum payments that may not cover the interest due. Monthly payments can increase to sharply higher levels after five years or when the outstanding balance reaches a certain level. A study by Fitch Ratings found that 46% of option ARMs were 30 days past due last month, even though just 12% of such loans have reset to higher monthly payments.

Source:WSJ

Tags: Defaults, economy, Foreclosure, Foreclosure Rates, Home Values, Housing Crisis, Housing Data, Housing Report, Housing Statistics, Mortgage, Mortgate Defaults, Prime, Real Estate, Recession, Subprime Mortgages, Zillow