Today’s News Synopsis:
Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill protecting homeowners, with lender approval, from deficiency judgments. 30-year mortgage rates dropped to 4.27%, said Freddie Mac. President Obama refused to sign the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act, which would have allowed federal and state courts to recognize notary signatures from other states. Realtytrac users will soon be able to view sales prices, sale dates, and other sorts of information on foreclosure sales.
In The News:
Inman - “Calif. short-sellers avoid deficiency judgments” (10-7-10)
“California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed into law a bill that protects homeowners who get their lender’s approval for a short sale from deficiency judgments, but vetoed related legislation that would have extended similar protections to homeowners who have refinanced their mortgage.”
Associated Press – “Mortgage rates fall to decades-low of 4.27 pct.” (10-7-10)
“The average rate for 30-year fixed loans dropped to 4.27 percent, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. That’s the lowest on records dating back to 1971, and down from 4.32 percent the previous week.”
Housing Wire – “Government Oversight Chairman seeks nationwide foreclosure moratorium” (10-7-10)
“Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, called for top banks to suspend foreclosures and for New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate foreclosure practices.”
Housing Wire - “President Obama won’t sign notary bill, sends back to Congress” (10-7-10)
“President Obama will not sign H.R. 3808, the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act, which would have allowed federal and state courts to recognize notary signatures from other states.”
Housing Wire – “RealtyTrac to provide pricing on previously sold foreclosures” (10-7-10)
“RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace, added a new feature that allows users to see information such as pricing on properties sold in the last nine months. The data will be available for more than 2.5 million recently sold properties. Users will be able to view sales prices, sale dates, foreclosure status of the property when it was sold, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, lot size and the year the home was built.”
Housing Wire – “FHFA faces another lawsuit over PACE program” (10-7-10)
“The Natural Resources Defense Council has sued the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency claiming the agencies illegally halted the Property Assessed Clean Energy program, known as PACE.”
Housing Wire – “Hope Now: Industry completes nearly 150,000 loan mods in August” (10-7-10)
“Hope Now, a private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and nonprofits, said the industry completed nearly 150,000 permanent loan modifications in August, with 91% of proprietary modifications including a reduction of principal and interest.”
Housing Wire – “Weekly jobless claims down 2.4% to 445,000″ (10-7-10)
“Initial jobless claims fell 2.4% last week to 445,000, which is the lowest level in a few months and lower than most analysts’ estimates. The Labor Department said the seasonally adjusted figure of actual initial claims for the week ended Oct. 2 decreased by 11,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised figure of 456,000.”
Orange County Register – “First-time homebuyers at record high” (10-7-10)
“The leading edge of the 10- to 30-year-old age group — also known as Gen Y or echo boomers — already is emerging as a factor in the housing market, said Joel Singer. For example, the average age of first-time buyers is 30 years old, and first-time buyers now make up 46% of the the market. First-time sellers make up 47% of the market.”
Looking Back:
One year ago, John Burns Real Estate Consulting claimed home prices would likely decrease again. Both the NAR and the MBA were in favor of extending the first time home buyer tax credit. A survey from the California Association of Realtors showed that 46 percent of California Realtors used some sort of social networking website in their work.
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