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Expect to see foreclosures on subprime or nontraditional loans – mortgages made to consumers with impaired credit – to accelerate, according to the Center for Responsible Lending (CNL) (http://www.responsiblelending.org), a nonprofit research organization.
A recent CDL report, which analyzed more than 6 million subprime mortgages made from 1998 through the third quarter of 2006, estimates that […]
At 64, and looking toward his retirement next year, Willie Lee Howard agreed to refinance his duplex in Northeast Washington, thinking that a fixed-rate loan would help stabilize his finances.
What Howard got instead was a mortgage he did not understand. Baffled by the loan documents he was mailed after the closing, he consulted an AARP […]
Changing directions is part of Sarasota’s problem
Some Sarasota city commissioners leave us scratching our heads — such as two months ago, when they rejected parking meters as too inhospitable, then requested higher parking fines instead.
News flash: Joe Tourist doesn’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling about downtown Sarasota when he’s greeted with a big parking […]
No longer as much of a bargain as they were before the Federal Reserve raised short-term rates, adjustable mortgages lost some of their share of the residential market in 2006.
At the end of December, the market share for ARMs fell to 20.4 percent, the lowest since July 2003, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of […]
As the number of homes available for sale goes up, it’s no surprise that more homes are vacant - more than 30 percent during the third quarter of 2006 compared to a year earlier or 1.9 million homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau shows. That’s about half of all single-family homes on the market, […]
STAFF REPORT
Occupancy rates in Sarasota, Bradenton and Venice apartment complexes dropped nearly 5 percent during the past year and could be an indication that average rents won’t rise much in the months ahead, according to data released Thursday.
The local increase in apartment vacancies reflects a similar trend in every metropolitan area tracked by RealFacts, a […]
With the number of homes on the market more than double what they were last year and prices leveling out, many investors are searching for new properties.
“We’re looking north and south,” said Roselyn Britton, an investor who owns several properties in Sarasota.
A combination of low mortgage rates and more reasonable home prices has Britton looking. […]
Florida’s mild climate and world-class beaches continue to draw Northern retirees seeking temporary refuge from harsh winter weather, but tourism experts say many of these snowbirds are shortening their stays. Rental rates have risen to keep up with spiraling property insurance rates from recent hurricanes, pricing some retirees out of the market. “Prices in rentals […]
Selling one house and buying another is like putting yourself between a rock and a hard place. If you set both closings within the same basic time frame you run the risk of ending up with two mortgages or much worse. If you schedule them with sufficient time between to solve any closing problems you […]
It’s getting more difficult to build projects involving mixed-income housing. CED Construction, a workforce housing developer, says rising land prices and the need for new schools and road upgrades make it difficult for it to profitably build mixed-income housing. Officials say the company’s $36 million Marbella project in Orange County, where 40 percent of units […]
Seller financing has become more of a topic in potential real estate transactions recently. Property owners appear more willing to negotiate terms that help close a deal with a buyer who may not be able to meet the requirements of a regular mortgage lender, says Walter Molony, a spokesman for NAR. High lending rates in […]
A new Brookings Institution study shows that an increasing number
of lenders fail to consider alternative data when calculating credit
scores. As a result, the report warns, they essentially ignore a potentially
profitable niche serving those who lack traditional credit histories.
The paper urges lenders to do more by using such unconventional
data as utilities and telecommunications bills. Alyssa Lee, […]
Present Market Conditions
Early reports for the end of 2006 look to be mostly favorable.Unprecedented figures for the stock market as well as record earnings reports helped to offset a downturn in the national housing market. Financial markets will experience another short week, being closed for New Year’s Day as well as the national day of […]
It’s difficult for housing experts to determine whether the market has finally bottomed out, especially since home sales typically slow during the winter months. Moreover, Census data shows that 4.6 percent of the nation’s for-sale and rental homes, or 5.7 million units, sat vacant in the third quarter — up from an average 3.5 percent […]
After three solid months of gains, consumer confidence in Florida fell in December by four points to 89, University of Florida (UF) economists report. “The release this month shows a Florida consumer who is still reasonably optimistic about the economy at present but is expecting a decline in their finances and the overall economy over […]