Archive for October, 2008
Regulators say home lenders bilked of millions
Colorado regulators say they have uncovered a mortgage fraud scheme that resulted $8 million in kickbacks to buyers and brokers in 105 home sales.
Forest Service providing copies of easements
Long-awaited copies of historic forest road easements started trickling into Missoula County offices Friday, a partial response to an information request county officials made to the U.S. Forest Service.
$4 Billion in Federal Grants for Foreclosed and Abandoned Homes
Some state and local governments will be receiving the grant money to purchase foreclosed and abandoned homes Federal grants – to the tune of nearly $4 billion – will be distributed to state and local …
A Throwback To the McLean Before the Bustle
Before Tysons Corner boomed and the CIA’s Langley headquarters was built, an ad for Broyhill McLean Estates urged folks to get in on a locale that was sure to escalate in value because of the coming “Chantilly airport” (Dulles, 1960) and “Circumferential Highway” (the Beltway, 1962).
What the FHA Needs To Get the Job Done
In the current credit squeeze, if you have less than a 20 percent down payment, there’s pretty much only one major source of mortgage financing available-
Foreclosures Open Door To Disorder
Among the many harsh lessons for mortgage lenders in the housing bust is this one about evictions: Selling a house is far easier than taking it back. Clever opportunists and struggling families have figured this out, too, and the result is a rapidly evolving free-for-all coursing through the…
S&P: U.S. home prices drop at sharpest annual rate ever in August
Home prices tumbled by the sharpest annual rate ever in August, with little indication of a turnaround in sight, a closely watched index showed Tuesday.
O’Neill: 20 percent down or no mortgage
President Bush’s first treasury secretary says Congress should scrap plans for a new economic stimulus package and instead require that no future home mortgage be awarded without a 20 percent down payment.
California home sales jump 65 percent
A real estate tracking firm says home sales in California jumped 65 percent in September from a year ago, as homebuyers seized sharply discounted foreclosed homes and other properties.
Existing-home sales jump 5.5 percent
Sales of existing homes rose by the largest amount in more than five years in September. But analysts cautioned against reading too much into the gain.