Flooding caused by the torrential rain that's swept over the Northeast in recent days will deal a severe blow to the region's homeowners, most of whom have no flood insurance.
Homeowners' insurance typically covers rain that comes in from the top or side of a house — not through basements. In most cases, only homeowners who've bought flood policies from the federal government are insured against floodwaters that seep in through the bottom of the home.
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Mortgage applications fell last week as interest rates hit their highest level in more than four years, an industry trade group said today.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity for the week ended June 23 decreased 6.7% to 529.6 from the previous week.
Borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, excluding fees, averaged 6.86%, up 0.13 percentage point, its highest level since April 12, 2002, when it reached 6.92%.
Fixed 15-year mortgage rates averaged 6.49%, up from 6.37%. Rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) increased to 6.36% from 6.22%.
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The tell-tale sign of a stagnating real estate market? When homes for sale start lingering - and that's exactly what real estate brokers and other industry watchers say they're seeing now.
The National Association of Realtors does not maintain national time-on-market figures. But inventory - the number of homes for sale - spiked 37 percent for the 12 months through April 30, the most recent data available.
At the same time, the rate of sales has slowed, so that there is now 6 months worth of supply, up from 4.1 months a year earlier.
All that supply means homes are sitting around longer and that sellers are asking more than buyers are willing to pay — an indication that prices may have to come down.
Could this be just what home buyers need? Could we be seeing the beginning of a real "buyer's market?"
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Sales of existing homes fell for a third time in the past five months in May, with the weakness led by a big drop in demand in the Northeast.
The National Association of Realtors said today that sales of previously owned homes dropped 1.2% in May from April, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.67 million units.
The median price of the homes sold in May rose to $230,000, up 6% from the same month a year ago. That represented a slowdown from double-digit price gains last year, the peak of the housing boom.
Another report showed that consumer confidence recovered slightly in June after falling in May, as shoppers became more optimistic about the economy's future.
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