As if the homeowners in the lovely state of Florida did not have enough to be worried about with the housing and mortgage markets they can add whether or not their home was built using Chinese dry wall to the list of problems.

The dry wall in question was imported during a four year span from 2004-2008. There was enough imported to the US to build tens of thousands of homes with Florida getting the lion share of the material. So there is a good chance if you have a new home built within that time frame your home may contain Chinese dry wall.

The problem is that the dry wall emits sulfuric fumes and corrodes pipes. The worst part is insurance companies not only will not accept claims if your home is found to have Chinese dry wall but they are dropping and opting not to re-insure homeowners.

The state of Florida is not alone. The majority of the dry wall was used in the South. The government is currently investigating the problem and there may be some sort of relief program established. LoanClassroom will update any links or news that becomes of this story.

The question here is do we really know? In March of this year both real estate and the equity markets began to move up. Housing has inched a percent here and there every month. The equities market has ascended like it was the pre dot com era.

So finally sales of existing home sales retreated. It fell 2.4 percent as reported and released today by the National Association of Realtors. It is the first decline in housing sales since March. All of this a day after the Fed gave an upbeat forecast of the state of the economy and that it intended to slow down their intervention into buying treasury debt and mortgage backed securities. The Fed has aggressively been buying both in a 1.25 trillion pledge to help keep mortgage rates low.

Where does that leave us? Well we now know what the economy looks like when the Fed is the backstop for banks, the auto industry, low mortgage rates and induced home buying due to the 8,000 home buyer tax credits. What will the economy look like once the Fed is not there propping us all up? That is the scary part.

Home sales have increased mainly in part due to the home buyer tax credit and low mortgage rates. Take the credit away which it expires as of now in November and if the Fed is scaling back on keeping its finger pressed to push mortgage rates lower has the housing market really been slowly recovering?

Does the Fed see something that no one else can? The job report that was out today was less than expected. But by no stretch of the imagination was it a sign that the employment arena is showing signs of life. Could the Fed really not have that much of a clue? I have pointed out my facts what do you think? Submit your comments.

The National Association of Realtors is presently lobbying Congress with a full court press to extend the 1^st time home buyers tax credit. The extremely successful tax credit which Congress enacted to help prop up the devastated real estate market is due to expire on November 30^th. To clarify, if you qualify for the tax credit your purchase needs to close by the 30^th of November.

Presently there are limitations to qualify for the $8,000 tax credit. You need to be a first time home buyer which is defined as never owning a home previously or not owning a home within the last three years. There are also income limitations to qualify which are $75,000 for a single person and $150,000 for a joint couple.

In the previous months real estate sales have been up mostly in part due to the looming deadline of the tax credit. The National Association of Realtors is looking to get the tax credit extended into next year and remove the income limitation.

It would be in Congress’s best interest to extend the tax credit but only time will tell if that happens and seeing as the deadline is November, 30 LoanClassroom will be updating this info as soon as we get any new info.

In the month of May we now have reports that existing home sales rose slightly for the third straight month, existing sales rose 2.4 percent. The other report is the sale of new homes. The number for new home sales in May edged down 0.6 percent according to the Commerce Department.

As a whole home prices continued to fall and seem likely to continue the trend as the year goes on. Roughly one in every three homes sold was a foreclosure or some sort of distressed sale. That helped push the median home price to $173,000 nationwide down 16.8 percent from a year ago.

The results for new and existing home sales fell below economists’ expectations. The little glimpses of recovery in housing may be stalling as the inventory of distressed and foreclosed homes remains making it harder for the new home inventory to churn through. Besides the fact that mortgage rates have jumped in the past month may daunt any hopes that anyone may have had for a recovery this year. I am optimistically holding strong to a recovery that will have some base behind it in the spring of 2010.

When I say recovery I am not saying home values strongly increasing, I am a believer over the next 10 months or so we can get through some inventory and plug some of the holes that are still open in today’s housing market. Then and only then we can we talk about recovery and the future. In the meantime if you are in the market to buy there are some great deals out there for the taking.

Before you take the plunge to purchase a condo you should take a look at LoanClassrooms list of important questions that you need to ask and be aware of before making any offers to buy a condominium.

·         If you are getting FHA financing not all condo’s are FHA approved. Make sure you know what condominium complexes are FHA approved before you make any offers.

·         In today’s mortgage market smaller condo complexes are harder to finance. Typically complexes less than eight units are considered “small complexes”

·         Ask what the investor concentration is, most lenders will not lend if a complex has a lot of units that are investment properties. If you are an investor you need to check the opposite. Make sure that you can rent your unit out as an investment property.

·         Who runs the condo association? Is it a management company? Are there appointed board members?

·         Is the condo a conversion? What that means is the condo a conversion of an apartment complex? Lenders these days are strict with condominiums this is a sticky one

·         How many units in the complex are un-sold? If you are buying a new construction condo this is for sure an important question

·         If the condo is an established project what kind of shape is the condominiums reserve fund in?

·         Take a look at the master insurance policy to see what exactly is covered under their policy and how much

·         Are there any “special assessments up-coming”? The common fees per month may be manageable now but a lump sum assessment later may be a problem

There is a new bill that hit the Senate floor. Senate bill, S. 1230, The Home buyer Tax Credit Act of 2009 is underway. The bill proposed by Sen. Johnny Isakson, D-Ga. Is a replacement to the present $8,000 tax credit that first time home buyers can receive upon closing of a home before November 30^th of this year.

The bill expands on the tax credit, making it available to anyone who purchases a principal residence in the year following the bill’s enactment. The bill also would do away with income limitations of $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for joint filings. The new bill would reach all walks of life and income levels.

The bill went to a Senate finance committee last week, where it awaits further action. The passing of the bill could help the potential for a slow-down in home buying as mortgage rates have rose sharply in the past month. Almost doubling the tax credit and making the credit available to not only first time home buyers but “all buyers” could help tremendously. It would certainly move some buyers on the fence since rates have gone up to re-evaluate buying a new home in taking the $15,000 tax credit into consideration. LoanClassroom will certainly keep you up to speed as the bill progresses through the Senate.

The NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) said their housing market index fell by 1 point in June. A number under 50 would indicate negative sentiment according to the NAHB. The index fell to 15 in June the first decline since the index hit an all time low of 8 in January. The index is based on 500 or so residential builders nationwide and is a reflection of their perceptions of the market.

The numbers for pending and existing home sales have increased as of late. Mortgage rates will be an important factor for the second half of this year. Any increase in home sales whether it be new construction or existing homes in the first half of the year was due in part to the first time home buyer credit and low mortgage rates. Now with mortgage rates up well over a full point in the past month it will play heavily on home sales for the rest of 2009.

You want to talk about irony? Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is not immune to the housing crisis, in fact he just maybe he might a little too more in tune than he would care to be. As Treasury Secretary Geithner is the one who is the economic advisor to President Obama. He is basically the lifeline of economic policy and info for the President.

In an article first reported by the AP (Associated Press) Geithner has been un-able to sell his New York home. Records showed that in 2004 he and his wife purchased the home for just over $1.6 million. It had been on the market for a while and was last listed for $1.575 million. The Geithner’s decided to rent the home after no offers materialized. The home is rented for $7,500 per month. It goes to show that no one is immune to the housing crisis. Here is the link to original “AP” article.         Geithners Housing Woes

The largest monthly jump in over 7 years, those were the April 2009 figures for homebuyers purchasing existing homes. U.S. pending home sales rose 6.7 percent in the month. The last time pending home sales showed such a large increase was October 2001.

The jump in numbers is reflective of several catalysts. For starters mortgage rates have been in the 4’s which is historically low. Combine that with the $8,000 tax incentive for first time home buyers and some drastically reduced home prices due to short sales and foreclosures we have seen an uptick in home sales.

On the surface the numbers are without a doubt encouraging. There are some key hurdles that still need to be jumped. For starters there is typically a one to two month lag between the signing of the purchase contract and closing. Some banks and lenders are taking thirty days or more just too initially approve the loan. So the index is a good indicator of future existing home sales.        

The hurdles that we are going to face are rising interest rates. Last week Eversley Capital Mortgage in Norwalk, CT was quoting mortgage rates near 4.5 percent and today rates are above 5 percent. Average rates today are around 5.25 percent. That does not bode well for future buying activity if the rates do not subside. Unemployment is still climbing and really has no sign of leveling off until early next year. That in turn will continue to increase foreclosure and default rates on existing mortgages which could continue to dampen home values.

The National Association of Realtors index of pending sales contracts has risen three consecutive months in a row now. The Northeast had the largest jump, nearly 33 percent, while the Midwest rose just over 9 percent and the South and West were flat. Obviously there are still some massive bumps in the road yet but if nothing else these numbers give us the reminder that at some point things are going to turn around, it may not be this year as some economists have stated but it will be soon to come.

One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure.

That is an age old analogy that to this day holds true. We all do it, when asked what the value of our homes or belongings are worth we tend to exaggerate the number a little. I think that is human nature.

Well in an article that was in the Wall Street Journal and posted on Yahoo finance there are apparently let’s say differences of opinion where Donald Trump’s net worth is concerned. According to “the Donald” his real estate empire ranges in the billions. Some have put that number in the high 9 figures, a far cry from billions let alone the reportedly $4 billion number that was thrown out there at one point.

In the end who really knows? An item is only worth what someone in the end is willing to pay for it. The true value is always in the eye of the beholder. Here is the article to read:     TRUMP