RealtyStore Real Estate Blog

According to Mark Huffman, with ConsumerAffair.com, the White House has threatened to veto a bill which would help those who are being affected by the foreclosure crisis.

Mr Huffman states:

“The White House is threatening to veto a measure that would spend $300 billion to help distressed homeowners avoid foreclosure. The House passed the measure last week while a similar bill is making its way through the Senate.

The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act (H.R. 3221), authored by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), is aimed at expanding federal programs available to distressed homeowners. The White House says the plan rewards speculators and lenders who make shaky loans.”

Read the full article at:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/05/foreclosures_bush.html

Despite the worst slumping real estate market that the U.S. has experienced in at least seventy years, the large majority of people are happy with their homes, according to the latest survey from Housing Predictor.

More than two out of three respondents to the online poll said they were “happy” with their homes, indicating the majority of Americans are comfortable with their living standards. Housing Predictor regularly surveys visitors to its web site on major real estate related issues, and offers more than 250 local housing market forecasts in all 50 states.

The survey comes at a time when Americans are particularly concerned about their futures as the nation’s economy lingers in economic chaos, triggered by the credit crunch. Consumer confidence and employment levels are falling as gasoline prices edge upward.

Congressional lawmakers are mired in a draft of White House veto announcements and have failed to agree to a plan to aid the national economy in the real estate crisis. Housing Predictor, which has maintained a record of being right in more than eight out of ten of its forecasts has projected that more than 5.6 million foreclosures will occur through 2011 if major legislation is not passed to aid homeowners.

The crisis is a drain on the nation’s economy amid tumbling stock prices and a weakening overall financial structure, which has made it more difficult for homeowners to refinance their homes and for new buyers to obtain mortgages to purchase property.

The survey indicates, however, that the majority of those surveyed are happy with their living environments. Only an estimated seven percent of all homeowners are having trouble paying their mortgages or have been affected by the foreclosure epidemic. As more than one million more homes adjustable rate mortgages re-adjust this summer, however, foreclosures are expected to continue to increase.

To get details on the new survey, search real estate listings and check on local housing market forecasts visit http://www.housingpredictor.com

Foreclosure Investors: $7000 TAX CREDIT

“The proposed measures include funding to help borrowers refinance unaffordable loans and help boost activity in neighborhoods with properties in foreclosure. Also in the bill is a tax break for homebuilders, as well as a new tax credit and deduction for homeowners and home buyers. The package also contains measures to make loans that are insured by the Federal Housing Administration - which helps borrowers with weak credit or little or no cash for a downpayment - more accessible.”

Read the full article at:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/02/news/economy/
housing_bipartisan_draft/?postversion=2008040320

In these troubling economic times Housing Predictor explores the steps consumers should take before jumping into buying a home or other real estate, outlining the six steps everyone needs to take to protect themselves.

The 6 steps to take to buy in a down market bring meaningful information that everyone should be aware of in these increasingly recessionary economic days. Location, location, location has long been the cry in real estate, but with the fallout from the credit crisis a new series of issues is developing.

Housing Predictor is an independent online real estate news provider, which forecasts housing markets in more than 250 local housing markets in all 50 U.S. states.

Slammed by the subprime crisis and Congressional lawmakers’ failures to deal with the nation’s economic crisis, the over-whelming majority of real estate markets are seeing their housing values fall at accelerating levels of deflation. Only three states now have enough appreciating markets to remain on the Housing Predictor appreciation list, which is an all-time low. All three are teetering on the edge of being removed from the list as sales in all three states show signs of slowing.

The credit crisis was triggered by Wall Street bankers gaming the credit markets in conjunction with mortgage companies and banks, which developed new creative mortgages to sell to consumers at any cost. The crisis has set off alarms in the banking industry, triggered a series of law enforcement investigations into the propriety of developing funds to fill the mortgages sold by the bankers and resulted in class action lawsuits against dozens of mortgages companies and banks by consumers.

More than 2-million homes and other properties have already been foreclosed in the crisis and Housing Predictor forecasts that more than 5.6-million foreclosures will occur through 2011 unless major federal actions are taken to aid homeowners caught in the web of foreclosure. The foreclosure epidemic is increasingly making negative impacts on cities and communities throughout the nation.

To find out how you can protect yourself better in these times of economic uncertainty visit http://www.housingpredictor.com