There are some positive and negative news regarding home sales in the Birmingham metro area. According to the Birmingham Association of Realtors, realtors sold more homes in February 2009 than in January 2009, for a 28% increase. However, total residential home sales from February 2009 compared to February 2008 are down 26%.
The average price for a home in February 2009 was $171,062, compared to $178,600 in February 2008.
The median price in February 2009 was $130,000 compared to $152,500 in February 2008.

via nbc13.com

When Alberta's housing market abruptly switched from white hot to cold late last year, Calgary home builder Don Doolan decided the best way to keep the buyers coming was to discount prices - a lot. New single detached houses, which his company sold for $500,000 to $525,000 in 2008, are now on the market for $425,000 to $450,000. The 15-per-cent price reduction is generating sales that will enable his firm, Talisman Homes Ltd., to ride out the recession and "live to fight another day," Mr. Doolan said yesterday, adding that other Alberta builders are offering similar incentives.

via theglobeandmail.com

Las Vegas home sales edged up slightly in February, but nothing seems to stop falling prices, which have dropped 50 percent from their peak. The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported this week that the median home price fell 2.7 percent in February to $155,603. That’s down from $160,000 in January and 37 percent from February 2008. The $155,603 price marks a 50.6 percent decline from the market’s peak in June 2006 when the median price was $315,000, according to the Realtors’ group. The organization tracks only single-family homes sales on the Multiple Listing Service.

via lasvegassun.com

Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.03 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending March 12, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 5.15 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.13 percent. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.64 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.72 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.60 percent.

via msnbc.msn.com

First-time buyers' loans numbered 8,900 in January, a fall of 27 per cent from the previous month and 51 per cent lower than in January 2008. In monetary terms, January's loans to first-time buyers (FTBs) totalled £962 million, 30 per cent lower than December and 59 per cent lower than January of last year. The average FTB loan-to-value (LTV) was 76 per cent (89 per cent in January 2008) meaning the average deposit paid was 24 per cent, the highest amount on record, says the CML.

via findaproperty.com

The Vacaville Public Library-Cultural Center on Monday will host a free special program for seniors who would like to learn more about Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM). The program begins at 10:30 a.m. at the library, 1020 Ulatis Drive. HECM, or reverse mortgage, counseling and information will be provided to senior citizen homeowners. Reverse mortgages may help seniors who have seen their monthly cash flow deteriorate over the past year. Reverse mortgage is a method whereby a homeowner may receive regularly scheduled payments, a lump sum, or establish a line of credit based on home equity.

via thereporter.com

CRISTINA Sipp is one of thousands of people who has been missing out on all those big interest rate cuts - but it's not because she fixed the rate on her home loan.
The Ingleburn mother is with a lender that hasn't been cutting its variable rate. GE Money gave Ms Sipp none of last month's 1 per cent cut to official interest rates.

via news.com.au

Mortgage lending activity continued to reduce in January with only 23,400 loans for house purchase completed, down from 32,400 in December and 48,600 in January 2008, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The decline in house purchase lending was spread evenly between first-time buyers and home movers. There were 14,500 loans to home movers, down from 20,200 in December and 30,600 in January 2008. There were 8,900 loans to first-time buyers, down from 12,200 in December and 18,000 in January 2008.

via yourmortgage.co.uk

Have a fixed-rate mortgage at 4.5 per cent or higher? Then you should be refinancing, says Steve Moffitt, senior mortgage consultant with Equimac Mortgage Centre in Vancouver. ``There's never been a better opportunity historically, never, for doing a refinancing, '' he adds.
If only it were that simple. In fact, determining whether you should refinance or not depends largely on the penalty you will pay to get out of your current mortgage, and the amount of money you could save with a new one.

via canada.com

The number of newly started foreclosure cases on Long Island jumped 54 percent last month from January, although the number of actual lender repossessions of homes continued to fall, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosures. Long Island had 933 new cases - 607 in Suffolk and 326 in Nassau - compared with 606 in January, the report showed. The rate of new February cases shows Long Island is almost back to where it was a year ago, when lenders opened foreclosure proceedings on 999 homes, according to the data.

via newsday.com

Despite halts on new foreclosures by several major lenders, the number of households threatened with losing their homes rose 30 percent in February from last year's levels, RealtyTrac reported Thursday. Nationwide, nearly 291,000 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice last month, up 6 percent from January, according to the Irvine, Calif-based company. While foreclosures are highly concentrated in the Western states and Florida, the problem is spreading to states like Idaho, Illinois and Oregon as the U.S. economy worsens.

via miamiherald.com

Anthony Bell, Sales Manager at Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward’s Fulham branch comments: "First and foremost we are advising vendors to be as realistic about prices as possible, and to start marketing their properties before the new legislation for Home Information Packs comes into force on April 6. "The introduction of the Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ) and requirement to have a HIP before marketing starts will add more levels to the selling process.

via findaproperty.com

RBS (RBS) has promised to provide £1.7 billion-worth of mortgage finance to Scottish homebuyers during 2008.
The lender will also continue to offer loans of up to 90% of a property’s value, which should help first-time buyers enter the market. Buyer enquiries have risen nationally in the recent weeks as falling house prices and interest rates improve affordability and the bank has made it clear that it will support the Scottish housing market with further funds, if demand takes off.

via financemarkets.co.uk

The House last week passed a housing aid bill that would allow bankruptcy judges to adjust the mortgages of financially stressed homeowners. Lawmakers voted 234-191 for the bill, which contained other housing aid initiatives. It revamped the Hope for Homeowners program that was enacted last summer but isn't helping significant numbers of troubled borrowers.

via lvrj.com

Question: I've been told real estate investment trusts offer great diversification. But do they really? Last year REITs lost 38% - that's a bit worse than the S&P 500. --Brian M., Greenwich, Conn. Answer: Historically, devoting part of your portfolio to real estate investments trusts - shares of firms that own or manage properties - has indeed raised your returns and reduced your investment risk. You don't have to search too far to find a time when holding REITs boosted your returns: From 2000 through 2002, when the S&P was down 38%, REIT indexes returned 49%.

via money.cnn.com