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What policy goals are on the table? Federal Housing Finance Agency Acting Director Ed DeMarco noted that these should include building a new infrastructure for the secondary mortgage market; establishing standards that promote a safer and more efficient housing finance system; and increasing private capital while retracting government participation in the secondary mortgage market.
“We all are cautiously optimistic that the signs of stabilization, and in some places, strength, that have begun to emerge in various housing markets are true signals that a long-awaited recovery is taking place,” said DeMarco. “While FHFA will keep its focus on foreclosure alternatives, refinancing, and ongoing liquidity in the marketplace, it is time for policymakers to begin work in earnest on the future housing finance system.
Locally in Wilmington NC we are counting on the stabalization and see a glimpse of recovery on the way. Financing is still a stickler with approving but the interest rates continue to be a plus.
Tina Abrahaham in Wilmington NC
It’s the strongest sign yet that Americans’ home-loan debt burden is beginning to ease after the record borrowing that created, and ultimately popped, the housing bubble, leaving almost a quarter of homeowners with mortgages owing more than their properties were worth, said Richard DeKaser, deputy chief economist at Parthenon Group LLC in Boston. Half the mortgages refinanced in the fourth quarter reduced loan size, a record, according to Freddie Mac, the government-owned mortgage buyer.
Forty-seven percent of Generation Yers say they plan to purchase a home within five years or less, according to a new study released by Western Union. That tops the general population, 29 percent of which say they plan to buy a home in the next five years or less.
Ten percent of Generation Y members surveyed are even more eager to jump into the housing market, saying they plan to buy a home in the next 12 months, according to Western Union’s Payment Money Mindset Index survey.
But unlike other generations, Gen Y may have some debt to work through first. The surveyed showed that the generation has higher student-loan debt and more bills compared to any other age group.
Pending home sales retrenched in April following three consecutive monthly gains, but are notably higher than a year ago, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, declined 5.5 percent to 95.5 from a downwardly revised 101.1 in March but is 14.4 percent above April 2011 when it was 83.5. The data reflect contracts but not closings.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said a one-month setback in light of many months of gains does not change the fundamentally improving housing market conditions. “Home contract activity has been above year-ago levels now for 12 consecutive months. The housing recovery momentum continues,” he said.
Yun notes home sales are staying well above the levels seen from 2008 through 2011. “Housing market activity has clearly broken out at notably higher levels and is on track to see the best performance since 2007
Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage has been named a Platinum level firm by the Cartus Broker Network in the Wilmington, N.C. and Jacksonville, N.C. markets. Platinum is the highest of the Excellence Award recognition levels presented to qualifying principal brokers. Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage is the first Cartus Network member to earn platinum recognition in both the Wilmington and Jacksonville markets.
Only 17 percent of the Network’s principal brokers nationwide received Excellence Award recognition for 2012. The distinction is given to firms based on superior performance in a wide range of goals, including customer service, cost management, and accuracy on the Broker Market Analysis.
“Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage has delivered excellent results to both its customers and the Cartus Broker Network,” said Cartus executive vice president of Broker Services and Affinity Services, Gerald Pearce. Of the achievement, Pearce said, “Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage has successfully executed a business plan that involves attention to customer needs, understanding of local conditions, and incorporation of best business practices.”
At Sea Coast Advantage, excellence is a product of teamwork. Partnering with Cartus and its many programs such as USAA MoversAdvantage® and Navy Federal Credit Union RealtyPlus, the real estate firm has assisted hundreds of relocating families with the sale or purchase of real estate in New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender and Onslow counties. Sea Coast Advantage has also successfully referred more than 200 clients to other Cartus network brokers throughout the country for assistance with their real estate needs outside of the firm’s coverage area.
Sales of new single-family houses in April 2012 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 343,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 3.3 percent (±12.3%)* above the revised March rate of 332,000 and is 9.9 percent (±14.7%)* above the April 2011 estimate of 312,000.
The median sales price of new houses sold in April 2012 was $235,700; the average sales price was $282,600. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of April was 146,000. This represents a supply of 5.1 months at the current sales rate.
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