Real Estate

Just as Americans were getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday, mortgage rates fell again, reaching record lows in Bankrate.com's weekly national survey and dropping to the lowest level in Zillow's Mortgage Rate Monitor since its inception 18 months ago.

When they owe more on a property than it is worth, investors are more likely to stop paying on their mortgage and default than owners living in a primary residence.

Freddie Mac's mortgage delinquency rate for its single family mortgages past due by 90 days or more rose for the 30th straight month in October, reaching a record 3.54 percent of its portfolio.

A Brentwood, Long Island woman was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years probation for stealing the home of a 93-year-old Queens man suffering from Alzheimer's disease and then let it fall into foreclosure.

Once again, Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) is pushing to use left over TARP money to help unemployed homeowners stave off foreclosure. He pushed hard for a similar provision in January, but the Administration put its money on the HAMP program.

Investors buying homes to rent or sell accounted for only 15 percent of the housing market last month as they competed with large numbers of first-time homebuyers flooding the market to buy in time to qualify for the first-time homebuyer credit. The percentage of first-time buyers closing on homes rose from 42 to 47 percent of all home sales in October, according to an Inside Mortgage Finance/Campbell Communications survey released today.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported yesterday that new residential construction (housing starts) fell by 10.6 percent in October to 529,000 annualized units compared to 592,000 annualized units a month earlier. Single-family and multi-family starts fell by 7 percent and 35 percent, respectively. Housing starts are down 31 percent compared to a year ago. Housing permits fell 4 percent to 552,000 in October from September.

Fourteen percent of all American mortgages are either delinquent or in the process of foreclosure and the outlook is that delinquencies will get worse before they get better, according to the latest Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) National Delinquency Survey.

When key senators struck a deal on October 30 that allowed not just the extension but also the expansion of the homebuyer tax credit to include existing owners, one important part of the deal was not widely reported.

In Dakota County, Minnesota, where there never used to be any foreclosures, the backlog of vacant, unwanted foreclosed houses sets a new record every month, overwhelming the resources of local government to address the health and safety problems they pose. Though August, the county held September 1,349 sheriff's sales. In 2008 the total was 2,063.

A Sacramento insurance agent who looted the life savings of dozens of investors to bankroll his lavish lifestyle and prop up a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme was arrested at his residence on a total of 100 counts that include grand theft and first-degree burglary. If convicted, he faces up to 52 years in prison.

Six months ago, Jeff Franson refinanced his mortgage, switching lenders. Last month a process server drove up to his Mokena, Ill. home and handed Franson papers notifying him he owed his old lender $93,702.51 and they were foreclosing on his home.

The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) 55+ Single-Family Housing Market Index, based on a survey of builders who produce housing designed to meet the needs of mature consumers, showed a six-point increase in the third quarter of 2009, to a seasonally-adjusted level of 21. That is the highest level recorded since the inception of the series in the fourth quarter of 2008, though still considered a fairly weak number.

The Federal Housing Administration, which finances nearly 30 percent of all home purchases, has enough cash reserves on hand to weather any anticipated economic reversals in the near future short of a second severe recession or depression, according to an independent actuarial study of the agency released today.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to a seven-month low of 5.19 percent last week according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The drop is due to the weak job market and investors repositioning ahead of large government debt auctions. Investors often lighten up on government bonds prior to an auction, and increase exposure to higher-yielding mortgage-backed bonds.