RealEstateRama
Mortgage Problems to Dampen Home Sales in the Short Term
WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tighter credit for home mortgages will measurably dampen home sales in the short term and postpone an expected recovery for existing-home sales until 2008, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors(R).
New Foreclosures Up in 47 States
WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 2nd Quarter National Delinquency Survey, released today by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), shows that mortgage loans entering foreclosure have increased in 47 states since this time last year. On average, the increases were 50% higher. Only four states -- North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming -- did not experience increases in new foreclosures. Less than two percent of the American population lives in those states.
U.S. HOUSE PRICES SLOW
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. home prices increased only slightly in the second quarter of 2007 according to the OFHEO House Price Index (HPI). The HPI, which is based on data from sales and refinance transactions, was 0.1 percent higher in the second quarter than in the first quarter of 2007. This is below the revised growth rate of 0.6 percent for the previous quarter and the lowest since the fourth quarter of 1994. Prices in the second quarter of 2007 were 3.2 percent higher than they were in the same quarter of 2006, the lowest annual price change since the 1996-97 period.
