Foreclosure filings posted a 33 percent drop in 2011, falling to their lowest levels since 2007, RealtyTrac reports. 

During 2011, one in every 69 homes received a foreclosure filing and 804,000 homes were repossessed — compared to 1.05 million homes that were repossessed during the foreclosure crisis peak in 2010, according to RealtyTrac. 

Foreclosures have plagued many communities, putting downward pressure on overall home prices. In the past five years, more than 4 million homes have been lost to foreclosure. 

So is the worst finally over for the housing market? 

Not yet, analysts say. Banks took more time to process foreclosures last year, which explains some of the declines, housing analysts note. In fact, the average process time for a foreclosure rose to 348 days in the fourth quarter, up from 305 days one year prior. 

RealtyTrac CEO Brandon Moore says that while he expects foreclosures to increase in 2012, he also expects foreclosures to  stay well below the 2010 peak. Refinancing programs, such as the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program, are helping more borrowers lower their payments and avoid foreclosure, Moore says.

Still, the biggest problems with foreclosures remains centered in certain areas, particularly where investors helped drive up home prices during the housing boom. For example, Nevada remains the No. 1 foreclosure hot-spot, in which one out of every 16 households received some kind of default notice during 2011. Arizona and California also are continuing to face some of the highest foreclosure rates in the country too, according to RealtyTrac data.

Source: “Foreclosures Fall to Lowest Level Since 2007,” CNNMoney (Jan. 12, 2012)

Posted By susanne On January 7, 2012 @ 12:02 am In Best Practices,Business Development,Real Estate Information,Real Estate News,Real Estate Training,Real Estate Trends,Today’s Top Story |

Beginning Jan. 25, the Federal Reserve will start to publish a forecast four times a year that includes predictions about the direction of short-term interest rates, The New York Times reports. The report will include a summary of how long the Fed expects to keep short-term rates at current levels.

“More guidance on rates might help lower long-term yields further — in effect providing a kind of stimulus,” the Associated Press reported in an article announcing the change. “Lower rates could lead consumers and businesses to borrow and spend more. The economy would likely benefit.”

The Fed’s move will provide greater insight into its methodology and decision-making. 

Since 2008, the Fed has left its key short-term rate at record lows near zero. This past summer the Fed announced it intended to leave the rate low until at least mid-2013. 

Source: “Fed to Publish a Forecast of Rate Moves, Guiding Investors,” The New York Times (Jan. 3,

The worst for the housing market may finally be over, according to housing experts in a recent article in Kiplinger. After median home price have dropped nearly 40 percent nationwide, a rebound is taking shape — although, housing experts say, the market may stay flat for awhile before gradually ticking up. 

According to housing experts in a recent Kiplinger article, here are some predictions for the real estate market in the coming year:

Home prices stabilize: Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, predicts that home prices nationwide may still drop another 3 to 5 percent in 2012, but the new year will most likely finally bring a leveling off of home prices before gains start to take shape in 2013. When markets do begin to stabilize in the new year, “price appreciation tends to spread unevenly, creating a lot of confusion about where the recovery is occurring and when,” David Stiff, chief economist at Fiserv Case-Shiller, told Kiplinger. “Even within a single city, more desirable neighborhoods will stabilize first, while prices in other neighborhoods may fall at a rapid pace.”

Housing affordability high: Housing affordability — the ratio of median home prices to median family income — will likely remain at record levels in 2012. Homes in many cities are “substantially undervalued,” the Kiplinger article notes. That may even lead to a mini bubble with double-digit spikes in prices, such as an increase of 10 to 15 percent in a given year in some markets, housing experts say.  

Low mortgage rates: Helping to keep affordability high, low mortgage rates are expected to continue on in 2012 — at least the first part of the year, economists predict. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the most popular among home buyers, has been hovering under a 4-percent average the past few weeks, staying in record low territory. Rates are expected to stay between 4 to 5 percent in 2012, predicts Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, an industry publication. 

Sales increases: The National Association of REALTORS^® has already been showing a tick up in sales taking shape with increases in existing-home sales during the summer and early fall of 2011. High inventories of homes continue to flood the market but a drastic slowdown in new-home building the past three years is “gradually easing the surplus,” the Kiplinger article notes. 

Foreclosures: Foreclosures remain the problem and still plague many markets. After a slowdown with lenders processing the paperwork, foreclosures have began to pick up once again. About 1.84 million home loans are 90 days or more delinquent and 2.17 million have finished the foreclosure process but aren’t up for sale yet, according to RealtyTrac data. Alex Villacorta, director of research and analytics at Clear Capital, told Kiplinger that he predicts regardless of the downward price pressure caused from foreclosures, overall home prices won’t fall as long as lenders bring additional foreclosures to the housing market at a steady pace. 

Source: “What’s Ahead for Home Prices in 2012,” Kiplinger (January 2012)

Daily Real Estate News |, December, 2011

Where are rates heading? You may soon get more insight with a new proposal the Federal Reserve is weighing.

The Federal Reserve doesn’t traditionally make a point to reveal its predictions for future actions on interest rates widely known to the public — that is, until recently. This summer in a rare step, the Fed announced that it would keep short-term interest rates at nearly zero until 2013. The Fed may start making it a tradition to reveal more with a regular forecast of its future decisions on interest rates. 

The Fed may consider adopting such a move at its Tuesday meeting, but if it does adopt an action, it most likely wouldn’t be announced to the public until January, The New York Times reports. 

According to a recent article, the minutes of the Federal Reserve committee’s last meeting in November revealed that “participants generally expressed interest in providing additional information to the public about the likely future path of the target federal funds rate.”

In 2007, the Fed weighed a similar move but decided against it because they feared that public would take the predictions as commitments, and the Fed wanted to be able to change course if needed without public misunderstanding. 

If the Fed adopted a forecast, it likely would predict where interest rates are heading for the next three years, and it would be similar to the forecasts it already publishes about economic growth, unemployment, and inflation four times each year, The New York Times reports. 

Source: “Fed to Weigh Publishing a Forecast on Rates,” The New York Times (Dec. 11, 2011)

“Making efficiency improvements this year will lower home energy bills and improve home comfort for years to come, while also reducing 2011 federal income tax bills,” Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy.

The allowance for the tax credits that home owners may be eligible for include: 

• 10% of the cost of insulation and sealing materials, exterior doors, and certain types of energy efficient roofs.
• 10% of the cost, up to $200, of exterior windows or skylights.
• $300 for electric heat pump water heaters, electric heat pumps, central air conditioners, biomass stoves, and natural gas, propane, or oil water heaters.
• $50 for advanced main air circulating fans.
• $150 for natural gas, propane, oil furnace, or hot water boilers.

For more information about applying for these tax credits, visit the Alliance to Save Energy Web site.

Source: “Last Call for Energy Efficiency Homeowner Tax Credits,” RISMedia

1. Tax breaks. The U.S. Tax Code lets you deduct the interest you pay on your mortgage, your property taxes, as well as some of the costs involved in buying your home.
2. Appreciation. Real estate has long-term, stable growth in value. While year-to-year fluctuations are normal, median existing-home sale prices have increased on average 6.5 percent each year from 1972 through 2005, and increased 88.5 percent over the last 10 years, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. In addition, the number of U.S. households is expected to rise 15 percent over the next decade, creating continued high demand for housing.
3. Equity. Money paid for rent is money that you’ll never see again, but mortgage payments let you build equity ownership interest in your home.
4. Savings. Building equity in your home is a ready-made savings plan. And when you sell, you can generally take up to $250,000 ($500,000 for a married couple) as gain without owing any federal income tax.
5. Predictability. Unlike rent, your fixed-mortgage payments don’t rise over the years so your housing costs may actually decline as you own the home longer. However, keep in mind that property taxes and insurance costs will increase.
6. Freedom. The home is yours. You can decorate any way you want and benefit from your investment for as long as you own the home.
7. Stability. Remaining in one neighborhood for several years gives you a chance to participate in community activities, lets you and your family establish lasting friendships, and offers your children the benefit of educational continuity.

Sixty percent of real estate professionals advise their sellers to list a home during the holidays because it’s a good time to sell, according to a new survey conducted by Realtor.com. 

Why are the holidays such a good time to sell? Seventy-nine percent of the agents surveyed said that more serious buyers come out during the holidays, and 61 percent say less competition from other properties make it a great time to sell. Plus, 17 percent of agents say the cold weather is actually a benefit, making homes feel more cozy. 

But online listing photos become even more crucial during the holiday season, according to the survey. Slightly more than half of agents say that the photos are more important because sellers tend to offer less open houses around the holidays, and so the online photos help buyers decide the properties to see and which ones to possibly bypass. 

The biggest hurdles sellers face during the holidays, however, are keeping a home ready to show (clean and staged) as well as winter weather conditions and buyers’ vacation schedules, the Realtor.com survey found. 

Source: “Survey Data Reveals Majority of Real Estate Professionals Recommend Clients List Their Homes During the Holidays,” Realtor.com (Dec. 2, 2011)