Yesterday I posted on the latest Negative Equity Report from First American Core Logic. In that post, I quoted the report as saying that one of the ramifications of negative equity is that it is: a major factor in changing homeowners’ default behavior. That change in behavior could take on many different forms. One of […]
First American Core Logic just released their Fourth Quarter 2009 Negative Equity Data Report last week. Negative equity, often referred to as “underwater” or “upside down,” means that borrowers owe more on their mortgage than their homes are worth. The reason this report is so important is that studies have shown that there is a direct […]
Hey there KCM Community! Here are the 41 articles we posted (or should have posted) from the past week. Let us know if we left any good ones out! Just post them in the comments section below. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and remember– keep sharing good information! Here for you, The KCM Crew […]
There has been much talk recently about the number of foreclosures currently held by the banks and when they may be released to the market. The number has been estimated at approximately 1.7 million properties. I believe that the banks will be forced to bring them to market in the near future. Why will banks […]
I wish I could take credit for the catchy title to today’s post, but it was actually the headline to a New York Times article last week. It was the story of how sellers are finally accepting the reality of today’s housing market and adjusting their price accordingly. The results prove a point: Today, pricing […]
Quite possibly, the segment of the population most damaged by the economic downturn may be Seniors. They have taken the double-whammy of depreciation in their real estate and a slashing of their retirement funds. The Challenge Many Seniors have had to alter their retirement plans because of this. Some have had to stay in the workforce […]
Almost every day, as I do my research, I come across a headline that grabs my attention. Many times it leads me to believe that there is a contrarian view to one that I currently hold on an issue in real estate. I immediately read the article only to find out that the headline and […]
There is no doubt that the immediate future of today’s housing market is, at best, cloudy. However, there is at least one silver lining which oft times goes unmentioned – affordability. We sometimes tend to concentrate on the seller in this market. There is no doubt that many sellers have seen much, if not all, […]
Hi, Well it has been an exciting 5 months since we started the KCM blog! Over 10,000 unique visitors; 100,000 post views; readers from all 50 states and over 25 countries. We have decided that today we will re-post the Top 5 blog post since the beginning. Enjoy! – The KCM Crew If You Don’t […]
We have often talked about a ‘shadow inventory’ of homes about to come to market. The two big questions are: What does this ‘shadow inventory’ actually consist of? How will it impact home values in 2010? Standard and Poors has just come out with a paper which sheds some light on these questions. Let’s look at the report. […]
Last week, we began with a premise…that Buyers have a WANT (the lowest monthly payment, even more than the lowest Sales Price) and Sellers have a NEED (to differentiate their home from all the others on the market), and that creative approaches to financing is a method to satisfy both Buyers and Sellers. Part I […]
Homeowners can’t pay their mortgages and are being forced from their homes. Others can pay but decide to just ‘walk away’ instead. Both scenarios have created a flood of foreclosures that neither the government nor the banking industry can handle. The modification programs, though genuine in their effort, have failed. The banks can’t handle what […]
Yesterday, I posted a blog on foreclosures. In that post I said: We still have a very serious foreclosure problem in the vast majority of neighborhoods in this country. It will become even a bigger challenge as 2010 moves forward. Some of our readers contacted me and asked why I felt so strongly on this […]
It amazes me how many times media will report on a press release and assume they know what the release is saying by just reading the headline and perhaps the first paragraph. This week was no exception. Several newspapers repeated a headline on Realty Trac‘s press release claiming U.S. Foreclosure Activity Decreases 10% in January And many papers repeated the first […]
Hey KCM Community! This weekend we’re breaking down our “Library Links” into categories. Hopefully this will make it easier for you to sort through the information, and more efficient for you to find what you’re looking for. If you have any suggestions, comments, or if you just wanted to let us know how your week […]
Last month I posted Are Foreclosures Coming to the Luxury Market? Well apparently they are. In an article from Housing Wire, Fitch Ratings reported on jumbo mortgages (where the initial principal amount is above the $417,000 conventional loan limit set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In higher-priced markets the limit is $729,750): The new […]
Let’s start with the premise that buyers do NOT buy big ticket items (like a home or a car) based on its sales price; rather, they buy based on their proposed monthly payment (or cost). Additionally, when looking to sell your home with so much availability of homes on the market, the biggest challenge a […]
There seems to be a long held American belief currently under attack. For over two hundred years, homeownership in this country was a desire of almost every American family. Recently however, more and more people have been pontificating on the fact that owning your own home should never have been held in such high regard. […]
Some Hopeful Signs in Home Prices NPR – January 26, 2010 Reports Suggest Housing Market Stabilizing Philadelphia Inquirer – January 27, 2010 U.S. Economy: Home Prices, Confidence Climb Further From Abyss Business Week – January 26, 2010 If you read today’s headlines, you might believe that house prices in this country are stabilizing. As usual, […]
Back by popular demand! Here are 46 links we posted through our Facebook, Twitter and KCM Blog outlets in the past week. There are a lot of different things happening in the real estate industry as of late, so be sure to browse the articles and read whichever ones seem appealing to you. If you […]
A quote from Housing in America: The Next Decade. “Sooner or later, something fundamental in your business world will change… strategic inflection points do not always lead to disaster. When the way business is being conducted changes, it creates opportunities for players who are adept at operating in the new way. This can apply to newcomers […]
Finally, some good news from the FHA. Effective February 1st, the FHA is waiving their requirement of the “90 day holding period” before home sellers (predominantly real estate investors and speculators) can resell a piece of real estate to a buyer who uses FHA Insured financing. Given the recent increase of the UFMIP, coming reduction […]
The Homebuyers’ Tax Credit, in many ways, has done exactly what it was suppose to do – stimulate the economy. Notice I didn’t say increase home ownership. The tax credit was never really about buyers. It was about keeping home values stable so the housing sector would not have another wave of foreclosures that would […]
I have been reading some interesting things this week in regard to the effect of the Fed exiting from their program of buying mortgage backed securities (MBS) on March 31 this year as they announced they would last Wednesday. There seems to be some people who do not believe that the Fed’s exit will have […]
Good Saturday morning afternoon! We apologize for not being as active on our Twitter and Facebook accounts the past few days. During our tour of New England & Western NY, we were hurdling one obstacle after the other: from cancelled flights, to non-stop-middle-of-the-night-blizzard driving (it’s a word, look it up), to abominable snowmen– you name […]
