Newly released Census data reveal that, as other evidence suggests, the recession has battered some areas harder than others. Census Bureau statistics show that 11.3 percent of residences in the U.S., about 13.2 million homes, stood vacant in 2010. There was a great deal of variation, however, among More…
AARP, the largest advocacy group in the U.S. for retired persons, sued on Tuesday the Department of Housing and Urban Development for promoting policy changes that led to the foreclosure of seniors’ homes.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three surviving spouses of reverse-mortgage borrowers, who allege that More…
The federal department of Housing and Urban Development has announced a new policy initiative to prohibit discrimination in housing programs on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
“This is a fundamental issue of fairness,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “We have a responsibility to make certain More…
Today, RealtyTrac reported foreclosure and home-sale information for September and the third quarter of the year, showing an extraordinarily weak housing market. Here are just a few data points:
Barry Ritholtz posts a clear summary of the foreclosure process, to help understand the massive unfolding foreclosure fraud scandal. Here is, document by document, the typical paper-trail for when a homeowner defaults and a bank repossesses her house (the process varies a bit state by state).
- Notice
Soon, I’ll be up with a piece looking more closely at the foreclosure fraud scandal engulfing the country. But for those not following carefully, here’s a recap.
Last month, Ally Financial, formerly known as GMAC, suspended evictions in 23 states after revealing that employees had submitted faulty affidavits when foreclosing More…
Some good news for the housing market: Building starts on new homes climbed 10.5 percent in August, the Census Bureau announced this morning. Construction ramped up to an annualized pace of 598,000 homes, the highest rate since early spring. Economists had expected starts to decline slightly. More…
Guess who wrote this and when:
“We are sitting on a time bomb,” the mortgage analyst said — a huge increase in unconventional home loans like balloon mortgages taken out by consumers who cannot qualify for regular mortgages. The high payments, he continued, “are just beginning to come due and
Tyler Cowen writes:
Many smart people say we should. It seems increasingly clear that we must. For how long can the government prop them up? Are we never to have a private market in mortgages again?
This weekend, the New York Times featured an unusual story on housing. Its argument goes like this: The government has done a lot to ensure that home prices do not slide too precipitously. But houses are still too expensive — and if the government were to pull its interventions, More…
rss