‘Flopping’ scam enables fraudulent flipping in housing market

Although reports of mortgage fraud nationally fell 41 percent in 2010 from 2009, the continuing downturn in the housing market has fostered new ways of perpetrating it, experts say. Consider “flopping” — the intentional misrepresentation of housing value for purposes of illegal flipping. Here’s how it works: A real-estate agent or broker identifies properties with [...]

Foreclosures for sale: Big supply, low prices

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — There’s a three-year inventory of homes in foreclosure for sale, and that’s devastating home prices. Las Vegas has so many foreclosures that 53% of all the homes sold in Nevada are in some stage of foreclosure, according to a report from RealtyTrac, the online marketer of foreclosed properties. Foreclosures represent 45% [...]

Banks to Pay $22 Mil for Military Foreclosure Errors

Bank of America and Morgan Stanley have agreed to pay more than $22 million combined to settle federal civil charges on improperly foreclosing on military personnel, The Associated Press reports. Between 2006 and 2009, the mortgage lenders foreclosed on 178 military members in 22 states without getting court approval. The military members affected will each [...]

74.6 percent of homes affordable to median-income households, trade group finds

Housing affordability hit a new high in the first quarter, surpassing the previous high set in fourth-quarter 2010, according to the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo. The Housing Opportunity Index found that 74.6 percent of new and existing homes sold in the first quarter were affordable to families earning the national median [...]

REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-New-Home Sales Get a Boost

REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-New-Home Sales Get a Boost.

REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Will REOs Hamper a Housing Recovery?

REALTOR® Magazine-Daily News-Will REOs Hamper a Housing Recovery?.

Home sales fall even as mortgage rates touch lows for 2011 – USATODAY.com

Home sales fall even as mortgage rates touch lows for 2011 http://usat.me/47330148

Rebuilding scores — if you ask

Some credit experts call it the best-kept secret in home-mortgage finance. Others say, so what? Millions of Americans whose credit scores have declined in recent years because of economic stresses could start rebuilding their scores if their rent, utilities, cellphone, insurance and other monthly accounts were reported to the national credit bureaus. But typically they [...]

Renters finding landlords have upper hand in this market

Angi Ramos and her former college roommate Laura Waltner have been looking for months for a place to call “home.” They’ve been trawling websites and have inspected a half-dozen units. They’d prefer a newer building in Capitol Hill or Queen Anne — vibrant neighborhoods with lots of young people, restaurants and nightlife. Their search so [...]

Foreclosures Fall Again, Reaching 3-Year Lows

Fewer home owners are losing their homes as the number of foreclosure filings sank to more than a three-year low in April, RealtyTrac reports. The number of foreclosure filings in April dropped 34 percent from a year ago, also marking the seventh straight month of declines, and reaching its lowest level since December 2007. Foreclosure [...]