Tag Archives: foreclosures

Closing time

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For sale sign/ Credit: Flickr/Casey Serin

For sale sign/ Credit: Flickr/Casey Serin

Just over a month from now, the first-time homebuyer tax credit of $8,000 will be a thing of the past. While the credit has been the subject of fraud and controversy, it has also boosted home sales in tough times and given young buyers new opportunities.

In Arkansas, there’s been a rush on buying property as the deadline nears. As Kelly MacNeil of Little Rock’s KUAR reports, realtors are under a huge amount of stress to get deals closed in the short time ahead.

But closing a mortgage in less than a month can be a major challenge as banks get more stringent with loans in the current economic climate. Is there any hope of an extension?
There’s disagreement over whether extending the costly credit would help or hurt the real estate market further, as Nightly Business Report learned from real estate economists on both sides of the argument.

If you’re still hoping to take advantage of the last-minute credit, here are some tips on how to get through the process, from Nightly Business Report, including clarification around eligibility and tax implications.

When’s the real estate rebound?

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For Sale sign/ Credit: Flickr user Casey Serin

For Sale sign/ Credit: Flickr user Casey Serin

While there have been fewer layoffs and other positive signs in the overall economy, economists are still waiting on a change in the real estate market. Only a few areas in the U.S. saw an uptick in new home sales in August and lower housing prices haven’t instilled confidence in some of the hardest-hit areas of the country.

This week’s audio Q&A with Patchwork Nation Director Dante Chinni discusses the downside of lower home prices, and in turn, slower consumer spending in these types of areas.

“A lot of people have been counting on their homes as their nest egg, their retirement plan and they’ve been using it to finance a lot of things,” Chinni said. “And unless those prices start coming up, it’s hard to imagine how those places are going to be willing or able to spend a lot to get us out of the recession.”

Play audio: Patchwork Nation Q&A

In Columbus, Ohio, WOSU reported that home sales in the area rose one percent compared to July. Columbus is in Franklin County, one of Patchwork Nation’s Industrial Metropolis communities. But that change is so slight compared with how much prices have dropped that it’s unclear what the long-term impact will be.

On EconomyBeat.org, blogger Jon Brooks finds a real estate predictor blog that shows even less optimism for a real estate comeback, specifically for California, which was slammed by the mortgage crisis.

In May, KCET program SoCalConnected looked at communities in Southern California where housing prices have dropped significantly to help determine whether it is the right time to buy.

A look around the country

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Every Friday, we’ll be taking a look at what’s happening around the country by featuring stations that are covering economic stories with both local and national relevance. From foreclosures in Ohio to healthcare in Minnesota, the issues affecting Americans are similar across the U.S, but the ways communities are coping with change varies greatly.

Mortgages are at the center of everyone’s thoughts on the economy, and Emily McCord of WYSO in Yellow Springs, Ohio reports on the struggle one family in Dayton faces to pay back their loans.
Foreclosures Affect Those Who Can Afford Mortgages

Scrutiny over earnings has reached a fever pitch, and things that may have slipped through the cracks in the past are now front and center. As Elaine Baumgartel at KUNM in Albuquerque, NM reports, public workers who are earning both a pension and salary are getting grief for “double dipping.”
Concerns over Double Dipping Remain

One way to combat relationship woes that come with financial stress? Talking it out, as Tina Antolini at WFCR in Amherst, Mass., finds.
Mediation and the Recession

Minnesota Public Radio has a whole social network dedicated to covering the local economy. This week’s top story, not surprisingly, is healthcare. Check out the map of Minnesota plotting the uninsured by county.

For a broader view, Patchwork Nation looks at voices from across the country on healthcare in the various types of communities the map follows, from evangelical epicenters to military bastions.

Is there a story you’ve seen locally that hasn’t hit the national press? Share it here.

This old-new house

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While not everyone has $15 million lying around to snag Frank Lloyd Wright’s recently available Ennis House in Los Angeles, the housing market may be looking up, at least according to the latest figures, which show new home sales up 11% in June.

Patchwork Nation reminds readers to keep the national numbers in perspective.

“Housing markets are very localized,” Patchwork Nation’s Dante Chinni writes. “National numbers are interesting (maybe even promising) but may have little to do with the reality in your community.”

In the ‘monied burbs’ foreclosures were up in June, compared with May, Chinni explains.

“In a lot of ways, that’s the better measure because it gives an understanding for what the average ‘Monied ’Burb’ experienced. More of those communities were experiencing rising foreclosures. In fact, you could argue foreclosures are spreading.”

A Wall Street journal blog post today reiterates that national numbers might not tell the whole story.

“In Seattle sales of existing homes rose by nearly 8% from a year ago, to around 2,800, marking the highest level in nearly two years and the first year-over-year increase since the housing downturn began. However, banks foreclosed on 863 homes and condos in June, the highest month since the bubble burst and a 37% increase from May.”

Foreclosures are still the name of the game in places like St. Louis, where KETC’s Facing the Mortgage Crisis reported on crime waves and how to stay safe when houses around yours are being abandoned.

On a lighter note, but just as jarring, The Daily Show found that even Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is feeling the housing crunch. And that can’t mean the housing numbers are all good news.