Archive for the ‘Florida Central News’ Category

Minorities less likely to apply for mortgage, more likely to get turned down

Thursday, February 20th, 2014

Persistent disparities in homeownership rates between whites and minorities may be at least partly explained by the fact that minorities are less likely to apply for mortgages than whites and more likely to be denied, a study by Zillow and the National Urban League suggests. The study also found many blacks and Hispanics who have…Read More »

More consumers planning to buy as mortgage concerns ease

Tuesday, January 14th, 2014

The share of consumers who plan to buy a home rose to 6.9 percent in December, up from 5 percent in November, according to a monthly economic outlook released today by Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group. Despite concerns about mortgage availability, Fannie Mae economists reported that consumer attitudes about the ease of getting a mortgage are at the…Read More »

Time on Market

Wednesday, January 8th, 2014

> Housing Trends > Time on Market > Proportion of Distressed Property Transactions > Homebuyer Participation Issue 01 / January 2014 Housing Trends •   Time on market for non-distressed properties remains low. • There was a slight uptick in the distressed property share of sales in November. •   Investor participation increased for the…Read More »

6 years later and we still can’t modify or refinance our mortgage

Saturday, December 7th, 2013

Your mortgage lender places you in a predatory loan and you ask for a simple loan modification to today’s rates. You pay your bills and have never defaulted on anything. Can you get the loan modification you’re seeking, or are you stuck? In part 1 of this series I outlined the situation that placed me…Read More »

New-home sales skyrocket in October

Thursday, December 5th, 2013

Purchases up 21.6 percent from year ago Sales of new single-family homes skyrocketed in October, ending a three-month slump that began in July and providing evidence that elevated mortgage rates have not seriously hobbled the housing recovery. New-home sales leaped 25.4 percent from September to October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 444,000, according to data…Read More »

Despite inventory shortages, homebuyers looking for bargains this winter

Thursday, November 21st, 2013

         Prospective homebuyers hoping to buy a home in the next four months say the lack of inventory is their biggest challenge, but many believe winter is a good time to buy because sellers are motivated to sell and more willing to negotiate. That’s according to a survey of more than 1,300 visitors to realtor.com…Read More »

A 20-year legal battle over a water management district’s condition for development is over — sort of.

Friday, September 27th, 2013

Early in her legal career, working for her father’s property rights law firm in south Florida, Amy Brigham Boulris took an interest in “exactions” — cases in which jurisdictions impose conditions on landowners before development can occur. For years, she closely followed the case of Coy A. Koontz, a Florida businessman who purchased 15 mostly…Read More »

Orlando is nation’s fifth ‘booming’ housing market

Friday, September 20th, 2013

     No. 10: Portland home prices increased 14 percent year-over-year to $270,000. Highest-rated public school: Lake Oswego School District 7J/School Score 9.6   Sure, the weather’s great and we’ve got plenty of activities for princesses and wizards, but economic development officials and professionals often speak highly of Central Florida’s schools. And now, a new ZipRealty report…Read More »

What’s Your Market’s Median Home Price?

Saturday, September 14th, 2013

Interactive Median Home Price Map Zoom in to your metropolitan statistical area to get the latest quarterly median home price for your market, and its percentage change from the previous quarter. View Metropolitan Sales Areas Q2 2012 in a larger map

Mortgages will remain hard to get until common sense returns

Wednesday, September 4th, 2013

Long-term rates stayed about the same this week, mortgages just above 4.5 percent for most products. There are many things to write about this week, but the most important news for most Americans is the first retreat from Dodd-Frank toward common sense. Economic data stayed in pattern — reasonable growth without acceleration. Overall orders for…Read More »