Congress both extended and expanded the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit program Thursday. The White House says the President will sign it into law today. The up-to-$8000 tax credit's expiration date has been pushed forward to spring, requiring homebuyers to be under contract by April 30, 2010,
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11/06/2009
The Federal Open Market Committee caps off a scheduled, 2-day meeting today in the nation's capital, its 8th meeting of the year. The group adjourns at 2:15 PM ET and, as is customary, will issue a press release reviewing its monetary policy and the health of the U.S. economy. The FOMC's post-me
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11/03/2009
The housing market continues to steam forward. As reported by the National Association of Realtors®, the Pending Home Sales Index posted its 8th consecutive monthly gain in September. It's the longest winning streak in the history of the index and Pending Home Sales are now at their highest level
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11/02/2009
Mortgage markets improved last week after a series of hugely volatile trading sessions. Rates carved out a wide range on the week, culminating in a late-Friday plunge that dropped rates by about 1/8 percent. It was the first time in 5 weeks that mortgage rates fell. Volatility like that of last
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11/02/2009
This is an article by Jeff Collins, in this morning's Orange County Register: Home-data firm First American CoreLogic predicts that Orange County house prices will be up 9.5% next August from this past summer. If accurate, the median price of an Orange County house would increase by nearly $48,00
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11/02/2009
Some days, newspaper headlines are a terrible place to get your real estate news. Today is one of those days. After the September New Home Sales report showed sales volume down from August, the mainstream media jumped on the story: New Home Sales fall a surprising 3.6% Surprise Drop In New Home
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10/29/2009
The national housing supply fell to a 2-year low last month, according to the National Association of Realtors®. At the current sales pace, existing home inventories would sell out in 7.8 months -- 30 percent faster versus November 2008. For a 10-month window, that's a major housing supply reduct
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10/29/2009
For August, the Case-Shiller Index showed annual home values improving across 19 of 20 U.S. markets. It's the first time in 3-plus years that the benchmark housing index has shown such strength. According to a Case-Shiller Index spokesperson, "The rate of annual decline in home price values cont
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10/27/2009
Mortgage markets were volatile last week, making it very difficult to shop for mortgage rates. On most days, lenders issued multiple rate sheets with the trend putting rates higher in the morning, and lower in the afternoon. Overall, mortgage rates were unchanged on the week. It broke a three-wee
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10/26/2009
According to the government, home values edged lower last month. The Federal Housing Finance Agency's Home Price Index report shows values down by 0.3 percent from the month prior -- the index's first down month since April. The Home Price Index is based on the value of homes financed via Fannie
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10/22/2009