Earlier this week, the private-sector Case-Shiller Index showed home prices slightly lower between November and December. Thursday, the public-sector Home Price Index showed the same.
Publishing on a 2-month lag, the Federal Home Finance Agency said home prices fell by 1.6 percent nationally in December. And that's an average, of course. ...
Indianapolis Real Estate seems to always be making the news. Through the bad times and the good times, we are nationally known. When we ranked in the top ten for foreclosures, the nation knew.
We are known as having the most affordable housing market in the nation for a city our size.
Now, ...
Sometimes, headlines for housing can be misleading and this week gave us a terrific example. On Wednesday, the Commerce Department released its Housing Starts data for January 2010. The data showed starts at a 6-month high. A “Housing Start” is a privately-owned home on which construction has started. Headlines on the Housing Starts story included:
SOLD!! You want a home with style, space and ready to move into; look no further! This beautiful 2 story traditional home with basement offers you all this and more.
Newly remodeled and updated home for sale in Eagledale in Indianapolis. Perfect first home priced at only $69,700. Home sits on a wooded fenced lot overlooking the creek.
Features include new kitchen, laminate flooring, remodeled bathroom, laundry room and all appliances.
Foreclosures stories dominate the national housing news. It seems at least one foreclosure-related story makes its way to the front page or the nightly news every week. But for as much as the foreclosure filing statistics can be astounding -- over 300,000 homes were served last month alone -- the prevalence of foreclosures depends on where you live. As reported by RealtyTrac, just 4 states accounted for more than half of the country's foreclosure-related activity last month.
The other...
The economy's improving but lending standards are not. Nationally, banks are making mortgage approvals harder to come by. Underwriting guidelines are tightening. The data comes from the Federal Reserve's quarterly survey to its member banks.
The Fed asks senior bank loan officers around the country to report on 'prime' residential mortgage guidelines over the most recent...
Comparing the Indianapolis real estate market from 2008 - 2009 indicates signs of recovery on the horizon. As we track the number of home sales, the first half of 2009 was well below the number of sales of 2008.
In July, the sales equaled 2009 and with the exception of December. the number of home sales for the last half of 2009 exceeded the homes sold in 2008. Consequently, the average home price in Indianapolis in 2009 also stepped into pace with 2008 home prices in July and stayed consistent for the next few months.
By the end of 2009, the average home price exceeded 2008 and the trend is moving up for both number of sales and the average home price.
...
The mortgage lending landscape changes a lot. Rates and guidelines are in constant flux, and it creates preparedness challenges for buyers in Indianapolis that aren't paying in cash.
The loan you get today won't always be the loan you get tomorrow. Because of how frequently bank rules are changing, it can be hard for laypersons to distinguish between mortgage fact and fiction of 'what's coming next'.
Recently, we saw this with respect to FHA home loans. January 20, 2010, the FHA issued a press...
As mortgage lenders tighten approval standards in Indiana and nationwide, the importance of a good credit score is rising. Credit scores not only make the difference between a mortgage approval and mortgage turn-down, but they also play a large role in determining your actual mortgage note rate.
The Pending Home Sales Index rose slightly in December, climbing 1 percent from November.
A Pending Home Sale is a home that is under contract to sell, but not yet sold. It's a figure compiled by the National Association of Realtors® using sales data from over 100 regional listing services and more than 60 large brokerages around the country.
Because each pending sale is a true measure of sales activity, the Pending Home Sales Index is purported to be the most reliable forward-looking indicator for housing.
Recent data supports this hypothesis.
After Pending Home Sales plunged 16 percent in November, Existing Home Sales ...
If you are a first time home buyer in Indianapolis, you should know your financing options. The Indiana Housing Program for first time home buyers who are creditworthy, but may not have the initial upfront costs for down payment and closing costs is a great option. I received this information from one of my lenders with the guidelines for the Indiana Housing Down Payment Assistance Program.
The general guidelines are as follows:
1.First time buyers or someone who has not been entitled to real estate in the past 3 yrs.
2.Indiana Housing will provide down payment assistance in the amount of 6% of the sales priced capped at $7500.00
3.This down payment can be used for required down payment, closing costs and prepaids.
4.The buyers are required to take a home buyer counseling course - This...
A 'Short Sale' is when a home seller sells his home for a lesser amount than what is owed on his mortgage, and the mortgage lender agrees to accept the lesser amount in lieu of a full payoff.
By way of example, a Short Sale may be appropriate for an Indianapolis home seller whose mortgage balance is $250,000 but whose home wouldn't sell for more than $220,000. Rather than pay the $30,000 difference to the lender at the time of sale, the seller enters into an agreement...
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