Home Builders Association of Chester and Delaware Counties

HBA Newswatch

May 8, 2008

BUSH POISED TO VETO DEMOCRATS' HOUSING AID BILLS
WASHINGTON (AP) ― Strapped homeowners could refinance into government-backed mortgages and states would get money to deal with foreclosed property under Democrats' housing aid plan.
The measures, slated for votes Thursday, constitute the most significant action Congress has taken to date to address the housing crisis that's at the center of the nation's economic woes.
President Bush has threatened to veto both measures, which he says reward lenders and speculators. Democrats counter that the bills will head off hundreds of thousands of foreclosures, stabilize the shaky housing market, and prevent neighborhood blight.
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MARKET ANOMALIES SKEW HOME-PRICE DATA, PROVIDERS AGREE
Market anomalies painting skewed picture, index producers acknowledge
By Chris Pummer
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Commonly cited measures of U.S. home prices are overstating the degree to which the vast majority of Americans' home values have declined in the last year, producers of two of the most widely tracked indexes acknowledged this week.
Top officials with the National Association of Realtors and Standard & Poor's, which issues the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, agreed this week their monthly reports are giving imprecise readings of price changes at all levels -- national, state and regional -- due to rare market conditions that are skewing survey results.
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BERWIND GROUP CANCELS PUBLIC MEETING IN NEWTOWN
By Kenn Stark, Times Correspondent
NEWTOWN — Following the example set by township supervisors last month, Berwind Properties Group has canceled its town-center public meeting, previously scheduled for tonight.
In a brief statement, a BPG representative notified the Daily Times of the cancellation Monday night.
“The Newtown Township Board of Supervisors maintains there is ‘insufficient support for the Ellis Preserve Town Center.’ Consequently, BPG will proceed with its development plans in accordance with the present ‘by-right’ zoning of the property,” the statement read.
At the April 14 meeting, supervisors called off a session tonight to get public feedback on a BPG settlement proposal, after the board had rejected the offer.
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COATESVILLE’S AUCTION OF UNWANTED PROPERTIES GOES LIVE AND ONLINE MAY 30
CITY OFFICIALS ANXIOUS TO DIVEST PROPERTIES RATHER THAN PAY TO MAINTAIN THEM
By R. JONATHAN TULEYA, Staff Writer
COATESVILLE — Officials have announced details of a public auction to sell 16 city-owned properties at 1 p.m. May 30, live at city hall and online.
More than generating revenue, the city’s goal is to transfer the properties to people interested in maintaining or rehabilitating them, Assistant City Manager Kirby Hudson said Tuesday.
Hudson described the properties as a “hodgepodge of stuff,” none of which are contiguous, that were acquired by previous city administrations or the Coatesville Redevelopment Authority.
“Right now, to be honest with you, they are not doing anything for the city,” except draining city resources used to keep them free of trash, Hudson said.
Although Coatesville is no longer interested in owning the properties, Hudson said he has spoken with small developers and builders he believes will find them attractive.
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HOMEOWNERS TO RECEIVE PROPERTY TAX CUTS
Homeowners in Delaware County can expect to see a reduction in their property tax bills starting this summer, according to state Rep. Greg Vitali (D-166).More than $613 million in slots proceeds is now in the state's Property Tax Relief Fund, which will bring school property tax relief to more than 3 million Pennsylvania homeowners this summer. The Pennsylvania Department of Education released information today outlining the estimated amount of property tax relief homeowners will begin receiving this summer, based on the school district in which they live.
Vitali said the threshold needed to trigger the distribution of slots revenue from Pennsylvania's casinos was exceeded this spring, which will allow for the tax relief by summer. School districts will receive the slots money from the state and will use it to adjust homeowners' property tax bills.
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