HBA Newswatch
April 17, 2008
MARCH HOUSING STARTS AT 17-YEAR LOW
By Alan J. Heavens
Inquirer Real Estate Writer
Housing starts in March dropped to a 17-year low, the Commerce Department said yesterday.
New-home starts fell 11.9 percent in March from February to an annual rate of 947,000 homes - the fewest number of starts since March 1991, the department reported.
Starts fell 36.5 percent from March 2007.
Starts for single-family homes declined 6.2 percent nationally month-to-month. Construction of multifamily homes, such as townhouses and apartment buildings, fell 25 percent to an annual rate of 267,000 in March from February.
Single-family starts also fell 46.4 percent in March of this year from March 2007.
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FREDDIE MAC TO UNVEIL LENDERS' PACT
By JAMES R. HAGERTY
Freddie Mac is expected to announce Thursday an agreement with three major mortgage lenders aimed at making more funds available for large home loans.
The agreement is with Wells Fargo & Co., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc., Freddie officials said.
For the past nine months or so, interest rates on jumbo loans -- those bigger than the normal $417,000 limit on mortgages that can be sold to government-sponsored investors Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae -- have been much higher than those on smaller ones. That's because other loan investors, spooked by surging defaults and dropping home prices, are reluctant to buy loans that aren't backed by Fannie, Freddie or the Federal Housing Administration.
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WHY LENDERS ARE LEERY OF SHORT SALES
This Foreclosure Alternative Helps Strapped Homeowners, But It's Not Easy to Pull Off
By RUTH SIMON and JAMES R. HAGERTY
As more people fall behind on their mortgages, lenders have been slow to take advantage of a longstanding alternative to foreclosure -- a so-called short sale.
At first glance, a short sale might seem like a win-win for everyone involved. In such an arrangement, the borrower sells the home for less than the amount owed, with the lender forgiving the difference. The sale releases borrowers from their obligations. For mortgage holders, it can be less costly than foreclosing -- and could provide protection against future price drops. For buyers, it can be a chance to buy a home at an attractive price.
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