HBA Newswatch
March 24, 2008
NORTHEAST LEADS AS HOME SALES RISE UNEXPECTEDLY; PRICES KEEP TUMBLING
By Martin Crutsinger
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - After falling for six straight months, sales of existing homes posted an unexpected increase in February - led by an 11.3 percent gain in the Northeast - which may have reflected more aggressive price cutting by sellers in some parts of the country, a real estate trade group reported.
The National Association of Realtors said that sales of existing homes rose by 2.9 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.03 million units. It was the biggest increase in a year and caught economists by surprise. They had been expecting a small decline.
The trade group reported that the median existing sales price in February fell to $195,900. That was the largest year-over-year drop on records that go back to 1999.
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FANNIE MAE PILOT PROGRAM USES LAW FIRMS TO AVERT FORECLOSURES
By Harold Brubaker
Inquirer Staff Writer
A Center City law firm that handles mortgage foreclosures for Fannie Mae gets hundreds of calls a day from homeowners facing the loss of their houses.
In the past, all Phelan, Hallinan & Schmieg L.L.P. could do for delinquent borrowers who wanted to work out a catch-up plan was refer them to the company that collects their payments.
Then last month, under a pilot plan by Fannie Mae, the nation's largest mortgage finance company, the law firm's loss-mitigation department worked out 26 repayment plans with borrowers - on their first call.
Now the program is expanding. Starting this week, the firm and another, Goldbeck, McCafferty & McKeever P.C. of Philadelphia, will be allowed to take more dramatic immediate steps to help borrowers, such as reducing the principal on the spot and even approving sale of a property for less than is owed.
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ON THE HOUSE: SELLING IS ALL ABOUT MARKETING
By Al Heavens
Inquirer Real Estate Columnist
For years, even during the corpse that passed for a real estate market in the early to mid-1990s, every agent and broker passed along to sellers the same list of tips for getting their houses ready to show.
The list, I believe, was originally drawn up by William Penn's real estate broker, who could sell a cave on the Schuylkill to Martha Stewart for twice its 1682 value, about 2 pounds, 6 shillings and a cocked hat.
Apparently, Penn's broker also was into bread, cinnamon sticks and potpourri, because all three appear on the list of "what your house should smell like during a showing."
I remember baking bread, boiling sticks and potting pourri when we were trying to sell our Queen Village estate at the start of the late-1980s slowdown. It succeeded only in making me nauseated and the house-hunters suspicious.
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TAX BREAKS HELP HOMEOWNERS
By Eileen Putman, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON — In a year of bad mortgage news, there’s a bright spot or two for homeowners: Foreclosure comes with a tax break, and 2007 mortgage insurance payments may be tax-deductible.
Congress acted on both provisions late last year, extending the mortgage insurance deduction for three more years and creating a new tax break for homeowners facing foreclosure.
The mortgage insurance deduction will help certain low and moderate income homeowners, especially first-time homebuyers and those struggling with higher house payments as adjustable rate mortgages reset.
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