Latest Posts from My Blog
Retrofit Upon Sale Ordinance Repealed
Friday, June 14, 2013
Santa Monica City Council repealed the Retrofit Upon Sale Ordinance (SMMC 7.18) at its June 11, 2013 meeting. The City will stop issuing Compliance Certificates on July 1, 2013. In 1993, Santa Monica’s Retrofit Upon Sale Ordinance (SMMC 7.18) went into effect to reduce city-wide water use. This ordinance required all properties to be retrofitted [...]
Southland home prices soar 24.7% in May from a year earlier
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Southern California’s housing recovery surged last month as buyers scrambled for a short supply of homes. The median price reached $368,000 for all homes sold in the six-county Southland — a 24.7% increase from the same month a year earlier and the highest price in five years. The number of sales, 23,034, hit the highest [...]
Equity investment program can help you buy that house
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Are you ready to bet that the great housing recession is finally over and that values are rising again? If so, some of the nation’s largest institutional investors are ready to roll the dice with you. Pension funds, endowment portfolios and the like don’t typically invest in residential real estate, which is the world’s largest [...]
Home price gains propel U.S. stocks
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Home prices are soaring at a pace not seen since the housing boom, giving a much-needed boost to the larger economy. The rebound is helping homeowners recover losses from the crash and giving them confidence to spend. And that’s raising the fortunes of banks, builders and investors — all reflected in a Tuesday rally on [...]
Latest Data Show Home Prices rising Nationwide
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
The latest sales numbers from the nation’s Multiple Listing Services are in, and housing is looking good. As of May 1, only nine of the 100 core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) with more than 500 sales in the previous three months saw prices decline. The other 91 booked higher prices — some quite significantly higher. According [...]
BofA, JPMorgan say they have fulfilled mortgage settlement terms
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. say they have satisfied their obligations to help troubled borrowers under last year’s landmark mortgage settlement with state and federal officials. Another bank that signed the settlement, Wells Fargo & Co. said it is “90% of the way” to meeting its obligations, while Citigroup Inc. said [...]
Credit Reports conflate short sales, Foreclosures
Monday, May 20, 2013
Washington – Are large numbers of homeowners who have negotiated short sales with lenders at risk because of a startling omission in the American credit system? Do their credit reports and scores indicate that they were foreclosed upon, rather than having negotiated a mutually agreeable resolution with their lender? The answer appears to be yes, [...]
Are your mortgage modification terms worth continuing payments?
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Financially strapped homeowners who are close to foreclosure may want to face the music now rather than continuing to struggle with their monthly payments. There’s a high probability of losing the house anyway, even with the government’s help. According to a new report, people who take advantage of a key federal program to modify their [...]
Private sales of homes, known as ‘pocket listings,’ are surging
Monday, May 13, 2013
WASHINGTON — How hot is hot when it comes to housing markets across the country right now? Crazy hot: Some houses sell within days, sometimes within hours, of listing. Then there are the growing numbers that sell even before they formally hit the market — sold through a controversial technique known as “pocket listing.” What’s [...]
Some homes slow to sell even in hot areas?
Monday, May 6, 2013
WASHINGTON — With full-fledged sellers’ markets underway in dozens of metropolitan areas around the country, new research has found curious statistical patterns emerging: Even in cities where listings get multiple offers within days or hours, significant numbers of homes are sitting on the market for six months, 12 months or more with no takers. Call [...]
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Linda Levine
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