HousingWire reports in the wake of the financial meltdown, the nation gained 4.8 million renters in the last six years while losing 1.7 million owner households, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). In the housing finance sector, the MBA predicts mortgage originations will hit $1.7 trillion in 2012, an …
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SmartPlanet informs MHProNews from Buenos Aires, Argentina prefabricated housing has meant low cost housing for years in Latin America. Additionally, labor is very low cost, so stacking bricks to make a home is relatively inexpensive. Sebastian Koltan has developed a galvanized steel-framed modular house with distinctive sustainability features: polyurethane foam-filled …
Marianas Variety reports from Micronesia in the South Pacific the first green-designed modular homes are becoming commercially available as affordable housing on the island. Nanum Consulting Corp. is partnering with Guam HNC Inc. and Guam Nexus C&D to build steel-framed affordable one and two-bedroom homes for $50,000. The homes have …
According to Mark Calabria, director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute, data collected by Lender Processing Service (LPS) reveals that for the first time, more than half of the borrowers in foreclosure have been in foreclosure previously. Writing in FinanceTownhall, Calabria says while first-time foreclosures have been falling …
The Daytona Beach NewsJournal reports from Florida Volusia County recorded its best quarter for new residential building permits in four years, notching 239 permits in Q3 2012, an increase of 104 percent over the same period in 2011. The pace is 35.8 percent over the second quarter of 2012. Rob …
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), while noting their prediction of a 21% rise in single-family housing starts this year to 528,000 units, and next year to 665,000, says the uncertainty of how the Dodd-Frank Act plays out is preventing lenders from loosening credit, and further constraining the housing …
Despite calls by analysts and policy makers following the recent crash to get the government out of the housing business, Kerri Ann Panchuk of HousingWire says the GSEs still account for 85-95% of the outstanding mortgage loans, securitized and unsecuritized. Plus there is a myriad of programs to help homebuyers—Home …
The National Association of Home Builders says statistics from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau report new home construction shot up 15 percent to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 872,000 units. New single-family home construction accounted for 11 percent of the increase, 603,000 units, the best rate since Aug. …
While the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) asserts the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) goes beyond Dodd-Frank in its proposed mortgage servicing guidelines by creating compliance barriers, it also calls the proposed exemption for smaller servicers too narrow. HousingWire tells MHPronews consumer groups say the servicing standards do not protect distressed …
NationalMortgageNews reports loan modifications completed under both proprietary programs and the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) rose to 76,000 in August, an increase over the 66,000 in July and 46,400 in June. Of the 59,459 proprietary loan modifications in August, Hope Now says 93 percent had fixed interest rates …
MHProNews has learned the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for newly-built single-family homes edged up one point to 41, its highest reading since June 2006. Any score above 50 indicates builders see sales conditions as good rather than poor. “Many builders are reporting increases in the number of serious …
The Uniform Law Commission (ULC) states manufactured housing is considered personal property in most states because its origins as a home on wheels (trailer) being towed led to its taxation and licensing as a vehicle, but new MH today generally moves only once–from the sales lot to the site. The …
According to nationalmortgagenews foreclosure filings dropped seven percent in Sept. to the lowest reading since the fourth quarter of 2007, a total of 180,427 properties. RealtyTrac tells MHProNews filings fell year-over-year 16 percent. For the third quarter 2012, the 531,576 foreclosure filings amount to a five percent decline from the …
In the latest weekly report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), nationalmortgagenews says mortgage applications dropped 1.2 percent for the latest weekly reading Oct. 5 following a 16.6 percent spike for the previous week ending Sept. 28. Refi applications accounted for 83 percent of the apps, much the same as …
TheGatewayNews tells us from Streetsboro, Ohio the Lakeside Terrace land lease community is undergoing a facelift as well as receiving new infrastructure. An MHC since the 1970’s, Dave Leichtman of Verandah LLC says he plans to sell new homes wholesale to the residents. Currently six units are occupied and three …
CNNMoney tells MHProNews a lawsuit filed by the U.S. government against Wells Fargo accuses the giant lender of intentionally concealing bad loan information on 6,320 risky loans which eventually cost the government $190 million for defaulted home mortgages. Filed in the Southern District Court of New York, the complaint alleges …
According to Senior News Weekly, the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) reports Baby Boomers 45-64 are experiencing high mortgage and health care expenses while their retirement and savings dwindle, leaving them short of sufficient income to retire. Real incomes for those middle-aged to older have stagnated in the last …
Speaking at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, HousingWire tells MHProNews Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth Duke says the 1.6 million vacant houses across the nation are stalling a housing recovery, as well as harming surrounding house values. Those not on the market in particular present a danger because they …
The Daily News reports housing permits for Gloucester County, Virginia on the Chesapeake Bay from Aug. 2011 to Sept. 2012 increased to 128, including 97 single-family, 14 multi-family and 17 manufactured housing permits. The previous 12 months total was 108 permits, with the Gloucester County Planning Commission issuing 79 single-family, …
The National Association of Home Builders tells MHProNews the NAHB/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) indicating positive movement in the housing industry rose four notches from last month to include 103 metropolitan markets. Measuring housing permits, employment and house prices for at least six consecutive months, the Oct. reading marks …
